[Abstract] the animation industry in Changsha has left a brilliant and far-reaching impact in the development of Chinese animation. However, in recent years, Changsha animation has fallen into the dilemma of declining production and brain drain, which is due to both international and domestic environmental changes and Changsha animation enterprises themselves. By reviewing the history of the development of Changsha animation industry, this paper analyzes the trends of the animation industry at home and abroad, and puts forward some targeted countermeasures.
[Key words] development problems and Countermeasures of animation industry.
The history of Chinese animation is almost synchronized with that of the world. In 1940, Princess Iron Fan, produced by Wan brothers, was only released one year later than the first feature snow white of Disney in 1939. After the founding of new China, a number of state-owned animation production units such as Shanghai fine arts film studio also enjoyed a high reputation in the world for their excellent cartoons, such as "the crowing of a chicken in the middle of the night", "Little Sisters of a prairie hero" and "Little Tadpoles Looking for their mother". However, due to the economic and cultural background at that time, Chinese animation did not form an industry. In the subsequent cultural revolution, Chinese animation suffered a devastating blow. Although China resumed the creation of animation in the early 1990s, the lost 10 years left China's animation industry far behind foreign countries. Under the impact of foreign animation such as Japan and the United States, China's animation industry is almost deserted. After the reform and opening up, Changsha, Hunan Province, as the core area of Hunan Province, has a strong cultural industry development in all aspects. It has successively created a TV Hunan army and a publishing Hunan army, resulting in "singing hall culture phenomenon", "bar culture phenomenon" and "performing arts culture phenomenon" that have an impact on the whole country, and has taken it as the characteristic and advantageous cultural industry of Hunan Province, Animation talents are increasingly becoming the fresh vitality with great vitality and development potential in Hunan economy.
1、 The development status and problem motivation of Changsha animation.
1. The development status of Changsha animation.
As an important part of the cultural industry, the animation industry is a cultural and creative industry supported by information technology. It has the characteristics of high innovation, high added value and strong radiation. It is a modern sunrise industry recognized by the country. Hunan is one of the first regions to break the institutional barriers and develop the animation industry ①. At present, Changsha animation industry has basically formed a relatively complete industrial system of research and development, production, publishing, distribution, education and training, broadcasting, derivative product development and so on. According to incomplete statistics in 2010, Changsha has 55 original animation and cartoon production enterprises, more than 300 animation studios, more than 3600 original animation workers and more than 30000 related employees. In 2009, the relevant output value exceeded 3billion yuan. In 1993, Changsha animators represented by Wang Hong and he Mengfan found a way out of the dilemma. They took the animation teaching materials of primary and secondary schools as the starting point, "using animation to educate children", and launched the series of cartoons "blue cat naughty three thousand questions". In 1996, Changsha established Hunan Oriental cartoon company, the first professional animation production company in Hunan, which was established by Wang Hong and others. In 1999, it launched cartoon images such as blue cat and naughty. In January2000, Oriental cartoon attracted investment from Beijing and established Hunan sanchen film studio animation program development Co., Ltd. to launch a series of cartoons called "blue cat naughty 3000 questions". "Blue cat" became the only Chinese well-known trademark in the national cartoon of that year. It is the success of blue cat that drives the vigorous development of Changsha animation industry. In may2004, Hongmeng cartoon group was established, marking the second peak of Changsha animation. The seven heroes of the rainbow cat and the blue rabbit, produced in 2006, has created a number of domestic animation records and is the TV viewing champion of that year. The output value of its surrounding books has exceeded 100 million, and the added value generated by other derivative products has also obtained huge profits. This work is another dazzling star after the blue cat. With "blue cat" and "rainbow cat and blue rabbit", Changsha animation was the only one in China's animation industry in 2006, and its animation production accounted for more than half of the country. After that, Changsha's animation and game companies sprang up like mushrooms. The famous companies include Tuowei information company, which mainly deals in mobile animation, Tianwen animation company, which mainly deals in book publishing, SM cartoon company, which mainly deals in overseas markets, Haofeng animation company, which mainly focuses on new media, etc. These companies have their own characteristics and constitute the "first square" of Changsha's animation industry. In december2009, among the first batch of 100 animation enterprises approved by the state, Changsha has 10, accounting for one tenth of the total number in the country; Among the 18 national key animation enterprises identified by the state in 2010, there were 6 in Changsha, accounting for one third of the total.
