In 2023, a Taiwanese film that attracted much attention and surprised the audience was "The Time A Ghost and I Became Family" directed by Cheng Weihao. The film combines horror elements and family emotions, and is a comedy, thriller, The wonderful combination of gangsters, love, and sexual minority issues presents a strange, warm and touching story. The film received a lot of praise after being released in Taiwan and received multiple nominations for this year's Golden Horse Awards, demonstrating director Cheng Weihao's continuous breakthroughs and innovations in creation.
Poster of "That Time A Ghost and I Became Family"
In 2015, the short film "Death of a Security Guard" directed by Cheng Weihao won the Best Creative Short Film Award at the 52nd Taiwan Film Golden Horse Awards. In the same year, he directed the thriller and suspense The movie "The Little Girl in Red" was also shortlisted for the Best New Director Award at the 53rd Taiwan Film Golden Horse Awards. As a rare genre director in Taiwan, Cheng Weihao's works are full of innovation and experimental spirit, constantly challenging traditional genres and narrative methods. His creative process is not only his personal growth process, but also reflects the development and transformation of Taiwan's film industry.
On December 26, Cheng Weihao held a solo exhibition at hishorts! Xiamen Short Film Week, screening two of his early short films "Sniper" and "What the Hell". The event attracted many film and television enthusiasts and industry insiders. After the film was screened, the originally planned 15-minute post-screening exchange was stretched to nearly an hour and a half. Cheng Weihao shared with the audience a director's step-by-step persistence through "homemade steelmaking" in a region where there is almost no soil for genre films. And the growth process, as well as the views and experiences on genre creation.
Director Cheng Weihao
Watching thousands of movies in three years, "Homemade Steel" pioneered Taiwanese genre films
Cheng Weihao graduated from the Department of Advertising and Communication at Fu Jen Catholic University (undergraduate) and the Department of Film Studies at National Taiwan University of the Arts (master's degree). "What the Hell" screened on hishorts! is Cheng Weihao's first short film. In the film
, a young director who has just graduated and wants to make movies is asked to write a ghost movie script. During the writing process, weird things keep happening in his life. In the repeated switching between terrifying and ridiculous, the layers of reversal bring a refreshing viewing experience. The rough picture quality of the early DVD shooting could not conceal the creator's flourishing talent.
From this early short film, we can already see many microcosms of the director's future creations. "I define it as a ghost film that ridicules ghost films. It is actually based on some of my own imagination about the genre and my desire for creation during my graduate school period. I was thinking that if I want to return to the creative perspective, I How to explore genre films?"
Cheng Weihao himself had many emotions as he re-shared his old work on the big screen. He said that when he was a student, there were almost no films of any type in Taiwan. Everyone respected the masters, and all the films on the market were literary and artistic films.
During his three-year master's program at the Film Institute of the National Taiwan University of Arts, he watched thousands of movies, including genre films and Hollywood films. "My method is to 'make steel with local methods'. The three-year master's class is the most important time in my life for me to absorb the nutrients of movies. There are at least two or three movies a day, more than 360 days a year, and one movie every three years. Over a thousand days, I probably watched thousands of movies."
In addition to watching movies, Cheng Weihao also pays special attention to behind-the-scenes DVDs. Through a lot of reading and learning, he has accumulated nutrients in genre film production. He believes that genre movies are like formulas, and the laws and elements need to be studied and understood in order to better apply them to his own creations. "I would go to rental stores and use the behind-the-scenes footage on DVDs to dismantle other people's methods of making genre films. When I was making them later, I found that they were completely applicable."
Cheng Weihao said that since there had been no genre films in Taiwan for a long time, later on Many times, when he proposed to shoot a scene, the staff often didn't know what to do, "I just told him, just give me this kind of art, give me one and add one or two special effects like this, and that's it." . We all tried it together with little knowledge, and then found that it was really possible. That thing was just the nourishment given to me by those Hollywood gossips.These nutrients inspired me, and I simultaneously accumulated some experience in filmmaking in Taiwan. "
He emphasized the need for a lot of reading and learning, and said that the imagination of genre movies and the desire for creation are the driving force for his continuous exploration.
"I don't have a rich dad behind me. If I want to make a movie, it all depends on me. Own. Talking about his difficulties and determination in starting out as a director, Cheng Weihao said, "At that time, most Taiwanese directors were making literary films. What was the first thing they did before making a movie? Mortgage the house. "In Cheng Weihao's impression, among the "Mesozoic" directors of his generation, mortgaging real estate before filming is the most likely choice. "My family didn't leave a house for me. I am a film student, and the market is not so good." No one is filming genre, what on earth am I going to do? "
At that time, in a very confused state, Cheng Weihao went to serve in the military first, "Even though Zhang Sijia told me at that time, if you need to, please contact me and said that you can come to her after retiring, but I also know that I can't find them. It won't be of much help, because it won't necessarily solve the livelihood problem, because the personnel expenses for the first movie won't be enough. "
Cheng Weihao said that his choice at the time was very "pragmatic", and it was because of this reality that he reached the other side of his ideal.
