《Journey of Discovery》Pingyao Premiere: Sun Yang plays the male lead in a movie for the first time

The film - Journey of Discovery - had its Asian premiere at the 10th Pingyao International Film Festival on September 27. Actor Sun Yang played the leading role in a feature film for the first time.The film takes a missing person as the main line and embeds video games into real-life narratives. Real life and virtual space gradually overlap during the search process.Director Dong Jie and a group of young creators used their first feature film to observe the living conditions of contemporary youth, and also tried to turn the familiar game medium into a part of the film's narrative.

Shi Zian, played by Sun Yang, appears throughout the film, and all character relationships and action clues start from him.On the surface, Shi Zian is looking for someone with whom he has lost contact; as the journey deepens, the object he is looking for keeps changing, and he also has to face self-identity, roommate relationships, creative inspiration and emotional belonging.The “discovery” in the film's title therefore contains multiple directions. Every time he gets closer to the answer, the characters will re-understand the people around them and their own situation.

This is the seventh time Sun Yang has come to Pingyao with his works.The past few appearances have established a long-term relationship with the film festival, and he returned here again for the tenth anniversary of the film festival. He calls Pingyao his starting point.After receiving the script, Shi Zian's experience and temperament quickly attracted him, and the director and creator also regarded Sun Yang as a suitable candidate for this role.Taking on the core narrative of a movie for the first time is a new test for the actors' physical strength, rhythm and character coherence.

“Post-95” director Dong Jie also completed a feature film for the first time.He put media experience into the film because video games have been deeply involved in the growth and socialization of many young people.Games can not only provide a temporary escape from reality, but also form new relationships and expressions.The film allows the characters to move in two spaces, thereby showing young people's wandering between real life, online identity and inner needs.

In order to ensure that the game segments have credible operational logic, the team developed the game in the film one year in advance and continued testing.If the game screen only imitates the interface and actions, it can easily become a suspended decoration.The main creator needs to confirm why the characters enter the game, how they operate, how the virtual tasks promote the real plot, and then transform these relationships into shots that can be shot and edited.

The combination of virtual and reality also increases the difficulty of production.The scene selection must consider the visual echo between the real scene and the game space. The camera position must not only serve the live performance, but also leave a connection position for the post-production pictures; the sound needs to distinguish between the real environment and virtual feedback, and color grading determines whether the two worlds are clearly layered or gradually penetrate each other.The proportion of each link will affect whether the audience can naturally enter the story.

Most of the creative team behind "Journey of Discovery" have completed a feature film for the first time.The project was previously selected into the Green Green Project of the China Film Directors Association and received support. From script incubation to Pingyao premiere, the young team implemented a media experiment into a complete work.The premiere also means that the film begins to be tested by the audience. Whether the game experience can be transformed into universal emotional understanding will become the focus of discussion.

The “search” in the film is not limited to a clear answer.Shi Zian searches for others, relationships, love and creative direction. The hesitation and yaw in the process constitute the true state of the character.Video games provide a visible set of task mechanics, but real life rarely gives clear cues.The film exploits the differences between the two to record how young people continue to move forward amid uncertainty.