First Judges Interview
Hsin-Hsuan Yeh
The 2024 KDIAF has invited Hsin-Hsuan Yeh as a preliminary judge. As someone deeply involved in the VR field, she will share her experiences in studying abroad and her journey in creative endeavors, as well as provide her insights on the works submitted for this animation festival.
Hsin-Hsuan Yeh is a graduate from the sixth batch of TNUA. During her time at school, she focused on 2D animation and stop-motion animation. After graduating, she pursued a master's degree in RE:Anima, and shifted her research to the VR field, spending most of her time creating works. She encountered creative challenges, mentioning, "I initially wanted to explore stop-motion in VR, but I found that there were some technical barriers that could not be overcome, so I shifted to 3D stop-motion simulation." The work is still in progress. In September and October of last year, it was selected for a residency program in collaboration between the Taiwan Creative Content Agency and the French Image Forum and received funding from the Taiwan Creative Content Agency. As a result, the scope of the project expanded, and it has now become a VR work developed collaboratively by an eight-person team.
Hsin-Hsuan Yeh is grateful for the creative support and resources she has received. She says, "I don't know why, but I always seem to receive various resources and support, which continuously sustain me and keep me moving forward." She also acknowledges that there are times when she feels uncertain and unsure about the direction her career might take. She encourages the new generation of animators by saying, "If you discover something that feels more important or that you're more passionate about than animation, be brave and try different things." After stepping out of her comfort zone in 2D and stop-motion animation to explore the VR field, Hsin-Hsuan Yeh has gained new insights and discoveries : "My perspective on short films has become more multidimensional. Instead of viewing them from a single plane, I now see narrative as something that can be experienced in 360 degrees. Narratives can be told through the environment rather than just directed by the filmmaker; It's about finding ways to tell a story when the audience has control over how they experience it."
In the process of exploring the VR field, she has picked up a lot of valuable lessons. She encourages everyone to be brave in trying different forms of art, believing that even if one ultimately returns to animation, these experiences will unconsciously contribute to personal growth. Reflecting on her study abroad experiences and sense of belonging to her hometown, she finds that her time in Europe has provided many fresh ideas and perspectives. Yeh Hsin-Hsuan believes that viewpoints are constantly evolving. She mentions, "What's interesting is that being abroad, away from the hustle and bustle of Taiwan, provides a different kind of thinking when the distance is a bit greater." She describes her experience abroad as "behind a glass panel" in relation to the local social issues she follows on social media from Taiwan. Hsin-Hsuan Yeh also notes that there are still many unresolved scars in Taiwanese society, which are challenging issues to address. However, she looks forward to coming back to Taiwan and leveraging her experiences to explore these creative topics.
At the end of the interview, Hsin-Hsuan Yeh shared her reflections on serving as a preliminary judge for the 2024 KDIAF, emphasizing the role of dialogue. She observed that many creators rely too heavily on dialogue to tell their stories. While dialogue can be useful, she believes its use should be controlled. When characters speak, it often limits the audience's capacity for thinking and imagination. Hsin-Hsuan Yeh feels that the charm of animation lies in its ability to inspire diverse interpretations from the audience, which may differ from the creator's intent. This difference and the space for interpretation are what make it wonderful. However, when too much information is provided or the creator's intentions are overly explicit, aiming for the audience to fully grasp their ideas, it can actually reduce the audience's space for thought. Using dialogue or text to highlight points is fine, but if these tools are used solely to convey a director's specific message, they might diminish the audience's imagination. Hsin-Hsuan Yeh emphasized that this is not an absolute critique, as she has seen works where text and dialogue are used effectively, but she noticed this trend in the works she reviewed recently.
In 2024, the Kuandu International Animation Festival invited Hsin-Wei Huang as a preliminary jury member. In addition to sharing his future creative plans, the independent animator also provided feedback on his experience as a judge.
Hsin-Wei Huang, a graduate of the second class of the Animation Department, worked in graphic design, art direction, and animation effects after graduation. After three to four years in the commercial sector, he decided to return to animation creation while pursuing his master's degree in animation at Tainan National University of the Arts. He is currently working on his thesis project. Beyond his expertise in art and design, Huang has also ventured into the political arena as an assistant to a city councilor. Due to his professional background, his works often draw inspiration from social issues. His first project after entering Tainan National University of the Arts, titled Noname Square, focused on transitional justice and the White Terror. The work was also nominated for the Kaohsiung Film Festival and the Golden Harvest Awards. Huang is currently working on his 2D computer-animated graduation project, which explores the theme of wanderers.
Hsin-Wei Huang hopes to continue developing works related to transitional justice and the White Terror after completing his master's degree, aiming to expand these into commercial projects. He has used his first project at Tainan as the basis for a pitch for a series in the Newcomer Benefit Program held by the Animation Effects Association. He also plans to propose a collaboration with organizations related to the February 28 Incident to seek funding. In addition to his animation work and his role as a councilor's assistant, Huang runs a YouTube channel called Filming Romance, where he shares his passion for film photography and its nostalgic charm, using film to document the beauty of everyday life.
After participating as a preliminary judge in this year's Kuandu International Animation Festival, Hsin-Wei Huang commented, "In terms of student works in Taiwan, compared to previous years, the overall technical skills and concepts have improved significantly. With the internet making access to animation learning resources more convenient, many junior students have produced outstanding works in various aspects." However, he also pointed out that while technology has made learning easier, it also raises certain controversies. "How much AI technology can be used in a work before it becomes problematic? If a creator uses AI but still fully expresses their intended message, the impact and critique of this technological usage are new challenges that modern creators must face."
