2011/06/15
"Thief" Post-screening Q&A Session
"Thief" Post-screening Q&A Session - Taipei Film Commission
(2011/06/15)
At the press premiere of Thief, the director and actors share their filming experiences. (from the left, director Jay Chern, leading actor Zhuang Kai-xun, leading actress Zhou Heng-yin, Zhu Zhi-ying, and scriptwriter/producer Wang Xi-jie.
Nominated for the Best Short film of 2011 Taipei Award, Thief hosted a press screening and a post-screening Q&A session at 1:30 pm on June 15th, 2011 at Blossom Cinema. Director Jay Chern, scriptwriter/producer Wang Xi-jie, leading actress Zhou Heng-yin, Zhu Zhi-yin, and leading actor Zhuang Kai-xun attended the screening to share stories of the filming of Thief. Well-known designer Johan Ju also attended the screening to greet and cheer for his friend Wang Xi-jie.
New-generation director Jay Chern uses fast-speed editing to create suspense in a love story where YaYa ( Zhu Zhi-yin) stole Jenny’s cellphone ( Zhou Heng-yin). The emotional struggle and psychological subtlety between the person who steals and the person the thief steals from are interestingly recreatd.
Director Jay Chern grew up in the US, but his nostalgia for Taiwan’s night market inspires him to film Thief.
Director Jay Chern said he grew up in the US, the only thing he remembered about Taiwan is the night market he visited every time in his childhood. He remembered the lanterns and entertainment in the night market, and he recreated this night market culture for the foreign audiences in the first 10 minutes in his film of the chasing scene in the night market. He came up with this idea first and it took two years for him to develop the characters and plot with his friend, also the scripwriter, Wang Xi-jie. Zhuang Kai-xun, who was originally the voice actor for the 10 minute version, became the leading role of this film.
Zhou Heng-yin (left) and Zhu Zhi-yin ( right) chased and fought each other in the night market.
The filming of Thief took place at the Linjiang Street Night Market without blocking the street, actresses were so into their roles that real night-market-goers even helped to catch Zhu Zhi-yin, who played the thief. Zhou Heng-yin said that she had to run and hit Zhu with her 3-inch high heels; after the shooting, she had bruises all over her body, but the authentic emotion revealed in this scene made it all worthwhile. Nado, Taiwan’s most popular comedian, put on weight, gained a love handle , and grew long hair to fit his role as a geeky guy. He prepare three pairs of shoes and clothes, purchased things for his role, showing an actor’s highest professionalism to be a real authentic dork.
The producer and actors mentioned that they had to thank God for the good weather. Right when they were going to film the last scene, the high-quality camera froze and everyone waited for an entire night for the machine to work again. Luckily, the moment when the camera started working, the rain poured down to make a perfect scene for the ending.
The filming took place entirely at the night market. Director Chern thanked Taipei Film Festival to organize a negotiation meeting with the night market committee, who helped communicate among the street vendors and the film crews. All these preparation helped to create an uninterrupted environment for the filming.
Well-known Fashion Designer Johan Ku attended the screening to cheer for his friend.
The screening of Thief will took place during Taipei Film Festival Taipei Awards from June 26th to July 6th. Come to the theaters to experience the most rapid-speed short film in the history of Taiwan Cinema
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