Movies to really 'see' and 'hear'
By Tan Weiyun |
March 21, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A seeing-impaired filmmaker is making "barrier-free" movies that people with sight and hearing disabilities can enjoy - from comedy romance to animation. Tan Weiyun reports.
Jiang Hongyuan always wanted to make movies that everyone could appreciate, even those who couldn't see or hear so well.
Two years ago, the 69-year-old filmmaker in the Pudong New Area set up the city's first Studio of Barrier-Free Movies, making films using subtitles, narration, additional audio effects, universal sign language and Braille.
So far, the studio has made around 36 barrier-free movies, including films, cartoons and TV dramas, ranging from hit comedy-romances to ghost stories and cartoons.
Shanghai has more than 940,000 people with visual impairment and more than 200,000 with hearing disabilities.
"Healthy people can't understand the deep pain someone feels when he or she is called 'blind'," Jiang says.
He knows. He is legally blind. In the 1980s he lost sight in his left eye during surgery to fix a detached retina. Vision in his right eye is only 0.02 according to international eyesight charts.
"The doctor told me that my right eye would go totally blind within three years, but see, three decades later, it still hangs in there. My optimism saved me," he says, smiling.
Before the surgery, Jiang was a marketing director at the Shanghai Film Group, but afterward he joined the Shanghai Association of People with Visual Impairment and became a vice director of its information committee.
That was when Jiang used what little sight he had to learn about people who had no sight at all and make friends with sightless people.
"Many of my blind friends say they really want to watch movies like everyone else, but without narration they could only understand about 60 percent of the movie," he says. "Plus, cinema was a place they would never venture into."
In late 2007, Jiang shared his idea of making "barrier-free" movies among his friends, and to his surprise, they were very supportive.
He set up a team of five, all with different degrees of visual impairment.
Jiang wrote the narration script. Wu Junqin, who won many awards in speaking/announcing contests, narrated the script; she also helped translate the script into Braille, so that copies could be handed out. Wang Ling dubbed the movie.
Erhu (two-string Chinese fiddle) player Zha Sumin was recording director and Bian Yueren was in charge of synchronizing image and sound.
Jiang invited two international sign language teachers to do the simultaneous interpretation in a small window on the screen.
Jiang tapped his old networks to borrow equipment and a recording studio.
Huang Yiqing, secretary-general of the Shanghai Film Critics Association, was a staunch backer.
"Art is for everyone," Huang says. "As a film critic, it's my responsibility to help everyone enjoy and understand a movie."
He helped Jiang apply for a charitable foundation grant, and Jiang's company now receives 70,000 yuan (US$10,654) every year.
They have "remade" popular films such as the romantic comedy "If You Are the One" (2008); "The Year 1979" about the first national college entrance examination after the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976); "Painted Skin" inspired by a Chinese legend about a wicked ghost covered by the skin of a beautiful woman it killed.
"My blind buddies love them very much and some asked if they could join the team and make their contribution," Jiang says.
His studio makes 3,000 copies of each movies and distributes them at no charge to museums and community centers in all districts of the city.
"It's another way for me to resume my movie career," says Jiang, "and I get more fun and joy from this."
Jiang Hongyuan always wanted to make movies that everyone could appreciate, even those who couldn't see or hear so well.
Two years ago, the 69-year-old filmmaker in the Pudong New Area set up the city's first Studio of Barrier-Free Movies, making films using subtitles, narration, additional audio effects, universal sign language and Braille.
So far, the studio has made around 36 barrier-free movies, including films, cartoons and TV dramas, ranging from hit comedy-romances to ghost stories and cartoons.
Shanghai has more than 940,000 people with visual impairment and more than 200,000 with hearing disabilities.
"Healthy people can't understand the deep pain someone feels when he or she is called 'blind'," Jiang says.
He knows. He is legally blind. In the 1980s he lost sight in his left eye during surgery to fix a detached retina. Vision in his right eye is only 0.02 according to international eyesight charts.
"The doctor told me that my right eye would go totally blind within three years, but see, three decades later, it still hangs in there. My optimism saved me," he says, smiling.
Before the surgery, Jiang was a marketing director at the Shanghai Film Group, but afterward he joined the Shanghai Association of People with Visual Impairment and became a vice director of its information committee.
That was when Jiang used what little sight he had to learn about people who had no sight at all and make friends with sightless people.
"Many of my blind friends say they really want to watch movies like everyone else, but without narration they could only understand about 60 percent of the movie," he says. "Plus, cinema was a place they would never venture into."
In late 2007, Jiang shared his idea of making "barrier-free" movies among his friends, and to his surprise, they were very supportive.
He set up a team of five, all with different degrees of visual impairment.
Jiang wrote the narration script. Wu Junqin, who won many awards in speaking/announcing contests, narrated the script; she also helped translate the script into Braille, so that copies could be handed out. Wang Ling dubbed the movie.
Erhu (two-string Chinese fiddle) player Zha Sumin was recording director and Bian Yueren was in charge of synchronizing image and sound.
Jiang invited two international sign language teachers to do the simultaneous interpretation in a small window on the screen.
Jiang tapped his old networks to borrow equipment and a recording studio.
Huang Yiqing, secretary-general of the Shanghai Film Critics Association, was a staunch backer.
"Art is for everyone," Huang says. "As a film critic, it's my responsibility to help everyone enjoy and understand a movie."
He helped Jiang apply for a charitable foundation grant, and Jiang's company now receives 70,000 yuan (US$10,654) every year.
They have "remade" popular films such as the romantic comedy "If You Are the One" (2008); "The Year 1979" about the first national college entrance examination after the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976); "Painted Skin" inspired by a Chinese legend about a wicked ghost covered by the skin of a beautiful woman it killed.
"My blind buddies love them very much and some asked if they could join the team and make their contribution," Jiang says.
His studio makes 3,000 copies of each movies and distributes them at no charge to museums and community centers in all districts of the city.
"It's another way for me to resume my movie career," says Jiang, "and I get more fun and joy from this."
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