Preface

In the early days of the founding of New China, all walks of life in China needed to be revitalized, and at the same time, socialism seemed out of place in the international environment where capitalist society was flourishing, and there was no experience to reference as the construction and development of the New China as a socialist country progressed. This coincided with a time when Sino-Soviet relations were very close, and Leninism and Marxism brought light to China, which gave the Chinese people hope. On 3 October 1949, China and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. It can be said that the Soviet Union was the first country to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the New China. At that time, the Soviet Union was very powerful and had the right to speak on international status, and in the following 3 months, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and eleven other countries established diplomatic relations with China. Since then, China sided with the Soviet Union and opened the socialist camp, and in 1950, the Soviet Union assisted China in building its economy. In 1950, the Soviet Union assisted the Chinese army in the fight against the U.S.S.R. and Korea, and the relationship between China and the Soviet Union continued and was consolidated once again. At the same time, China and the Soviet Union had close economic exchanges, and consequently, there were also exchanges of corresponding culture, industry, art, architecture and other aspects. The culture of cinema played a great influence in China during this period, and it guided the creative direction for the subsequent development of the Chinese cinema industry.

The origin and development of Chinese film came from the creative development of the former Soviet Union, and the film culture of the Soviet Union also led the way and played a leading role in China's film creation and music creation. China’s early film creations followed both the theme and content style of the Soviet Union film culture as a standard; indeed, the Soviet Union film culture in the world at that time belonged to the advanced ranks, and its works were exported to various countries, becoming a model for learning from each other. China’s film development and creation and the Soviet Union’s style of film creations had a very similar direction, and then, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the change of the international political situation and the growth of China’s comprehensive national power, China’s film industry and its film music creation, in the process of combining with its own territorial culture and national aesthetics, has gradually found a way of film creation and music use in line with its own national culture and habits. With the national characteristics of film music increasingly beginning to gradually appear in film and with the audience’s welcome and recognition, in today’s open internet era, Chinese film music is beginning to move out of the country toward an international stage, and China’s film industry music creation and use of the world's film music culture has become a bright landscape.Footnote 1

An analysis of the process of Chinese cinema

The development of world cinema

The development of the world’s cinema began with Edison’s invention in the United States and Lumière’s film in France; on December 28, 1895, in Paris, the local cinema offered tickets for sale for the first time to Lumière’s “Train to the station”, “Babies drink soup”, and “water on the gardener”. This day is also identified as the birth of film. In the years that followed, the manager of the French Roppel-Utan Theatre, Georges Méliès, introduced scripts, actors, make-up, sets and other technical techniques into film shooting, and this artistic processing occurred over the course of nearly 500 films. After 1927, the development of film entered a new stage. Chaplin, the former Soviet Union’s Eisenstein, the United States of America’s Griffith and other film artists began to become famous in this period. The films of this time were black and white until 1935, when the first color feature film, “Floating World”, was successfully launched, marking the birth of the movie. In 1952, The Devil of Benoit became the first stereoscopic film to use three-dimensional technology; in 1967, McGillivray-Foreman adopted the IMAX format for the first time; in 1971, A Clockwork Orange heralded the advent of the digital stereo era; and on 1 June 1999, the film Star Wars 1—The Phantom Menace was screened. Star Wars 1—The Phantom Menace” was the first commercially screened digital film, and “Avatar” in 2009 was the first to implement 3D + IMAX viewing.

Origins of Chinese cinema

Regarding the history of Chinese film, in 1905 Tan ** in this direction, reflecting the development of the different national strengths, and the construction of the economy.

Artistic aesthetics

Chinese film music in itself not only has artistic appreciation but also reflects the level of our music and artistic creation. The lyrics reflect the charm of our language, songs and music itself, and the embodiment of the film and the theme of the role of the film behind the film music can be seen in many areas of the industry and the level of payment, which is also a standard for external strength, internal test level, the sound of the film in the pure music and songs. This is the appeal to the audience on the one hand, and the sound of the film in the pure music and songs, which is the appeal to the audience, on the other hand. The appeal of film sound to the audience is extremely obvious.

In the early days, China’s film music had several songs, such as “March of the Volunteers” and “Fisherman’s Song”, then “Night on the Grassland” and “Ao Bao ** of the film, which would ultimately become the result of the “cinematization” of the artistic elements, and film music, under the impact of film, has a new law of artistic development and the principle of aesthetics creation and the development of music film. Although there was an initial genre of music in the process of integration with film, a new meaning and mission emerged, and the development and dissemination of film music also appeared with the progress of the times to express new personalities and styles.

The overseas dissemination of Chinese films, in addition to these films themselves in foreign market distribution, especially with the U.S. Hollywood competition, needs to be unique, and the cultural quality of the film is top tier. In the development of the film industry in recent years, we have seen the commercial success of Hollywood and the dividends of such series as Marvel, which is very useful for the development of China’s film industry. Currently, the process of globalization is accelerating, internet technology is develo**, and culture is similar to a postcard of a country, representing its image. Chinese films and film music can also reflect the degree of Chinese culture and art, such as on some familiar foreign websites, such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social networking and video sites. The output of film music can also be translated into multilanguage versions for aesthetic and artistic exchange and adaptation. In addition, China’s film and television music can also be part of the national culture and national characteristics of the elements of integration. Since 2003, China's outstanding director Zhang Yimou has shown the impact of “Red Sorghum” and other types of folkloric film on the international film industry; of course, there are also a lot of works and the corresponding film and television music to win awards, in addition to the box office market that should also be seized, such as in “martial arts” film and television among international audiences. In addition, the box office market should also be seized; for example, “martial arts” film and television works are relatively more popular among the international audience, and thus, the relevant music creation can also be combined with the content creation of the works.

In conclusion, to excel in international film and television music, we must form our own unique music style. In the long history of film music development, some of the works that have been widely circulated and even have far-reaching impacts have needed to have excellent quality and unique style. In the development of China’s film music, whether it is the “Tremolo of Life”, “Wuji”, which is a combination of Chinese and Western music, or the fashionable and popular “Hero” soundtrack clip “Wind”, all of them need to develop on the main line of ethnicity in a diverse manner, to find the entry point of national and international culture, to blossom in the international music arena, to carry forward China's national culture and to build up cultural confidence.

Conclusion

The survival of the Soviet Union film and its music in our country is a testament to the times, the occurrence of this stage of history, which is also a witness to the cultural exchanges between the two countries. The USSR was second to none in both national strength and cultural development. In the spirit of the kernel of transmission, it is also a representative of the socialist culture of the country. The development of film culture and art can be said to influence the development of creativity in most countries around the world, especially the land adjacent to China. The development of film music in our country is not only the melodramatic embodiment of the story of the plot but also a representation of the role of characters in the drama. Sometimes pale text dialog is not as good as a piece of music that can touch people’s hearts. Sometimes the pale and hard text dialog is not as good as a piece of music to move the heart and let the audience understand the emotional expression. Thus, based on the characteristics of the Soviet Union’s film music to convey the creation of the use of music, China's film music has continued to progress toward a higher quality and more in line with the Chinese aesthetic on the road of independent development, in the current international arena has its own self-sufficiency and the source of development through the Soviet Union's film and its successful influence on film music, to find their own way of development. Through the successful influence of Soviet cinema and its film music, we have found our own way of develo** film music, and we believe that we will be able to create more infinite possibilities in the development of film music in the future.