经济学人:中国电影产业 迷失于中国式好莱坞(下)

 　　To avoid these handicaps, foreign firms are ploughing money into “co-productions” with local partners. 为了避开这些障碍，外国公司与当地合伙人投资拍“合拍片”。

　　Yet Chinese culture has proven even harder to master than its politics. 然而，事实证明中国文化比起中国政治更难以掌握。

　　Clark Xu of CMC observes that “nobody has cracked the code on creating stories that can work in both China and the West.” 华人文化产业投资基金的克拉克·徐称，“目前还没有人破解掉如何创作出既符合中国口味又符合西方口味故事的密码。”

　　Tastes in China are also rapidly evolving, with younger consumers and those living in secondary cities now dominating ticket sales. 中国的口味变化迅速，年轻消费者和二线城市的消费者目前主导着票房。

　　“It's not just a question of money,” insists Gregory Ouanhon of Fundamental Films, a film production and distribution firm in Shanghai. 上海电影制作发行公司基美影业的Gregory Ouanhon 强调：“这不仅是钱的问题。”

　　He thinks Western studios are finally realising how difficult and time-consuming a process it is to develop a script that appeals both to Chinese censors¹ and to the country's cinema-goers. 他认为，西方电影制作公司最终逐渐认识到，要制作出一个既能迎合中国审查部门又能迎合该国电影观众的剧本是一个多么艰难、耗时的过程。

　　Meanwhile, local rivals, long dismissed by Hollywood moguls as unsophisticated bumpkins, are getting into their stride. 同时，一直被好莱坞巨头长期忽略并视为傻乎乎乡巴佬的本土对手现在却越来越娴熟。

　　Chinese film companies are investing in new technologies, improving creative capabilities² and attracting more financial backing. 中国的电影公司纷纷投资研究新技术，提升创造力，吸引更多的财力支持。

　　Powerhouses like Huayi Brothers Media and Beijing Enlight Media are now producing blockbusters of their own. 华谊兄弟传媒和北京光线传媒等巨头现在开始自行制作大片。

　　“Lost in Thailand”, a road-trip movie released by Enlight in 2012, became the first Chinese film to earn $200m at the box office. 2012年光线传媒上映的公路冒险影片《泰囧》成为首部票房达到2亿美元的华语影片。

　　“Lost in Hong Kong”, a sequel released at the end of September, earned over $100m on its opening weekend. 9月底上映的续集《港囧》上映首周末入账逾1亿美元。

　　From storytelling nous to animation³ wizardry, Hollywood studios are still far ahead. 从讲故事的常识到动画技巧，好莱坞的制作公司仍然遥遥领先。

　　But Chinese upstarts could leapfrog them in one area: business models. 但是中国的后起之秀可能在一个方面超越它们：那就是商业模式。

　　When it comes to the integration⁴ of the internet into the film business, “China beats Hollywood hands down,” Mr Shiao argues. 谈到互联网与电影产业的融合，萧先生说：“中国可以轻而易举地击败好莱坞。”

　　He thinks innovation in this area at Western firms is stifled⁵ by concerns about such things as pay-television rights and DVD sales—markets that never took off in China. 他认为，西方公司在这方面的创新因为考虑付费电视权利与DVD销售等因素受到遏制——而这些方面的市场在中国从未起飞过。

　　Free of such legacy⁶ issues, Chinese firms are experimenting with their business models to develop new online revenue streams and to enhance fan engagement on social media. 由于没有这些遗留问题，中国的公司放手对商业模式进行试验，开发新的在线营收来源，在社交媒体上加强粉丝的参与等。

　　The producer of “Monkey King: Hero is Back”, an animated⁷ film, crowdfunded the movie through WeChat, a Chinese messaging app,  动画片《大圣归来》的制片方通过中国的聊天应用程序微信为电影组织众筹，

　　promising⁸ to add the names of investors⁹' children to the film credits if they gave over 100,000 yuan ($16,000) each; the film raised over 7m yuan this way. 承诺如果投资人出款额度超过10万元（16000美金）就把投资人孩子的名字加入影片的致谢名单中；结果通过这种方式，这部电影筹集了逾700万元资金。

　　The internet has also become an important distribution channel. 互联网也成为一条重要的发行渠道。

　　Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, China's biggest internet firms, are all investing in online video. 阿里巴巴、腾讯和百度三家中国最大的互联网公司都投资了网络视频。

　　As in America, revenues from streaming services are expected to surpass takings at the box office in a few years. 与美国的情形一样，流媒体服务的收入预计几年后会超过实体票收入。

　　Local filmgoers, for their part, are increasingly young and technology savvy¹⁰: 63% of movie tickets are now bought online, compared to 13% in America. 与此同时，中国的电影观众越来越年轻，越来越了解科技：现在有63%的电影票通过在线购入，相比之下美国这个比例只有13%。

　　Even if Hollywood does not find a pot of gold in China, it may be there that it learns what the future of the global film business holds. 即便好莱坞在中国没有掘到一桶金，但或许在那里他们才能学到全球电影业的未来所在。

1 censors   

删剪（书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容）( censor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The censors eviscerated the book to make it inoffensive to the President. 审查员删去了该书的精华以取悦于总统。
• The censors let out not a word. 检察官一字也不发。

2 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

4 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

5 stifled   

（使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵

参考例句：

• The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
• The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。

6 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

7 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？