At the 2024 Kuandu International Animation Festival, Aimee Chen was invited to be a preliminary jury member. Having transitioned from independent creation to commercial applications, she shared her insights as a cross-border worker in the industry.
Aimee Chen, a graduate of the class of 2019 from the Animation Department at Taipei National University of the Arts, went on to complete her master’s degree in Computer Arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is currently interning in the creative department of a commercial advertising animation company in the U.S. Humbly, she said, "I’m very fortunate, and I’ve worked really hard. After sending out about five hundred resumes, someone finally hired me."
Chen mentioned that beyond the technical skills she learned from working abroad, she also gained crucial abilities, such as how to find deal sources, communicate with clients about pricing, and manage their expectations for tangible results, in order to reduce the ineffective labor of designers. Optimizing the rights of workers is one of the strengths she sees in foreign industries. However, she also heard about unequal treatment between international and local workers. For example, “International employees often work on a task-based system without overtime pay, while local workers receive overtime compensation. I’ve also heard about bosses calling in the middle of the night, demanding new designs to be submitted within two or three hours.”
When being asked if she misses the time spent on independent creations, she said, “Of course, but it’s something I’ll probably put on the back burner for a while. Right now, commercial projects seem to be what I urgently need to learn from.” She believes that commercial animation also has many intricate details to handle, and the narrative logic differs from independent works. In the coming years, Aimee Chen plans to delve deeper into 3D animation, exploring areas like specialized lighting or material detailing, further expanding the visual language for her work.
The 2024 Kuandu International Animation Festival has invited Li Ji-Tian as a preliminary judge. With her diverse background across multiple artistic fields, she will share insights on how her experience studying abroad has influenced her creative process, as well as the key qualities she prioritized when evaluating works as a judge.
As a graduate of the Animation Department’s sixth class, Li Ji-Tian has a broad interest in various fields. In addition to independently creating animations, she is also a vocal coach and has participated in the Public Television Service's children's program Seasonal Six Senses Laboratory, where she was involved in teaching animation.
Speaking about her exchange experience at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, Li mentioned that her instructors were highly skilled in using objects and materials to create art. Many of the students there came from the Fine Arts department, which made her reflect on how to integrate her background as an animation student into that environment, utilizing her existing skills to create. One day, after seeing her work, a teacher suggested her if she would like to try making sculptures. This prompted her to experiment by cutting out parts of her drawings and transforming them into sculptural pieces. This experience expanded her imagination regarding spatial and three-dimensional creations. She said, “When I came back, I had a new identity䒟ot as a ceramic artist, but as someone working with clay. These explorations of materials gave me a new perspective.” After returning to Taiwan, Li set up a studio at home, where she and other animators explore different materials, an activity she describes as a source of happiness.
Li also shares fellow judge Hsin-Wei Huang’s concerns about the challenges posed by AI. Questions such as how to differentiate increasingly refined AI-generated works and whether manual craftsmanship truly defines a work’s artistic value are worthy of reflection. "For me, the most important thing is still what the creator wants to express. Beyond materials and techniques, the key is whether you can see how they use their skills to serve that purpose," Li said. With experience in theater, music, and dance, she believes that although these fields use different media, the core value shared by all art forms lies in the essence and spirit of the work.
The 2024 Kuandu International Animation Festival invited Ruo-Hsin Wu as a preliminary judge. She shared with us details of her creative journey as a full-time artist and also provided unique insights into this year's exhibited works.
Ruo-Hsin Wu graduated as a part of the second class who then went to the Royal College of Art in the UK to study visual communication. After graduation, she embarked on a different path from most animation students. She began to participate in art residencies and hold exhibitions one after another. Through these experiences, she also met foreign exhibition curators and gallery owners. She has been focusing on full-time creation in recent years, and her recent works have shifted from hand-drawn sketches to mostly acrylic paintings.
The two experiences of studying art have brought many different influences and inspirations to Ruo-Hsin Wu. While studying at the Royal College of Art, the departments she studied focused on discussing ideas. For instance, one class focused on the, and another class focused on the topic of time. In comparison, her four years at Taipei National University of the Arts have focused more on hands-on training. For her, the two years at the Royal College of Art were more about gradually exploring different themes that may have subtly impacted her creations. And through this process, she has been able to slowly discover her interests and the direction she wants to take in the future.
Ruo-Hsin Wu deeply understands the hard work of artistic creation. During her four years of education at TNUA, she realized that she does not necessarily have to make a living by creating. After all, becoming a full-time creator is rather risky. Now she considers herself lucky to have the means to support her art, giving her the opportunity to continue pursuing her creative path. But she admits that it also comes with a considerable amount of pressure. When creating becomes a job and she has to accept the scrutiny of others, it is different from the lightheartedness of doing animation in college in the past. Instead, the process becomes much more serious. "Even if you are not in the mood to create, you still have to continue producing. The process is very painful." She pointed out that creation itself is a kind of emotional labor, and one needs a great deal of passion to keep walking down this path.
Regarding the Kuandu International Animation Festival, we felt the impact of the changing of times. Recalling her time as an animation student, Wu observed, “It seems that today's creators face fewer limitations when telling their own stories” In addition, with technological advancements come works that differ from past styles of the past. She feels that now young creators have developed a lot of groundbreaking thinking because of their exposure to a wider range of information. She believes that many things in life will become numb when you get used to them, and your ideas may become more narrow and fixated. Therefore, she encourages everyone to change environments to see different people and things to help keep their ideas fresh. Finally, Ruo-Hsin Wu said that she was deeply moved and greatly inspired by these works, which further strengthened her belief in continuing to create animation.