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At first glance, among the huge selection of "Investiture of the Gods" and "Zheng He's Voyages to the West", "Under the Strange Man" seems to be an outlier in the series of Wuershan's works. But as long as you look at his debut film "Blades of Smiles", you can see that Wuershan has long been in love with passionate comics and martial arts, as well as visual collage and experimental styles.

Stills from "Blades of Laughter"

So as expected, like "Blades of the Sword", "Under the Alien" also received polarized reviews. People who don't like it feel extremely uncomfortable with this mixed experiment, while people who like it love the avant-garde style of this postmodern collage and the oriental consciousness under the westernized packaging. In my opinion, the avant-garde style of postmodern collage and the oriental consciousness under the westernized packaging are precisely the most personal parts of Wuershan's image style.

This is also why, when Wuershan encountered this story that was both youthful and had an oriental worldview during the "Fengshen" project, he immediately decided to shoot a movie version of "Under the Alien" and try to use this story to expand the Chinese film genre and create China's own superhero movie and superhero universe.

According to Wuershan's conception, the first part of "Under the Alien" is a foundational work for building a world view. "Through the core characters such as Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao, their relationship and their respective background stories, the audience is brought into this world."

Because of this, the "Luotian Dajiao" that the original fans expected was only unfinished in this film, and the intricate side plots of various sects were not unfolded. As for the difference between this Chinese superhero world and the American comic hero universe, Wuershan also has his own views.

In his opinion, the four types of heroes with super powers in American comics, whether they are Spider-Man and the Hulk from scientific experiments, or Superman who is an alien orphan, a derivative of Western mythology, or Batman and Iron Man who are armed with financial resources and technology, their purpose is to use super powers to save the world.

Eastern supernatural powers, on the other hand, are more reserved and reclusive, preferring to be inherited and cultivated to keep themselves healthy. For this reason, when Western heroes choose to use supernatural powers as a tool to save the world and the people, Eastern supernatural powers themselves, like the "Sunflower Manual", become a metaphor for the desire for power.

Starting from the differences between the East and the West in obtaining and using "superpowers", Wuershan skillfully blends the Chinese superhero film genre with contemporary martial arts and urban mythology.

In the film, Zhang Chulan, a college student who possesses the mysterious "Qi Body Origin", is like a modern version of Lin Pingzhi. His ordinary life is forced into a battle among various factions of supernatural people. As a result, Zhang Chulan has changed from an ignorant boy who wanted to live in seclusion in the city to a knight who takes the initiative to join the game to find out his grandfather's family feud.

This kind of narrative allows Wuershan to abandon the simple narrative mode of binary opposition between good and evil that is common in Hollywood-style comic-adapted films, and instead construct a Chinese-style world of supernatural powers, creating a complex world full of power struggles, tests of humanity, and fateful choices.

The plot of the film is not only to show the wonderful fighting and special effects scenes, but also to explore deeper themes, such as the good and evil of human nature, the desire for power, the impermanence of fate, etc. This narrative method makes the film not only an entertainment work, but also has certain ideological and artistic value.

With such a narrative tone, Wuershan started his pioneering attempt in visual effects that was different from Hollywood comic-adapted movies.

Firstly, Wuershan chose to shoot the entire process with IMAX-certified cameras. Secondly, when using IMAX photography, compared to Marvel's idea of ​​adapting two-dimensional comics into film and television life, Wuershan chose to use dimensionality reduction processing to stylize reality into comics.

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For example, in order to restore the visual tension brought by the comic composition and create the unique "freeze-frame" time and space of comics, the film's photography breaks the conventional shooting ideas. Wuershan uses a large number of wide-angle lenses and chooses 16 and 18 focal length lenses as basic lenses to achieve the special perspective tension and exaggerated distortion effects of the comic composition.

Director of Photography Zhong Rui said that this kind of IMAX single-camera shooting requires the camera to be very close to the actors, and the slightest mistake will cause the picture to be out of focus.

To this end, the actors and photographers went through multiple rehearsals and experiments for each drama. The composition was also specially designed for IMAX's 1.9:1, so that the actors' martial arts movements can be presented more completely and with a more designed feel on the big screen.

Wuershan and director of photography Zhong Rui also borrowed from early Hong Kong action films to use wide-angle lens close-ups and panoramic editing to create a special sense of action rhythm.

In addition, Wuershan also tried more special camera movements that are close to animation, trying to get close to the iconic shots of comics. For example, when the heroine Feng Baobao jumped down from the building, the camera circled around her for more than 360 degrees. Another example is when Feng Baobao flipped back and landed on the ground after the fight with Xia He, with the knife stuck in the ground, which was also shot from a wide panoramic view to a medium close-up to create a unique rhythm of comics.

The film's lighting team also had extremely fine control over the light source. The sophisticated lighting system freed the film from the limitations of a single natural light source and created a surreal light and shadow charm for the superpower battle.

In "Under the Stranger", Wuershan presented the meridian theory of traditional Chinese medicine in a visual way. This innovation not only added a mysterious and unique color to the film, but also allowed the audience to intuitively feel the flow and changes of the "Qi" in the character's body.

