18 | Thursday, October 17, 2019 LIFE CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Generating a new image

Ang Lee’s film Gemini Man features a look young.” Smith says Lee was one of the CGI rendering of Will Smith that marks a directors on his “yes” list. “I didn’t even know what the departure from old cinematographic project was, and I said, ‘Yes!’” he methods, Zhang Kun and Xu Fan report. says in Shanghai. Smith says it was difficult to play two versions of himself. scar­winning director “Once you get some experience, Ang Lee introduced the it is hard to not know, and create most expensive “actor” in naivety and innocence,” he says. his new film, Gemini Smith didn’t see his digital OMan, which will be released in Chi­ clone until eight months after nese cinemas nationwide on Friday. shooting, he says. Gemini Man tells the story of a “(It was) shocking and a little past­his­prime assassin, played by bit scary to see a shot of my young­ US actor Will Smith, who becomes er self,” he recalls. the target of his younger clone. Lee has been a filmmaker for Lee shot the film in 4K and 3D over three decades, but he says he at 120 frames per second. still has much to learn. The greatest challenge was the He says making Gemini Man was computer­generated rendering of like going back in time to study Junior, the 23­year­old clone of new cinematography as someone Smith’s 51­year­old character. willing to do what it takes to devel­ The 65­year­old Chinese Ameri­ op filmmaking. can director says it took two years One limitation of the techniques of hard work by hundreds of peo­ used in the film is that only 30 ple to create the character, which screens installed with the Cinity “cost two or three times” more system, developed by Chinese than Smith, the actual actor. company Huaxia Film Distribu­ Lee is determined to use tech­ tion, can release the original 3D, nology to push new boundaries in 120­frame version. The number is filmmaking. scheduled to increase to nearly 50 His Oscar­winning film Life of Pi by the end of October and around featured a CGI tiger, inspiring 100 by the end of 2019. him to create a human CGI char­ The current number may seem acter, which is more complicated. small compared with the 65,000 Smith has stayed in shape screens in urban China. throughout his two­decade But it’s a leap from 2016, when career. But people change in sub­ only two cinemas — in Beijing and tle ways over time, from how they Shanghai, respectively — could walk to their facial muscles, Lee show the 120­frame­per­second says. Clockwise from top: Will Smith version of Lee’s first high­frame­ Lee studied many photographs shows off a gift from fans at a rate film, Billy Lynn’s Long Half­ and videos of Smith. He blew up news conference to promote time Walk. the images by 6,000 times to director Ang Lee’s film Gemini Lee reveals he’s considering Top: A still image of director observe the minute details of his Man in Shanghai on Monday; making a Chinese­language film Ang Lee’s new film Gemini Man, appearance. Smith, producer Jerry Bruck­ and that scriptwriting has already to be released in Chinese cine­ Lee said at a news conference heimer and Lee pose for a photo started. mas nationwide on Friday. before the film’s Shanghai pre­ at the event; Lee (third from left) “Chinese culture makes me up. I Second, third and fourth from miere on Monday that he may and guests at the film’s premiere can’t hide that, even when shoot­ top: Lee, Will Smith and other know Smith’s face “better than his in Beijing on Saturday; Lee ing Western stories,” Li said during crew members work on the birth mother”. arrives at the premiere in the film’s Beijing premiere screen­ filming set. “People perceive human faces Shanghai. ing on Saturday. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY in strange ways,” Lee says. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY “So, I have a complicated feeling “The lighting, the circumstan­ — excited, yet a bit shy — to return ces … lots of elements are to my hometown … I’m expecting involved. Sometimes, even the Gemini Man will have a good per­ imagery from his early films shown every second. That, in turn, “We live in a digital age, and are high frame­rated. You are not formance in China.” wasn’t convincing enough.” means higher demand for creative young people today have sharp able to create convincing imagery Shooting at a high frame rate ideas, strategies and performan­ eyes,” he says. with traditional 24­frames­per­ Contact the writers at also means more information is ces. “Even the video games they play second shooting or just makeup to [email protected] Wave of national pride prompts record box­office haul

