Local production studio Pili International Multimedia has released a video revealing behind-the-scenes footage for its upcoming fantasy film Demigod: The Legend Begins, which has a cast of Taiwanese glove puppets.
The film, which opens on Friday next week, stars the studio’s iconic glove puppet character Su Huan-jen (素還真), whose name is also the Chinese-language title of the movie.
The company is known for producing TV program and films using only traditional Taiwanese glove puppets. It began releasing behind-the-scenes featurettes to promote the movie on YouTube in October last year.
Photo courtesy of Vie Vision Pictures Co
The video released on Tuesday showcases the studio’s attention to detail in building film sets and its use of practical effects rather than computer-generated imagery.
The studio said it created new, realistic sets to better match the size of the glove puppets, which are 80cm to 90cm tall, a departure from its standard approach to making weekly TV series.
The standard sets generally emulate a puppet stage, which limits the camera angles that can be used, whereas the new sets allow greater flexibility when filming, studio general manager Huang Liang-hsun (黃亮勛) said.
The studio said its art department made detailed, weathered sets that look more realistic when paired with the lighting used in filmmaking.
One of the sets, which cost about NT$1 million (US$36,200), was set on fire to achieve the realism needed for a scene, it said.
“We made sure all the scenes for that set were completed and no reshoots were needed before we lit it on fire,” director Cheng Pao-Pin (鄭保品) said. “We were very nervous, considering that we only had one shot, and had to ensure the image looked great and our puppeteers were safe.”
“The realistic movements of fire captured using high-resolution cameras was something that could not be replicated with special effects, and we were very satisfied with the results,” Huang said.
In addition to hiring Japanese tokusatsu expert Kakusei Fujiwara to help make the suits worn by real actors to create the illusion of gigantic mythical beasts, the studio also spent about three months completing one 48-second scene.
Tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of special effects.
The scene features a beast, the Swordtail Qilin, with saliva oozing from its mouth.
The need for meticulous computer calculations and subsequent simulations was the reason it took so long to complete, the studio said.
The studio’s last two puppet movies, released in 2000 and 2015, made NT$150 million and NT$20 million at the local box office respectively.
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