A Donglin
A Donglin, Chairman of Zhouren (Beijing) Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., an early CG practitioner in China, has been engaged in film and television special effects, architectural decoration design, and landscape for many years Design, animation and other work are committed to promoting the development of China's film special effects industry.
Chinese name: A Donglin
Nationality: Chinese
Ethnicity: Mongolian
Birthplace: Qinghai Province
Occupation: Special effects director, painter, architect, calligrapher
Graduation institution: Department of Animation, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Architecture and Interior and Exterior Design, Northwest University for Nationalities
Main achievements : Chairman of Zhouren (Beijing) Culture Communication Co., Ltd.
Member of the Interior Design Branch of the Chinese Institute of Architects
Representative works: "Fireworks in the Day" and "Hello!" "Mr. Tree", "Warring States", "Twin Cities Plan", "Huge Deal", "Battle of Shama Town", "No Such Person"
Personal Profile
Born in 1973, A native of Ledu County, Qinghai Province, Mongolian, now living in Beijing. An early CG practitioner in China, he has been engaged in film and television special effects, architectural decoration design, landscape design, animation, etc. for many years. He studied architecture and interior and exterior design at Northwest University for Nationalities and animation department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 2001, he founded Zhouren (Beijing) Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. and served as the visual effects director of many film and television dramas.
Main Achievements
Film visual effects direction
"Fireworks in the Day", "Twin Cities", "Huge Deal", "Hello! Mr. Tree" " Warring States", "Watermark Street", "Battle of Shama Town", "No Such Person", "Night Train", "Urban Fairy Tales", "War on the Other Side", "Phoenix", "The Legend of Shrimp Ball", "Halang Fire", "Playing Cool Youth", etc. .
In terms of calligraphy and painting
Influenced by his father, he studied calligraphy and painting since he was a child, and studied stele and seal carving. When he was 14 years old, he stood out in the Qinghai Province Youth Painting and Calligraphy Competition and won an honor. He has titled titles for many film and television dramas and books, such as: "Warring States", "The Legend of Shrimp Ball", "Unforgettable", "Phoenix", "Fifteen Strings", etc. His paintings are mainly oil paintings and watercolors. His representative works include "Prayer", "Pottery Jar", "City of Nature", "One Corner", "Balcony", etc. He also draws a large number of movie script illustrations.
Architecture and interior design
Interior design of Dingzhou Hebei Guohua Power Plant, interior renovation project of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China, architectural and interior design of China's economic and commercial offices in Mexico, Myanmar, and Cote d'Ivoire, etc.
The road of art
A Donglin’s 20-year art road: architecture, animation, and special effects are comprehensive
As a director of Zhouren (Beijing) Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. The founder, A Donglin, has witnessed the ups and downs of the domestic special effects industry. The relatively harsh creative environment and the creative attitude of striving for excellence have made the new generation of directors have higher requirements for the comprehensive capabilities of the special effects team. A Donglin, who has 20 years of experience in the industry, is familiar with the laws of this change. As the saying goes, "Hundreds of boats compete with each other, and they ride the wind and waves and sail far away." From "Hello! Mr. Tree" to "Battle of Shama Town", from "Warring States" to "Daytime Fireworks", he seems to be leisurely and contented, casting his net everywhere, In fact, it adapts to local conditions and becomes its own brand.
A Donglin grew up in Qinghai, where his father was a very famous calligrapher and painter. Influenced by the family environment, I have been fond of painting, calligraphy, and carving of inscriptions and seals since I was a child. When he was a child, he saw a column called "Movie Magic", which introduced the behind-the-scenes production of American movies in each issue. It can be said that working behind the scenes of film and television was A Donglin's childhood dream. In fact, A Donglin came into contact with CG very early. He once used the DOS version of 3ds3.0. The initial purpose of learning was for work needs. At that time, he studied architectural design in college. After graduation, he also worked in architectural design for many years, but as he developed Later, he finally chose to work in advertising, animation, film and television and other video fields, and founded Zhouren (Beijing) Cultural Communication Co., Ltd.
