What could a group of six National Tsing Hua University students majoring in different subjects possibly have in common?
The answer is that the students—Yin Zhen-hao, a graduate student of the chemistry department; Chen Xiang-qi, a sophomore at the foreign languages department; Liu Ying-jun, a senior also of the foreign languages department; Peng Wei-ming, a sophomore of the electrical engineering department; Wang Tai-ran, a graduate student in chemistry; and Yuan Pei-xiang, another chemistry grad student—share a love and passion for filmmaking.
This common bond brought them together this February to form Spacebar Studio, an informal club dedicated to the art of filmmaking.
In the few short months since then, the studio has already released several videos, with each of the students playing a different role in the production process: Yin is the director, Yuan, the assistant director, Peng, the cinematographer, Chen the producer, Wang the prop artist and Liu the screen writer. A mutual friend, Su Jing-pei, has also been of great help.
Their videos have gone viral since they were posted on-line, with a short clip adapted from the Taiwan blockbuster “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” being the most popular.
Warriors of the Rainbow, the most expensive film ever made in Taiwan film history, depicts the Wushe Uprising of 1930, when the indigenous Seediq tribe launched a revolt against Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945) in central Taiwan’s Nantou County.
In the hands of Spacebar Studio, the story has been recast as a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the founding of NTHU’s Department of Chemistry.
Named “Chemistry Seediq Bale,” meaning “the Real Men of the Chemistry Department,” the two minute, 18 second clip was made on a shoestring budget of only NT$3,200 (US$107), but the result is a film every bit as riveting as the NT$700 million production on which it was based.
“It is not really about how much money we spent because our passion for filmmaking is priceless,” Yin told Taiwan Today June 10. “We leave no stone unturned because we want to show that we, too, can produce quality films; for we consider ourselves to be as competent as any film studies major.”
Yin Zhen-hao (first from left) is an aspiring director who enjoys telling stories through film.
The video, with its elaborate camera path planning, costumes, editing, lighting, make-up and post-production, attracted nearly 10,000 hits on YouTube in less than two months. Positive reviews have been flocking in, with most of them praising the well-rounded adaption and its uncanny resemblance to the original version.
A YouTube user by the name of Kimfatt commented: “If you guys can make something of this quality using only NT$3,200, can you try to make an Oscar winning film with NT$1 billion?”
Others were amazed by the actors’ ability to memorize and speak words in the Seediq language, almost forgotten even among the Seediq themselves.
The subtitles to the film, however, do not match the actual dialogue at all—and because of this incongruity the film is able to tell the story of the anniversary in burlesque fashion.
Spacebar Studio is not content, however, merely to make films based on the work of other people. The students are bursting with creative ideas that they cannot wait to show the world, according to Liu, who said her own inspiration for scriptwriting comes from her daily life experiences and things that have happened to her friends.
One such example is a music video made for “The Secret of Babel,” a song written by the Taiwan indie band Anniedora. The song talks about the frustration of a person trying hard to communicate with someone else that he or she considers important, but not being able to succeed, as if the two are speaking different languages. They consequently grow apart.
The title to the song is inspired by the well-known Biblical story of Tower of Babel, which depicts how God created different languages to thwart a plan by human beings trying to build a tower that reaches all the way to heaven.
To embody the song’s central ideas, Liu said, the MV features a young couple with the boyfriend being shadowed by his girlfriend everywhere he goes—at work, in the shower, or waiting for the metro. But since the boyfriend seems unaware of her existence throughout the entire time, viewers are not sure until the end of video if the girlfriend is even a real person.
“The girlfriend is a metaphor for the idea that the feeling of missing someone transcends time and space,” Liu said. “One’s mind can be unconsciously occupied by a person who is no longer around. In this case, the couple broke up because they were no longer able to cherish and understand each other, but the boyfriend still misses her.”
According to Yin, a work with such depth is in line with Spacebar Studio’s motto of creating something that people can relate to and identify with.
“Each project is a new challenge but we try to push ourselves to get the best results with a balance between arts and entertainment,” said Yin, who started filming and editing when he was still in high school, using Adobe Premiere video editing software.
Noting that all their works are self-financed and not for commercial use, Yin said Spacebar Studio is currently working on a 10-minute micro movie project called “The 7th Morning.” The film will be submitted to the Kaohsiung Film Festival, slated to take place Oct. 19 to Nov. 4, in the hopes that it can capture the top prize in the Best Fantasy Short Film category and the US$10,000 cash prize that comes along with such an award.
Taking part in the competition will also help raise the profile of Spacebar Studio and perhaps help it win more followers, he added.
According to Chen, the project is very different from their previous works, as it talks about the dark side of humanity. A 3-minute teaser will be released in summer, she said.
Chen, who coordinates productions from start to finish, is also responsible for marketing the studio’s work using mainly social network media such as Facebook.
She said each person on the team takes on a different responsibility according to their own interests, and that the team is getting better and more skillful with each project it undertakes.
Members of Spacebar Studio prepare to shoot in an outdoor setting.
Yuan, who is in charge of coordinating the shooting, said the most difficult part for him is time management on set, but that a good team has been assembled, making the job much easier.
Asked what drives them to make so many films, the group agrees that it is the sense of achievement that comes from making a quality production.
According to Yin, the amount of time and effort the students put into film production proves how serious and devoted they are to filmmaking.
“We want to set an example for people our age and stimulate their passion to pursue their dreams, which are often suppressed by external societal notions—such as the one that says that being a scholar is far superior to pursuing a career in the film industry.” (HZW)
Write to Rachel Chan at ccchan@mofa.gov.tw