ABSTRACT

This handbook takes us through the making of The Wandering Earth, one of the highest-grossing non-English films of all time. It is a rare, in-depth, behind-the-scenes study of the making of a masterpiece, taking the reader through the entire production process of a landmark Chinese science fiction film.

The book brings to life how The Wandering Earth was created, from words to images, by a young and innovative professional team assembled by director Frant Gwo. It discusses specialized details of the filmmaking process and the collaborative work of the crew and the cast involved to present an intuitive feeling of the film’s production.

A step-by-step guide on the making of a radical large-scale film, this handbook critically examines its various stages such as

  • its development and production stages – the planning, preparing, recruiting, setting up departments and processes; writing the screenplay; creating a visual style and the production design; and the principal photography;
  • its challenging post-production stages – the editing, visual effects production, color mixing; dubbing, sound editing; publicity, etc.

Further, the chapters in volume also explore how Chinese science fiction films disrupt the Western narrative context and provide the larger discourse on Chinese science fiction.

Richly illustrated with exclusive first-hand visuals from the making of the film, this handbook, part of the Studies in Global Genre Fiction series, will be an essential read for professionals, scholars, researchers, and students of film and media production, film studies, popular culture, cultural studies, Chinese studies, world literature, and science fiction. It will also be of interest to the general reader interested in filmmaking.

part Action I|52 pages

Calling for Adventures

chapter 1|14 pages

Summoning the Heroes

chapter 2|4 pages

“Worldbuilding”

Creating the Blueprint for a World

chapter 3|6 pages

Screenplay

Not Simply Science Fiction, But Character Creation

chapter 4|2 pages

Aesthetics

A Taste of Soviet Industrial Style

chapter 5|3 pages

Conceptual Design

More than Concepts

chapter 6|2 pages

Previewing Science Fiction

The PreViz Dynamic Storyboard

chapter 7|8 pages

Photography

A Symphony of Light and Shadow

chapter 8|9 pages

The “Four Big Shots”

part Action II|83 pages

Going Beyond Limits

chapter 9|6 pages

Director Panel

Growing Wildly

chapter 10|8 pages

Camera Crew

Striving for Texture

chapter 11|10 pages

Art Department

Realizing the Imagination with Chinese Characteristics

chapter 13|20 pages

Ideal Actors and Actors' Ideals

part Action III|44 pages

Trials Along The Way

chapter 14|9 pages

Editing

A Second Creation through Simplification

chapter 15|8 pages

Visual Effect in Post-Production

Technology and Beauty

chapter 16|9 pages

Sound Effects

An Acoustic Feast to Arouse Chinese Memory

chapter 17|14 pages

Post-Production

The Life and Death Choices of a VFX-Heavy Film