It is a kind of film type, and its characteristic plot contains scientific whimsy. George riegel's A Journey to the Moon is the earliest sci-fi movie in film history.
Poster of "Journey to the Moon" First of all, we may be able to make Hollywood sci-fi films after the sci-fi era have a bad story, which has a great impact on the visual effect and the picture is more beautiful and realistic. Movies such as Independence Day, Jurassic Park series, prequel trilogy I (Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Threat, 1999) and II (Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones, 2002) have cultivated the audience to be familiar with those expensive special effects. When the dazzling computer stunts tend to be saturated on the screen, Hollywood science fiction films also begin to lose their way. With the progress of science and technology, Hollywood science fiction films began to explore new themes, such as cloning technology and intelligent robots' far-reaching impact on human society.
[Edit this paragraph] The basic model of Hollywood science fiction films
First, the background is diverse, but the internal logic is strict. For science fiction films, the story can happen at any time in the past, present and future, and there can be great age changes in the middle, but the time limit for the real content to be described is still very limited; Similarly, the location of science fiction stories seems insignificant, but it is actually very limited. Although Hollywood sci-fi films are rich in imagination, they have the strictest logical rules, emphasizing an illusory world with unified internal authenticity and no contradiction.
Second, characterization is relatively simple. Most Hollywood sci-fi movies want the audience to focus on special effects and plots, so its characterization is relatively simple compared with other types of movies. Characters have fewer dimensions, the surface and the heart are more consistent, and the personality has not changed or just changed simply. However, this situation has also changed in recent years. Science fiction films began to pay attention to the shaping of characters' personalities, and the description of inner conflicts and contradictions of characters and the distress and difficulties in life began to intensify.
Thirdly, "trigger events" often have sci-fi factors, such as the dislocation of time, the invasion of aliens, the establishment of dinosaur parks and so on. It breaks the original balance and forces the protagonist to react. Like other types of movies, conflicts in science fiction movies include inner conflicts, interpersonal conflicts and external conflicts (including social conflicts and greater environmental conflicts), but generally speaking, the biggest conflict in science fiction movies is the conflict between people and huge environmental forces, such as natural disasters and alien invasion.
Fourth, traditional and eternal values such as the supremacy of life, the pursuit of justice and cherishing life are still respected.
[Edit this paragraph] Overview of science fiction films
(A) analysis of science fiction movies
Science fiction films, as the name implies, are "science fiction films", that is, "feature films with science fiction as their content. Their basic feature is to make absurd descriptions of the future world or distant past scenes from the scientific principles and achievements known today. " (1) Science fiction movies have had an indissoluble bond with science fiction since their birth, such as A Journey to the Moon, which was filmed by Mei and adapted from two science fiction novels, From the Earth to the Moon and The First People on the Moon; Wells's Invisible Man, Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Conan Doyle's The Lost World and other science fiction novels have been put on the screen, which has triggered a series of film shooting. Common themes in science fiction literature and art, such as scientific madman, interstellar travel, time travel, etc., appeared at this time, forming the initial routine. On the other hand, Hollywood continued the tradition of adapting science fiction novels, such as Jurassic Park, Planet of the Apes, Minority Report and Starfleet, and quickly developed them into important movies.
At present, the attitude towards science fiction films in China is basically from the perspective of the combination of science and fantasy, or the spectacle of the film. For example, Shao said in his comments that "the beauty of science fiction movies is that as long as a scientific idea appears, people and things that are possible in principle in the model world can be fictional, thus stimulating or activating people's imagination to a certain extent." ②
There are also some views that science fiction films are related to fairy tales, or that "myth" is used as a descriptive word to describe "science fiction films", but they all think that science fiction films have nothing to do with science, but are only variants of horror films. For example, American film theorist V. sobchak and his book "Outer Space on the Screen-American Science Fiction Movies" claim that science fiction movies have nothing to do with science; Zhou Chuanji commented that "the so-called science fiction films are just modern gods" and "Star Wars" is "the oldest fairy tale, that is, the cliché of knights and princesses without any information". ③
Nevertheless, the general view is that "when scientific concepts, artistic imagination and film means are combined, science fiction movies are produced." (4) H. Frank's definition of science fiction movies is: "Describe dramatic events that occurred in a fictional but possible model world in principle". There are basically four themes: religion and rebellion, Verne's scientific hedonism, power and order, sin and redemption.
