'Made in China' powers China's film industrialization

China's film industrialization is increasingly integrating capabilities from across the film production chain and beyond it, including those from the country's manufacturing and technology sectors. From large-scale set construction and prop fabrication to motion capture and virtual production, these capabilities are increasingly fueling China's film industry. The Chinese anti-war film Once Upon a Time in the Middle East offers a vivid example.

Although the film is mainly set in the Middle East, 95% of its scenes were shot in China. About 70% were filmed on a life-size town set featuring Middle Eastern architecture and streetscapes, built at Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis in Shandong Province. The six-month construction covered 100,000 square meters and included more than 200 buildings.

The film's highly realistic US military tank prop was built by a Chinese company in just 28 days, based on only a few reference drawings.

Digital production technology has also streamlined the filmmaking process. For some key scenes in the film, the production team used a homegrown motion-capture system and virtual cameras for previsualization, allowing them to test camera movements, actor positions and spatial layouts before filming. This helped reduce on-set trial and error and post-production rework.

The film offers a glimpse of how "Made in China" is playing a growing role in the filmmaking process, helping make China's film industry more integrated and efficient.