Director Kawaii Tuan Anh.
The total number of Kawaii products has attracted 2 billion views on Youtube. At the same time, he has won many awards such as Wechoice Awards 2017, Devotion Music Awards 2018, Green Wave Awards 2020 and is a prominent face voted by Forbes Vietnam. On March 14, Ka-waii Tuan Anh released the music documentary "We are Vietnamese" with special and limited screenings.
Director Kawaii Tuan Anh shares the ways and paths to create top trending music videos in Vietnam that are widely accepted by the international audience.
- The music documentary “We Are Vietnamese” is an important step in positioning myself in today’s extremely vibrant entertainment and art market. I also continue to nurture new scripts to soon have more works released.
Through a series of MVs with many prominent names mentioned above, what have you done to not only lead trends, but also create new trends?
- I don't try to create trends, I believe in the story and the characters, I believe in the artists I'm collaborating with, all of them work hard and are lucky to share with the audience. For me, making entertainment products is not just for someone to watch, it's also a moment of understanding and sharing with someone when they see and hear the author's voice through the work.
Looking at the MVs that Kawaii has made, it can be seen that you often want to convey a story, an issue, to convey ideas through it, besides the lyrics and music?
- For me, the visual part of an MV always aims to clarify the message and emotions of the song. I will choose stories that help highlight the emotions of the song, that is the top priority. Then I apply filmmaking techniques to arrange the narrative structure, choosing interesting details.
Once I have a story that fits the song, I will start respecting the character's world, going into every detail and writing each shot in advance to control the duration, connect with the song and try to convey the character's emotions to the audience. At the same time, both the visuals and music will bring the same emotion to the audience.
With a song, there can be many different interpretations and stories that can fit. It is important for a music video maker to see many directions of development and choose the best direction to highlight the emotions of that song.
Director Kawaii Tuan Anh and the production team of the MV "Ha Phom".
It can be seen that you often use advanced modern techniques in your MVs. What do you think about this issue?
- When I first started my career, I was very interested in the quality of international MVs. I watched a lot and realized that the biggest difference with domestic MV products at that time was that they used a lot of high-end special effects in the MV. With the knowledge and team I had, I was very serious about my dream of bringing special effects to Vietnamese MVs. At the end of 2013, my first MV was released with a lot of special effects, that was the MV "This Love" by singer Thao Trang. In 2014, I made the MV "On And On" for singer Phuong Vy and Antoneus Maximus with the entire MV having special effects in 4K resolution. At that time, Asian music channels chose to broadcast it but unfortunately it did not spread widely in Vietnam. I was patient with many projects after that until I completely shifted to telling emotional stories, then I became known to the audience. I realized that love is what touches Vietnamese audiences, no matter how new the technique is, it must serve the soul of the work. Gradually, I realized that I could continue to incorporate special effects into the MV in a different way, more emotional and subtle. Sometimes the audience doesn't need to realize that it's special effects, to be the success of the team.
Currently, I have also opened a special effects production studio, which is both a place to help me continue to fulfill my ambition with film, and a playground for young people to have the opportunity to access a professional special effects production environment, and also a way to increase cooperation with film production businesses around the world.
According to Kawaii, what conditions are needed for a quality music video to attract a large audience?
- Currently, Vietnamese music has made many great strides, with more genres appearing, production quality comparable to that of other countries in the region, some projects known to the world, many new jobs appearing among young people, most notably the role of Music Producer... All of these successes of the music industry have also caused the MV market to have many profound changes. The differentiation in quality is therefore becoming more and more obvious.
It takes a lot of synthesis from music, filming techniques, story and message, artistic style, or even fashion and choreography, ... all need to be carefully invested in to be able to create a project that spreads strongly. A quality MV nowadays can be filmed with a phone, not depending entirely on investing in a specific element but often must include everything. Because Vietnamese audiences are also constantly watching international products, the need to enjoy is also increasingly approaching the quality of international products. I think that is also the motivation for all artists working in the arts to always be responsible, progressive and constantly develop.
How do you convince a singer to agree to do it your own creative way?
- When I start the process of creating a project, I often look back at the artist's previous work and research their audience to hear what they like and what they're looking for.
Some artists also come to me with their ideas ready, and my team and I will start developing them. For some other projects, the artists already understand my personal style, so they trust me with the responsibility of coming up with ideas and developing the script. I think the reason why singers trust me is because I always focus on the audience experience when making a MV, and do it with my personal style in terms of film production. I want to use my ability to contribute to creating quality products for that artist's audience. Balancing a common goal and a unique creative personality is my persuasion to those who put their trust in me.
As a young director who has achieved early success, how have you conveyed your professional skills, passion, and defined goals to other young colleagues?
- On the journey of practicing and appreciating films, I have learned that self-awareness of a professional is just as important as professional knowledge. When you answer the questions: Who am I? Who am I doing this for? What am I doing this for?... You will easily realize how you do it or what kind of knowledge will be chosen to apply. Everything will be easier to come true if you clearly understand your goals, those of your colleagues and the work itself right from the start. Ensuring a clear understanding of goals, directions and full professional knowledge is the responsibility of a creative person when embarking on a project.
I bring this reflection to convey to my colleagues, new to the profession, with the belief that it will support purposeful creative thinking. I believe it is broad enough to not impose a different mindset, but also clear enough to achieve high work efficiency.
Through many years of working experience, what are your general comments on the tastes of today's youth?
- To me, there is always a close relationship between the artist and the audience on the journey of creating a flow of taste. If they are artists, no matter how dedicated they are, they can hardly be sure that their upcoming products will become new tastes. If they are audiences, they cannot know how surprising new creations artists are quietly making, the audience still likes the works that have been released. So do artists create new tastes for the audience or do the audiences direct the artists according to their wishes? I always believe in the relativity of this. Good artists are always aware of leading the trend, seriously working to create new creative values, and the audience will select and support good ideas. When artists create better works, the audience's tastes will gradually become more demanding, and vice versa, when the audience has a need to enjoy good works, the artist is more motivated to create more.