(2) Overview of science fiction movies
Judging from the development of film history, although the term "science fiction film" appeared around 1926, as early as the birth of the film, the embryonic form of science fiction film had already appeared, such as A Journey to the Moon (1920) and A Journey to Space (1904) by French director Mei Li 'ai. Throughout the development of science fiction movies, except the early French movies, American science fiction movies have become the main force with rapid momentum since their birth, and no other country can match them in terms of capital, technology, experience and literature accumulation.
The 1950s was the first climax of science fiction movies. The driving force of its prosperity is the great breakthrough in science and technology, especially in space technology, the influence of the cold war mentality after the end of World War II and the fear of the future of mankind, such as robert wise's "A Day of Static Earth" (195 1).
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① Xu Nanshan, editor-in-chief: Dictionary of Film Art, page 18, China Film Publishing House, 1995.
(2) Shao, "Science Fiction Movie is a movie combining science and fantasy", China Film Market, No.9, 1999.
(3) Zhou Chuanji, this sci-fi movie has nothing to do with science, but a variant of horror movies, Wen Hui Film Times, vol. 1998,No. 1 issue.
(4) Wang Zhimin's "Modern Film Aesthetics Foundation" on page 309, China Film Publishing House, 1996.
With the end of Vietnam War, the vigorous rise of various sports and the rapid development of computer technology, the 1970s ushered in the second climax of science fiction movies. Alpha City in France, Sonas in the former Soviet Union and Kubrick's "200 1: A Space Odyssey A" (1968) took the lead, and it was not until Lucas' "Star Wars" (1977) took shape that science fiction films gradually rose from B-level production to A-level production.
Since the mid-to-late 1980s, with the rapid progress of digital technology, the arrival of industrialized information society and the change of consumption concept, science fiction movies have been occupied by eschatological complex while setting off the third climax. James Cameron's Terminator (1984) opened a shady scene, following Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993), kevin reynolds's Future Water World (1995) and luc besson's The Fifth Element (/kloc
At the same time, in order to cater to audiences of all tastes to the greatest extent, the collage and fusion of genres has become an important feature of science fiction movies. Many movies are not strictly science fiction films, but there is no doubt that they have science fiction elements to some extent. The development of science and technology provides a guarantee for the realization of fantasy, and it can also become the source of new scientific fantasy. The interesting phenomenon of sci-fi movies is that in the imaginary space, the most advanced technology is often related to ancient myths, and even myths are directly selected for their own use, such as The Matrix, Minority Report, X-Men and so on. As Pilo said, "A new era has begun to develop metaphors of movies and myths."
[Edit this paragraph] The difference between science fiction films and disaster films
-Huangshi (Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts)
"A film that shows dramatic events in the fictional world based on scientific principles or phenomena that have been revealed or are still being revealed at the time of shooting is a science fiction film."
Science fiction movies describe dramatic events that take place in a fictional but theoretically possible model world.
First, the development process
Almost at the same time that the Lumiere brothers invented the movie camera in 1895, science fiction films came out. 1895' s machine butcher can be regarded as the originator of science fiction films. This one-minute film shows the scene of the future factory: pigs enter from one end of the machine, and all kinds of pork food instantly appear at the other end. This seemingly accidental topic selection has influenced 100 years of science fiction movies. Today, in movies about future machines, filmmakers are still repeating this simple logic: machines are equal to myths, and machines destroy human beings. They either strongly reflect on the destruction of human nature by the machine industry, or show the disaster brought by machines to civilization in a special way in the later stage.
The second classic sci-fi movie is "The Adventures of Doctors in the 20th Century" (1897): A lame man asked the doctor to transplant a new leg, but the doctor was in high spirits after transplanting the leg and replaced the patient's head with someone else's beautiful head. This almost ironic description even satirizes 100 years later-when medicine has the ability to change everything about human beings, has the human ontology been replaced and misplaced? When scientists happily knock on the door of biotechnology, will Satan himself open the door?
