SIFF NEXT｜Concept Film of the "Best SIFF NEXT Project" - MOMENTS ELUDING -Completed

To encourage creators to take the first step in filming, in 2021, SIFF NEXT introduced another requirement for the “Best SIFF NEXT Project”, so as to help projects to make a stage pose before the industry with a more complete look during SIFF PROJECT of the year.

The two best SIFF NEXT projects of the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), MOMENTS ELUDING and STAND OUT have all finished the filming of their short concept films, which will be released through SIFF PROJECT in June this year. We’d like to share with you here the production notes of She Zeyu, the director of MOMENTS ELUDING, hoping to offer other young creators in the industry some inspiration and help by looking back upon her experience at SIFF NEXT and the process of making the short film.

The application channel for SIFF NEXT of the 25th SIFF in 2023 will be closed on March 10.

The concept poster of MOMENTS ELUDING

"Just do it"

-    An excerpt from director She Zeyu's production notes

BEFORE GOING TO THE SOUTH:

(August 2022)

Recalling the moment when I received a request for concept film creation at the open day of SIFF NEXT at the beginning of the year, I remember that I was sitting among the audience and applauding with great enthusiasm. At that time, I was overwhelmed by a pulse of passion, eager to see a concept in my mind that grew from an idea to a script to finally enter the stage of production.

“Just do it.”

From that original aspiration at that time to this moment when I’m sitting in front of the computer and typing these words with the materials I just got aside, it has passed seven months.

The recruitment for the concept film kicked off in March, and I was in a hotel in Zhangjiajie then. Instead of developing in a gentle way, I personally expected that the work MOMENTS ELUDING was rich and ardent in nature. That’s a feeling I’ve captured only in Xishuangbanna. So, my ideal shooting location was Yunnan, the border area between China and Vietnam at that time. Later, due to various reasons, neither the shooting trip to the Sino-Vietnamese border nor that to Zhangjiajie was possible.

I made the decision to shoot in Beijing in a hard way primarily because of the atmosphere difference. However, I had to face the practical problem at that time node: I realized that pressure from both the trip of the crew to the south and the budget was forcing me to choose between ideal and reality.

Director She Zeyu at the event site of phase II, SIFF NEXT 2021

I found that Huairou was the most suitable place to shoot after a round of exploration. It is a place where various landscape gathers, more preferable in a sensory sense, and greener at that time. My mind was occupied by ideas on how to create the atmosphere under the existing conditions, be it for lens design or for art setting.

The day I learned that the entire Huairou area was under lockdown was the most devastating day I had ever experienced since preparing the concept film. We had to find a new way to present the film. Cudgeling my brain, I decided to resort to “Desktop Cinema” for filming under special circumstances.

So, BEFORE GOING TO THE SOUTH was born, which, though not a complete creation, marked the real cooperation between everyone for the first time. Being notified two days in advance and filming overnight, the main creators and performers behind the scenes, no longer the WeChat profile photos, finally got the chance to meet each other in a way and context that everyone was not used to some extent. For me, it is a fruit harvested by an unyielding mind amid an array of realistic and force majeure factors. Some fellows who have been film workers for many years, had to repeat some primary works between the online and offline scenarios, just like those back in the school days. At that time, we believed in many things, but no one ever thought that we’d be defeated.

A scene of BEFORE GOING TO THE SOUTH

After turning to "Desktop Cinema", the new shooting time was adjusted to August 8. The day I joined the crew was August 7, the Beginning of Autumn. In the evening, the main creative team and the performers drove to the main site for testing. Huang Guan brought a stereo with him, so, we sang along the whole journey. And I hope that I can capture the life force of that moment, if given the chance.

Shooting scene of the concept film of MOMENTS ELUDING

We spent actually two days in shooting. Compared with the obstacles and variables in the early stage, the two days of filming seemed to be particularly smooth. Of course, we also encountered some accidents, such as road maintenance on the transition route, which caused some delay. Also, if the schedule and sunlight permitted, we’d have more chances to try for some shots. And if the person in charge of the filming location was easy going, a lot of trouble could be saved. I wondered if it's because autumn had come that it felt cooler when we arrived in Huairou than the time when we were investigating the scenes there before. It was overcast all the time. The two-day schedule was really tight, including also several transitions. Although we had tried to centralize and optimize the shooting locations during the preliminary preparations, it was still inevitable for us to be exhausted by journeys. After the simple opening ceremony, we hurried up the car and went to Baiquan Mountain for the first shot before we had time to take pictures of the opening. On a boat in Baiquan Mountain, I heard someone in the crew praised the landscape. I was flooded with emotions instantly. I had been on this round-trip boat five or six times, and my photo album had recorded how it had turned into this lush appearance from bareness. And we’d finally managed to have everyone here now. The core creators are of the same age and have similar backgrounds, which made the communication easy. Three of the four performers, Yue Xiaoke, Guan Guan, and Li Jiahao, had tried their best to adjust to the schedule of the crew in the past few months, and they stayed until the end. At the same time, they also worked as stills photographers in the crew, taking many of the photos when they are waiting for their shots. Xiao Xili, who joined us later, also showed a highly cooperative attitude, and cut her hair short for this concept film.