By XU FAN advance,” says the 39­year­old who try, 39 percent for The Captain and film that charts seven stories about Teaming up with major service [email protected] lives in east Beijing. 13.9 percent for The Climbers respec­ ordinary people caught up in histor­ providers such as e­commerce site Joining millions of other Chinese tively. ic moments in time. Taobao, food delivery app Eleme and When high school teacher Pan who chose the cinema as part of The three winners all Raking in 2.65 billion yuan and Beijing­based critic Tan Fei agrees online payment platform Alipay, Ali­ Xiaona read about a film being shot their festive entertainment, Pan also tell excellent stories still riding a wave of success to top that the success of these patriotic baba managed to generate 210 mil­ about the legendary story of Sich­ bought tickets to join her parents China’s daily box­office charts, My films is also related to an enhanced lion “clicks” related to My People, My uan Airlines pilot Liu Chuanjian last and 11­year­old daughter in watch­ through well­ People, My Country earned over sense of national pride thanks to Country ahead of its release, accord­ year, it immediately caught her ing My People, My Country, the developed characters. three times as much as Project China’s rapid development, which ing to a report by Taopiaopiao, Aliba­ attention. highest­grossing film of this year’s Gutenberg, the highest­grossing film has aroused an interest in some of ba’s online ticketing service. Liu made a miraculous emergen­ weeklong National Day holiday. If all Chinese films for the same period last year. the more glorious moments from “A person’s online shopping habits cy landing after a section of the cock­ “I saw many elderly couples in the could attain these For most industry analysts, this the country’s history. make it possible for big data technol­ pit windshields shattered at an theater. Some of them were even heights, our industry year’s October holiday was seen as “I actually saw some Chinese peo­ ogy to ‘calculate’ what kind of movies altitude of almost 10,000 meters, singing along to the theme song Me one of the most lucrative box­office ple wave national flags when they you like,” says Sha. making the veteran captain some­ and My Motherland as the credits insiders would be seasons since 2014, becoming a “bat­ were watching My People, My Coun­ So when the internet giants start what of the Chinese answer to Ches­ rolled,” says Pan. very optimistic about tlefield” for big­budget films looking try in a European cinema,” says Tan. to make forays into the film market, ley “Sully” Sullenberger, the heroic Due to the festive atmosphere as to hit gold. Internet giants entered the film they offer more efficient ways of pilot featured in Miracle on the Hud­ China celebrated its 70th anniversa­ the future.” But what sets this year’s winners industry five years ago, and are now hooking up with potential theater­ son. ry, 116 million tickets were sold dur­ Wang Hailin, apart from previous seasonal offer­ focusing more on promoting festive goers, adds Sha. So when tickets for the film The ing the holiday, the highest amount veteran scriptwriter ings is that all three films received blockbusters. But even with these nontradition­ Captain went on sale in early Sep­ for a National Day box­office season positive reviews online, demonstrat­ Sha Dan, a researcher with the al means in film promotion, some tember, Pan planned to book three on record, according to a report by ing how far domestic films have China Film Archive, says modern insiders say they believe it’s still the tickets for her family two days ahead Beacon, Alibaba’s movie data tracker. bagged a whopping box­office haul improved, says Yin Hong, deputy society’s reliance on smartphones quality of the product that decides of the opening day, which was Sept Boosted by the two blockbusters of 4.38 billion yuan ($617.8 million), chairman of the China Film Associa­ and the internet has helped them its popularity. 30. and The Climbers, a film about two surging 130 percent year­on­year tion and a professor at Tsinghua Uni­ market these seasonal blockbusters. “The three winners all tell excel­ It came as a surprise to Pan, a film separate ascents of Qomolangma by and setting a record for Chinese cin­ versity. My People, My Country has drawn lent stories through well­developed buff who regularly visits the cinema, Chinese mountaineers in 1960 and ema for the period. He also says Chinese filmmakers investment from 50 film companies, characters. If all Chinese films could when she saw that more than 90 per­ 1975, the holiday week achieved new The three films accounted for have found an effective way to tell including internet giants Alibaba attain these heights, our industry cent of the seats were already sold heights both in terms of box­office nearly 97 percent of all takings dur­ grandly themed stories, as witnessed and Tencent, while other two films — insiders would be very optimistic out. “It’s usually easy to purchase a takings and admissions. ing the National Day holiday week — in the scale and scope of the antho­ The Captain and The Climbers — about the future,” says Wang Hailin, good seat just a few hours in Between Oct 1 and 7, China 43.8 percent to My People, My Coun­ logical My People, My Country, a both cited Alibaba as an investor. a veteran scriptwriter.

From left: Scenes from the three most popular films shown during the weeklong National Day holiday in China — My People, My Country, The Captain and The Climbers. China’s box­office haul set a record for Chinese cinema over Oct 1­7. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY