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A life in pictures
2021-05-15 
Hong Kong action film Raging Fire. [Photo provided to China Daily]

American film scholar David Bordwell once commented that Hong Kong films are "all too extravagant, too gratuitously wild". Though it has been many years since Hong Kong cinema's "golden age" in the 1980s and 1990s, films being made in Hong Kong today are still depicting local culture while at the same time, inspiring a new generation of young local artists.

Quist Tsang is among them. Full of vitality, in her role as a photographer and visual artist, she brings an avant-garde creativity to her movie poster design and stage photography.

Tsang's job on the film set is slightly different to the other members of the crew-while they are all trying to capture the whole acting process, her task is to record just one moment, yet that single frame still has to encapsulate all of the dynamism in the scene.

Born in and raised in Hong Kong, 34-year-old Tsang first picked up the camera around 2003, becoming a photographer for some local magazines a year later.

She has taken photos covering numerous subjects-from fashion to dancing and publicity pictures for commercial brands-and published two books of photography, Lady Luminance and The Unforeseen Mile.

In 2011, Tsang helped to take stage photos for Control, a collaboration film between the mainland and Hong Kong directed by Kenneth Bi and starring Daniel Wu and Yao Chen, marking her first foray into the film business.

At the end of 2015, when she was taking stage photos for the action crime drama Extraordinary Mission, she recognized the creative potential of the job and decided to make it a permanent career.

"It needs perseverance, creativity and teamwork to shoot a film, and I'm so inspired to take stage photos," she says.

Tsang says to work with experienced directors, actors and crew inspires her. She likes to observe them working.

Nessun Dorma. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Action films are her preferred genre, as she thinks, to some extent, they present the intrinsic style of Hong Kong films. "There are many excellent Hong Kong action films and local action film directors, and I like the exhilaration of the fight scenes and gunfights," she says.

However, taking the pictures is always a challenge. "For example, when snapping a fight scene, there might be three handheld cameras following the actors to capture different angles, and I have to keep moving to not interfere with either the camera operators or the actors, while still trying to capture the essence of scene," she explains.

When taking photos of explosions, Tsang always finds out how the explosion is set up and where the blast is aimed in order to not only keep herself safe, but also to work out the best angle to shoot from.

"It's also dangerous to shoot drag racing scenes, because you never know what might suddenly fly toward you," she says.

"The angle to shoot a drag racing scene is crucial, as when you shoot right in front of the car, the audience may not feel the sense of distance, so you must find an angle and compose of the photo in a way that illustrates the distance and speed of the cars," Tsang says.

Gunfights are also challenging, but rewarding, she notes. There is great deal of difference between speed of the shutter and a gunshot, so whenever she captures the muzzle flash of the gun, she is so happy.

"When we shoot action films, the crew members and the actors are like dancers. It's all tightly choreographed as we all move around together," she says.

On the film set, Tsang takes pictures only when she thinks the composition and the lighting is right."These still photos can be a good material for the movie's poster," she explains.

"When I am on set, I do not think too much, as soon as I see a beautiful, or worthy shot, I will press the shutter," she says.

2017 Hong Kong action crime thriller film The Brink was the first film for which Tsang created a poster.

The film centers around the heist of an underwater vault full of gold belonging to a gangland boss, so Tsang added stormy, marine elements into the poster.

Action crime drama Extraordinary Mission. [Photo provided to China Daily]

For the individual character posters, she also incorporated the same motifs and she worked hard to visually present the personality of each role.

"Unlike taking a portrait, which directly shows the subject's personality, for a character poster, I need to show the personality, attitude and some element of the character's story arc, not just an image of the actor," she says.

"My previous photography employed a style more akin to fashion, with strong color. Taking photos for a film, however, is not pure personal creation. I have to use my lens to present the director's vision."

For the upcoming Hong Kong action film Raging Fire, Tsang has been experimenting with mixed-media to create the poster-she uses 3D rendering to create a figure before adding fire effects.

"The wireframe figure is created and I want to show that when a person gets extremely angry, their skin and whole body will be consumed with a burning fury, presenting the theme of the film," she says, adding that adopting an abstract approach into a poster is satisfying to her creatively.

"I also try to use different filters on posters on different social media platforms to attract the audience," she says.

Light in Motion

From April 24 to May 23, Tsang's work, alongside that of photographer Lo Yuk-ying will be exhibited at Light in Motion: Photo Exhibition of Hong Kong Movies 2021. The joint exhibition, initiated by Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, will be hosted by Yanjiyou Bookstore at the K11 Art Mall in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

[Photo provided to China Daily]

The exhibition presents imagery of some of the leading lights of Hong Kong cinema, from past and present, illustrating the fervent passion of Hong Kong films.

Tsang says she hopes that the exhibition will provide an opportunity for a Chinese mainland audience to understand and connect with Hong Kong films.

In Tsang's mind, the spirit of Hong Kong's filmmakers is to face all problems with the greatest possible effort.

"Unlike previously, when Hong Kong cinema was dominated by action movies or suspense thrillers, the new generation of Hong Kong director are more focused on the expression of feelings, which may tell more stories centered around philosophy and art," she says.

Starting her photographic career in 1972, Lo brings around 50 of her portraits of Hong Kong film makers from the 1980s.

[Photo provided to China Daily]

She says she hopes the spiritual outlook of those Hong Kong film makers decades ago will bring hope and inspiration to the new generation of film makers.

"The people I took photos of have already handed the baton to the next generation, and my works are just a record of the trend of the times," Lo says.

She thinks the spirit of Hong Kong films is to develop from nothing, whether it's the place, equipment, technology or talent, it always keeps an open mind and fights on, without fear of hard work and difficulty.

She is so happy to see Tsang's film posters and stage photos, which she finds visually dramatic.

Lo says that film posters are a product of their time. "I'm excited to see the film posters, which feels the same as when I see a new pair of sneakers with novel design that is dazzling and attractive," she says.

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