Shooting scene of the concept film of MOMENTS ELUDING

Here, I must mention the girls among the main creators. They would go into the water to fish for props and fruits, and clean up caterpillars and spiders the time they saw them without making a fuss. And it is what they’d done behind the scene that made the shooting go smoothly. Zuoluo, Xiaowei, Qiqi, Lin Cen, Qiongwen, Dali, and Xuanzi all contributed a lot to this concept film and overcame a lot at the scene. In a traditional ecology where men account for the majority, they had offered clear logic, systematic judgment, and decisive execution in the whole shooting process. I’d like to extend sincere thanks here to them. Photographer He Xun is a meticulous and gentle man. Although we had known each other since 2019, this was the first time that we worked together. We also spent the first morning for the running-in period in actual shooting. The afternoon of the first day was mainly for shooting in a car, and Zuoluo contributed his own car to carry the filming rack. The rain began to fall sporadically on the first night, which coincided with the last shot that night. According to the filming schedule, it was already overtime, but Zuoluo didn't rush me. I originally thought about wetting the ground with water pipes to create a sense of humidity and heat, but it seems that there was no need for that anymore. I went to bed very late before starting the filming, because Dali, who shared the room with me, was still making bobo balloons, the props for the next day. Dali was my best friend when I was studying in Boston, being invited by me into the crew for art work.

Shooting scene of the concept film of MOMENTS ELUDING

The pace on the second day was much faster than the first day. It seemed that everyone had adapted to the rhythm and knew how to cooperate better, although we only had two days. When driving to the Shentangyu plank road, I found the mountains on both sides through the window was misted due to the rain. The rain was not heavy, but it rendered the plank road wet with ever more the vibe of the script. We temporarily adjusted the shooting sequence of one or two shots at Shentangyu, for proper effect at the right time. Around noon, the rain stopped. Zouluo was happy because the sun came out when it was supposed to, and I was filled with delight too. Although the landscape of the last shot in the script was not filmed as we’d expected due to the temporary maintenance of the mountain road, we still completed the filming based on local conditions. Departing the mountain road, we split into two groups. Da Li, He Xun and I went into the woods, and Wen Dong, the artist, had been waiting us there already. And the main crew members went to the next scene. When I came back after taking the scenery shots, it’s already getting dark. Therefore, the shots at Woshan Mountain Village were filmed somewhat hastily. Everyone rushed to the mission of saving time, and then quickly transferred to the bridge opening. Maybe, as the shoot was coming to an end, the excitement ignited by such a tight schedule prevailed into the night. The last shot, which was originally planned to be taken after dinner, was also completed on a whim. Jiahao and I clapped hands when announcing the end of filming. I noticed a line when recording the voice later, "Whoever young didn't run away." It seemed to be the true portrait of ourselves. In the end, we took a group photo for the end of the filming to make up for the regret of not having a starting photo, though some, such as Wen Dong, Siniang, and those engaged in the pre-production work, were absent.

The two-day shooting resembles the script of MOMENTS ELUDING to some extent. A group of people went on a trip of some minor accidents, but returned smoothly. The creation of MOMENTS ELUDING revolves initially around running away and returning, as well as individuals' dilemma and relief in the contemporary context. Looking back at the entire production process, the pressure of creation is actually far less than the pressure of social relations. School days are the most worry-free creative time. As we grow up, everyone has to face more direct and practical life issues, and I can't occupy everyone's time with peace of mind. In addition to gratitude, I know that I need to treat it seriously as an undertaking, that is, how to continue the creation organically. We didn’t go to the South this time, but we will be on our way to the South sooner or later.

Some feelings about post-production

 (February, 2023)

The night before color tuning, after much deliberation, I temporarily made a pdf for color tuning reference, which contained a lot of screenshots and keywords from the movie THE SWAMP. The colorist is Mr. Li Yan, from Phenom Films. I remembered that when the photographer He Xun and I entered the studio, he had already basically adjusted the entire tune and preliminarily the key frames for our confirmation. And the time I was before the tuned work, I was impressed by some of the frames, whose shades were very close to the green color I’d imagined, and thus felt relieved. Mr. Li Yan doesn't talk much when he works, and is really understated. The tone showcases his personal aesthetics, and the frame details, the quality of patience in him. Especially, for some problems that we didn’t figure out at that moment, such as the pink tone of the sky at dusk, and the contrast between light and dark in some interior spaces or on the faces of the characters in the night scene, he had provided various solutions to support our attempts.

Coloring work by Phenom Films

Sound production by Mofei Pictures

I have been expecting to cooperate with Mofei Pictures since I was a graduate student, and finally got the chance through the filming of this concept film. Before the shooting, Mr. Li Danfeng had a phone call with us for a pre-communication based on our feedback on the shooting script and other supplementary materials, to offer some suggestions on the sound work at present and sound design later. When he learned that we could only shoot in Beijing in the end, where the actual environment might be different from what was shown in the script, he encouraged us and mentioned films such as SON OF SAUL, suggesting us to focus on the characters and weaken the scenes to make up for the unfavorable conditions in the shooting stage, and then intensify and highlight the "hot and humid" atmosphere as described in the script in the later stage through sound design.

As a key link in the "6+1" step-by-step training system of SIFF for the next generation film workers, SIFF NEXT recruits young filmmakers from Chinese-speaking regions. The selected trainees are eligible to participate in the phase I events held in summer, and all previous selected trainees can sign up for the “Development Workshop” in phase II in held in winter with feature film scripts.

The first phase of SIFF NEXT at the 25th SIFF in 2023 will be held in Shanghai in June. At present, it is calling for application. Creators from the three directions of producer, screenwriter and director are welcome to sign up. The deadline for application is March 10. Welcome to apply through the official website of SIFF www.siff.com.