Movie master and Georges Méliès were the main sci-fi films. 1897, he made a short film about X-ray equipment, which was the first time to apply freeze-frame photography and double exposure special effects to movies. 1902, he synthesized Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and Wells's The First Man on the Moon, and made the film A Journey to the Moon. With its gorgeous production and full box office, the film has become a milestone in science fiction movies, creating a theme of "space travel" that is still full of vitality.
In the 1920s, with the rapid development of science and technology and the continuous innovation of art, the world's science fiction movies entered a period of vigorous development-the film screening time was extended from a few minutes to several hours, the technology moved from silence to sound, the scene became huge and magnificent, and montage and other film theories appeared one by one. The Cosmic Heroes series in 1930s and many movies around it brought the first wave of sci-fi movies.
After a brief depression in the 1960s, 1968 Planet of the Apes and 200 1 A Space Odyssey announced the arrival of the second wave of science fiction movies. "200 1 A Space Odyssey" can be called a milestone of science fiction movies: the scene is grand but nuanced, from the space station to the space toilet. After 1970s, a large number of outstanding directors with superhuman talent appeared in Hollywood. During this period, george lucas, Spielberg and ridley scott shot a series of important works in the field of science fiction movies. Such as Star Wars in 1976, blade runner in 198 1, E.T. in 1982 and so on.
In the 1990s, computer special effects and information technology greatly promoted the development of science fiction movies. Hollywood has turned to the operation mode of high science fiction, big investment and advanced management, and a large number of excellent films such as Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Men in Black and The Fifth Element have emerged in the film industry. Compared with other countries' sci-fi movies, Hollywood sci-fi movies have since dominated the world.
Since 2003, there has been a new growth trend in science fiction movies represented by Europe, and the production level of some European science fiction movies is booming, among which there are many excellent works such as French Goddess Trap and Russian Night Watch. I believe that in the near future, many overseas studios, including China, will challenge Hollywood, and the era of diversification of science fiction films is coming.
Second, the Hollywood film model.
1. Surprise and curiosity
Since May, science fiction movies have been inseparable from dazzling wonders. Space, religious myths, exotic adventures, historical legends, fairy tale world ... There are all kinds of wonders and fantasies in Mei's hundreds of short films. But for Mei, the theme of science fiction is not an extension of science, but a prop to present the landscape. Mei Li 'ai's interest is not to develop movies into "narrative art". What he values more is the ability of film as a tool to present wonders. As georges sadoul commented: "May Lee Ai often surprises people with stunts. It becomes an end in itself, not a means of expression ... Mei Liyi invented syllables for future movies, but he used inexplicable spells instead of sentences to express his meaning. "
Mei Li 'ai gave sci-fi movies an indelible magical birthmark. Throughout the Hollywood film industry, from 1968 A Space Odyssey 200 1 to 1993 Jurassic Park, from 1976 Star Wars to 1999. Countless breathtaking images hit the retina of the audience again and again. Countless times, the audience thought that the wonders had reached the extreme, but a few years later, bigger wonders always roared. Perhaps, if Hollywood science fiction films lose high-tech special effects packaging, they will lose the most wonderful form; Once stripped of this form, we will find that there is little content left-in fact, the content of Hollywood science fiction films lies in form, and form is content. Complete and complete spectacle bombing.
Spectacle is one of the essence of film. In the decades since the rise of science fiction movies, the nature of seeking novelty and beauty has driven people to flood into cinemas and put a lot of money into Hollywood pockets; Hollywood, on the other hand, has also seen the talent of collecting money from science fiction movies, which has strengthened and even alienated the spectacular features of science fiction movies again and again. When one day the audience snores at the most incredible wonder in the world, it is estimated that the sci-fi director of Hollywood Visual Department can only sprinkle powder in the air of the cinema, and there is no other way to stimulate the audience's nerves.
