Shanghai Increasingly Favored by Sci-fi Filmmakers

Shanghai, with its curious fusion of a futuristic skyline and oriental culture, is becoming an increasingly popular location for shooting science-fiction blockbusters.

The 17th Shanghai International Film Festival, running from June 14 to 22, has put on display the original script for "Her," the Oscar-winning sci-fi that made extensive use of exteriors shot in Shanghai.

In the movie, the smoggy sky, high-rises and multiculturalism of Shanghai make an ideal background for the imaginative storyline.

Besides "Her," science-fiction films including "Code 46," "Transformers," "The Dark Knight" and "Looper" have all shot scenes in Shanghai.

More than 30 foreign films have seleced Shanghai as a place to shoot exteriors, according to Yan Peng, film critic and planning supervisor of Beijing Galloping Horse Film & TV Production Co..

Since the 1950s, the image of Shanghai depicted in Western films has been undergoing gradual changes, Yan said.

Before the 1970s, Shanghai's neon lights and food stalls in the streets were favored scenes for contemporary-set Western flicks, and the city was both bustling and messy in the Western imagination.

from the 1970s to 1990s, foreign science-fiction directors preferred to splice contradictory scenes of modern skyscrapers and the crowded narrow streets of the city in order to combine the sense of modernism and tradition.

"Nowadays, Shanghai is more often depicted as an international metropolis which is even more futuristic than North America," Yan said, adding that the change of the city's image on film has reflected the transformation of the city itself and how it is perceived by the world.

"In the eyes of Western filmmakers, Shanghai is an integration of both Western and Chinese culture, which perfectly meets their imagination," he explained.

According to Shi Chun, a professor with the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai's special fusion of past, present and future has made it an ideal setting for sci-fi.

"Shanghai is one of the most futuristic cities in the world, which is not only a result of its architecture, but also the economic status of the country," Shi said.

As the world's second-largest economy, China's economic strength and its developing potential have also bought it a major place in the film market. China is now the second-largest film market after the United States, with a box office exceeding 21.7 billion yuan (about 3.5 billion U. S. dollars) in 2013.

Terri Tatchell, scriptwriter for science-fiction film "District 9," believes Shanghai is an exciting and intriguing city with European-style architecture, stylish cafes and modern skyscrapers, qualities which have led her to study its history and stories.

Shanghai should have its own science-fiction stories, said Tatchell, who hopes to set one of her own narratives in the city one day.