孙立军：The Stylized Performance of Traditional Chinese Theater
The Application and Innovation of the Stylized Performance of Traditional Chinese Theater in the Animated Film New Sanchakou
Lijun Sun and Siqi Cao
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
孙立军，二级教授、博士生导师、北京电影学院副院长、中国动画研究院院长、享受国务院特殊津贴、中宣部全国宣传文化系统“四个一批”人才、中宣部国家“万人计划”领军人才。导演动画作品《小兵张嘎》、《快乐奔跑》、《兔侠传奇》、《秋实》、《新三岔口》、《飞向月球》等，曾多次斩获华表奖、金鸡奖等国内外奖项。
Lijun Sun is a vice-president of Beijing Film Academy and a professor from School of Animation at Beijing Film Academy. He also serves as dean of China Animation Academy at Beijing Film Academy. He has directed many animated films, including "Little Soldier," "Sunny Story," "Happy Running," "Bateelaer Saga," "Legend of a Rabbit," "Fantastic Adventure," and others, and his productions won China’s Huabiao Film Awards and Golden Rooster Awards several times.
ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDS
Abstract: In Chinese animated films, the stylized performance of traditional Chinese theater allows for greater expression and creativity, due to 3D digital technology and 8K display technology. This paper takes the animated film New Sanchakou (The Crossroads Inn, 1951), adapted from the traditional Duanda Wusheng (短打武生: martial arts performers equipped with short clothes and short-handle weapons) drama Sanchakou in Peking opera (Jingju) as an example, to explore the application and innovation of stylized performance. In the digital era, Chinese animated films innovate based on past achievements and utilize new technologies to both construct an aesthetic system with Chinese characteristics and to further display the unique charm of traditional Chinese aesthetic thought. By exploring new forms of animation’s performance creation, New Sanchakou meets the new challenge of Chinese animated film nationalization in the new era of China
摘要：三维数字技术与 8K图像显示技术让戏曲程式化表演在中国动画电影中拥有更加丰富的表现力与创造力。本文以改编自传统京剧短打武生剧《三岔口》的动画电影《新三岔口》为例，探究戏曲程式化表演在动画电影中的应用与创新。数字时代的中国动画电影在继承中创新，运用新技术建构具有民族特色的审美体系，绽放中国传统美学思想的独特魅力。《新三岔口》通过探索动画表演创作的新形态，迎接新时代中国动画电影民族化的新挑战。
Keywords: New Sanchakou; animation performance; stylized performance of traditional theater; Chinese school of animation
关键词：《新三岔口》 动画表演 戏曲程式化表演 中国动画学派
To cite this article:
Sun, Lijun and Cao, Siqi. "The Application and Innovation of the Stylized Performance of Traditional Chinese Theater in the Animated Film New Sanchakou " Journal of Chinese Film Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, 2023, pp. 563-576. https://doi.org/10.1515/jcfs-2023-0065
A GLIMPSE OF THE ARTICLE
Since the 1950s, a creative group, mainly composed of animation artists from Shanghai Animation Film Studio, has actively explored the aesthetic system of animation using Chinese national characteristics and gradually formed the style of "the Chinese School of Animation." Especially in the 1950s and 1960s, Chinese animation artists produced a substantial number of high-quality films, despite material and technological disadvantages. However, when looking back at these classic works, there appears to be a formidable gap between the expression of aesthetics and the use of animation, due to the limitations of technology and other conditions at that time. The New Sanchakou utilizes three-dimensional digital and 8K image display technology to attempt to explore a mode of artistic symbiosis between animation’s ontological features and the stylized performance of traditional Chinese theater.
