How did you end up working in this industry?
Hi, my name is Shuying Liu and people call me Grace. I am a versatile filmmaker with eight years experience in the creative industry.
Growing up, I went to the cinema with my family every weekend and quickly became a cinephile at a young age. When I found out that filmmaking is an occupation and you don’t have to go to Hogwarts to learn it, I was thrilled. My overall passion for filmmaking lead me to develop skill sets in all film-related areas. Therefore, I usually take multiple roles in the productions: writer, director, DoP, editor, colourist and other post-production tasks. I love directing and cinematography the most.
What’s the best thing about working in our business?
This profession definitely keeps the mind going at all times. Many sleepless nights, staring into the ceiling or Monitor thinking how: I would achieve a shot, tell a story, re-edit a scene or just simply “why the heck did I do that?” I consider myself a workaholic and being in such a fast paced and unique industry I find myself able to flourish under the pressure.
Besides, I’ve noticed when you tell people your occupation is a filmmaker, it always invites a very fun conversation. The pic is me filming with underwater gear from a paddleboard.
What piece of equipment or thing could you not do without on-set?
As many have said, a cup of long black with a dash of cold water.
What has been your most interesting or challenging project so far?
I have recently created a short film called The Cabinet as a part of the REC with Cinema Line campaign by Sony. The film is about a 27-years-old photographer Chloe, stuck in a dysfunctional relationship, builds an unlikely friendship and a cabinet. It is a short film about cherishing the people you really love, and the very human dilemma of knowing when to hold on and when to let go. Using the cabinet as a metaphor, I wanted to share the beauty of both choices.
I was the writer, director, cinematographer, editor and colourist on that project. The short film is captured on FX6 and G-Master lenses. As a cinematographer, I am excited to see how the technology is evolving to be smarter and more light-weight. It is enabling storytellers at all levels to create shots that was once reserved to high-end productions with loads of expensive and heavy gears. Handling both directing and cinematography on set was not an easy juggle. Both jobs requires a lot of attention. I would say it did slow down the filming process. All in all, it is a very valuable experience for me. Pic is shooting on set of the short film The Cabinet.
What’s your proudest moment so far?
As I navigated my way though my teenage years here in Australia, my multicultural background enabled me to look at the world differently and empathise with minority groups in our society. Their messages have become the main drive of my career in filmmaking.
Thirsty to learn and eager to tell stories, I directed 5 short films about the Asian diaspora living in Australia since 2017. After graduating from Flinders I embarked on the journey of entrepreneurship with my close friend and now business partner Wei Gao. We established our production company, Take Two Media, specialising in creating transnational content for our clients in both the private and public sectors. Post inception, we dove deeply into a number of industries across the private and public sectors, helping those in Tertiary Education and Tourism, International Trading and Renewable Energy and more to communicate key messaging with their audiences. The pic is me filming a group of International students.
Wei and I also create independent shorts, this is a tradition we hold, using profit at the end of each year we produce self-funded narrative content on the topic of multiculturalism. The recent two projects we produced have been well-received online with both receiving over-million organic views within the first week of publishing.
We will continue in this creative journey. I really like a quote from American photographer Ansel Adams “You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
Did anyone have an influence on your career?
I went to Flinders University to learn screen and I am still thankful for everything I learned when I was there. My lecturers gave me a great education on not only the technicality of filmmaking but also different ways of seeing things especially within film culture in Australia. In particular, I want to take a moment to appreciate the inspiration I felt when learning cinematography from Helen Carter. She inspired me to be strong, assertive and passionate. As a minority in the industry, I was encouraged by her at many moments in my career to keep going. I am super lucky to have her as my first mentor. Pic is start of the day, adjusting equipment with my AC.
My career is always supported by very kind people in the SA film industry. Sunny Wu from Sunny Wu Visuals who shot multiple films with me as the DoP. I have learnt a lot from working with him on set and he has witnessed me growing into the filmmaker I am today from the beginning. Pete Hall from Urban Cine helped me a lot with equipment and he also gave me great advice on business building. He has always been there for me and my business, supporting us and giving us candid advice. He has such a big heart and I am sure a lot of DPs around town love him. Miles Rowland who I learnt a lot from watching and admiring his work. There are many more I could mention but I am very grateful for being a part of the SA film industry.
Do you have any advice for other young people getting started in this job?
As an emerging filmmaker and a young Asian woman I think it's still hard to break into this industry. As the Wider Lens Report suggested, I am still in the very small minority in our industry. Though it has changed a lot for the better in recent years. It is only through tenacity, with a large dose of passion, that we can change the status quo and make further progress in what we want to achieve. I would want to jump on any given chance to grow as a better cinematographer, storyteller and creative person. Don’t tell yourself that you can’t do it, or you can’t do it as well as someone else. Just grab a camera, go shoot and learn from you mistakes. Pic is taken on the set of The Cabinet with some of my crew.
Thank you Grace, I love the fact that you attend so many of our events with great interest and fabulous enthusiasm.
