HCM CITY — Local film crews have been working in recent years with foreign experts to learn how to upgrade their skills in cinematography and sound for films and TV shows.
Last week, Le Bao Trung started shooting the 3D film Hon Ma Sieu Quay (Little Ghosts) and again invited director of photography Joel Spezeski from Hollywood to work with him.
Spezeski was cinematographer of Trung's 35-episode Mua Thuy Tinh (Raindrops) produced in 2008.
Romantic landscapes of many regions of Viet Nam, including Da Lat and Vung Tau, have been beautifully featured in the love-story series.
Before Spezeski, Australian Coordelia Beresford and American Dominic Pereiran were invited to work on local films.
Beresford and a Vietnamese cameraman shared the award for best photography for the award-winning film Chuyen Cua Pao (Pao's Story).
Audiences were enraptured by the beautiful depiction of the mountainous landscapes of Viet Nam's north-eastern region featured in Pao's Story.
The film won the prestigious Golden Kite award presented by the Viet Nam Cinematography Association in 2006.
Dominic Pereira is director of photography of several locally made films, including the highly-acclaimed action thriller Dong Mau Anh Hung (The Rebel) and the romantic film De Mai Tinh (Fool For Love).
"Pereira's skills made the action scenes in The Rebel more interesting," said Nguyen Chanh Tin, director of Chanh Phuong Film Studio, which made The Rebel.
The music score of The Rebel was written by film composer Christopher Wong of the US.
Awards for best photography and best sound in Viet Nam's 15th Film Festival in 2009 were presented to Pereira and Wong of The Rebel.
Tin said he invited foreign experts to take part in The Rebel because he aimed to make a film with sound and picture quality that meets international standards so it could be sold on the global market to foreign distributors.
The distribution rights of The Rebel were sold to the Weinstein Company in the US, making it the first Vietnamese-made film marketed globally two years ago.
"Cinematographers as well as sound experts and music composers are playing an important role in the success of films," Ngo Thi Bich Lien, director of HCM City-based BHD Film Company, said.
Viet Nam's Cinematography College holds classes to train scriptwriters, film directors, artists and cameramen.
"However, no schools have offered courses to train cinematographers," Lien said.
Lien, Tin and directors of many film studios said they were still thinking of hiring foreign cinematographers and sound experts for their future films and TV serials. — VNS