18 | Thursday, July 4, 2019 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE US students showcase China through documentary
SAN FRANCISCO — A field trip to an ancient Chinese town has changed the stereotyped impression of China held by a group of Ameri can students and gave them an Left: Actor Chen Peisi, who again voices the rabbit Snowball in the upcoming animation sequel The Secret Life of Pets 2, signs posters for fans at a Beijing promotional event. opportunity to better understand Right: A still image features Snowball (left) and Daisy, respectively voiced by Chen and actress Ma Li in the film. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY the country, a veteran film director said on Sunday. Last year, a group of 18 students from the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University made a lifechanging, threeweek journey to Huizhou in eastern China’s Local voices for foreign films Anhui province, to shoot a docu mentary about China using infor mation they collected locally, says Domestic celebrities can enhance the viewing experience when they make characters in overseas Duffy Wang, a film director and the president of San Francisco animations sound local, but things can sometimes go wrong, Xu Fan reports. based TV company D3 Produc tions. t a giant venue at Bei sion evoked mixed reviews online. He says the students’ first trip to jing’s 751 Park, a stage One netizen on Douban said China quickly got rid of some of was decorated like a rep that the 29yearold Jing’s dubbing the misconceptions they previous lica of an apartment for Haku — a deity with the avatar ly held, such as China being a building in New York.A of a teenage boy in the film — backward or an unsafe country, Then, a few minutes after the sounded “much older” than the which is sometimes suggested by event host appeared from the door, character, which became a distrac US media reports. three windows opened, with come tion that affected the viewing expe “The US media is really mislead dian Chen Peisi, actor Feng Shao rience. ing and onesided when it comes feng and Taiwan singeractress Speaking about the trend for to many of their reports about Chi Amber Kuo appearing from them. introducing local voiceovers into na,” Wang says based on the feed Each of the guests then hugged a foreign films, a veteran of the busi back he got from the students furry creature resembling the ani ness, Cao Xiaohui, the deputy head following the trip. mal characters they perform in the of the animation institute at the The SFSU students visited Huiz voiceovers for the upcoming Hol Beijing Film Academy, says voice hou, explored art studios, opera lywood animation sequel The overs are an important way to cre houses and health centers, and Secret Life of Pets 2, which will ate ambience and develop learned about the ancient culture open across the Chinese mainland characters. of tea drinking there. on Friday. “And the best way to do a voice In the film, Chen is the voice of over is to bring all the artists the conceited rabbit Snowball, together on the set. So, when one is while Feng dubs the canine protag speaking his lines, he can perform Unlike what I was onist Max, and Kuo lends her voice much better and with natural reac to Gidget, a white Pomeranian. tions if the others playing opposite told beforehand that As well as the three celebrities, him are there.” some people in China the film also features renowned But as stars usually have tight director Feng Xiaogang and schedules, it’s hard to bring them might be rude or actress Ma Li, who lend their voi all together at the same time and unwelcoming to ces to two of the major animal place. characters in the Mandarin ver “So, you can see from most pro foreigners, I found sion. motional clips stars wear headsets that it was not true. At a news conference held in the and read from a copy of a script Chinese capital on June 25, the alone in a soundrecording studio. Everyone was super stars tried to strike a chord with And, for those who are not profes nice and wanted to local audiences through sharing sional enough, it’s easy for the talk to us.” personal stories about raising pets. process to become an exercise in Meanwhile, latest data from the linereading rather than a voice Joe Barnett, student at the boxoffice tracker Maoyan showed over performance,” says Cao. School of Cinema of San that the Universal Pictures and Also, because some stars have Francisco State University Illumination Entertainment pro strong accents, it can sometimes duction has topped the presale sound weird, he says, to hear car They also delved deep into the boxoffice charts for animation toon characters speak like that in a lives of families of migrant work features as of Friday. standard Mandarin version, he ers who move to other parts of Chi Comments on review aggregator adds. na to make a better living while Douban, an important reference Li Baochuan, a researcher of ani leaving behind their young chil point for fans to select their week mation history at Hangzhou Nor dren with the grandparents. end viewing, also suggested that mal University, echoes Cao’s views The students then produced a the film had drawn the highest on the need for good voiceover twohour, fourpart documentary number of potential theatergoers work when he recalls that the 1999 about the locals. It featured a man for its opening day. animation Lotus Lantern gained working hard to hold onto his fam For most industry observers, the Top: Chen Peisi (second from left), actress Amber Kuo (third from left) and actor Feng Shaofeng (first huge success, partly thanks to its ilyinherited wonton noodle busi film typifies the latest efforts by from right) promote The Secret Life of Pets 2, which cast them in voiceover roles for the Mandarin starstudded voiceover cast of ness; an eighthgeneration foreign animation productions to version, in Beijing on June 25. Above: A still image of Spirited Away, a Japanese animated film direct more than 10 celebrities, including craftsman making feng shui com grab attention in China, the ed by Hayao Miyazaki. