素材 (sù cái) — source material (for creative works, e.g., writing, film, art)
Definition
素材 is 'source material' — the raw content (stories, events, experiences) a writer, filmmaker, or artist draws on to create a work. It is more limited than 材料, which also covers physical substances and data.
noun
source material (for creative works, e.g., writing, film, art)
Measure word · 个
Examples
- 素材。Dǎo yǎn cóng lì shǐ shì jiàn zhōng tí qǔ le sù cái.The director extracted source material from historical events.
- 素材。Zhè piān xiǎo shuō de sù cái lái zì zuò zhě de qīn shēn jīng lì.The source material for this novel comes from the author's personal experience.
- 素材。Huà jiā yòng rì cháng shēng huó zhōng de sù cái chuàng zuò le yì fú yóu huà.The painter used everyday life as source material to create an oil painting.
Origin
Compound word构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head
The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.
素 means basic or unprocessed and 材 means material, so it refers to source material for creative work.
Appears in
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