At present, Changsha has more than 30000 animation and game employees, and has won the reputation of "animation Hunan army" after "TV Hunan army". ② After a period of glory, Changsha animation and game industry, which once led the way, has been overtaken by developed coastal cities in recent years. In the 2011 national animation output ranking, Changsha animation dropped out of the top ten for the first time. The latest IQI animation index report in 2013 shows that the animation output of Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang has accounted for 80% of the country, The professional vitality of Changsha animation talents is facing severe challenges.
2. The motivation analysis of Changsha animation talents' problems.
(1) The creative idea lags behind, and the original force is insufficient. At the early stage of the development of the national animation industry, Changsha created brand cartoon images such as "blue cat" and "rainbow cat and blue rabbit". Its innovative concept of "using animation to educate children" is not only refreshing, but also has obtained rich market returns. However, with the rapid development of animation concepts and the rapid catch-up of brother provinces and cities, Changsha has stopped the pace of innovation, and some animation enterprises are still enjoying the feeling of yesterday's "glory", which has become the fetter of development. For example, over the past decade, Changsha animation enterprises have been making circles on the series of "cat" and "rabbit" products, and have not created new animation stars. After the appearance of a large number of emerging animation stars, such as "pleasant goat grey wolf", "Moore Manor", "Balabala little devil Fairy", the images of "rainbow cat, blue rabbit" and "blue cat" have obviously appeared aesthetic fatigue. In addition, some animation works in Changsha have been limited to the thinking of "animation for education" for a long time. They use a lot of adult tone, lack of vivid and lovely children's language, lag in creative ideas, and lack of originality, resulting in the fault of Changsha animation stars.
(2) . the technology application is conservative, and "there is a platform, but no one uses it". Sanchen, Hongmeng and other companies took the lead in applying computer technology to animation production in China, and developed a leading low-cost and efficient "paperless animation technology". The birth of this software was very popular in the historical environment of "weight but not quality", and was adopted by a large number of animation enterprises in Changsha. With the rapid development of digital technology and application software, Beijing, Shanghai and other places have already used more advanced anime and TBS ③ to produce animation. The animation enterprises in Changsha have not kept up with the pace of the development of the times, and still cling to the set of obviously backward animation software. The quality of the animation produced in this way is difficult to compete with the high-quality products from other provinces.
In terms of public technology platform, although Changsha is ahead of the country. Sanchen and Tuowei have established China (Hunan) animation public technology service platform and China (Hunan) mobile animation public technology service platform, which was originally a major measure to improve Changsha animation application technology, due to the management of two enterprises and lack of openness, the goal of providing services to all animation enterprises has not been achieved after the platform is built, There was an embarrassing situation of "having a platform but not using it".
(3) . the enterprises act in their own way, and the industrial chain is incomplete, resulting in the lack of circulation of talents. According to the preliminary plan of the 2006-2010 national animation and game industry (Changsha, Hunan) revitalization base construction and development plan jointly prepared by the Publicity Department of the municipal Party committee and the Management Committee of Changsha high tech Zone, Changsha will build a 3.5 square kilometer animation and game Industrial Park and derivative products industrial park with Lugu Park of the high tech Zone as the center by 2010. ④ However, the animation and game companies in Changsha did not get effective resource integration and information sharing due to the completion of the animation and game Industrial Park. At present, animation and game companies and studios in Changsha are mainly distributed in Xingsha Economic Development Zone and Lugu game Industrial Park, lacking guidance and acting in their own ways.
In the context of global cooperation, it is urgent for the government to create a credible public service platform, give full play to the role of the animation industry Service Association, actively organize members' technical exchanges, resource sharing, organize outsourcing business docking, and enhance the competitiveness of animation enterprises. There are dozens of animation enterprises and hundreds of animation studios in Changsha, which is the product of the detailed division of labor in the international animation industry. Although it can be divided into original production enterprises and outsourcing processing enterprises by classification, most of them are small companies of the same type with a single industrial structure. Therefore, in the case of weak technical force, insufficient funds and incomplete industrial chain, it is difficult to produce high-quality animation and game products with international competitiveness without benign interaction and division of labor and cooperation among enterprises.
(4) The interactive mechanism of cooperative education between the government, universities and enterprises needs to be strengthened.
The structure of employees in Changsha animation and game industry is characterized by "big in the middle and small at both ends". There are many producers, and high-end talents such as creative people and marketing talents are scarce. In particular, compound talents who are familiar with production technology, good at originality and good at operation and management are the "bottleneck" factor in improving the competitiveness of Changsha animation industry cluster. ⑤ On the other hand, the students majoring in animation in many colleges and universities in Changsha have the advantage of knowledge structure, but they can not get the opportunity to enter the enterprise training. The imperfect cooperative education mechanism between universities and enterprises, universities and colleges, universities and the government makes it more difficult to produce compound high-end talents.
