At the 2023 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, Guo Yufeng, a young director from Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, won the "Best Art Exploration Award" of the 4th Huawei Image Golden Rooster Mobile Film Project for his work "Tempo". Soon after, he was awarded the title of "Shanxi Good Scenery Star Promoter" by the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism for directing the short film "Good Things and Many Buns" showing the "steamed bun culture" of Yuncheng.
The award ceremony of the 2023 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival.
This slash young man who calls himself "Director Ye Luzi" has always insisted on using images to record life and observe the world for many years.
Guo Yufeng's grandfather is good at photography, his aunt is good at art, under the influence of the artistic atmosphere, he dreamed of becoming a painter when he was a child, and years of training gave him a solid foundation in painting, and gradually cultivated his unique "sense of beauty". After graduating, he did not pursue his ideal career, but followed his family's wishes, chose a 9-to-5 job, and lived a step-by-step life. The life of two points and one line made him occasionally unwilling in his heart, and later, photography filled many of his boring moments. Since the age of 21, he has picked up his camera and traveled all over the corners of Taiyuan City, recording many beautiful moments of the city.
Pure Yang Palace after the snow.
Night view of Tongda Bridge in Taiyuan City.
The Pure Yang Palace after the snow, with red walls and silver crowns, is not inferior to the Forbidden City; At 12 o'clock in Taiyuan, sense the body temperature of the city and record the life of the market; The "Erqing" event is solemn and grand; The lamp beads on the suspension of Tongda Bridge are reflected on the surface of the river, ...... the sky and the earth
Director of "Wild Road": Love life with one hand and life with one hand
As time went on, the works that Guo Yufeng shared on social platforms attracted more and more attention. The account he created "Chasing the Light" has slowly gained a large number of fans, and he has grown from an amateur photo enthusiast to a professional photographer who explores Taiyuan and even the province. According to Guo Yufeng's recollection, since 2017, the ** he shared on Weibo has gradually attracted the attention of some large-scale ** and major events.
In 2020, Guo Yufeng twice brought Taiyuan to the National Geographic Chinese website in the United States, "Taiyuan, a city with brains", "Taiyuan, you have turned back into a clear stream?" γγHe used his superb shooting skills to show the world the food and beauty of Taiyuan. Guo Yufeng said that although the manuscript fee for these two collaborations was not high, he was greatly affirmed and encouraged.
The official WeChat of National Geographic Magazine in the United States***
Guo Yufeng has always maintained an attitude of exploration and progress, and he always believes that persistence is the key to success. Sometimes, in order to realize his shooting ideas, even if he has a limited budget, he will try his best to realize them. According to Guo Yufeng's original idea, "Beat" was originally planned to be filmed in Chongqing, but due to budget problems, he and his team finally completed the filming in an ordinary house in Yuci.
For Guo Yufeng, thinking about the relationship between people, the world and the times from daily life is also an important object and inspiration for his shooting**. He often thinks about the relationship between people and means of transportation such as stations and airports, and the impact of these places on the people living nearby. He collected material across the country and observed the impact of changes in stations and airports on people's lives. After the relocation of Zhanjiang Airport in Guangdong Province and Caiyuanba Railway Station in Chongqing, he observed the changes in the surrounding environment and people's lives. These observations and reflections became the inspiration for his work**.
"Good Things and Many Buns": A tribute to the Shanxi people who love their hometown
In November 2023, at the award ceremony of "Shanxi Good Scenery Star Promoter", Guo Yufeng said excitedly: "We have the best audience. As a native of Shanxi, Guo Yufeng has a deep understanding of Shanxi people's "love home" complex. "Our Shanxi people's love and attachment to their hometown is unimaginable to people in other places, and every time Shanxi elements appear on the big stage, many Shanxi people will instantly burst into tears. β
Yuncheng cultural tourism promotional film "Good Things and Buns".
His love for his hometown drove Guo Yufeng to shoot a "different" cultural tourism promotional short film "Good Things and Buns" for Shanxi at his own expense. The short film, which was shot in just 48 hours, went through many difficulties from creation to execution, with tight schedules, limited budgets, and unbearable ...... of high temperaturesWithin two days, Guo Yufeng and his team traveled through four counties and cities in Yuncheng on dog days.
After the completion of "Good Things and Many Buns", Guo Yufeng wrote in the circle of friends: "I dare not write more scenes, I dare not design more characters, and the props are moved from home, all aspects have to be saved to the extreme, and in the end, even photography is saved on myself." He said that he completed this work with the passion and perseverance of his student days, and that the 48-hour high temperature creation was somewhat difficult, but when he saw that his "unrealistic" ideas and history intertwined with new possibilities, he instantly felt "worth it".
This is not the first time he has done publicity for his hometown cultural tourism at his own expense, in April 2023, he placed a projection advertisement promoting Shanxi in Times Square in New York, and in a few seconds** received 4 million views and 17With 90,000 likes, that time, he took the beautiful Shanxi to a farther place.
Guo Yufeng projected his photos of Shanxi scenery in Times Square, New York, USA.
After the release of "Good Things and Buns", many Yuncheng people contacted Guo Yufeng and expressed their willingness to provide help and support for him, which made him deeply feel the love of Shanxi people for their homeland. He feels that the original content has received great attention and respect, and it also allows him to see everyone's enthusiasm for the promotion of Shanxi's cultural tourism, "They hope that their hometown will have better development, hope that others can see their hometown, and more and more people will be more confident to show the beauty of their hometown." β
Guo Yufeng hopes to use his own strength to open up the market in the future, and he still has a lot of shooting plans in the new year, "In 2024, I will continue to create a series of short films on cultural tourism in my hometown to contribute to Shanxi's cultural tourism industry." Guo Yufeng said.
"The relationship between the times and people is like a moving train".
Guo Yufeng likes to use films to express his observations and feelings about the times, and he believes that recording life is a way for ordinary people to exist.
Because he has lived near the train station since he was a child, Guo Yufeng has a special hobby and sensitivity to trains. He was inspired by the news of the demolition of the Caiyuanba railway station in Chongqing, and made "Tempo", a film about the relationship between transportation and people. By documenting the scenes of the closure of the station and the daily life of the hearing-impaired elderly, he shows the relationship between the changing times and people.
Guo Yufeng (first from right) instructed the actors at the filming site of "Tempo".
In the short film, with a cheerful send-off song, the last train of Chongqing Station leaves the platform, and the decades-old station is shut down, while the hearing-impaired elderly living nearby are unaware of it, still waiting for the "beat" of the train when it leaves, which has accompanied them for decades.
Guo Yufeng believes: "The big era and the small people are interdependent. He feels that the relationship between the times and people is like a moving train, and people move forward together on this train. Although there are people getting off and people getting on, the train always moves forward. "Times are changing, but it's always moving in the direction of progress," he said. He believes that no matter how times change, we need to be firm in our direction, and people need to adapt to the current times, but at the same time, they must maintain their own speed, always remember their destination, and let this train work for them.
At the awards ceremony of the China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, Guo Yufeng met the famous director Li Shaohong and many outstanding independent directors, and he was more determined about the path he wanted to take. After winning the award for "Beat", he had the motivation to move on to a bigger stage, but at the same time, he also realized that he still lacked a lot of theoretical knowledge compared to directors who came from a professional background. In the new year, Guo Yufeng plans to go to Beijing Film Academy to further professional knowledge, he said, you can't build a car behind closed doors, you have to go out and "align the granularity" with people outside. (All in the article** are provided by the interviewee).