This has happened at an unprecedented speed in Vietnam in the past decade. The younger generations of audiences have access to all forms of works more easily than ever before and their standards of enjoyment have been significantly improved. At the same time, new generations of artists have also emerged and contributed significantly to that flow of quality products. The entertainment and film industry has changed dramatically and enhanced the cultural value of Vietnam on the world map. I believe that the younger generations of artists and audiences will deepen the relationship of taste, and move closer to the flow of taste on a larger scale, regionally or even globally.
Music products are clearly influencing the mental and lifestyle of young people a lot?
- For me, it is not just now that it exists. The value of music, movies or art in general is to share with the human soul. Perhaps the difference from the GenZ generation onwards is that the view of freedom and fairness in life is significantly enhanced, they are also the generation that emphasizes respect for diversity. This is a creative motivation for artists, but as analyzed above, from the artist's side, there is also a need for a lot of responsibility for their creativity and for their audience.
Aware of this, what does Kawaii want to convey through its music products?
- After a journey of creating many supported products, I realized that I am suitable for topics such as love, family affection and national culture. Focusing on that group of content, my team and I always try to learn more knowledge and new skills to continue creating more invested products. I see my mission with the profession and with the audience is to share emotions. Through the language of the genre, carefully crafted art or many advanced post-production techniques, what I always want is to share emotions, it can be the emotion of gratitude to parents, it can be comfort after a sad love story or more importantly, pride in the cultural values of the nation.
This can be clearly seen when watching a series of MVs that you have made, in which, the most prominent is “See Tinh”. Together with singer Hoang Thuy Linh, how did you and your team discuss and skillfully incorporate the beauty of national and indigenous culture?
- Culture is a great concept and the pride of every nation and people. It is a common pride and needs to be continuously practiced to preserve and develop.
I am proud to be Vietnamese and, to the extent possible, I always want to contribute to the transmission of culture to the masses and introduce it to other places. Since my student days, I have been very interested in special effects and modern technology. I realized that the best thing is to use modernity in expression to convey the traditional and unique values of Vietnam. I believe and pursue that thinking in most of my products.
The opportunity to work with singer Hoang Thuy Linh seemed to give wings to that belief. With “See Tinh”, I boldly proposed the choice of conveying the culture of the Southwest region, where I was born and have certain knowledge of that area. For the general audience, the story of the mermaid is probably too familiar, but in “See Tinh”, it is the mermaid under the Hau River, with floating houses above, on both sides of the river there are many brick kilns in 2D animation, it is the colorful floating market recreated in 3D animation, or the costume is shaped from nine dragons with the meaning of the Mekong Delta... many details are placed throughout the few minutes of the MV, combined with the lovely youthful music, “See Tinh” has spread all over the world.
When I traveled abroad, I saw them playing that MV a lot, saw their singers singing in Vietnamese to serve in restaurants,... the pride was indescribable and that was the moment I realized I needed to continue trying to have more times of pride like that, not for myself, it was a feeling of pride because I am Vietnamese.
Coming into contact with Kawaii, it can be seen that you have deep national pride. To you, is that the foundation for you to convey the spirit into your musical products?
- Certainly, when doing any job, sincerity is always one of the important factors leading to success. Especially with movies, you need to feel, listen, understand and convey as sincerely as possible so that the audience can feel what you want to say. At first, I did not do cultural topics because people like to watch. I searched inside myself for outstanding emotions, I selected the deepest emotions in myself to confidently express them to the audience, then luckily I saw national pride emerge, I love national culture and art and feel small, not knowing enough, I am even more excited and curious to know more. The journey of implementing each project is also the time when I learn more, understand more and it becomes more and more attractive. It is a journey that includes many emotions of discovery, expansion and pride.
How do you reconcile traditional culture with modern life where tastes are changing every day?
- Depending on the nature of each project, the creative person will need to choose the best way to express cultural beauty, which can be an exact reproduction of that beauty or it can be stylized in a new form of expression but still retain the original value. To do that, I always try to thoroughly understand the beauty from the root, then look back at the goal and spirit of the project I am working on to find a suitable way to express it. I think that creative people exploiting cultural themes must retain the core of that culture. If they understand it clearly, no matter what method is used to express it, the culture will still appear correct and beautiful as its original value.
Kawaii also regularly learns and updates information related to the profession as well as new tools, props, machines, and trends in music.
- For me, life experience is the most important thing and expressing it to the public in a standard and inspiring way is the most difficult thing to learn. Knowledge about technical factors is easier to access and update. Before each project, each stage in my career, I need to answer myself what I want to share with the audience. Having inner confidence, I have the motivation to explore and discover new technology, techniques, and ways to communicate that more interestingly and easily.
To learn about the soul, I need to practice being sensitive to what happens in my own life and that of my loved ones. To learn about technology, I will go to school, learn from people who are better than me in each area, learn from the internet, from colleagues or from other good products in the world.
Your plans and wishes for the future?
- This year, I also focus on developing a special effects company, contributing to the film industry in this field is also my dream. This field has many young people pursuing, with experience and self-aware responsibility, I want to become a bridge to provide opportunities to pursue this job for many young people and vice versa, providing high-quality human resources for the Vietnamese special effects industry.
Thank you for your sincere sharing, I wish you continued success with your path and passion!
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/dao-dien-kawaii-tuan-anh-tu-hao-voi-cac-gia-tri-van-hoa-dan-toc-10301790.html
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