Recently, Dr. Kwan Shing Terry Lam, Dean of the School of Film and Television at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), was invited to Jilin Animation Institute (JAI). He gave an academic lecture themed "Incorporating 'Action' into Screenplays: From Hong Kong Action Cinema to Action Narratives in the AI Era" and joined a forum on cutting-edge film and Television education. He discussed interdisciplinary integration, talent cultivation and industry-education closed loops with teachers, injecting new momentum into collaborative development. JAI appointed Dr. Lam as Guest Professor, with Executive President Liu Zhenhua presenting the appointment letter.

       With over 25 years of experience bridging practical and academic fields, Dr. Lam has worked on renowned films such as Infernal Affairs, Fearless and A Guilty Conscience—the latter setting a Hong Kong Chinese-film box office record. Guided by "storytelling skills first", he applies this philosophy to film, games, animation and brand planning.

Liu Zhenhua presenting the Guest Professor appointment letter

Sharing Creation Experience: Meaningful Stories, Soulful Actions

       Dr. Lam emphasized that "making everything meaningful" is the top priority for storytelling, with creativity integrated thereafter. He proposed creation from two angles: shifting perspectives for dramatic tension at the phenomenon level, and prioritizing visual narrative over language at the cultural level—citing Infernal Affairs, whose remake The Departed won Academy Awards, as proof of universal storytelling power.

       He overturned the "outline-first" tradition, suggesting "theme and title first, then outline, scene structure and screenplay", with repeated revisions to optimize rhythm. For action narratives, he stressed "action purpose" over "defeating opponents", noting links to space and props (e.g., Jet Li and Donnie Yen’s prop-based choreography). He added that micro-expressions convey emotions, and "high concept" is essential—using Train to Busan’s confined-space action (balancing self-rescue and rescuing others) as an example.

Dr. Lam's academic lecture

Interactive Dialogue: Addressing Industry Pain Points

       Dr. Lam shared HKAPA’s model of "technology-empowered teaching, art-practice balance and industry-education closed loop", offering insights for JAI’s practice guidance. He answered teachers’ questions: balancing aesthetic fatigue and emotional tension in action scenes via onlookers; enhancing close-combat realism with clear action lines, counter-shots and sound effects; and aligning scene logic with character and plot development.

       On AI replacing actors, Dr. Lam stated AI integrates past data but cannot replicate human emotional spontaneity—stage performance is irreplaceable, while film performance may trend toward multi-linearity. He advised actors to collaborate with AI and advocated "function-first, open-source" teaching technology.

Forum in the afternoon

       This exchange launched JAI-HKAPA cooperation and bridged mainland-Hong Kong film education. Adhering to its "open internationalization, teaching-research-production integration and high-tech creativity" features, JAI will draw on HKAPA’s experience to optimize education. Future in-depth cooperation is expected to advance JAI’s high-quality film and Television education.

Group photo