Personal opinion
Special effects work needs to be carried out throughout the production, and communication and technology are equally important
In the production process of a film and television work, technology is important, but Communication can often solve duplicate workloads and unnecessary troubles. Everyone has good ideas, but how to implement them in the most reasonable way is what the visual effects director has to control. Visual effects director is a very important emerging position, and it is also a position with artistic guidance.
He must have a solid technical foundation and provide the best visual effects production plan based on comprehensive considerations based on the crew's budget.
In addition, how to control the budget based on technology is very important. Many times after the shooting is completed, some pictures do not need to be pre-processed and can be easily processed on the computer, but the visual effects team It is necessary to provide the director with a reasonable construction plan, shooting plan, and operation plan during the early design. Therefore, the special effects team not only completes the technical indicators required for the movie, but also comprehensively considers various factors in the shooting and production process to provide the director with a reasonable production plan.
It is very important for the visual effects director to provide technical advice on rationalizing the crew's budget, especially for films with a lot of special effects. Many times after the shooting is completed, you will find that some pictures do not require pre-processing and can be easily processed on the computer. In fact, as a visual effects director, you must give the director a reasonable construction plan, shooting plan, and operation plan during the early design. Some directors and producers often complain to the visual effects director about the crew's budget overruns. Part of this overspending is because they don't understand the post-production process.
The ideal visual effects workflow should start with script communication. Communicate with the director which scenes require post-production special effects processing. The visual effects team provides creative ideas and drawings; then take the design draft with the director to view and select scenes. Scenery and rescenery, based on repeated communication with the art on the spot, determine the division of labor: on-site construction and post-production. Many post-production scenes can be completed on the computer in one day; after the creativity is generally confirmed and started, the visual effects team will We dispatch visual effects directors, on-site supervisors, designers, and even professional construction teams. They can effectively communicate with the site to ensure the execution of the shooting plan and the normal progress of the construction period. This kind of reasonable communication greatly reduces the cost of the crew and plays a great role. Good cost control effect.
As a visual effects practitioner, in fact, any type of work must obey the creation of the director. He is the soul of the entire movie. You only need to come up with better professional ideas to supplement his creation. And there must be a sense of teamwork, lose together when you lose, and win together when you win.
Coping with the impact of Hollywood blockbusters is both an opportunity and a challenge
Many people believe that as too many Hollywood blockbusters enter China, it will cause a kind of cultural erosion in China, but A Donglin feels that This is a normal industry development. Just like KFC and McDonald's coming to China, they have their own development methods, and domestic traditional restaurants also have their own business models. The same is true for the special effects industry. Although American blockbusters are good, there are also people who make literary and artistic films. The market is so big, there is always a path that suits you, and Chinese traditional culture is extensive and profound. Although many American blockbusters currently have high box office, due to cultural differences Differences cannot satisfy the tastes of all Chinese audiences, so A Donglin believes that China’s own teams and entrepreneurs must be self-reliant. In fact, the technology and software level of my country's special effects industry is not much different from that of foreign countries. The key lies in people, mainly the perspective from which practitioners and operators should look at problems, and how to position themselves and the company. In other words, now that the social system is open, as long as we persist and have confidence in the industry, we will definitely succeed.
A Donglin hopes that this industry will be filled with people like him who love their profession and have a sense of responsibility. If they are strong and united, they will truly be invincible. Peers not only compete, but also win. His point of view is that everyone can open a restaurant, you have your own way of opening a restaurant, and I have my own way. The development of the industry is not determined by a few people, so sometimes the most important thing is not to be bound by many things, and don't blame others, adapt to society, and learn to solve problems.
Advice for newcomers: Cultivate aesthetic accomplishments and stay down-to-earth
Zhouren’s position in cultivating talents is that of artists, and they will first select talents with high aesthetic accomplishments. For example, a 3D modeler must not only understand modeling and scenes, he must also be a designer. Secondly, A Donglin believes that art is greater than technology, and creation itself is the most important. For example: a character modeler, in addition to having excellent art skills, must also understand the knowledge and principles of structure and anatomy, so that his works will not be distorted and will have "aura".
Work display