On The Chinese Mass Film And Video Production

The main issues dealt with in this thesis are primarily the history, status quo, text, function, future tendencies and corresponding strategies of the booming amateur mass film and video production industry (mainly the video production represented by DV) in China today..The first chapter is a reflection upon film and video production. The first part of this chapter defines mass film production as a form of video production carried out by certain individuals. Its character has now changed from that of a professional and industrialized machine used for conveying public ideology on a national scale, to an utterance channel for non-professional individuals. Its contents have shifted from macro-narration to micro-narration, from public command to individual utterance, from main-stream culture to mass ideology. The second part of mis chapter goes further to deal with the question of what are the tools of film production, and what kind of visual signs (images) are used in the making of films. Particularly, what are cameras, images, and what is film production? What are their essential functions? What kind of significance do they hold?The second chapter provides a historical overview of the mass film and video production industry over the last 100 years scanning this century for the marks left by it in different periods. The first two decades of the 20th century witnessed the budding of the early mass film production industry in China. Stimulated by several young amateur filmmakers belonging to the Left wing movements of the 1930s, motion picture production reached its first climax. In the following years, while a war was being fought for national survival and later during the civil war, only a few amateur film makers were still working in the field of film production. From 1949 to 1977, production of films by individuals came to a complete halt in the mainland of China. Only After 1977, did it resume its vigor. Before and after the "August 9th movement", amateur filmmakers of the first generation of the People's Republic of China, began their creative work. After 1996, the introduction of DV technology added fuel to the flame of amateur film making in China. The Exhibition of Independent Chinese Film Making held in September 2001 constituted a landmark in the history of Chinese film and video production. Thus, film making, long appreciated by the people began to win its position and become more and more popular with the general public.Chinese film production hence stepped out of the "center-margin" status into the multi-polarized coexistent stage.The third chapter, a textual analysis, emphasizes several evident characteristics of present day film production, particularly, its personalized, marginalized and deconstructed character. Personalization is the embodiment of popularization. Personalized images, as the reflection of an individual upon the objective existence of the world and upon his own subjective inner world (usually in a variety of forms), can reflect the various forms of existence in a historical time and space, so as to bring forward numerous interpretations of certain historical realities. From an inspection of the means and objects that the mass film production industry is concerned with, it becomes evident that mass films, with their strong marginal complex and bottom-based tendency, displays a picture from the perspective of the common citizens. This is an observation that originates from an inner world, which may become "the other" historical style of writing and style of existence. These mass images, focusing on the underprivileged groups, and acting as a mirror reflection of our social conscience, become a force interacting with our social development process. Film production is a battlefield. The popularization of film production is breeding a new power of opposition. It is not only an opposing force to the traditional form of film making practiced under the old system, or to the ideology of a privileged class, but also a kind of striving force for maintaining individual rights, for consolidating ideolo...