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Jiang Wen, Chen Peisi and Zhu passes and a family of leftbehind world’s secondlargest movie mar Shimao. children who defy the odds to stay ket. subtitles, the Mandarin version is Oscar and a Berlin International version, there was a Mandarin ver “It became a gamechanger that healthy both physically and men Jiang Yong, a Beijingbased ana the top option for families with Film Festival Golden Bear — also sion with an allstar cast compris ushered in a wave of bigbudget tally while living with their grand lyst, says that using Chinese celeb young children,” adds Jiang. used domestic celebrities to boost ing actresses Zhou Dongyu, Wang animations that started to use parents. rities for the Mandarin voiceovers But while stars can boost ticket its popularity. Lin, actors Jing Boran and Peng celebrities to enhance the films. The documentary was screened is a pivotal part of the local mar sales, some of them have also The film, which was originally Yuchang, and director Tian Zhu And veteran actors, who have at the San Francisco Public keting strategy for imported ani sparked controversy, mostly due to produced in 2001, had not been angzhuang. stage performance experience, Library on Saturday. mation films. skepticism surrounding their released on the Chinese mainland The film dominated China’s box have proved that they can do a bet Ernie Calderon, one of the old “And, despite the fact that most inadequate voiceover techniques. before its June 21 opening. office for a week until it was ter job.” est members of the student group, adult viewers, especially those in In late June, auteur Hayao Miya To ensure the film’s success, the knocked down by Marvel’s Spider says he learned a lot from his Chi their 20s or 30s, are used to watch zaki’s Spirited Away — the first distributors made sure that, in Man: Far from Home. Contact the writer at na trip, particularly how to adapt ing native language originals with Japanese animation to win an addition to its original Japanese Meanwhile, the Mandarin ver [email protected] to other people and deal with problems that can pop up. “You are in a foreign land, you don’t know the language, you don’t know the culture, you don’t HK director honored at movie festival know the rules. So you have to adapt to work on your ideas while working around problems,” he By HONG XIAO in New York Guangdong province, Yuen was a industry for more than 50 years, from the Hong Kong martial arts, says. [email protected] child when he started learning Yuen has produced countless clas drama and comedy genres are “That’s a very important lesson martial arts from his father, Yuen sic action movies from Hong Kong being screened as part of the festi that I think I will take away for the In recognition of his substantial Siutien, the first kung fu choreog to Hollywood. val which runs from June 28 to rest of my film career,” says Calde contribution to contemporary rapher in the Hong Kong movie Speaking at the awards ceremo July 14. ron, who graduated from the SFSU kung fu and action movies, Hong industry and a prominent actor. ny, director of the Hong Kong Eco According to Chu, her office has and is pursuing his master’s Kong choreographer and director Starting his film career in the nomic and Trade Office in New participated in the film festival for degree and PhD at the University Yuen Wooping was honored with 1960s in Hong Kong, Yuen worked York, Joanne Chu, praised Yuen 11 consecutive years to promote of California, Santa Cruz. the Star Asia Lifetime Achieve as an actor and stuntman for for his tremendous contribution Hong Kong film and showcase its Joe Barnett, another member of ment Award at the ongoing 18th years. to the development of Hong Kong homegrown talent to audiences in the student group and a director of New York Asian Film Festival. In 1978, he made his directorial action cinema, and for bringing the United States. one of the four parts of the docu At a news conference on Mon debut with Snake in the Eagle’s the unique genre of Hong Kong Other movies featured in the mentary, says that all the stereo day at the Lincoln Center in New Shadow, followed by Drunken kung fu movies to the world’s Hong Kong Panorama film series types he had about China were York, Yuen said that passion had Master, two films that not only screens. this year include the international dispelled right away after he land brought him this far. launched the career of interna Following the awards presenta premiere of The Attorney and the ed in Beijing and Shanghai. “You can never carry on with tional star Jackie Chan, but also tion on Monday night, Yuen’s lat North American premieres of The Hong Kong action choreogra “Unlike what I was told before something for decades if you are created the kung fu comedy genre. est work, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, Fatal Raid, See You Tomorrow and pher and director Yuen Woo hand that some people in China not interested in it,” he says. According to Asian Movie Pulse, was screened as one of 10 films at Missbehaviour. ping is presented with the Star might be rude or unwelcoming to To Western audiences, Yuen is Yuen’s filmography is “a litany of Hong Kong Panorama, a program Chu says that the Hong Kong spe Asia Lifetime Achievement foreigners, I found that it was not best known for his work on The kung fu movie classics marked by produced by the NYAFF and sup cial administrative government Award at the 18th New York true. Everyone was super nice and Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden breathtaking innovations in fight ported by the HKETONY. will remain committed to support Asian Film Festival on Monday wanted to talk to us,” he says. Dragon and the Kill Bill movies. choreography and genre stylings”. To showcase the many faces of ing the longterm development of at the Lincoln Center. Born in 1945 in Guangzhou, Having worked in the film Hong Kong cinema, the 10 films the region’s film industry. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY XINHUA