自 20世纪 50年代以来，以上海美术电影制片厂动画艺术家为主的创作群体积极探索属于中国民族特色的动画美学体系，逐渐形成“中国动画学派”的动画艺术风格。尤其在五六十年代，中国动画艺术家在物质条件与技术手段相对落后的情况下，仍然制作出一批优秀的动画电影。不过，如今再回顾这些经典作品时发现，由于当时技术等条件的限制，动画艺术家在审美的表达与动画形式的运用之间，仍然存在着艺术创作所无法逾越的技术鸿沟。动画电影《新三岔口》通过利用三维数字技术与 8K图像显示技术，尝试在动画本体特征与戏曲程式化表演之间探索一条艺术共生的动画表演创作之路。
Drawing on the Characteristics of the Stylized Performance of Traditional Theater
借鉴戏曲程式化表演的艺术特征
New Sanchakou is adapted from the traditional Jingju Duanda Wusheng drama "Sanchakou." It tells the story of Ren Tanghui, who secretly escorts General Jiao Zan to Sanchakou for sleeping overnight and fights with the inn owner Liu Lihua in the dark by virtue of a misunderstanding. As a one-act martial play, the original production typically portrays characters in the four main roles of "Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou (生旦净丑)" through, respectively, only four characters: Ren Tanghui, Liu’s wife, Jiao Zan, and Liu Lihua. In the opening part, Jiao Zan’s appearance and the martial arts scenes of Ren and Liu fully demonstrate the four basic skills of theater performers:"Chang, Nian, Zuo, Da" (唱念做打: Song, Stage speech, Dance acting, Combat).
《新三岔口》改编自传统京剧短打武生剧《三岔口》，讲述的是任堂惠在暗中保护三关上将焦赞至三岔口夜宿时，与店主刘利华因为误会而摸黑搏斗的故事。原剧作为单折武戏，仅通过任堂惠、刘妻、焦赞与刘利华四个角色便典型地呈现出“生、旦、净、丑”四个行当的人物形象，并在开场段落的焦赞登场与任、刘二人的武打段落充分展示出戏曲演员四项基本功——“唱、念、做、打”的表演技法。
Integrating the Ethnic Features of Stylized Performance into Animation融合戏曲程式化表演的民族韵味
(1)Exaggeration and Humor Based on the Animated Figures 基于动画表演本体的夸张与幽默
Unlike the original martial arts performance, the animated performance in New Sanchakou adopts a playful approach to the traditional, stylized martial arts performance program and incorporates elements of actions like acrobatics and ballet. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate the absurd comedic flourish of the actions, the actors perform a kind of "intertwined fight," creating a brisker pace for the plot to proceed, and integrating stylized performance into the exaggeration and humor of the animated play. To achieve a fierce atmosphere in the fighting scene, the theater also adopts a "Posterize Time" method to present a visual sweep of "flashes of blades" in the wielding of swords. Based on the exaggeration and humor of animated figures, New Sanchakou attempts to enable the performance of traditional art to continue through new technological means.
与原剧武打表演不同，《新三岔口》的动画表演在这场戏中增添了对传统戏曲武打表演程式的戏谑手法，融入了杂技、芭蕾等动作元素，以“打作一团”表现出表演动作的无厘头喜剧色彩，让原本武打段落的叙事节奏变得更加轻快，将戏曲程式化表演融入动画表演本体的夸张性与幽默感之中。为了进一步营造打斗场面的激烈氛围，本片还采用“抽帧”的表现方式，在刀剑挥舞之中增添“刀光剑影”的视觉冲击力。基于动画表演本体的夸张与幽默，本片尝试以新技术手段延展传统艺术形式的表现力。
(2)The Simple and Clumsy Performance of Digital Puppet
体现数字仿真木偶表演的拙朴感
The first requirement, in rendering the experience of the stylized performance, is to present the unique charm of animated puppets. The simulated puppets in New Sanchakou are created through digital 3D animation rather than predigital stop-motion techniques. Initially, the audience perceives the puppet-like texture of the animated characters. Despite being three-dimensional and digitally simulated, these puppets possess a "human-like" appearance while also representing nonliving entities.
