HSU students interact with the film crew “Hellbound Village” and “A Soul Reaper”

The secrets behind the film that dominates the K+ and Netflix platforms were revealed by the film crew of Hellbound Village in a conversation with HSU students this afternoon (December 1). To help students understand more about these challenges, HSU Media Technology Management organized a talk show with the theme: “Folk elements in horror movies”.

The heartfelt sharing from director Tran Huu Tan, producer Hoang Quan and author Thao Trang helped students “dig deeper” into the nooks and crannies when producing a film. Especially with Hellbound Village – historical thriller filmed in Sao Ha Village – Ha Giang with cold weather below 5 degrees Celsius.

How to make the film stick to the original story, folk and spiritual elements on the film naturally and true to Vietnamese culture is not easy. The film must also focus on horror elements, creepy naturally, without coercion. To achieve that, the film crew must build from the context, costumes, character designs… meticulously, the knots, and character developments to ensure logic and horror in both the visual and auditory parts.

Especially, with the special shooting context, the film crew of more than 200 people had to move, almost “live” in the village for many months in cold weather conditions, no electricity, no water, lack of food, sleeping place … ways to ensure safety and daily life for actors, protect production equipment, and the crew have gone through many challenges.

The exchange is a rare opportunity for students to learn from the experiences of filmmakers. Not only learning, it is also an inspiration for students to persevere in pursuing their passion.

As a companion of many activities of students majoring in Media Technology Management and Film at HSU, producer Hoang Quan said: “I am very impressed with Hoa Sen students, who are very active, creative and willing to learn. I think the school organizing talks like this is a way to bridge the gap between the lecture hall and reality, helping students approach filmmaking in a more realistic way.”

Director Tran Huu Tan shared: “Personally, I always appreciate it when the school invites me and the film crew to interact with students. This is a way to help students approach the profession more quickly and authentically.”

Meanwhile, talking about exploiting folk elements, writer Thao Trang shared: “Everything I can write, from the details, character construction, folk elements, horror…. It’s all about learning from teachers and schools, especially universities. Vietnamese cultural foundations, field subjects motivated me to learn about Vietnamese culture and to be honest, our country’s folk culture is not inferior to any other country. Students are now given a lot of conditions to pursue the major they want, so keep persevering and pursuing it.

Especially during the filmmaking process, Truong Minh Chanh – an HSU student worked directly with director Tran Huu Tan. Commenting on HSU student, the director said: “I don’t see Chanh as a personal assistant but as an associate. The filmmaking process has scenes that need editing, I still discuss and listen to feedback from my collaborators. I highly appreciate the working spirit of Chanh and the young people today.”