Original title: Development: Image Representation in Special Fields of Military Theme — — Analysis of the May 1st Movie "The King of the Sky"

Author:(Second-level Professor of School of Art and Media, Beijing Normal University, Director of Teaching Steering Committee of Drama and Film and Television Major of Ministry of Education, Director of Art Education Research Center of Beijing Normal University),Li Xinjie (Ph.D. candidate in Drama and Film Studies, Beijing Normal University, lecturer at Anyang Teachers College)

China movies in 2023, after winning a good situation in the Spring Festival schedule and still showing gains in the post-Spring Festival schedule, also achieved more than 1.5 billion box office in the May Day schedule, becoming the third highest box office in the film history. Among them, the eye-catching one is really commendable! The theme development, the fresh expression of the character community, and the high-tech hard-core military secrets are all eye-catching.

1, explore the value of the theme

This film fill that shortcomings of the exist military themes, and for the first time, it shows the new stealth fighter and a new generation of expert test pilot in the modernization process of China in peacetime in a declassified way. The background setting is meaningful, that is, at the beginning, the foreign aircraft gloated and relied on the advantages of military aircraft, which made the pilots of China army angry but lost, highlighting the need for strong military power to deter the enemy’s invasion of China territory, thus launching the story that we should speed up the development of stealth fighter engines and thus speed up the training of new test pilots. The previous generation of test pilots, represented by Captain Zhang Ting, selected and gathered a new generation of test pilots, which opened the story of the struggle and growth of new soldiers in the high-tech era. Who is the "king of the sky"? The film shows not only the engine, but also what the captain said is that people are the final decision! In terms of the performance of the times and mainstream values, it is time for China’s military movies to have stories of test pilots and stealth high-end fighters that reflect their own high-tech and new era. "The King of the Sky" shows an eye-catching effect.

2. Expert test pilots are bright-eyed

The film not only touches on the development of stealth fighters and engines, but also highlights the uniqueness in the characterization of specific fields. The expert test pilot in the high-tech era first appeared in the image, which is not only the result of the times but also a fresh expansion of image creation. The heroic test pilots appeared in front of our eyes. They were brilliant with quite a few gold helmets, but they experienced the same arduous re-selection and elutriation, revealing the high-end nature of the new high-tech test pilots. The relationship formed by the aggregation of special groups is not only technical wrestling, but also competitive to some extent, and there are inevitably eyebrows and secret competitions, but it especially shows the mutual tempering of common will and spiritual quality in shouldering the heavy burden for the country. Especially appreciate each other, the captain Zhang Ting and the scientific research engineer, became the spiritual pillar of the post-90 s test pilots and their spiritual nourishment. However, with the professional spirit of Lei Yu and Deng Fang competing with each other and eventually guarding life and death, they have vividly portrayed the growth of a new generation of high-tech soldiers. The venerable tombstones that sacrificed test pilots on the test flight field are towering, which constitutes a spiritual force for the development of the Republic Air Force.

3, the development of the king of the air

The film focuses on a group of "hidden" rear heroes in China and tells the experimental manufacturing process of a group of "stealth" fighters in China. The so-called "King of the Sky" is not only an excellent test pilot represented by the protagonist Lei Yu (decoration), but also a "car-scrapping" king who is willing to endure the test of life and death at high altitude and make outstanding contributions to China’s aviation industry. The "King of the Sky" belongs to those heroes who sacrificed their lives for the test flight, put aside their personal safety, took care of the overall situation, put "mission" before "life", silently paid for generations, left their names in the martyrs cemetery and disappeared into the dust of the years; The "King of the Sky" are domestic air fighters such as the J-20, J-16 and J-10C that defend China’s airspace and national security. Our knowledge and understanding of them not only stay in the "catwalk" team of the National Day military parade, but also see the "domineering" of China’s aviation military strength in the real battlefield restored by the film. They are made in China and developed by the king of China’s army. The film, with the double superposition of the growth of soldiers and the development of engines, implies the indispensable combination of the king in the air.

4. Breakthrough of audio-visual special effects

The theme of aviation has a natural attraction for movie audiences. Its sense of crisis and the sense of tension hanging by a thread are the "finishing touch" of this kind of film suspense. The shaping of this sense of crisis and tension can not be separated from more and more mature realistic audio-visual special effects. In recent years, no matter the series of "hard science fiction", or the "soft science fiction" or the adaptation of real events, the film as an audio-visual art has made a breakthrough in the "hard core" ontology.

As an air combat film, "King of the Sky" has made a new breakthrough in the production of audio-visual effects. Visually, a large elevation angle, a large depression angle, a large prospect, an aerial mirror, etc., all kinds of rich speed performance and fighter follow-up, greatly enriched the picture performance, including both the aerial wonders and audio-visual stimulation of "speed and passion" and the shock of real flying across the sea at the end of the film. At the same time, in addition to the amazing aerial pursuit, the film presents a unique aesthetic style of images with a large number of static pictures, a large number of balanced compositions and broad perspective shots. Those huge fighters with backlit light, the speed of flying over sandstorms, the flames on tombstones, etc., all add an emotional layer of aesthetics and sadness to the film beyond the visual wonders.

5. Characterization of military spiritual quality

Of course, King of the Sky, as a unique modern air combat film, pays tribute to the "king" who once disappeared into the clouds, and shows us how those dashing, energetic, brave and hard-working test pilots dance on the tip of the knife. It is a unique attempt to expand the theme of the new mainstream films, a gorgeous "test flight" of modern air combat films in China, a microcosm of China’s aviation technology and national defense construction, and a manifestation of China’s self-confidence. The film does not simply depict the hardships of the flight test with an indomitable victory. The continuous ups and downs in the design of its bridge section have become an important opportunity to build people’s character and character growth. China’s flight test career and human growth constitute an integrated relationship. From the beginning of the film, the foreign troops despised us, to the soldiers holding their breath, vowing to develop the engine heart of China’s stealth plane successfully, to the captain’s engine flameout with Lei Yu overload experiment, the captain sacrificed his life to die without bones, and the twists and turns of developing special parachutes to ensure the overload of the plane, especially in the climax, when two test pilots, Lei Yu and Deng Fang, succeeded, they were accidentally hit by birds, which constantly stimulated people’s senses. The image showed that great undertakings were twists and turns and overcame hardships again.

At the end, when the foreign enemy military aircraft invaded China’s airspace again, our stealth aircraft let the enemy run away with its excellent power performance and the outstanding performance of the test pilot. The contrast between the beginning and the end shows that Chinese stealth fighters and soldiers are the spiritual essence of the king in the air.

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