Author |Xie Minghong.
Edit|Li Chunhui.
Once again, it has been eloquently demonstrated that survival content is always in short supply in East Asia. This time, it is neither Japanese middle school students facing life and death challenges, nor Korean uncles who are scared and screaming, but iQIYI's first survival game animation "Abyss Game" attracted many circles of users to watch when it was launched: We also filmed "Battle Royale"?
As a wild fan of Shui Qiancheng, as early as the release of the finalized PV in "Abyss Game", Hard Candy Jun paid close attention to it with many original parties. After iQiyi's exclusive broadcast on the whole network on December 14, the plot restoration and movie-level visual effects can be said to have exceeded expectations. Unexpectedly, the first IP adaptation of Shui Qiancheng that Hard Candy Jun watched was neither "188 Men's Group" nor "Cambrian Again", but "Abyss Game", which is more ambitious in terms of world view. Back then, Shui Qiancheng transferred from Jinjiang to iQiyi, and it was really "my mother's love IP, and I will have far-reaching plans for it".
For survival content, we Chinese are actually quite creative and have the right to speak. In ancient times, there was "two peaches killing three soldiers", which is probably the earliest involution story. In such a long-term involuted cultural region, everyone is playing with heartbeat and luck. Through the never-ending adventure and reincarnation of "Infinite Stream", the audience can not only immerse themselves in the tense and exciting plot, but also further develop in-depth topics such as technology and civilization, human nature and society, and survival in the end times.
Sartre put forward the concept of "situational drama" when talking about existential drama, and he believed that human beings can only show the deepest truth of human nature in extreme environments. "Abyss Game" is obviously such a "situation drama", watching the situation is exciting enough, and watching the characters have an aftertaste. Its appearance not only fills the gap in the genre of Guoman,The audio-visual experience is even more amazing for fans of the original work,No wonder it can quickly get out of the circle and capture a large number of "unlimited stream" lovers。
And from the smooth launch of sequels such as "Shenlan Wonderland Peerless Pearl" and "There is Medicine", to the advent of the first annual "The Great Juggernaut", this year is a year for iQIYI Animation to make full efforts. What is the level of iQIYI animation development,What kind of shock will it bring to the Guoman market?Abyss Games provides the answer.
If you dare to shoot "Battle Royale", you will win
Abyss Game is produced by iQIYI, co-produced by iQIYI Kirin Studio and Orison (Beijing), with Chen Ji and David Wu as directors, and Chen Ken and Mei Changen as screenwriters. The story tells the story of the black market boxer Qiao Jingting who entered the virtual game world due to a traffic accident, and in the face of the oppression of the evil force Han Bin, Qiao Jingting formed an alliance with Shu Ai and others, both in order to uncover the truth of the "abyss game" and to return to reality.
After watching 3 episodes last week, Hard Candy Jun entered the pit vertically. The eye-catching thing about "Abyss Game" is, first of all, the scarcity and novelty of the survival theme. In the words of a web game advertisement, it's a new version of the ship that you haven't seen before.
Every key progress of Guoman,In addition to breakthroughs at the technical level,It depends more on the development of the theme level。 The cutting-edge theme has attracted much attention when "Abyss Game" released the finalized trailer, and the social platform Abyss Game Animation related *** volume exceeded 1200w, and after the broadcast, it ranked among the top 3 of the station's sci-fi animation list.
But the theme dividend alone is not enough to explain the success of "Abyss Game", and the quality of the content is the key to determining the reputation and influence of a work. Hard Candy Jun believes that "Abyss Game" not only has a stunning beginning, but also a steady unfolding:
On the one hand, although the setting of the animation is grand, it is well based on the plot to show the world view, so that the audience can quickly immerse themselves in the role of "player". In the first three episodes, Joe's two "deaths" show that he is the setting of the game's bugs, and the system sprite makes the game experience more intuitive.
The so-called official complaint is the most deadly, Qiao Jingting said to the system elves, "Do you have to be so shocked every time you appear?.""It's too much like players angry about game design. If you also find the "Xiao Shen" and "Xiao Yuan" floating in mid-air annoying, it means that "Abyss Game" has succeeded.
