"I'm pretty mechanically inclined, really into RC cars and things like that. I enjoy building things," admitted Liu.

Liu's first project was to construct a small cart on tracks to substitute a camera dolly.

"I spent nearly half a month designing and drawing up plans. It took over 30 stainless steel pipes to build it," he said.

"The problem was that on the day of shooting it made a lot of noise. So, I used some sesame oil from the cafeteria as lubricant, and that solved the problem," Liu added.

Liu also constructed a steady cam and ingeniously used a regular concave mirror as a wide-angle lens. Liu is currently building a homemade camera boom and has even enrolled a friend majoring in auto repair as his "engineer."

"We just spent a few hundred yuan and had all the equipment we needed," said Liu.

All this equipment is coming in handy for the director's current featurette, The Legend of Li Dalong, chronicling the crises students face searching for a job during the global economic recession.

"In the story, the main character Li Dalong ultimately chooses start his own business, exploring how student enterprise in China has been stimulated directly by the financial crisis," explained Liu.

Focusing on the future

Both young directors agree that it is the purity with which they tell their stories that's most valuable.

"I think only we can best film real campus life. Conflicts of love and money between students, only we can best document them," Jia added.

They also hope companies will see the potential in student projects and begin to invest in future films.

"Or, perhaps creating a student film association, where we share experiences and help each other raise money," said Jia.

But Liu feels that students don't need millions in backing, but rather by channeling passion and new ideas t, one can make something genuine that touches millions.

"We make films to let people know how we think, and film is the most vivid and powerful form of media with the greatest reach," explained Liu. "And all of us are happy doing it."

Liu Hexu

Project: The Legend of Li Dalong (Li Dalong Chuanqi)

School: Jianghan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province

Year: Senior

Major: Marketing

Favorite Film: Not One Less (China, 1998)

Favorite Director: Zhang Yimou

 

Jia Jia

Project: I Want To Make Money (Wo Yao Zhuanqian)

School: Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB), Beijing

Year: Senior

Major: Communication

Favorite Film: The Shawshank Redemption (US, 1994)

Favorite Director: Stanley Kubrick

(Global Times September 26, 2009)