Extra - Curricular

The release of the teaser of the 3D animated film “Red Boy”, which stirred excitement among animation enthusiasts, revealed the high-tech universe at DTU Silver Swallows Studio (SSS), where students gain hands-on experience in a real-world learning environment, work with modern technologies, and personally participate in live-action, animation, and multimedia projects with a highly specialized approach.

Teaser for Red Boy and the ambition to elevate Vietnamese animation

Inspired by Journey to the West, “Red Boy “reimagines the character Red Boy in an intense chase with Sun Wukong, who disguises himself as a mischievous chicken. The project takes a lighthearted and entertaining approach, with an emphasis on action, emotional expression, and pacing. The visual style allows the teaser to come to a climax in a short time and gives it pacing while spreading a playful atmosphere throughout. The reinterpretation also adds a comedic and youthful tone and makes these classic characters more relatable to younger audiences.

“Red Boy”, a 3D animated short film produced by DTU’s Silver Swallows Studio

More than simply an artistic production, the teaser is part of a long-term 3D animation project by the artists at Silver Swallows Studio. Following the interested response to the teaser from the graphics and animation community, the team behind it is now expanding the storyline to eventually create a complete animated film filled with exciting and dramatic developments.

The team is devoting significant effort and time to “Red Boy” because the mythological character is connected to Guanyin - of particular importance to the city of Danang. A statue of Guanyin, the tallest in Vietnam and popularly called the Lady Buddha, is located at Linh Ung pagoda, Son Tra.

Selected scenes from the teaser for Red Boy

The SSS team is developing several other projects centered on iconic Vietnamese characters, such as Thanh Giong, Chu Dong Tu, and Mai An Tiem, to promote the values of Vietnamese folk culture through the language of cinema and modern technology.

“We believe that creating new productions based on ancient folk tales combined with modern technologies is the best way to breathe new life into classic characters,” SSS Director Mr Nguyen Van Truong Son explains. “It allows one to retell familiar values in a more accessible way and spark interest and curiosity among younger generations toward these icons of our culture and folk literature.”

“Three pillars” behind million-dollar studio ecosystem

The “Red Boy “ teaser was produced over six months by a ten-member team from DTU’s Silver Swallows Studio. Supporting the project is a fully integrated production ecosystem of three specialized studios fully equipped with advanced technologies.

❖ Bringing cinematic sound to life with the Sound & Mixing Studio: The Silver Swallows Studio Sound & Mixing Studio was acoustically engineered and equipped with premium microphone preamplifiers (AKG C414, Neumann MT48, Audient EVO), and international-standard software suites (Avid Pro Tools, Steinberg Nuendo/Cubase, and the plugins Altiverb and Waves). These tools enabled the transformation of all sound effects and background music for Red Boy into a whole that breathes orientalism. The 7.4.1 audio monitoring system currently being installed will allow production of sound mixes of a quality for theatrical films and next-generation game projects, placing the studio on par with many professional facilities in the region and in the world.

Sound & Mixing Studio at Silver Swallows Studio

❖ Advanced motion capture with the Motion Capture Studio: Equipped with a system of sixteen Vicon Vero infrared cameras from the UK - a well-known name in motion capture technology - the MoCap Studio at DTU’s SSS can support the productions of large-scale films and blockbuster games. Powered by Shogun Live software (real-time capture), Shogun Post (data cleanup after filming), and the LiveLink plugin (real-time streaming to Unreal Engine), this studio serves three primary functions: previsualization production, motion capture of game and film characters, and the development of an internal animation library. The “Red Boy “ teaser stands as a prime example of the capabilities of this modern studio.

Workflow inside Motion Capture Studio

❖Film studio for specialized visual effects: This studio also features professional green- and gray-screen systems for visual effects filming, compositing, and production of digital content. This serves as a core for producing live-action films, TV commercials, game cinematics, VR content, and multimedia-communications projects. Lighting systems from specialized brands favored in the Vietnamese film industry - NANlite (China) and Aladdin (US) - are combined with high-resolution cameras, sliders, and dollies for smooth camera movement, and wireless transmission systems support multi-angle live streams.

The studio is used for Micro Learning projects by Silver Swallows Studio and DTU

Real-world professional environment empowering DTU students

Beyond functioning as a professional production unit, the multi-purpose studio ecosystem at Silver Swallows Studio embodies the model of an “enterprise within the university”. It offers DTU students in Graphic Design and Multimedia Communications an ideal environment for practice and internships.

DTU students are free to create, practice, and do internships through many SSS filmmaking projects

Under the dedicated mentorship of professionals with more than a decade of experience, DTU students quickly bridge the gap between theory and real-world market. At these studios, DTU students are free to create with high-end equipment, as the film sets, multi-colored background screens, and modern recording studios remain open for personal projects, practical assignments in Photography and Filmmaking, and graduation projects.

Silver Swallows Studio also assists students with the production of high-quality music videos and short films for domestic and international competitions. It furthermore supports livestreaming of large-scale university events. All this creates a fully integrated learning and professional-development cycle, and firmly prepares DTU students to confidently enter the high-quality workforce right upon graduation.

(Media Center)