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Into The Reds Tale: An Interview with Alisdair Zhang

Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘Into The Reds Tale’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make animations?

"Into The Reds Tale" is a short animation that combines "cuteness" and "horror". It tells a symbolic story through colors and symbols, especially red, which plays a core role in emotional transformation. The seemingly cute visual style and the hidden horror elements in the film are intertwined, making the audience feel a sense of intimacy while also feeling a potential sense of tension. Through this contrast, I hope to break the audience's inherent cognition of "cuteness" and "horror", so that they can feel uneasy and reflective in their interpretation.



Tell us about ‘Into The Reds Tale’. How do you describe it?

I would describe it as 'adorable horror.'

 

Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.

It's hard to say—there are so many filmmakers with distinct personalities that I find captivating, like Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan. But if I had to mention one that I find particularly interesting, it would be Alejandro Jodorowsky. His films are filled with metaphors and explicit symbolism, incorporating a vast amount of religious and historical elements. These influences aren't just present in the visuals but are woven into the plot, scene design, costume design, and character creation, making his work truly fascinating.

 

If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?

I would create a 60-80 minute animated film made up of six short stories, each set in different time periods and seemingly unrelated or even contradictory. The seventh part would tie everything together, revealing the hidden truth. The same protagonist and her sister would appear in different identities throughout the stories. What might seem like a reincarnation story would surprise the audience when they discover how all the clues come together in the final reveal. It would bring a sense of hope just when everything feels most desperate, with the resolution built on carefully laid groundwork.



Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?

I start by constructing the entire story in my mind and then laying out a detailed production timeline. This serves as a reference while I create the initial concept art and storyboards. After that, it's a matter of methodically filling in the scenes between the storyboards, step by step, ensuring that each part of the process follows the planned schedule.

 

What was the hardest part of making ‘Into The Reds Tale’.

The hardest part was definitely the process of completing every single frame of the animation by myself, especially the less exciting ones. Looking back, I think maybe I should have compressed the story even more—it might have been better for both me and the audience.

 

If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work? 

At the moment, I don’t have the capacity to complete a longer animation on my own, so over the next year, I plan to focus on simpler original projects—such as short comics, indie games, and animations that are less than a minute long. I believe the creativity of a story is what matters most, and these shorter stories can still effectively convey my ideas. I’ve already prepared plans for my games and comics in the coming year.

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