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'Tiny Times 3' drew a barrage of comments

2014-08-15 12:21 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Si Huan
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Director and main actresses of Tiny Times. (Photo: ent.news.cn)

Director and main actresses of "Tiny Times". (Photo: ent.news.cn)

The past Qixi Festival, or Chinese Valentine's Day, was a very special experience for high school student Amy Chen, who went with her friend last Saturday to Shanghai Grand Cinema to watch a danmu screening of the domestic 3D animated film "The Legend of Qin."

Danmu, or barrage, is originally a military term that means a line or barrier of artillery. Now it refers to an emerging way of watching film and TV series with spontaneous comments from the audience on the screen. It is specially popular among the post-1990s generation in China.

"It's very fresh for me. The atmosphere was heated up when the funny words appeared on the wall," Chen says. "We burst into laughter from time to time. We also made friends after the screening. It is a casual, fun and light-hearted memory for us."

The wuxia animation tells the story of a boy who grows up to be a martial arts hero in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). Though the movie has already had a big fan base through the televised animated series version, it is still a courageous attempt for the producers as there is a high risk that on-screen audience commentary will largely distract the audience.

However, the screening was a huge success. While watching the movie, most of the 1,000 or so viewers used their smartphones to post comments about the characters and scenes onto the wall beside the silver screen.

They typed the names of their favorite cartoon characters and talked about the storyline. Some male viewers even shared their WeChat IDs on the wall for the girls they had a bit of a crush on in the theater.

Shen Leping, the film's director and screenwriter, says he was not surprised at the success of the danmu screening.

"The animation film is produced for people aged from 12 to 29, and that's also the main group of people who are familiar with danmu through video-sharing websites," he told local press in an earlier interview.

There will be a total of 50 danmu screenings of the film this month. The film producers have developed special danmu technology, software and equipment for the theater screening.

"Our film aims to provide an interactive platform for the viewers to communicate," Shen said. "We also try to explore a new viewing style in this Internet era. The director conveys his ideas in the movie while the audience also express their opinions freely."

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