On the other hand, the main creative team of "Abyss Game" has carefully polished the character scenes and actions, bringing the audience a movie-level visual experience. The animated characters have strengthened their personalities on the basis of realism, such as Joe's shocking hairstyle and leather jacket show his straightforward and righteous personality, Shu Ai's hat is a reflection of his calm and independent personality, and Lin Yan, who is dressed in red, has a bit of a femme fatale.
In terms of scene design, "Abyss Game" highlights the mystery of another world, with both cyberpunk and wasteland sci-fi atmosphere, the gladiatorial arena is spectacular, the gray squirrel area is eerie, and the shape of the heart moon fox is like a tree but has a sense of technology. The animation is done with motion capture, and the car chase scene in the first episode and the fight between the protagonist and the gray squirrel in the third episode are realistic and dynamic. Between the rise and fall of the rabbit, Qiao Jingting completed the three moves of "kicking the crotch, inserting the eyes, and sealing the throat" to break the enemy. Hard Candy Jun wants to say that this handsome man was really pretended by him!
The details of the squirrel are also breathtaking. Its body is made of alloy skeletons, covered with living tissue, and its tail has a flexible metal knife, and even the mouse hair behind the alloy skull is delicate. It is said that this is just a low-level monster in the abyss game world, which makes people unconsciously look forward to the monsters that will be upgraded later.
Behind science fiction and the future is human nature
After watching "Abyss Game", the first feeling is mostly exciting and fun, and the second feeling is probably asking myself "how do I escape the system". * is the abyss, "where you are, is the abyss". The interweaving of virtual and reality, the coexistence of intrigue and game, is the biggest theme tension of survival game works.
The animation seems to tell the story of a virtual universe game, but what actually establishes an emotional connection with the audience is a metaphor for reality and the future. To take the simplest example, in the face of the attack of the gray squirrel and the stuck companion, do we choose to stay alone or live and die together?
"Abyss Game" tells the truth that water can carry a boat and capsize a boat, and human beings who want to use technology will eventually face the danger of being eaten by technology. In order to attract the "Tibetan elephants" that are latent in the human body, future human beings have established an "abyss game" to project human consciousness, in an attempt to attract the "hidden elephants" to parasitize and create what they think is a "god". However, the artificial intelligence "silkworm" has awakened its self-consciousness, and this transformation has turned the human god-making plan into a disguised destruction of the species.
Test number 1895, test failed. "The scene at the beginning of the second episode proves that the experiment to attract the parasitism of the "Tibetan elephant" has been carried out many times. In the face of the subject's spasms and various physical reactions on the verge of limits, the experimenter's cold expression and AI-controlled program made people shudder.
The leap in technology has given mankind the ambition to control everything, and even to imagine itself as the new creator. As everyone knows, for the mysterious universe and endless science, this is just a laughable illusion. Han Bin, the villain of "Abyss Game", is such a representative, he has become the "superior" of the novice village with his intrigue and lies, and he has high-pressure exploitation of the rest of the players. He puts his personal ambitions above everyone else, and he is in danger without knowing it.
"Abyss Game" "concretizes" the invisible class and exploitation in the social system, and people are no longer fresh lives, but ruthless points. The criterion of strength and weakness becomes unique, and that is the player's "level". Eliminate players of the same level to level up, get rid of high-level players to get high points, and punish players below your own level.
When the law of the jungle replaces morality and ethics, "Abyss Game" shows the "disorder" of a materialistic society. However, when there is a crack in the darkest place, the light is the brightest. In the cruel game world, the ugliness of human nature is whipped, and the spirit of passionate resistance and the pursuit of freedom also emerges, which becomes the spiritual power that nourishes the audience.
The alliance between Qiao Jingting and Shu Ai, Bai Er, Zou Yidao and others is not only due to opportunity, but also due to value orientation. Although they have very different personalities and different experiences, they always stick to the justice in their hearts in the face of evil oppression. They prove with their actions that if the system is not fair, then it is the system, not the players, who are at fault. People's happiness should be self-defined, not controlled by cold data.
