Authenticity and food for thought
Nicole Cheng, chief creative officer at United-Asatsu Taipei, who served as a judge for Show Taiwan in One Second, emphasizes that all the submissions that made it to the final round were very authentic and down to earth, and showed real love for Taiwan. But when you have less than ten seconds, if you want to really make an emotional impact then you need something unique or special, something that creates dramatic tension or gives viewers food for thought and imagination.
Film director Kurt Lu, another of the judges, was the person in charge of turning the winning submissions into the two music videos. They include scenes of crowded urban life, and remote rural areas; parks, alleyways, train stations, and subway stations; children, the elderly, new immigrants, and street people; stray dogs along with the volunteers who care for them…. Although each fragment lasts only a few seconds, and they seem independent of one another, they in fact have a common thread: this is the real Taiwan as seen by its own people.
“I was really stunned!” says Lu, remarking that so many of the videos document moments of real-life authenticity of the kind that he as a director could never re-create in a movie. “When you tell a real story, and do so with genuine attachment, that’s real beauty, that’s what really moves people.”
Karen Hung, vice president at Elite PR Group, who also was on the panel of judges, adds that in this era of “we media” (also called “self media”), a “co-created video,” in addition to being rich in human interest, is also a very impactful technique for disseminating information.
Do you also love Taiwan and want to “show” what is beautiful about it? Then just pick up your cell phone and capture the moments that mean the most to you.
The micro-films from Show Taiwan in One Second are like sky lanterns: Each one is just a passing flicker of light, but together they form a stream that powerfully affects the viewer.