Shih Hsin University’s students have incredible blessings. Last year, “Terrorizers” 《青春弒戀》 had a number of nominations for the Golden Horse Awards and announced that today (25) that it will be launching the “RISING AWARDS,”(新風獎短片創作大賽)which will provide $3.1 million in award money and be held at Shih Hsin’s newly constructed building. The “LVS Intelligent Filming Base” filmed a demonstration with the cooperation of famous MV director Kwon Sheng(鄺盛) and popular idols Lian Chenxiang(連晨翔)and Shu Zichen(舒子晨). Many students watched the filming of the cyberpunk x sci-fi short film titled “Falling.” The new metaverse generation and innovative filming technology will build upon and expand Taiwan’s film industry to new horizons.
Shih Hsin introduced Hollywood’s latest technology to Taiwan through this intelligent filming base. With 2256 LED panels, the screen spans a 270 degree view and has a square, 10-meter virtual canopy hanging from above. Real time calculation lenses capture a system that is perfectly integrated with technology and immensely improves productivity. Relying on Rising Wind International(風度國際), Rising Wind Films(風度影視), founded by a professional film and television team, has mastered the global film and television market in the post-epidemic era, and works to actively deploy high-tech filming operations. Industry-University collaboration allows for a new era to commence.
After finishing the filming of the demonstration video, the “RISING AWARDS,” co-sponsored by Rising Wind Films and Shih Hsin University, will be selected within Shih Hsin University. After the initial stage of project screening and review, the selected projects will be subsidized for filming and the winners will be announced by November.
Kwon Sheng(鄺盛), director of the demonstration film and script writer of sci-fi works for Shih Hsin, exclaimed, “There are endless possibilities here! It saves the cost and time of setting the scene, and the actors are engaged in reality. It’s easier to engage in emotional performances in such an environment.” Yang Shengyu(楊盛昱), vice-president of Shih Hsin University, also noted, “We look forward to bringing life to this industry through cultivating talents, creating content, evoking creativity, and making life-like films to allow our school’s talents to join the market and become integrated with the world. Through this, Taiwan’s film industry can advance and grow.”
Also optimistic about the potential of virtual production, Zheng Renhao(鄭人豪), chairman of Rising Wind Films, stated, “Rising Wind Films is looking forward to developing and enhancing industry-university cooperation with Shih Hsin University, and also intends to do its best to support student’s proposals and suggestions for filming, allowing them to gain excitement about the film and television production. Enthusiastic and skilled students from Shih Hsin have become a new generation of talents in the film and television industry. In order to integrate the latest film and television production technology, the team will explore aspects of Hollywood and hire American professionals and technical consultants. The goal is to allow the virtual production team to make leaps and bounds forward.”
With the demonstration film, “Falling,” which started today, alongside the Golden Horse art and special effects team, nearly 100 teachers and students from the Department of Radio, Television, and Film, Department of Graphic Communication and Digital Publishing, and Department of Digital Multimedia Design of Shih Hsin also participated in the whole process. The on-site cooperation completely reflects the spirit of industry-university cooperation and talent cultivation. Lin Bohan(林柏翰), a third-year student from the Department of Digital Media, shared, “For the first time, I had contact with the shooting mode of virtual production. The knowledge can be absorbed from the first class, and the visual effects are outstanding. Liu Kerou(劉可柔), a senior student from the Department of Radio, Television, and Film, participated in the actual shooting of the project, and said, “The ring-shaped wall formed by the LED panels is matched with real-life props. This leads to a highly realistic and immersive film.”
Lian Chenxiang(連晨翔) and Shu Zichen(舒子晨) play the roles of bitter lovers in the demonstrative concept video. They are trapped in an infinite loop of time and space. The man (Lian Chenxiang) continuously travels through a mysterious game console, engaging in battles and such, but never managing to stay with the steel-pipe girl (Shu Zichen). Can the man who lives this life over and over again find a way to break away from this unknown force and stay together with his lover? Kwon Sheng(鄺盛) explained that because of the way the story had been laid out in a looping stream of consciousness, it breaks away from the concept of time and space while telling the story of pursuit and love in an avant-garde way.
Lian Chenxiang(連晨翔), who has been engaged in the film since the start, explained that when he first saw the filming center, he felt “incredibly spectacular.” He said, “It was challenging without any lines, so all emotions could only be used through expressions. Fortunately, the performance in front of the ring-screen is rather quick.” Ninety percent of the shots are of Lian Chenxiang(連晨翔) with blood on his face, breaking through the handsome, rich student image. “I actually like martial arts dramas very much,” he said. He asks that fans will look forward to the completion of this work.
Shu Zichen(舒子晨), performed as the pole dance girl. She had bright pink hair and a sultry, sequined dress. “This is the first time I took on the challenge of wearing a dress that showed more skin. It has also been a long time since I experienced pole-dancing, so I had to ask to take a class to familiarize myself with it again.” She also revealed that when she received the script, she had already begun to imagine the Shih Hsin Smart Studio. “The scene I performed in was rather shocking, and the sequins were slippery so it was difficult to properly exert force. I almost ran out of strength after just one move.”
It has attracted attention from all circles within the industry, government, and academia. The filming base has attracted over 50 teams to visit and inspect it within the three months since it has opened. Shih Hsin said that its cooperation with Rising Wind Films is the beginning of a strong alliance. In the future, it intends to also cooperate with various other foreign and domestic industries alike, hoping that Shih Hsin students will become highly sought-after candidates within the industry.