Today, iQIYI exclusively launched a new work, which is no small feat— "Strange Tales: The Paper Blade Crosses the Ruins" has become the first AIGC online story film in China to obtain a "Network Series Production Permit" and go on air officially. It was jointly produced by Daming Innovation and iQIYI. With the background of traditional Chinese strange tales, it used AI to complete the entire process from concept to final production. The entire film is over 60 minutes long.

This work is the opening part of the "Strange Tales Trilogy," directed by Zeng Xiangcheng, with Liu Haiyang serving as AI director, and Zhao Shengnan, Yue Siyu, and Xiao Yang writing the script. The story tells an Eastern-style strange tale fantasy adventure: Bai Xiaoman, a paper master who has lost his memory, sets out to recover his memories and dives into the "hidden market," a gap between the world of the living and the dead, together with Hu Buguigui, a half-paper person. On the journey to find three treasures, such as the rootless water, a truth about obsession, redemption, and humanity gradually unfolds. Paper puppets and strange beasts move through the scenes, with eerie landscapes and lively city life interwoven, creating a unique Eastern strange tale aesthetic.

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In terms of production, this film systematically tested the full workflow for long-form storytelling using AIGC, gradually building a complete technical pipeline covering creative development, prompt workflow, visual asset generation, AI rendering, 4K output, and post-production. The entire film was completed by a team of more than 20 people. In addition to core film roles such as directors and screenwriters, new types of creators such as AI asset effect artists and prompt engineers also participated deeply, integrating AI technology with the film production process.

The main creative team delved deep into classic strange tales and folk legends such as "Shan Hai Jing," "Zi Bu Yu," and "Liaozhai." They created more than 200 characters and visual assets to build the image world of Eastern strange tales. Liu Haiyang, the AI director of the film, said that the fast iteration of AIGC allows the team to constantly try different visual solutions, quickly verify creative ideas within a short time, and continuously refine expressions and visuals.