SIFF EXPLORE｜The Short Video Exploration Class Invited Instructors to Encourage Young Filmmakers to Create with Earnest

On June 18 and 19, the Short Video Exploration Class of the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival was held at Shanghai Vancouver Film School. The short video instructors Ding Sheng and Amei were invited to the class, to share their growth stories and creative experience with the outstanding creators selected for the recommended works and young video lovers, and encourage everyone to pay attention to life and create with earnest. The young creators selected for the recommended works, as well as the "Extreme Challenger" of SIFF SHOOTING 48H, will also participate in the Golden Goblet Award Ceremony and Red Carpet Ceremony of the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival tonight. This is also the first time that the creator of the short video unit embarks on the red carpet of SIFF in the past three years since its establishment.

Practice and earnest

Director Ding Sheng

In the exploration class, Director Ding Sheng, through his own films such as "The Underdog Knight" and "Little Big Soldier", shared with everyone the creative process of the film and the behind-the-scenes story of filming.

"The mind needs to be keen, and the creation process must be practised." In his opinion, in the creative process, it is not only necessary to use the brain, but also to pracitice more by shooting, trying, adopting different methods, mastering various techniques, storing up energy, and accumulating experience. He also encouraged young creators to "don't be afraid of failure, failure is also a wealth". Only when they have experienced frustrations will they be impressed and spur themselves to move forward. Regarding creation, he pays more attention to the "primary impulse", because the original impulse will always inspire you not to give up, as an invisible motivation, and push you forward. "Believe in yourself, rely on yourself is the very key to success."

Regarding whether a story can be told in 4 minutes, Ding Sheng said that the time is very sufficient, "I think it can even challenge telling a story in 2 minutes. I think a story in 2 minutes may make you cry. Therefore, what matters in the story is to impress people, especially to impress strangers." He mentioned: "Making a film is not a personal act. The partner is very important. You must learn to use strength at any time, because anyone can be better than you in a certain way. "

Pay attention to life, be loyal to the heart

Screenwriter Amei

Based on screenwriting thinking and creation, screenwriter Amei shared her own growth experience in terms of material preparation, story creation, personal experience, etc., and provided creators with suggestions for choosing creative methods and future development paths. "Screenwriting is a prescribed creation." In her opinion, learning screenwriting skills is important, but for a screenwriter, life experience and accumulation, and life observation are all very important.

Amei said that as a screenwriter, we must communicate with the outside world more, find the points that can move people, explore the core of the story, and be loyal to our hearts. She encouraged everyone to keep their passion in the creative process, and gradually find the direction that can move people's hearts in the process of continuous exploration and writing. She also mentioned that female authors should not be constrained by gender limitations, but should explore and create from a female perspective, give play to their own advantages, and show female power.

Speaking of suggestions for young creators, Amei believes that the biggest characteristic of young creators is to express their own experience. This is also the most common commonality that they may not be mature enough, but they can convey sincere emotions. For screenwriters, it is possible to encounter bottlenecks at any time, and to solve these bottlenecks, there is actually no shortcut, only time and energy will work.

Unit overview

The short video unit of the Shanghai International Film Festival was established in 2019. It is an innovative attempt to improve the new talent cultivation system and create a ladder-type newcomer incubation mechanism together with the Golden Goblet short film, SIFF PROJECT training camp, SIFF PROJECT, the Asian New Talents Award, and the Golden Goblet Awards. This unit, with short video works of less than 4 minutes (including 4 minutes) as the carrier, aims to establish a long-term mechanism of “discovering newcomers and digging out new works” through solicitation, recommendation, tracking, training, etc., to encourage young shooting creative talents to bravely explore and create, and to prepare them for feature films. At the same time, taking advantage of the platform and its influence, it will serve to integrate social resources, promote talent reserves, and cultivate and deliver new talents for the future development of the film industry.