6 November 2017
On the afternoon of 5 November, as one of the activities of the 11th Association Academic Activity Month of the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations (SFSSA), the Symposium on How to Win the Market and Audience for Theme Movies, which was sponsored by the Shanghai Film, Television and Theatre Theory Research Society and organized by the STA Centre for Filmology and Film Culture Studies, was held in the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA). More than 30 experts and scholars from the Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Tongji University, Shanghai University, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai International Studies University, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai Art Research Institute and Shanghai Theatre Academy submitted the papers and synopses and participated in the symposium. The symposium featured in-depth discussion and dialogue on and around the topics of "How to Win the Market and Audience for Theme Movies", "Categorization and Marketization of Theme Movies”, "Characterization and Star Strategy for Theme Movies” and other related topics, and was crowned with success.
Professor Zhou Bin, Director of Shanghai Film, Television and Theatre Theory Research Society and Director of Fudan University Film Art Studies Centre, and Ms Xu Tingting of SFSSA gave a speech at the opening ceremony. The ceremony was chaired by Professor Li Zhenlin, Member of SFSSA and Dean of STA Graduate School.
At this seminar, experts and scholars discussed the definition of such basic concepts as the “theme movies”, "new theme movies", "mainstream film commercialization” and "mainstream blockbuster", and paid close attention to those artistically and commercially successful theme movies coming out recent years such as "Operation Mekong", "The Taking of Tiger Mountain", "Wolf Warriors" and "Wolf Warriors 2", and made an in-depth analysis of them from multiple angles including ideology, art aesthetics, narrative style, cultural value and business strategy. Many scholars also made comparative studies between the commercial movies that convey the mainstream values of the Chinese nation such as “The Assembly”, "The Founding of An Army" and "The Great Wall" and the foreign movies that convey the mainstream values of their own countries such as "Schindler’s List", "Hacksaw Ridge", "Dunkirk", "The King’s Speech", "Dangal" and "Battle of Myeongryang", thereby seeking new inspirations for making the creation of theme movies closer to audience and better received by the market. Some other experts combined the theme movies with the strategy for Chinese movies to "grow stronger" and "go global" and combed the historical diving lines and retrospect of the national "foreign affairs” strategy of Chinese movies. They put forward that the theme movies should have international vision and human vision, and should provide cultural and image support for China’s rise and go well in telling the story of China and spreading the voice of China.
Professor Zhou Bin made a concluding speech at the closing ceremony of the symposium. He pointed out that the symposium was a timely one with thorough and in-depth discussions and was quite enlightening to the artistic creation and theoretical construction of theme movies at the present. The papers of the participating experts and scholars connected well with their academic accumulation over time and carried out divergent studies, reflecting a keen insight and broad academic vision, demonstrating abundant achievements and a strong sense of rationality, and bringing about expanded extensive thinking towards the transformation of them movies.