Today, with the rapid development of the cultural industry, major animation and game enterprises are eager to get high-end animation creative talents. High end animation talents should not only have technology, but also have the vision to judge the market and the creativity of independent planning. They are application-oriented talents with a variety of abilities. However, most of the graduates trained in Colleges and universities in China now stay at the level of theoretical learning and software training, and their original ability is very low. Such graduates need retraining to enter the enterprise. At present, 90% of animation graduates change careers within five years, resulting in a considerable waste of talents. In order to solve this contradictory situation, colleges and universities need to assume the important responsibility of cultivating talents that better meet the needs of enterprises and society, and the government should encourage and support colleges and universities to establish talent training and teaching practice bases to provide talent support and technical services for enterprises. Focus on cultivating creative talents, digital media software talents, high-end animation talents, product design talents, network and mobile game development talents and management and marketing talents.
2、 The development trend of Changsha animation.
Nowadays, with the maturity of the market, the development trend of animation industry at home and abroad is mainly reflected in two aspects: on the one hand, it pays more attention to the division of labor and cooperation between international and enterprises. A large number of well-known foreign animation and game enterprises come to China to seek cooperation. The clear division of labor and risk sharing are the hallmarks of this cooperation. This kind of independent specialized companies undertake a certain link of the industrial chain, and then form a complete industrial chain around a certain animation product, which has become the mainstream trend in the future. Animation Industrial Park provides a good platform for such resource sharing and cooperation. On the other hand, with the improvement of industrial development by scientific and technological progress, more attention will be paid to the exploration and innovation of consumption experience, multi platform development and communication modes. The updating and upgrading of computer software has greatly reduced the production cost of animation. The rapid development of computer and Internet technology has led to the emergence of new media animation. The era of big data has made it possible to provide personalized customized services. Through big data analysis on the Internet, cloud computing can quickly feed back the needs of the audience to animation and game production companies, transforming animation production from a "seller's market" to a "buyer's market". At present, the communication mode of "experiential animation" and "micro animation" is also quietly changing the consumption habits and animation pattern of the audience. The development of animation products is changing from "top-down" to "bottom-up". The influence of the audience on the content is becoming increasingly obvious, and the innovation of the product content is also required.
3、 Changsha animation talent training development countermeasures.
Although Changsha's animation and game industry is facing various problems and severe challenges, it should be noted that Changsha's animation and game industry has a good foundation. It should correctly judge the trend, actively adjust the layout planning, and realize the transformation and upgrading of Changsha's animation and game industry. The author believes that the following countermeasures can be put forward for the current animation talent training in Changsha.
1. Increase government support.
Capital is the lifeblood of animation and game enterprises. The government supports the development of animation, and the first thing is to solve the financing difficulties for enterprises. While increasing support for leading enterprises, the government should pay attention to the financial support for small animation enterprises focusing on innovation and originality. We can follow the practice of the Korean government, take the government financial fund as the seed fund, attract social capital, establish the Changsha animation and game industry venture capital fund, support and reward local original projects, and accumulate original strength.
2. Encourage technology research and development and strengthen talent reserve.
The paperless all computer cartoon production technology originated from the "sanchen cartoon" not only reduces the production cost, but also greatly improves the production capacity of original cartoons. It is this technological innovation that makes the annual output of original cartoon programs produced in Changsha lead the country for many years. However, when animation and game companies in other provinces in China actively introduce domestic and foreign technical talents, Changsha animation has been standing still. In addition to a three-dimensional patent of Hongmeng group, most animation and game companies are still using flash to produce low-cost and low-quality animation, and game companies are mainly simply outsourcing and acting as agents for other companies' games. Technology research and development is the primary productive force of an enterprise. Only when the technology goes up can we produce high-quality animation and game products with competitive advantages. In this regard, the government should encourage and organize enterprises or universities to carry out research and development of technical topics, including network animation applications, and exchange technologies with animation and game powers such as the United States, Japan and South Korea.
The established Changsha animation rendering base and technology platform should be publicized and utilized. It can follow the example of the Korean animation production center, which is regularly open to universities and enterprises free of charge to promote technical exchanges. While strengthening the supervision and assessment of the use of the two existing platforms, we should also strengthen the original and key technology research to ensure the national leading position of Changsha animation and game technology. The specific utilization, supervision and assessment methods for the public technical service platform can be developed under the leadership of the science and Technology Bureau.
