Create a visual feast with originality - "Kubo and the Two Strings"
Today, let's talk about the movie "Kubo and the Two Strings".
Title Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), alias Legend of Magic Strings / Kubo: Legend of Magic Strings (Taiwan) / Monster Hunters (Hong Kong) / Kubo and Erhu.
The film is a stop-motion animation film produced by Laika Studios. When it comes to Laika Studio, what comes to mind is definitely Travis Knight, the son of Nike Group, and their unwavering commitment to stop-motion animation.
When Laika Studio encountered financial crisis in the early years, it was on the verge of bankruptcy, and there was an intern Travis Knight in the studio. Travis Knight paid to help Laika Studios through the difficulties, and later became the CEO of Laika Studios.
Travis Knight has always been involved in it out of his love for stop-motion animation. After a perverted level of refinement (deadly knocking), "Kubo and the Two Strings" debuted.
As long as you have seen "Kubo and the Two Strings", the audience will know that this film is called the most difficult stop-motion animation in history without exaggeration.
"Kubo and the Two Strings" uses various technologies of physical model + digital special effects + 3D printing to tell a Japanese adventure story in a western gothic style. A variety of elements full of exotic styles collide to produce a highly artistic effect.
It is no exaggeration to say that in "Kubo and the Two Strings", Travis Knight relied on his personal ability to turn stop-motion animation into a money-burning project for the rich.
Every time a new film is released by Laika Studios, there will be a joke about the super rich second generation on the Internet: If the film does not succeed, then Travis Knight can only go back to inherit the Nike Group.
Nowadays, when computer special effects are extremely developed, ordinary audiences know that visual effects are worth every penny, and if you switch to stop-motion animation, visual effects are worth every ten cents.
The input-output ratio of stop-motion animation is very low. If you don’t really love this form of expression and don’t have enough financial support, it is almost impossible to complete a feature-length animation.
Laika Studio spent five years producing and using 66,000 face models, of which Kubo, the protagonist alone, has more than 10,000 face models.
Organize all members to go to Japan to study philosophy and find Japanese-specific fabrics and colors. The scene props in the film are all handmade, ranging from rags as small as fingernails to skeletons as large as five meters high.
Also take a look at the film's luxurious voice cast: Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, Rooney Mara...
With a production cost of only 60 million, it is still possible to invite so many big names to join, which shows the appeal of Laika Studio.
Regardless of the cost, the finished product presents an amazing effect.
It can be said that "Kubo and the Two Strings" subverts people's inherent impression of stop-motion animation, and the action shots are silky smooth. The action scenes of stop-motion animation are not mechanically rigid like slideshows, but smooth enough to make people think that this is a regular 3D animation movie.
Even the subtitles at the end of the film are full of ukiyo-e style, incorporating various famous Japanese paintings into it, which is quite attentive and very natural.
Said so many advantages, but in fact the core of a movie is the story. Any technology, picture, or form of expression serves the purpose of telling a good story.
Technically speaking, "Kubo and the Two Strings" deserved to be nominated for many best animated films at the 89th Academy Awards and the 74th Golden Globe Awards.
Judging from the plot story, it is reasonable that "Kubo and the Two Strings" did not win an award.
The little protagonist Kubo began his life of escape from a young age. As he grew older, he gradually learned the stories of his elders from the words of his mother. In order to fulfill his parents' wishes and complete self-rescue, he bravely faced powerful enemies.
If the storyline can be polished again, "Kubo and the Two Strings" can completely win major awards. As far as the current story is concerned, it does not affect this is a unique and excellent animated film.
The story of "Kubo and the Two Strings" is quite satisfactory, and deja vu can be found in various works. The two strings of the two-stringed qin correspond to father and mother. The solution to evil is only to use love to influence. When it comes to the final theme, it returns to the theme of unchanging love. The ending is also a little hasty, and the integrity is open to question. An anticlimactic feeling.
Unique ingenuity to create a visual feast,
The mediocrity of the script does not hide its shortcomings.
This is the distribution center for hardcore movie fans, welcome to pay attention to the public number: Miaokan Film and Television
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