"I had a movie dream, so I wrote the script of a feature film while doing various other things. All kinds of themes are being developed. As long as a film company comes to you, meet them as soon as possible. "In the years before he made a feature film, he took on a lot of various promotional videos, commercials, wedding photography, and even when online games became popular, the kind of "big breasts girl" video was used to attract traffic. He did not resist, "Through these methods, sometimes you can receive some better cases and use some of the good equipment that was emerging at the time. The photographer will help you operate these large instruments. Through communication with customers, , you can maintain a feeling of filming on a set. The important thing is that I start making money, and I can keep moving forward in this state. "
Event scene
A genre that started as a horror film, more consideration is given to the audience putting "themselves" back
In 2015, the short film "Death of a Security Guard" directed by him won the Best Creative Short Film Award at the 52nd Taiwan Film Golden Horse Awards. In the same year, the thriller and suspense film "The Little Girl in Red" directed by him was also shortlisted for the Best New Director Award at the 53rd Taiwan Film Golden Horse Awards.
This year was regarded as a turning point in Cheng Weihao's career as a director. Although he had made up his mind very early on Although he is making a genre film, Cheng Weihao still has the ambition to make a film that "makes everyone famous for the first time". "The Little Girl in Red" still seems a bit routine and ordinary.
"When this project first came to me, I was very resistant to filming "The Little Girl in Red". I have been preparing the book for five or six years but I have never been able to find funding. I have revised it hundreds of times, but no one wants to invest in you. After struggling for two months, I also asked a director friend who had already made some feature films. He said that if you really want to get a ticket, you should finish the first film first. With this belief, I shot it first. "Little Girl in Red". "When
was working on "The Little Girl in Red," Cheng Weihao would ask everyone he met, what do you think is the scariest thing?" The answers were all kinds of weird. Some people think needles are scary, some people think fish are scary, there are raw fish and cooked fish, and some people are afraid of cooked pineapples. Everyone is actually afraid of different things, but I later discovered that the most common thing is that what you want to sell is the unknown, so just manage the unknown well. "
Cheng Weihao has a unique creative style. He is good at integrating genre film elements and social issues into his films, and creates touching works through in-depth analysis of social phenomena and human nature. For young creators, he suggested that they should be pragmatic and try more Different themes and methods, stick to your dreams, and find inspiration and creativity from the people and things around you. At the same time, he also believes that only by constantly trying and innovating can you find your own direction and style in creation.
in When talking about the pursuit of personal expression and style aesthetics, Cheng Weihao said, "I found that I can suppress and restrain this aspect.""In the process of officially making a movie, there must be the pursuit of a pure creator, but during the pursuit, I often look back and think about the thousands of movies I have watched, or the bunch of film masters I know. , how did they get to such a position? I think no matter what type of shooting, as an author, you don’t have to deliberately pursue any style. If you keep shooting and shoot more, the style will naturally form. Sometimes I also wonder, isn’t it? I want to get closer to art. I will return to the perspective of the audience and watch the movies I have made. How to deal with each shot is what I really care about most, whether it is style, aesthetics or self-realization. I think let people outside give it back to you." Cheng Weihao joked that he is a "director who is overly oriented to the audience, and this requires self-examination."
In 2017, "The Witness: The Murderer", which Cheng Weihao has been working on for many years, and which he most wanted to make, was released. He used his own thriller narrative to weave a Rashomon story that goes deep into the fabric of Taiwanese society. The film won the Asia Award at the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival. Nominated for the Newcomer Award-Best Director Award, the "blockbuster" that Cheng Weihao wanted has finally come into reality. The current Douban score of the film is still as high as 8.2.
Poster of "The Witness: The Murderer"
Cheng Weihao has become a leader in genre storytelling among Taiwanese Mesozoic directors. In recent years, films such as "The Ghost" and "The Time a Ghost and I Became Family" have successively triggered heated discussions and cooperation. The big-name actors are also becoming more famous.
"Hunting for Soul" poster
"After you have proven your commercial value before, and you have more resources, more funds, and more options, you can often go in your own direction. But I I found that when I was storyboarding or planning a scene, I would often remind myself deliberately, 'Don't pursue your own style too much, or make a certain mark. Because it seems that when you are like this When you are doing it, you will be farther and farther away from the audience, and you may even feel a certain pretentiousness or artificiality if you are not careful."
Cheng Weihao also admitted that he is more interested in trying one-shot creations, "Now After I have some financial resources, I will try this thing, but the key is to return to the narrative, whether it will be an obstacle to the audience's reading, and whether it will be a bonus for them in reading."
However, this time as hishorts! Cheng Weihao, a review judge of Xiamen Short Film Week, revealed that during the review work, he tried to ensure more creations expressed by the author, while rejecting works that were more commercial and genre-oriented.
For this reason, he also joked, "Through this experience, I understand why my film was eventually brushed off during the award review." When looking at creators, Cheng Weihao believes that "the originality is still the most important. How the author uses the length of a short film, what kind of film aesthetics he wants to present, his reading experience, and his conscience about the event are all important."
At the same time, , he also encouraged young short film creators to submit their films to film festivals in large numbers so that their works can be seen and improve their understanding through communication with the audience. "Whether you are a student or someone who is interested in making a short film, you must go to the theater to show it. The moment you communicate with the audience, you will truly complete your creation. Otherwise, many times after the filming is done, there will be no meaning at all. No."
