Sun Xian, his founder Wang Jiantao and Hui Yu Dou are from Weihai, and now they work for Huancui District Film Company. Their resumes are very simple: Sun Xian studied oil painting at Qufu Normal University, became an ordinary employee of a film company after graduation, and later founded a cultural communication company; Wang Jiantao once worked as a coach driver and repairman in an overhaul factory. After studying photography in Jinan Radio and Television College for two years, he opened a small photo studio. Hui Yu worked as an artist with Sun Xianxue in the film company ... In this way, several ordinary Weihai people happened to make a film. ...
Sun Xian loved birds since he was a child, and bird photography has been his favorite for many years. Weihai has beautiful Swan Lake, islands inhabited by endangered birds, yellow-billed egrets and a large group of black-tailed gulls, and has unique photographic resources. So he decided to aim the camera at these beautiful elves. In May, 2002, Sun Xian and his family walked into the bird kingdom, which was both strange and kind to them, with the photographic equipment they bought at their own expense. After a long time, Sun Xian has accumulated more and more materials. Later, several documentaries were edited one after another. Among them, the documentary "Winter of Old Yuan" won the "Asian Production Award" in the nature and environment category of Sichuan International Television Festival and won the "Golden Panda" trophy. Other winners are from world-renowned TV stations.
In 2004, Sun Xian had 200 hours of bird photography materials, which was the result of their years of efforts. Initially, Sun Xian wanted to make a documentary about birds for more than ten minutes. However, such a rich material made him feel a bit difficult to choose. Just then, Yuan, a famous film playwright, read the materials and thought that a movie with the theme of birds could be edited. Sun Xianxin accepted the proposal.
This repositioning means that Sun Xian has to abandon all the "standard definition" materials he shot before, and shoot "high definition" materials instead. At the same time, he has to add many artistic elements such as dramatic conflicts to the film. Although they were psychologically prepared at that time, what Sun Xian did not expect in the following days was that the difficulties and challenges they encountered were so great.
Take root in island insurance and seek "shooting"
In April 2005, Sun Xian and others began to shoot "high-definition" materials, and embarked on a road full of hardships. The main shooting location of "A Godsend Opportunity" is Hailu Island in Weihai. Because most birds nest on cliffs or mountain peaks, Sun Xian and others have to climb a vertical cliff more than 60 meters high every time they shoot, and they have to carry dozens of kilograms of photographic equipment. The rocks are severely weathered, so they should be careful every step. The shooting time of Sun Xian is from the end of April to the beginning of August every year. There is a big temperature difference on the island, so you have to wear down jackets in early May. As soon as June entered, the temperature rose sharply, and the surface temperature was close to 40℃. Everyone's face will be peeled off three times in a summer. ...
In the days on the island, it is difficult to eat a hot meal and dry food almost every day. Because of this, several people often have stomachaches; Once, because of the weather, the boat was blocked, so they had no food and had to find wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. Latency is the most effective way to shoot wild animals, but because there are relatively few hidden objects on the island, they can only stick to trying not to move, try to reduce the action of standing and sitting, and sometimes stay at one point for a day. In summer, the heat emitted by the rocks on the island is unbearable, and sitting on it is like sitting on a steamer. In addition, mosquitoes and flying insects called "bites" on the island will harass them from time to time. The mouths of these flying insects can penetrate camouflage uniforms, and there are big red and hard pimples everywhere where they bite, which makes people fidget. With difficulties comes danger. In fact, every time they climb up and down a vertical cliff, it is a dangerous thing. If the stone under their feet is a little loose, they will be surprised and sweat.
The weather on the island is changeable. Once, Sun Xian went to the main peak with them. Unexpectedly, at noon, with the thunder and lightning, it rained heavily. At first, they were very excited, because only the shots taken in the rain felt in place. But after shooting for a while, they suddenly realized the problem of lightning-the camera in the wild is very easy to "provoke" lightning when working. Just then, there was a flash of fire on the nearby sea and a thunder sounded. They felt the rocks shaking under their feet ... they immediately called it a day, when lightning cut through the rain curtain one by one, as if to tear the whole island apart. Thinking of the scene at that time, they were still a little scared.
Sun Xian and others have been to several islands, such as the Snake Island in Dalian, to meet the needs of filming. On one occasion, Wang Jiantao was waiting for the scene that a bird hatched. In the meantime, a monster about 30 cm long came at him on a nearby blade of grass. This monster has four snake heads and a lizard's foot. Fortunately, he escaped in time. Afterwards, the old fisherman told them that the local people called it "golden-legged grasshopper", which was highly toxic. The girl Hui Yu was almost bitten by a poisonous snake during the filming. The hard shooting environment left them scarred. After returning to the island, three lumbar vertebrae were seriously dislocated, so they had to rely on lumbar support to support their bodies and insisted on shooting. Wang Jiantao's right leg was scratched by a stone on the edge of the cliff on the island, and bones were exposed in the depth of the wound ... Maybe the birds were moved by their persistence. In the last three years of filming on the island, they achieved zero-distance contact with birds, and birds would land on their cameras from time to time and communicate with them silently. In Sun Xian's view, this is a special harvest.