In the world of "Abyss Game", science fiction is the foundation, human nature is flesh and bones, and blood is the soul. Behind every high-energy fight, it is given the highlight of the struggle.
Why did iQiyi make such a breakthrough?
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the cutting-edge theme, the breakthrough of "Abyss Game" in terms of texture and production is also remarkable.
In the pre-design and script analysis work, the main creative team boldly adopted AI technology. The facial detail capture of animated characters uses the most advanced MetaHuman expression control system in the industry. The dynamic beauty of the play is rehearsed in advance by professional martial arts and acting teachers. When users watch movies on iQIYI APP, they can get up to"4K ultra-high definition + high frame rate + high sound quality" cinema-level audio-visual experience, which makes science fiction content present through the mobile phone screen will not feel inferior.
In addition, "Abyss Game" is iQIYI's first attempt at the full UE process, that is, the final rendered animation content is completed in the UE, which is a subversion of the traditional animation production process. The engine technology used in "Abyss Game" has the advantages of high efficiency, high cost performance, and high quality, which may indicate the future development trend of the animation industry.
So, why did such a breakthrough appear on iQiyi?
First of all, this year is a year for iQIYI animation to speed up in an all-round way. At the iQIYI World Conference in May, Wang Xiaohui, chief content officer of iQIYI, made it clear that the platform should continue to increase investment in animation;Jin Wenjun, vice president of iQIYI and general manager of the animation division, further said that iQIYI's most emphasis on scarcity in the animation category is . 38 animation IPs and multiple animation studios also appeared.
Among the main creators of "Abyss Game", Chen Ji has directed classic animations such as "Longing for the Blue Sky" and "Good Dream Adventure", Wang Shan is the art director of the Netflix animated series "Resident Evil", and executive director Sun Yu has participated in the production of popular Chinese comics such as "Nezha's Demon Boy Descends" and "Spirit Cage", and the talent reserve and creative advantages can be seen.
Secondly, iQIYI has never given up technological exploration while deeply cultivating content, and has always been committed to following up cutting-edge technologies and using them for content production and user experience improvement.
In 2019, the American drama "The Mandalorian" brought fire to virtual shooting technology. iQIYI has become one of the earliest platforms to explore virtual shooting in China, and in 2020, it established the country's first virtual production base in Dachang, Hebei, and moved it to Hengdian in 2022, which was used for the filming of key self-made dramas such as "Fox Demon Little Red Lady: Moon Red Chapter" and "Cloud Feather". According to statistics, in the scenes of "Cloud Feather" using iQiyi virtual production, the shooting efficiency of the crew has increased by more than 30%, and the on-site execution staff has been reduced by one-third.
Virtual production scenes from Cloud Feathers.
This year is the year that AIGC has entered the public eye. iQIYI has also begun to explore the application of AI technology in core links such as content planning, development, production, and publicity.
For example, iQIYI's self-developed "Xingluo Plot Understanding Platform" relies on the ability of large language models and self-developed multi-modal understanding technology, which can understand and refine long**content, automatically generate plot clips and highlights, and realize AIGC's automatic batch production of diversified **and**content such as strip splitting, commentary, and mixed editing, making it possible to personalize content recommendations and one-click direct access to famous scenes.
In the field of Guoman,iQiyi also uses AIThe technology to improve the creative process,It is expected to shorten the production cycle of the original character painting from the original 1-2 weeks to 1 day,Help solve production capacity,This is a long-term pain point in the Guoman industry。
Therefore, the emergence of "Abyss Game" is not accidental, but another successful practice of iQIYI's entire strategy. And don't forget, this IP was born after Shui Qiancheng became the chief architect of iQIYI Literature, and its development can be imagined not to be isolated, but to be carried out interlocking in iQIYI's content ecological chain. Burdened with the heavy responsibility of accumulating heat and reputation for other links, it goes without saying that animation has received attention.
All in all, not only the breakthrough of the theme, but also the upgrading and iteration of the content texture, the new attempt of the production process, and the front and back scenes of the birth of "Abyss Game" have provided valuable experience for the subsequent development of similar projects. As an innovator in the industry, iQIYI is once again ahead of the curve. If this is a survival game, this is probably the only way to have the last laugh.