本片在借鉴戏曲程式化表演时首先需要呈现出动画角色作为木偶的独特趣味。在《新三岔口》中，动画角色形象是数字仿真木偶材质，虽然是木偶却并非定格动画，而是数字三维动画。影片观众首先感知到的是动画角色的木偶质感，虽然三维数字仿真的木偶具有“人形”，却也是一种非生命体的存在。
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Drawing on the Cultural Heritage of the Stylized Performance汲取戏曲程式化表演的文化底蕴
(1)From Proactive Exploration to Technological Innovation 从自觉探索到技术革新的演进
Since the conception of animated film, Chinese animators have continued to explore and construct the animation performance system. The first long Chinese animated film, Princess Iron Fan (Tieshan gongzhu, 1941), borrowed extensive elements within character design and fight scenes from Chinese theater, marking the beginning of the combination of traditional theater and animation. The first Chinese stop-motion puppet animation, The Dream to Be an Emperor (Huangdimeng, 1947), also incorporated stylized performance, using the role of Chou to convey a sense of humor and satire. In the 1950s and 1960s, the "Chinese School of Animation" actively explored the Chinese national characteristics of animating aesthetics. Chinese animators consciously embarked on exploring the application of the stylized performance in constructing animation performance systems.
中国动画艺术家对动画表演体系的建构与探索从未停歇。中国首部动画长片《铁扇公主》（1941）在角色设计与打斗场面大量借鉴了中国戏曲元素，是戏曲与动画结合的开创之作。中国首部定格偶动画《皇帝梦》(1947）也借鉴了戏曲程式化表演形式，通过丑角形象呈现出滑稽与讽刺的意味。20世纪五六十年代，当时由上海美术电影制片厂创作群为主的“中国动画学派”积极探索具有中国民族特色的动画美学体系，中国动画艺术家自觉地展开对戏曲程式化表演在动画表演体系建构中的应用探索。
(2)Building a Nationalized Style in Animation's Audio-Visual Language 建构动画视听语言民族化风格
From actions to scene directions and even to the choice of settings, the building of a nationalized audio-visual language of New Sanchakou is characterized by the aesthetic pursuit of illusion of perception (指而识之), appreciation of roundness (以圆为美), and physical and emotional interaction (虚实相生). The film uses cross-cutting audio-visual techniques to depict the scene of "dark night": the film cuts between shots of the dark clouds outside the inn and the silhouettes of people inside lit by oil lamps, which collectively signifies an aesthetic feature understood as the "illusion of perception." It's camera arrangement and action design comply with this aesthetic feature of the stylized performance. With the animation movement of exaggeration and humor, the film not only uses geometric circles as the main image in the portrayal of the two main characters but also as a guide track when they fight each other. Besides, there is no dialogue in the entire film. The main characters' conflicts are expressed through body movements and sound effects to fulfill the audience's desire for "storytelling through visuals and hearing," conveying a visual experience of "spirit in form." As for sound, in the background is the sound of roaring thunder and pouring rain added to incorporate the used instruments for a more tense atmosphere during the indoor fight scene.
从演员动作到场面调度再到景别选择，《新三岔口》建构动画视听语言的民族化风格表现为指而识之、以圆为美与虚实相生的审美诉求。本片采用交叉蒙太奇的视听技法处理“月黑风高”的画面，在客栈外的乌云下与室内油灯人影之间的镜头组合共同建构“指而识之”的审美特征。其镜头调度与角色动作设计也遵循戏曲程式化表演“以圆为美”的审美特征。此外，《新三岔口》全片无对白，主要以肢体动作与声音效果表现角色冲突的戏剧张力完成“用画面讲故事”的观影诉求，传达出以形传神的视觉体验；从声音角度，本片在戏曲乐器运用的基础上加入了轰鸣雷声与雨夜婆娑的环境音以烘托室内打斗的紧张氛围。
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Journal of Chinese Film Studies
《中国电影研究》
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