Li Weiran's Next Stage
Li Weiran's Next Stage
Director of Welcome to Shama Town talks about latest production
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With a long list of TV and film commercials for some of the world's leading brands under his belt and the only Chinese director to win a prestigious One Show Gold award for excellence in advertising, Li Weiran is considered by many as the best in the business. He sat down with the Global Times to review his 10-year career and talk about the future.
"It's like playing video games," the 35-year-old Li mused, explaining that when you can easily clear one stage of the game, it's the next stage that you have not yet cleared that you are looking forward to.
Li's treasure-hunting comedy Welcome to Shama Town opened on June 22, Li making the "next stage" step from directing commercials to entering the world of feature films.
He said that after shooting commercials for 10 years, he has lost the initial excitement and sense of achievement in the job that originally attracted him after graduating from Beijing Film Academy in 2000.
"Shooting a commercial is plainly to deliver the client's message and concept, with a process that is too familiar and unexciting for me," he said.
The thought of moving on to feature films came to Li in 2003, when he suspended his advertising work and stayed at home due to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). He then began to look for a new direction in life. The desire to shoot a feature film with his own signature started to emerge.
However, Li's idea was not put into practice until three years later, when he started paying more attention to films and the film industry as a whole, while preparing the script. His feature directorial debut, Welcome to Shama Town, is a result of five years of preparation and hard working, although filming only took two months.
Li said that shooting was amazing, with excitement and freshness filling the whole process.
"I haven't felt so high since shooting my commercial debut," he said.
Although new to the genre, Li said that when it comes to practical shooting, there is not too much difference between directing a feature and a commercial.
"My previous 10 years as a commercial director has provided me with abundant experience to deal with various incidents during shooting, to put shooting plans into practice and reach desired effects within a limited budget."
According to Li, his experience in advertising has broadened his vision to the latest shooting techniques, new ideas and concepts. As Welcome to Shama Town is his first feature and also a comedy, Li said he held back on experimenting too much. "I hope more revolutionary shooting techniques and methods can be adopted in my next feature film, which will be of a different film genre."
Li said he had to make several adjustments when changing formats from a 30-second advertisement to a 90-minute film. He said that in a commercial demands a climax within a very limited time, while a feature requires an opening, development, transition and conclusion.
"In this sense, commercial and feature films are two completely different things that require different mindsets," he said, adding that he had to forget his identity as a commercial director completely when shooting the film.
Starring Sun Honglei and Lin Chiling, Welcome to Shama Town is now awaiting the judgment of millions of cinemagoers, which Li said is another major difference between features and commercials.
"Back in the days as a commercial director, I only had to deal with the response of my client, while now I have to face audiences from the whole country." He said he expects people's reactions to be mixed, but hopes the film will be "accepted and loved by the majority."
For Li, directing has never simply been a way to make a living. "Film and commercials, with their similarities and differences, are a part of my life," he said with a grin.
(Global Times June 25, 2010)
Director of Welcome to Shama Town talks about latest production
视频播放位置
下载安装Flash播放器
With a long list of TV and film commercials for some of the world's leading brands under his belt and the only Chinese director to win a prestigious One Show Gold award for excellence in advertising, Li Weiran is considered by many as the best in the business. He sat down with the Global Times to review his 10-year career and talk about the future.
"It's like playing video games," the 35-year-old Li mused, explaining that when you can easily clear one stage of the game, it's the next stage that you have not yet cleared that you are looking forward to.
Li's treasure-hunting comedy Welcome to Shama Town opened on June 22, Li making the "next stage" step from directing commercials to entering the world of feature films.
He said that after shooting commercials for 10 years, he has lost the initial excitement and sense of achievement in the job that originally attracted him after graduating from Beijing Film Academy in 2000.
"Shooting a commercial is plainly to deliver the client's message and concept, with a process that is too familiar and unexciting for me," he said.
The thought of moving on to feature films came to Li in 2003, when he suspended his advertising work and stayed at home due to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). He then began to look for a new direction in life. The desire to shoot a feature film with his own signature started to emerge.
However, Li's idea was not put into practice until three years later, when he started paying more attention to films and the film industry as a whole, while preparing the script. His feature directorial debut, Welcome to Shama Town, is a result of five years of preparation and hard working, although filming only took two months.
Li said that shooting was amazing, with excitement and freshness filling the whole process.
"I haven't felt so high since shooting my commercial debut," he said.
Although new to the genre, Li said that when it comes to practical shooting, there is not too much difference between directing a feature and a commercial.
"My previous 10 years as a commercial director has provided me with abundant experience to deal with various incidents during shooting, to put shooting plans into practice and reach desired effects within a limited budget."
According to Li, his experience in advertising has broadened his vision to the latest shooting techniques, new ideas and concepts. As Welcome to Shama Town is his first feature and also a comedy, Li said he held back on experimenting too much. "I hope more revolutionary shooting techniques and methods can be adopted in my next feature film, which will be of a different film genre."
Li said he had to make several adjustments when changing formats from a 30-second advertisement to a 90-minute film. He said that in a commercial demands a climax within a very limited time, while a feature requires an opening, development, transition and conclusion.
"In this sense, commercial and feature films are two completely different things that require different mindsets," he said, adding that he had to forget his identity as a commercial director completely when shooting the film.
Starring Sun Honglei and Lin Chiling, Welcome to Shama Town is now awaiting the judgment of millions of cinemagoers, which Li said is another major difference between features and commercials.
"Back in the days as a commercial director, I only had to deal with the response of my client, while now I have to face audiences from the whole country." He said he expects people's reactions to be mixed, but hopes the film will be "accepted and loved by the majority."
For Li, directing has never simply been a way to make a living. "Film and commercials, with their similarities and differences, are a part of my life," he said with a grin.
(Global Times June 25, 2010)
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