2. Science fiction
There is nothing really new under the sun, and the imagination of science fiction can't go beyond Plato's cognitive cave. The master's sci-fi movies are nothing more than the old three that have been passed down from generation to generation. The phenomenon of topic concentration in Hollywood science fiction films is particularly obvious, and the director is basically repeating the creativity of the screenwriter. Many far-reaching movies come from famous science fiction novels, or are completely adapted from original novels, or inspired by some famous plots, fragments and ideas of novels. Only the films adapted by Philip K. Dick are: blade runner by 198 1, Total Memory by 1990, Screamer by 1995, Invasion of Colony in 2002, Minority Report in 2003 and. The classic works of Asimov, a famous American science fiction writer, have also been put on a large number of screens, such as Strange Diving by 1966, Changing Man by 1999, Dusk in 2000 and I, Robot in 2004. This also reflects the limitations of science fiction movies from another side.
Unfortunately, the artistic level of science fiction movies is obviously not as good as that of science fiction. At present, the mainstream sci-fi movies are basically equivalent to the golden age of science fiction (30 to 60 years). Generally speaking, 90% of science fiction themes are concentrated on a few narrow topics, such as alien life, artificial life, space exploration, space-time anomalies, robots and so on. Looking at the sci-fi blockbusters in recent years, E.T., The Invaders of Mars, Aliens, Independence Day, The Fifth Element, Martians Around the Earth, Men in Black, etc. It's a movie about alien life. Jurassic Park, The Sixth Day and Godzilla are all films that reflect artificial life. Space Odyssey 200 1, Star Trek, Red Planet, Planet of the Apes and other films reflecting space adventures. Time machine, back to the future, space-time frequency, butterfly effect, etc. Reflect temporal and spatial anomalies; Robocop, Terminator, Mechanical Hero, Artificial Intelligence, I, Robot, etc. It reflects the theme of robots ... there are also some movies that combine several themes at the same time, such as Star Wars, which contains space adventures and alien elements, and The Matrix, which combines robots with time-space transformation and so on. But few works can jump out of this mold.
The reason is that, on the one hand, these sci-fi themes are more suitable for moving to the screen; On the other hand, from the commercial point of view, these topics have become symbols of mass consumption and box office summons, which are more likely to trigger people's expectations and enthusiasm for movies. If a movie is a little-known subject of space physics, then the director must add enough gimmicks to attract attention, such as accidentally falling into the edge of a black hole in Space Travel Adventure.
3. The characters flatten DOLCN.com.
Another feature of science fiction movies is the stereotyped tendency of characterization and performance, which rarely reveals and reflects on human nature in depth.
In most sci-fi movies, there is generally an all-around superhero, and most of the positions of this superhero are occupied by men, and women are only used as decorations and foil. For example, Neo in The Matrix, Jon in Minority Report, and Detective Spooner in I, Robot ... They are born with agility and wisdom that ordinary people can't match, and always turn the tide at critical moments. They have no deep personal motives, but they are born persecuted and rebels. They don't have complicated emotional struggles and convincing personalities ... but this has no effect on the box office income and audience recognition of science fiction films.
On the contrary, if a science fiction film uses a lot of pen and ink to reflect on human nature and portray characters, it is likely to be regarded as a low-cost third-rate science fiction film. For example, 1996' s Starship, the plot is very simple, with only one line stating the fighting process between human beings and giant insects. Its characters are basically simple-minded hot-blooded cannon fodder and scene elements, but the box office has earned a lot of money, and it has been listed as one of the classics of science fiction films by fans so far. In 2003, Starship 2 spent a lot of film to depict a counter-mainstream character. The characters are full, but the scene is dull. It turned out to be the worst work of the year.
Moreover, science fiction films even allow the protagonist to be absent and the main line is blurred. The classic sci-fi work "A Space Odyssey 200 1" is full of long-winded sci-fi scenes and detailed descriptions, and the relationship between characters and the description of personality are almost zero. Its main purpose is said to reveal the core mystery of the development of human science, full of mysticism and idealism philosophy.
