Just graduated and has already made 5 short films. This is how the “treasure boy” Wenling grew up
November 14, 2023 Source: Zhejiang Online Sharing Alliance·Zhang Xianhong, Taiping Street, Wenling
“I made my first short film during the summer after I graduated from high school. It was the first time I put my dream into practice…” On November 9, Chen Guanqi slowly told the story about him and the movie. 22-year-old Chen Guanqi is a college student who has just stepped out of school in Taiping Street, Wenling. He is tall, thin, and soft-spoken. It is difficult for him to connect with a filmmaker who has made five micro-films. He said Making movies has been his dream since childhood.
I have had a movie dream since I was a child
Chen Guanqi was born in a literary and artistic family, and his parents are both cultural workers. Although he grew up under the influence of art, Chen Guanqi was not interested in painting, piano, etc. as a child. Fortunately, his parents were relatively lenient in his education and did not force him to learn things he didn’t like. From the time he could remember, his mother often took him to watch movies. Gradually, he fell in love with movies. Unlike other children, every time he watched a movie, he would reminisce about the wonderful scenes of the movie over and over again, and he would always hold his hand. Mom asked why these scenes were set up. As he grew older, his thoughts went to another level, thinking about how such wonderful shots were taken.
Among the many movies he has watched, Chen Guanqi likes to watch suspense movies the most. He has watched almost all suspense movies released in theaters and found online. As he grew older, the idea of trying to make movies became stronger day by day. In high school, despite his very busy coursework, he still insisted on learning about film shooting and tried to write movie scripts.
Dreams come true
The official decision to make a short film came from a SLR camera given to him by his mother. During the summer after he graduated from high school at the age of 19, his mother gave him a Canon 6D2 SLR camera. The moment he got the camera, the passion that had been buried in his heart for many years was instantly ignited. A newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. With the support of his parents, he wrote a script, recruited actors, assembled a crew, and started filming his debut film.
The summer vacation before going to college is usually the most relaxing summer vacation for prospective college students, but for Chen Guanqi, it is the busiest summer vacation. It was his first time to make a movie. He had to be a screenwriter, a director, and a photographer. He had no experience and could only experiment while shooting. Sometimes he would discuss a move with the crew for half a day, even though he was busy every day. His feet couldn’t touch the ground, but he was still full of passion. After more than a month of shooting and post-production, the first 40-minute short film “Hedgehog” about school violence has finally been completed. However, just when he uploaded it to the platform with confidence, the audience’s comments poured cold water on him. Many negative comments gave him a psychological blow, but he quickly adjusted his mentality and calmed down to look at them one by one. What surprised him was that not all the comments were “trolls”. Many of the comments pointed out the shortcomings and areas that needed to be improved. Chen Guanqi carefully recorded some useful comments and then summarized and analyzed them.
Refinement in practice
In college, Chen Guanqi majored in public cultural services and management. The film and drama performance course allowed him to learn more about film shooting and production in a more formal way. Combined with his first filming experience, he became more and more familiar with film shooting. He became more and more interested in it, and soon he decided to make another short film.
Freshman year is the busiest year of schoolwork. After studying, Chen Guanqi spent almost all his time on preliminary preparations. Having had the experience of shooting for the first time, the preparation for the second time was much smoother. Almost all the preliminary work was ready before the summer vacation. The filming started as soon as the summer vacation started. By the end of the summer vacation, the second part is 35 minutes long and tells the story of “Rashomon”. The suspenseful micro-film “Nobody Knows” about the “Type” incident was successfully completed. Although the framing, shooting techniques, post-production, etc. are still a little immature, compared to the first work, Chen Guanqi feels that he has made great progress. As expected, “Nobody Knows” received a lot of praise as soon as it was uploaded to platforms such as Bilibili, and the number of views quickly exceeded 10,000.
The success of the second filming gave Chen Guanqi greater confidence. Although he was still busy with his studies in college in the next few years, he always maintained his love for movies and shot three short films in succession, including “”, which was completed in August this year. “Waltz at Sunset” is a work that he is relatively satisfied with and a work that has received good reviews. In addition to the good response online, some bookstores and theaters have also cooperated with Chen Guanqi and organized several offline viewings. Yes, they have received good publicity effects.
“Treasure Boy” sticks to his dream
Shooting 5 short films in three years, all done in spare time, is definitely very productive for a college graduate who has just stepped out of college. When asked what supports him to persist in this hobby, Chen Guanqi said that his own interest is the most important, and he also has the support of a group of like-minded friends. Since I usually have to go to school, the filming can only be arranged during the summer vacation. Many scenes are chosen in the countryside. July and August are the hottest months and there are many mosquitoes. In order to keep up with the schedule, I often have to shoot day and night, which is very hard. This is not even the most difficult part. Sometimes, in order to capture a shot of one or two minutes, it is necessary to retake it ten or twenty times, or even for several days. However, the crew members never complained and completed every scene carefully. The professional guidance given by university teachers is also a major motivation for him to persevere. “No matter when we encounter difficulties in creation or shooting, the teachers will patiently give us professional guidance, which makes our team grow very quickly.” Chen Guanqi said.
In addition to filming his favorite movies, Chen Guanqi is also good at hosting and singing. He is also an online writer. His suspenseful online novels such as “Rose and Tristan” written under the pseudonym Qiao Mian were published in Wenling local publications. It has been published on many public accounts across the country and has received a lot of praise. Chen Guanqi is affectionately called “Treasure Boy” by everyone.
In September this year, Chen Guanqi started working. Although his business is very busy, his love for movies has not weakened at all. He is still adhering to his movie dream after work. “I am now conceiving the next movie script. I hope to be able to work with him as soon as possible.” Meeting the audience, I will always stick to this hobby.” Chen Guanqi said at the end of the interview.
