SIFF EXPLORE｜Exploration Class of SIFF EXPLORE Wraps Up with Acclaim at Screening Salon

From June 15 to 17, SIFF EXPLORE of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) invited instructors Dong Yue, Chui Mui Tan and Chen Shu, as well as Tang Jian, Senior Content Operation Director of MIGU Shanghai’s Content Operations Center, to share their creative experience and insights at the Exploration Class, and to encourage young creators to experiment and express themselves bravely. On the evening of June 16, SIFF EXPLORE also held its first screening salon, to show six works that won individual honors and bring in three creators for a live “road show”. The candidates had gained more thoughts among others during the face-to-face communication with instructors.

Dong Yue:

Clarify the innermost true aspirations and don’t give up!

Dong Yue, director and screenwriter, was the first to give a lecture on the topic of “The Path of Creation and the Way Out”. He started with his first feature film THE LOOMING STORM and shared with the candidates his the creation process of the film, to guide the creators on how to face the challenges in the shooting process through his personal experience.

“It is not necessary to define the theme clearly at the initial stage of creation, as it will emerge gradually as the story develops. In the face of young creators’ doubts about “how to sublimate the theme”, Dong Yue believes that the most important thing is to clarify the protagonist’s deep-seated aspirations, since only in this way will the narrative be clearer and the story be soulful. “It’s not our desire to look at someone who does not relate to us, and if you are attracted to him, it is very likely that you share similar perceptions and experiences with him that make you feel the same.”

Whether it is creation or other choices in life, Dong Yue said, we must be clear about our deepest and true aspirations, and in the process, may we experience many setbacks, but we must persevere and never give up easily, “for making movies, it is important to have strong, aspiring and passionate emotions for the work.”

Chui Mui Tan:

It is about to be funny rather than to be right

Instructor Chui Mui Tan from Malaysia is a director, screenwriter, producer and actress.With the theme of “making a movie is a process of self-cultivation”, she unveiled the behind-the-scenes story of the birth of her feature film BARBARIAN INVASION.

Having enjoyed listening to her family tell stories since she was a child, she became a storyteller herself as she grew up. In her exploration class, she organized improvised storytelling exercises in which she tries to make everyone understand the importance of context and cause and effect in stories through different creative perspectives by having the candidates tell and paraphrase stories. In her opinion, one of the most important things in storytelling is “where to stop”, as the ending often reflects the real intention of the creator.

“Find something that makes you happy to do every day, and something that keeps you sensitive, connects you with others and gives you a deeper understanding of the world.” For many people, they often know a lot but experience too little. Only when they try something personally will they realize that “what you know will be quite different from what it really is”. Therefore, compared with the known road toward definite success, Chui Mui Tan said she prefers the unknown one that we don’t know where it leads to, “I’d rather be wrong in a funny way than right in a boring way.”

Chen Shu:

Script is by no means stage directions

Chen Shu, the screenwriter of films such as BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES and A WRITER’S ODYSSEY, shared her experience of screenwriting with the candidates under the title of “The Magic Moment of Screenwriting”. In her opinion, a really good screenwriter needs profound literary knowledge and high requirements for himself or herself, and must consider himself or herself as a real creator.

“Writing a script is a very hard process”, but when the characters vividly appear in front of our eyes at the shooting site, and the scenes described in the script become reality, that wonderful feeling and joy cannot be surpassed and replaced, and this is exactly the magic moment that belongs to a screenwriter.

Chen Shu said that for professional screenwriters, the script serves not only as tips, and the screenwriter should have a certain sense of directing and producing, to be clear about the boundaries of their responsibilities, to be responsible for the script, and to strike a good balance between the literary and practical purposes of the script. As a screenwriter, you must raise self-awareness to have the ability to tell from what you “can write” and what you “love to write”, and it is undoubtedly lucky for the screenwriter if they can overlap. She advised young creators to prioritize readability when writing the script, so that they can attract the actors to read it through.

Tang Jian:

Three core elements of blockbuster creation

Tang Jian, Senior Content Operation Director of Content Operation Center of MIGU Shanghai, shared with the candidates the development and current situation of short videos and how to create good and popular content, and discussed the creation techniques and strategies of short videos from the standpoint of platform operation.

Today, short videos are prevailing in every aspect of our lives, while the emergence of new technologies such as AIGC will also have a great impact on short video creation in the future. Tang Jian believes that to create, short video creators should first understand the various tracks to create quality content that meets the needs of users, “In particular, the selected themes should be valuable and interesting, and especially, related to current social topics that can give rise to thoughts and resonance.”

For how to create blockbusters, Tang Jian analyzed, “Content of blockbusters has three core elements: first, there is a social topic, which can trigger empathy; second, there is a certain veiled contradiction, which is about life, society or other aspects, but conveyed in a clever way; third, the story is dramatic and there’s plot reversal.”

Screening salon held for the first time

6 works winning individual honors presented collectively

The screening salon is the first-ever event held in the SIFF EXPLORE section of this year’s SIFF, providing more opportunities for instructors and creators to appreciate works and exchange views. The event screened six works that won individual honors, namely THE GREAT CONNECTION, which won Special Mention from the Instructor Panel, THE NAME OF THE PLUM BLOSSOM, which won the Best Director Award, BEING SISYPHUS FOR ONE SECOND A DAY, which won the Exploratory Spirit Award, THE LOST COURIER, which won Best Animated Short Video Award, OH! MY MOM, which won the Best Short Video Award, and WIND WILD, which won the Best Production Award.

Shi Xiangyu, the creator of THE NAME OF THE PLUM BLOSSOM, and Cheng Peixuan, the creator of BEING SISYPHUS FOR ONE SECOND A DAY, came to the event to talk about their creative journeys with the instructors and the audience, and the mentors also commented on their works. It is worth mentioning that Shi Xiangyu had actually joined us in SIFF EXPLORE for the second time, and won honors both times; the instructors also had a special on-line session with Ma Zidong, the creator of THE LOST COURIER, so that he could feel the strong atmosphere of the scene which conveys our passion for creation.