Of course, the similar sci-fi movie mode has changed, and Hollywood is constantly enriching the characters' recipes. The black and white collocation of men in black, the racial platter of the matrix, the ET show of Star Wars ... the role change is more and more novel. However, the characters here are still the seasoning of the scene, and the protagonist is still a simple hero ... otherwise it is a drama that grabs the scene.
4. Science fiction jackets and aesthetic stereotypes
In fact, most of Hollywood's science fiction movies are just ordinary dramas in scientific cloaks. The director modified the contents of horror films, action films, disaster films and comedy films to make them look like science fiction films, and its essential narrative structure and element ratio continued other types of films.
For example, the combination of horror films and science fiction films-this combination mode is the oldest and most natural-human beings always have unreasonable fear of the unknown, and the essence of science is to explore the unknown. Since the first science fiction novel "Flecken Stein", all kinds of scientific monsters have captured the audience's attention with their ferocious faces. From the devil to the ghost, from the machine to the great ape ... In the years since the rise of UFO craze, alien species have taken its place and threatened the audience with more mysterious and strange faces. The box office blockbuster Alien series is a model of science fiction and horror.
Action movies packaged in science fiction are also common. Almost every sci-fi movie has a lot of fighting scenes, so that people often don't know whether some plots in the movie 007 are sci-fi movies or action movies. In fact, science fiction movies are basically inseparable from action elements. Perhaps the only difference between them is who serves whom-whether science fiction elements decorate action movies or action gimmicks serve science fiction movies ... In the final analysis, there is no difference between the two.
There are also science fiction movies that are closely combined with disaster films, such as The Day After Tomorrow and Collision of Heaven and Earth. Disasters that have never happened are often more attractive and influential than real disasters-the sudden arrival of the ice age, the accidental impact of comets ... Hollywood special effects make all natural and man-made disasters happen surprisingly accurately near Manhattan, new york.
There are other modes such as science fiction plus comedy, science fiction plus love, science fiction plus detective ... as long as the producer is willing, science fiction ingredients can be added to the bottom of the pot.
[Edit this paragraph] Comment on culture and art
1. Transfer and ambiguity of realistic concerns
From the day of its birth, fantasy movies have been far away from social themes with practical significance and from real social contradictions and human nature paradoxes. Just as there are scholars and fantasy enthusiasts in every era, under the background of science and technology in today's world, people also need some surreal dreams to pin their reverie in the highly tense competition for survival. Science fiction has undoubtedly replaced the social function of past myths, and movies have become a new spiritual exile. The illusion created by science fiction makes the audience temporarily divorced from the real world and get a moment of detachment and sublimation.
As Mary O 'Brien described the birth of science fiction movies:
"A new art was born, which is a tribal ceremony performed by one's own wizard in a dark room. It leads the audience into a state of relaxation and semi-sleep, just like the dream described by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream:
Sleep sometimes closes sad eyes,
Separate me from the people around me for a while. "
In a sense, the fuzziness of science fiction movies' attention to reality can divert people's dissatisfaction with reality, pin their ideals on the distant future, and reduce social instability to some extent.
In this era, there are few fields left for fantasy in the world, but human beings have the need to be detached from reality after all. In the world of science fiction films, people with a good scientific education are called the most hopeless people, and it is said that they have no faith. Under the hypnosis of science fiction, they fell asleep chewing gum and popcorn.
2. Sacred science fiction
These comments may be exaggerated, but science fiction films are not only entertainment, but also poetic and divine, which is more suitable for relaxing the current human subject. God is dead and science is still alive, so let science replace God and let new myths and legends save human souls.
Fourth, case analysis
References:
Mary O 'Brien, film performance
Science Fantasy in john baxter's Films
Zeng Yaonong's On Science Fiction Movies
Lu Chunyan's Understanding of Genre Films
Zhang Donglin Science Fiction Movies: Between Illusion and Ontology
The spectacular nature of Yuji's films
Dang Hao's Exploration of Genre Films
Li Ruiguang and Zhao Fang's Description of Different Narrative Structures of Hollywood Films