3. Establish a public trading platform for copyright, promote the authorized management of animation brands, and broaden the professional channels for talents.
Most of the animation and game industries in Changsha are production outsourcing enterprises, and there are relatively few enterprises engaged in cartoon production, publishing and distribution, copyright agency, derivative product development, product transaction intermediary, etc. The government should actively promote the construction of copyright public trading platform, further activate the market of animation industry, and further promote the authorized management of animation brands on this basis, so as to make Changsha animation industry form more domestic well-known brands. Strengthen the promotion of "Changsha animation and game Festival" throughout the country, making it a business card of Changsha animation industry.
4. Strengthen industry coordination and cooperation.
The animation industry chain in Changsha has not been improved yet. It is urgent for the government to create a public service platform with credibility, give full play to the role of the animation industry Service Association, actively organize member technology exchange, resource sharing, organize outsourcing business docking, enhance the competitiveness of animation enterprises, and make full use of Changsha's unique high-quality TV resources. Changsha has the Golden Eagle cartoon channel, the animation broadcasting platform with the highest market share in China. At the end of 2012, the project proposal of "joint film purchase, joint investment and joint publicity" launched by Golden Eagle cartoon channel and Shanghai Xuandong cartoon two satellite TV stations was an unprecedented success, initiating the establishment of China's first joint alliance that was completely formed spontaneously by the market and covers the entire animation industry chain. Under this mode, the advantages of each enterprise can be effectively brought into play and maximized, and funds can also be gathered to create high-quality products. If the Golden Eagle cartoon channel is used as a link to gather the local animation enterprises in Changsha to jointly produce high-quality animation products, and then use the Golden Eagle cartoon channel to publicize and promote the works to the whole country, it can not only strengthen the communication and cooperation among Changsha animation enterprises, but also enhance the overall image of Changsha animation.
5. The core of animation industry lies in creativity and production ability to deepen industry university research cooperation education, make talent training close to the actual needs of the industry, and improve the pertinence and social adaptability of talent training. In the past, enterprises paid attention to the application of training technology, while colleges and universities paid attention to the cultivation of students' cultural heritage and innovation ability. However, the scarce "high-end compound talents" in the society now combine the advantages of both. It is impossible to cultivate them by enterprises or colleges alone. The government should encourage and organize universities and enterprises, universities and colleges to jointly promote teaching reform, so as to promote the integration of art and technology and jointly explore new ways to cultivate high-end animation talents.
Taking the animation major of Changsha University as an example, it has been exploring a new "studio" teaching mode in teaching reform. It has designed talent training programs according to the needs of enterprise and cultural development. In addition to setting courses required by professional skills, it has also set up courses of "animation peripheral product design" and "marketing" to enrich students' knowledge structure. In terms of cultivating students' creativity, the school actively organizes students to participate in various competitions, and has won 21 national awards and 84 provincial awards in recent years. Among them, it won the best college organization award in the National College advertising art competition. In the reform of the teaching mode, students' study in the studio broke the traditional boundaries of taking classes and grades as units, and realized the effective organization form of cross grade, cross semester and cross space. After introducing the design task of the enterprise, teachers conduct detailed analysis, planning and design, so as to practically combine teaching with practice and closely combine teaching with industry needs. The original works such as "magical CE Shen village" and "New Year's Eve Festival" jointly developed with Hunan Economic TV channel and Golden Eagle cartoon channel have achieved good social repercussions. Through such innovative teaching methods, students can connect with the society at the university stage, cultivate professional ability and original ability, and meet the needs of the society for animation talents. Therefore, the contribution of talents cultivated in Colleges and universities to cultural creativity will be the driving force for the development of Changsha animation industry in the future.
The development of animation industry is a long-term and arduous task. Although the output and popularity of Changsha animation and game industry have declined in recent years, the spirit of Hunan is still there, and it is expected that Changsha animation and game industry will incubate a new round of rise after dormancy.
notes:
① ② ⑤ introduced to: he daigui, etc. Changsha animation game development report [r], 2011
③ Anime studio and toonboomstudio are paperless animation two-dimensional software produced in the United States.
④ Quoted from: special plan for the development of cultural and creative industries of strategic emerging industries in Hunan Province [eb/ol]
http://www.hnfgw.gov.cn. Xzf [2010] No. 20.