HCM CITY — Many low-budget films, several of them made by HCM City students and shown on YouTube, are garnering praise from young audiences around the country.
The film Try 2, a sequel to Try 1 released by FU, a group of students at Nguyen Chi Thanh Senior Secondary School in Tan Binh District, received more than 3.7 million hits only one week after it was posted on YouTube last month.
Three months ago, Try 1 received more than 2.5 million hits.
FU members paid for the videos themselves and did all of the work, including writing music and scripts and acting as the film crew.
Try 1 is a story about Nam, a student from a poor family who makes high marks in every subject at school.
Nam often gets in trouble with students from wealthy families because Van, the most beautiful girl in class, likes him.
In Try 2, Nam and his friends journey to Van's native village. The film contains humorous circumstances and music that teens find appealing.
"We made Try 2 at the audiences' request," said Dang Thanh Phu, the film director. Phu and other members of the crew are 12th graders.
"We're very busy with our studies to prepare for the high school examination and college entry examinations next year," said Phu, who acted as scriptwriter and cameraman and played the role of Nam's father.
Audiences have praised Nguyen Son Lam, who performs as an actor and writes music for the films, as well as the other young actors.
"They act naturally and I like them," said Nguyen Bao Yen, an 11th grade student.
Established in July last year, the Blue Star Group has also produced films, including the well-acclaimed online film Doi Mat (Face to Face).
The group opened a branch office in Ha Noi early this year.
"Our group is composed of anyone who loves filmmaking," Tieu Long, head of the group, said, adding that more than 30 young people in HCM City had joined Blue Star.
"We have the same passionate love for making films," Long said.
The students on the LRS Team in District 8 are also making films, including the sci-fi action movie Alpha Delta Gama that has many special effects.
All of the young filmmakers said they did not have to spend much money for their productions.
"Our labour and working days were our biggest investments," one of the Blue Star's members said.
Phu of FU Group said they used digital cameras to record their work.
"To make a 90-minute video, we had more than 4,000 clips, each one to three minutes long," he said. "We then selected the best."
Blue Star's film screw spent several months conducting research to create special sound and visual effects simulating explosions and fires in their action films.
Long said his group had translated into Vietnamese a book featuring new techniques to make underground films written by Andrew Kramer, a well-known visual effects artist from the US.
"We students started making films after the Japanese embassy in Viet Nam launched a film-making contest for students in 2007, " Long said.
According to the embassy, the annual event aims to nurture young people's dreams and ambitions and encourages them to develop their creativity.
This year, the first prize of the contest went to Buoi Hoc Cua Thuy (Thuy's Class), made by students from Tay Son junior secondary school in Da Nang's Hai Chau District.
This group, along with the second – and third-prize winners, have been invited to join the International Film-making Competition for Asian children on December 4 in Ibushiki City, Japan. — VNS