The author thinks that "Prince of Egypt" has three aspects that are most worth mentioning, that is, the story, the scenes and the soundtrack. Let's talk about its story first. The film is based on the story of "Exodus" in the Old Testament of the Bible. The original story is quite original. It tells the story of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh who found that the number of Hebrews in his kingdom was increasing day by day. The boy of life was thrown into the river. On this day, a Hebrew woman gave birth to a beautiful boy. In order for her child to survive, she put him in a straw basket and put it into the Nile River. The queen picked up this beautiful boy by the river and brought him back to the palace to raise him and named him Moses. Moses and Prince Thunders grew up together, and the two became best friends. Moses was so opposed to Pharaoh's tyranny over the Hebrews that he once killed an Egyptian in order to prevent an Egyptian from killing the Hebrews. To escape Pharaoh's punishment, Moses fled to Midian. Soon after the death of the pharaoh, Thunders became the new pharaoh. Moses originally thought that he would change the tyranny of the Pharaoh against the Hebrews in the past, but he did not expect Lei Mings to intensify. Under God's instruction, Moses knew his background, so he decided to lead the Hebrews out of the predicament.
Although based on a serious story, it still retains the character of animation. The protagonist Moses was originally the national leader of the Jews in the 13th century BC recorded in the Bible. He is considered an extremely important prophet in religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baha'i Faith. He is a holy religious figure. But in this film, he is not like that. Like ordinary people, he was playful when he was a teenager, and he has no sense of responsibility. I was also very confused when I found out about my life. It was only when I was a shepherd that I became quiet. Only then did everyone see a mature Moses, the leader who would lead his nation to freedom.
Since it is an epic blockbuster, the grand scenes are essential. The most worth watching of the film is its eye-popping and magnificent pictures. From the construction of the pyramids to the desert scenery, many shots and angles are extremely visually impactful. But this is very difficult in animation. Because the animation is drawn by the production staff, doing such a scene can be described as time-consuming and labor-intensive. "Prince of Egypt" used 350 chief painters, animators and technicians from 35 countries, costing nearly 100 million US dollars and took four years to concoct. The art director personally went to Egypt to film the scene in order to present the ancient Egyptian style more faithfully. A lot of computer special effects are used in the film. Among the 1192 shots in total, 1180 are processed by computer. It can be said that the computer special effects at that time have been brought into full play: the cool Nile River, the magnificent sunset and the Red Sea divided by Moses, almost all is done by computer. The part where Moses left the Red Sea was only 7 minutes long, but it took 318,000 computer hours and 318,000 computer hours for 16 painters to spend 3 years. This is the first time that ultra-realistic water appears in animation.
In the production process, not only the most advanced computer animation but also high-level hand-painted animators were used. In grand scenes and hordes of characters, they fully contribute. In terms of scenes, the most noteworthy is the majestic architecture of ancient Egypt. The film shows slaves building temples and palaces. Some of these scenes can be described as breathtaking, perhaps the real ancient Egyptian civilization is not necessarily so magnificent. Huge statues and huge columns characterize these buildings. To build such a building, the construction scene is also difficult to design, and its complexity is also a headache to think about. But the movie shows it all perfectly. In terms of characters, first of all, the character design and costume design are in line with the characteristics of ancient Egyptian civilization. Maybe some viewers don’t like this kind of character for the first time, but after you watch it a few times, you will find that such a character is suitable for such an environment and such a story. As a more serious epic, the realistic style is also very suitable for telling such a story. Of course, what I have to say is the tens of thousands of people in this film. It can be said that the number of people in the "Prince of Egypt" is unmatched by other animation blockbusters. There are scenes where a large number of slaves work together, where many characters cheer, and finally when Moses leads the entire nation to the "Land of Hope", there are many scenes of ten thousand people in the whole sequence. This kind of picture can be said to be unprecedented in the animation. And all the characters in these shots have motion, so you can imagine how huge the workload of the animators who made these shots was!
It is hard to imagine that the chief animation director of such an epic and high-quality animation blockbuster is actually a woman. Brenda Chapman is definitely my most admired female animation director, and her abilities are fully demonstrated in this film. It can be said that she is a strong woman in the animation industry. She later went to Pixar to direct "Brave", and many people thought "Brave" was not suitable for Pixar to produce. Do you have a sense of awe when you know that its pre-creation and setting work is done under the leadership of a woman. Needless to say, this isn't a very good animated movie.
Speaking of "Prince of Egypt", one of the most noteworthy things about it is its powerful soundtrack. The film won the Academy Award for Best Music. Its theme music "When You Believe" was written by Stephen Schwarzman, the lyricist of the film. Coupled with the chorus of two music queens Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, the film has been sublimated! Music master Hans Zimmer's status in Hollywood is definitely no less than Hisaishi's status in Japan.
This is an animation work that completely incarnates serious religious beliefs into entertaining themes. The production of music is an excellent example of animation music. Hebrew ballads, the magnificent and grandeur of epic drama films, will be integrated, interacted, and connected into a magnificent pattern after ingenious arrangement through electronic synthesizers and symphonies, or capture the melodious music of the Middle East. The nostalgic sentiment in the melody, with strong emotions condensed into a thunderous momentum, plus "Pocahontas" songwriter Stephen Schwartz succinctly cut to faith, willpower moving lyrics, and Michelle. Pfeiffer and Israeli singer Ofra Haza participated in the singing of the original soundtrack, and heard the dramatic emotional tension created by the marriage of Middle Eastern music and Broadway music. In addition to connecting world music and orchestral symphony, Hans Zimmer's chorus, which combines soul gospel and world music, also expresses the rich emotions that the human voice and string music are mutually driven; belief is in the multi-level emotional climb, burning out The power to shake people's hearts.
The cartoon "Prince of Egypt" is an epic, and Hans Zimmer's soundtrack is legendary. The pursuit of value and dignity, ideals and beliefs will never be easy. After "When You Believe" came out, the music of "Prince of Egypt" went quiet. Thunders planned to destroy the Hebrews at the Red Sea, but Moses used the Scepter to divide the Red Sea, and the Hebrews reached the other side of hope. The light of hope danced on the notes in between.
The greatest story of all time in the western world combined with grand scenes and an epic soundtrack makes for the greatest animated film in the history of animation.
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