In recent days, the overseas Chinese community in the Bay Area held an event titled “Meeting with Director Wei Te-sheng” to introduce the film trilogy “Taiwan Trilogy” by director Wei. At the event, Wei shared with about a hundred fans present his dedication and struggles in the process of making films.
The “Taiwan Trilogy” created by Director Wei is an animated film series that reflects the history of Taiwan. It is adapted from the script “Fire at the Body of Silaya” written by him in 2000. The series includes “Part One: Fire at the Body,” “Part Two: The Sea of Whale Bones,” and “Part Three: The Promised Land,” as well as the derivative work “Danami.”
The Bay Area “Taiwan Trilogy” introduction event was co-organized by “Love Taiwan Sincerely” and the “FAPA Northern California Chapter.”
Set in the mid-17th century during the Dutch rule, “Taiwan Trilogy” combines historical figures and fictional characters to depict the appearances of various forces such as the indigenous Silaya tribe, the Dutch, the Han Chinese, the Spanish, and the Japanese. Through the different perspectives of a young Dutch missionary, a Han Chinese pirate, and an indigenous hunter, it narrates the history of Taiwan from the Dutch colonial period to the era of Cheng Cheng-gong, spanning 400 years.
Director Wei mentioned that producing a four-part epic film not only requires a huge budget but also involves heavy preliminary work including field surveys, historical and literary evidence, language research and translation, scene construction, prop and costume design. Additionally, actors need physical training to ensure their movements are closer to the image of the original tribes.
Due to the impact of the pandemic, Director Wei had to transform “Taiwan Trilogy” into an animated form and attempted to combine live-action recorded sound with it for the first time to present the film. However, Wei Te-sheng admitted that fortunately, there were no on-site shootings originally; otherwise, the production costs might have exceeded the initial estimate by two or three times. The pressure of fundraising was too great, and he could not simultaneously focus on filming and raising funds. “So, I really feel that if we had started filming at that time, a big problem would have occurred within a week,” said Wei Te-sheng.
He also mentioned that they encountered many difficulties during the film shooting. As they could not conduct on-site shootings, in the beginning, the actors were very regretful, and some were even very disappointed. However, on the first day of live-action recorded sound, the actors were exhausted, and some even suffered heat stroke.
By the second day, one actor said, “I heard that this film is going to take two years to shoot. Oh my, I can’t even move after two days, let alone two years!” Director Wei said that after the second day of live-action recorded sound, everyone was grateful that the film’s on-site shooting was changed to animated production.
Wei Te-sheng mentioned that the recording of the three films has already been completed, editing is also done, and the dynamic storyboards of the first film have been completed. It is planned to release “Danami” at the end of 2024, “Fire at the Body” at the end of 2025, “The Sea of Whale Bones” at the end of 2026, and “The Promised Land” at the end of 2027.