Every time we shoot, Sun Xian and the three of them will be divided into three seats, each occupying a corner. Over time, people in the industry gave them a nickname: tripod. Triangle is the most stable structure. Sun Xian and the three of them understand each other, support each other and never give up, forming the most stable team. As a result, the tripod became deeper and more stable on the island. ...
Lack of funds makes people "sleepy"
Making movies requires money. But Sun Xian and others have no money. Therefore, God has been in a state of malnutrition. When the "Golden panda award" was awarded, Sun Xian could not go to Sichuan to receive the prize because he could not afford the travelling expenses. When Sun Xian's documentary "Mr Swan" became the premiere of the Croatian International Documentary Festival, Sun Xian still couldn't go because he didn't have the travel expenses.
On June 24th, 2008, at 65438, when Sun Xian and others got the film shooting license approved by the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, their funds had dried up and they were completely desperate. In March of that year, Shandong Shengquan Group decided to invest money, which brought a great turn for the post-production of the film. However, in June 5438+February of that year, funds were tight again, and the crew who had just entered the editing stage in Beijing had no choice but to stop working again.
June 5438+1October 65438+May, 2009, the Spring Festival is approaching, and the crew is on holiday. When all the equipment was loaded into the car, no one spoke. Sun Xian's heart is like an overturned cruet, and all kinds of smells come to mind. After that, Sun Xian sat alone in an empty room smoking, and there was no sound in the room. The reason why he didn't go home with everyone was to see if he could find another way of life in Beijing ... with its twists and turns. In March 2009, Weihai Zenghong Fishing Gear Co., Ltd. invested in filming. Sun Xian and others started full speed again. At the end of March, the rough cutting of the film was completed. On the same day, Sun Xian took everyone out for a buffet for the first time. Looking at this big guy who suddenly had a big appetite, Sun Xian felt very guilty and guilty.
On June 5438+1October 65438+March 2009, the film was granted a film release license by the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and was recognized as "the first original ecological bird feature film in China" by the Film Bureau. On the same day, Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd. took photos of "Heaven-sent", drew up investment funds and started the preparatory work before the film was released. In addition to the active support of these enterprises, the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee and the Propaganda Department of Huancui District Committee also gave strong support. An old friend, Shan Bin, once threw a big bag of cash on Sun Xian's desk and turned away without waiting for Sun Xian to say a kind word. After that, several students generously helped each other. Sun Xian knows the weight of these feelings, and he sincerely regrets that "God-given" has saved "feelings and trust".
Life is hard, thanks to "love"
With the national release of Godsend approaching, the frequency of Sun Xian saying "Godsend Good Luck" is obviously high. Indeed, a godsend is lucky, and so is Sun Xian. After the film editing work, other work will be carried out in an all-round way, and stunt production, music creation, dynamic effect production and theme song must be completed within the specified time.
In the following days, I contacted many artists, such as symphony composer Gan Lin, composer, young director, editor, sound engineer Long, and sincere dedication Xu and TanJing, who all contributed to this film. Sun Xian said frankly that after countless ups and downs, many previous sorrows have faded away, and gratitude is the most deposited in the bottom of my heart. Sun Xian couldn't forget Mr. Ke Wen Hui, a famous writer and art critic. He dragged him home, talked with him, cheered him up and made the bowl of corn paste for him. Sun Xian can't forget the famous seal cutting and the words inscribed by Mr. Wu Yiren, a master of calligraphy. Sun Xian can't forget 70-year-old Cong Desheng, who accompanied him to Beijing despite his illness. After he came back, he was admitted to the hospital ... Sun Xian moved all his words to Hua Song: Thank you for your love. In recent years, many people have asked Sun Xian: What do you want to do with these? "If for nothing else, because" Godsend "has experienced too many hardships, but it has been brave to live. I just want to tell a story about growing up. I want to tell more people the story I saw in the bird world. Life is equal and life has dignity. Even every grass and tree should be respected. This is my understanding of nature and birds for many years. " Sun Xianru said.
"Godsend" tells the story of a little black-tailed gull who lost all his relatives, struggled with his fate alone and grew up through hardships. It can be said that this is also an inspirational film. Sun Xian hopes that this will give all the children in adversity a little encouragement, so that they can stand up strongly and eventually become the favored ones! This is what he wrote in the theme song "path to god" of this film: A road extends to the ends of the earth, a heart embraces the world, life shines after the storm, and the road to the end is path to god.