Each character's "Qi" is given a unique color. This color setting is not random, but carefully considered and closely related to the character's personality, ability and destiny. For example, a passionate and energetic character may have a bright and bright red "Qi"; while a calm and introverted, wise character may have a deep and peaceful blue "Qi".

Through this color distinction, the audience can instantly have an intuitive understanding of the character's personality traits, while also creating a visual effect full of fantasy and mystery for the film.

The concrete traditional Chinese style superpowers are another highlight of the film's visual effects. The superpower settings in the film are rich and varied, such as Zhang Chulan's golden light technique, Shen Chong's "high-interest loan" superpower, Dou Mei's "intestinal poisonous smoke", etc. The visual presentation of these superpowers is not a simple light and shadow special effect, but through carefully designed movements, unique energy forms and gorgeous color changes, it shows an amazing visual impact.

Take Zhang Chulan's Golden Light Technique as an example. When he uses this supernatural power, golden light bursts out from his body, forming a dazzling vortex of light, which not only demonstrates powerful energy, but also brings a visual shock and beauty to the audience.

The film also cleverly incorporates elements of traditional Chinese culture. Under the trendy and fashionable visual style, it innovatively expresses traditional martial arts, the theory of Yuanqi, the theory of the five elements, and the meridians of traditional Chinese medicine. The moves of traditional martial arts are brilliantly presented in the film. Every move of the actors is both hard and soft, and smooth, showing the unique charm of Chinese martial arts. The integration of the theory of the five elements and the meridians of traditional Chinese medicine provides a solid theoretical basis for the display of supernatural powers and the ability setting of characters.

For example, the superpowers of some characters correspond to the five elements, and the corresponding elemental characteristics will be shown during their use. For example, the superpowers of the water element may be accompanied by blue water flow and turbulent waves, and the superpowers of the fire element may be shown as blazing flames and blazing light. This way of combining traditional culture with modern visual effects not only allows the audience to feel the profoundness of traditional culture, but also adds a heavy cultural heritage to the visual effects of the film.

At the same time, the scene design in the film is also unique. Whether it is the ancient and mysterious cave dwellings of aliens or the prosperous and modern urban streets, special art design and special effects processing have been carried out. It is neither a simple cartoon-like imagination nor an extremely realistic real scene, but a postmodern collage of multiple elements. This is a stylized treatment unique to Wuershan.

The stunning special effects production is the core support of the visual effects of "Under the Alien". The special effects in the movie are well-made, whether it is the release of superpowers, the construction of battle scenes, or the display of a grand world view, it brings an unparalleled visual impact to the audience.

The special effects team used superb technology to bring the imagined supernatural world to life on the big screen. From the flow of tiny energy particles to the huge energy explosions and the scenes of destruction, every special effect detail was handled very well, allowing the audience to feel a strong visual shock and immersion during the viewing process.

The unique visual effects of "Under the Alien" are inseparable from Wuershan's love and use of IMAX technology.

In addition to advocating that the screen is "the bigger the better", Wuershan also agrees with IMAX's saying, "Watching a movie is like being in it". He firmly believes that the best movie experience should be achieved in the theater, and the immersive experience brought by IMAX is irreplaceable. He pursues the "movie feeling" that can conquer all the audience's senses and bring a strong audio-visual impact, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the story as if they were in the world of supernatural powers.

As early as 2015, "Mojin: The Lost Legend" became the IMAX domestic film box office champion of the year, and "Investiture of the Gods" in 2023 also won the IMAX China summer domestic film box office champion. This time, "Under the Alien" was shot entirely with IMAX special equipment.

This means that when the film is shown in an IMAX theater, the audience can see 26% more screen content. The full screen allows the audience to experience the splendor of the supernatural world more comprehensively and immersively. Whether it is the characters tumbling in the air or the release of supernatural spells, they can all be perfectly presented on the big screen. The excellent sound effects of the IMAX theater also allow the audience to be more deeply integrated into the supernatural world constructed by the film.

The genre exploration and experimentation of "Under the Aliens" is of great significance to the entire film industry. It has opened up a new path for domestic comic-adapted films, demonstrated the possibility of integrating traditional culture with modern visual technology, and provided the industry with new creative ideas and directions, especially in the IMAX special shooting to present oriental comic-style images, and accumulated valuable experience.

From this domestic comic-adapted superhero movie that laid the foundation for the world view, I have seen more possibilities, and I am particularly looking forward to how these possibilities will be presented on the IMAX screen.

For example, Liu Yanyan, the heir of the "puppetry" of the Liu family in western Hunan, can her transformation and family ties be presented in an independent personal film? What kind of stories does each of the eight strange skills have? How will the much-anticipated "Luotian Dajiao" be presented? Starting from this opening work, I am willing to give Wuershan more patience, and I also hope that he can continue to use the form of IMAX special shooting, with the experience of the first comic-adapted hero movie, try more audio-visual effects possibilities, and shoot more attractive comic-adapted works.

Today's Interaction |Leave a comment in the comment section to share your impressions of Wuershan's "Under the Alien" and your future expectations, or talk about the most exciting experience you have had at IMAX. Two people will be selected based on the number of likes to receive IMAX national movie tickets.