A studio equipped with digital technology painted the space capsule scene in Chongqing’s Yongchuan district in September. The district has introduced policies to establish an ecosystem for the film and television industry, with the hope of becoming a high-tech film hub. (Jia Tianyong/China News Service)
Home to China’s largest digital technology film studio, which uses virtual filming scenes throughout the filming process, Chongqing’s Yongchuan District aims to become a high-tech production base for movies and TV shows.
“Film technology is a new field of economic development in our country, and we are building a high-tech film city in western China,” said Zhang Zhikui, chairman of the Yongchuan City Party.
A megacity with more than 32 million permanent residents, Chongqing is a popular destination for film shoots with its unique landscape, long history, distinct culture and futuristic skyscrapers. According to local authorities, the southwestern municipality attracts more than 300 film crews a year.
Zhang said that Yongcheon, with its favorable geographical location, beautiful natural scenery, abundant local talent and comprehensive film production services, is an ideal location for film production.
The district government has established a 1 billion yuan ($143 million) fund for the development of digital cultural and creative industries and introduced a series of policies to help establish the film and television industry ecosystem.
Nagakawa Technology Studio, launched last year, consists of three 3,000 square meter virtual photography studios and one 1,000 square meter motion capture studio, and can accommodate 1,000 people at a time. According to local authorities, it will feature Asia’s largest LED virtual shooting screen with an arc length of 42 meters and a height of 7 meters, providing 800 square meters of virtual shooting space.
Last year, the studio shot 12 films.
AI-generated content has advanced significantly in recent years and is rapidly being applied to various aspects of film production, production, management, and analysis.
Lu Qi, president of Dawa (Chongqing) Imaging Technology, said, “The use of LED virtual shooting greatly improves the efficiency of film production.”
He said that in the early stages of production, staff only need to send a small team to the studio to conduct tests. The company then creates digital scenery, creates a shooting plan, and conducts trial shots based on the staff’s script and art design. The film crew then organizes the shoot in large groups, greatly streamlining the filming process and reducing labor costs.
Based in Yongchuan City in 2018, Dawa is China’s first company to integrate film, television, animation and game production with technologies such as virtual reality, intelligent imaging and big data. In recent years, with strong support from local governments, it has become a national leader in digital video content production.
To improve services for film crews, the Yongcheon City government last year established a one-stop service center that allows film studios to, among other services, source customization and props, find accommodations for film crews and locations for scene research. supported.
Zhang Yucheng, president of Yongchuan Sanwa Huibi Media, which operates the center, said, “We hope that the film staff will come here with their scripts and take home the movies they produced.”
In June, the first China Chongqing Science and Technology Film Week was held in the area, featuring cutting-edge film technology. During the event, Italy’s Terra di Siena International Film Festival signed an agreement with the local government to establish a sister festival partnership with China’s Chongqing Science and Technology Film Week.
