Meet Yue Zhou

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yue Zhou.

Hi Yue, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was always fascinated with filmmaking and American films had a very big impact on me growing up. I wanted to experience the filmmaking process first hand. So I took up filmmaking in China for my bachelor’s to get a firsthand experience and eventually decided to study master’s in Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood. I basically wanted to learn and imbibe the best from both the eastern and western filmmaking process. There is a huge difference in the way a film is conceived and finally presented to the audience. Jackson, in my thesis film “Mr. Boring Man”, struggles to keep up with his melancholic life and decides to finally do something about it. He takes matters into his own hands when he teams up with a thief to add spice in his mundane life. I graduated just before the COVID-19 era. People could still go to the theater to experience movie on a big screen.

I am proud to say that this film which I wrote, directed and edited was screened at one of Hollywood’s biggest studios at the Warner bros. For a private audience. I somehow believe I always had the urge to do something out of the ordinary, me hailing from a small town, Laha in Northern most part of China currently pursuing my love for filmmaking is a proof that dreams do come true and the journey has only begun for me. During my film school in Los Angeles, I learned the nitty-gritty of being in a film set outside of China. If I began to jot down the difference between the two systems, Hollywood and Chinese film industry, the list would go long. One biggest take away thus far for me in this journey is that I discovered my passion for production designing. Before I thought being a director was the ultimate aim for anyone who is in a film crew, that everyone wants to be a director someday and other positions were just a ladder to climb to the director’s seat. But slowly this myth disappeared from my view. Now, as a production designer having worked in bigger productions, I have fallen more in love with creating the environment a script demands. It has also pushed me to understand the western culture more keenly. There is an intent behind everything you see in a shot of a film, there is a thought process, a system and a vision behind every object, every color in a frame.

Creating images and build a visual world of a film which audience can believe and Iive in. That’s the role in a film I am happy to contribute to. I want to share with you how I got my first gig as a PD（Production Designer). Me and the director were friends from the film school days, he is known among us as an eccentric filmmaker, someone who takes big risks to create dramatic production sets. So he approached me with an idea of an experimental film. I was intimidated by the scale and craziness of his idea. But I had to take my first step and after thinking through and many meetings together to understand his concept, I said yes. It was one of the scariest things I have done. I had to do days of research and finally pulled it off with a lot of help from other friends of course. It gave me a sense of confidence and I was thrilled when the film shoot was wrapped, half of the crew came to me to congratulate me for the work I did. Not everyone knew it was my first project, I eventually was offered many projects after that. Somewhere I must have done something right to deserve that recognition. I have my friends to thank for it as well. You know, filmmaking is a big collaborative process. It’s not a one man show. Amidst this pandemic, I got a phone call from a producer from AFI conservatory, I was more than happy to finally be back to my happy place. With extra precautions of course I was offered a job to construct a set from the scratch in a sound stage. I had to construct an apartment and make it look like it has been lived in for more than ten years. This successful experience pushed me further away from directing and closer towards being a production designer.

Since then, I have worked on some of the biggest international celebrities’s music videos like Snoop Dogg, Latino singer Gerardo Ortiz, Iran’s Neda Patra, etc. Thus expanding my experience not only in films but also for television, online commercials and music videos. I even have done costume designing, that’s another aspect of filmmaking I am very interested in. To be honest, all I wanted to do was get out of my town in China and see the world to that extent California has treated me excellently. But I owe it all to my parents who are ever supporting of my dreams considering I am the only child, I am beyond loved at home. My mantra for any new adventures be it taking upon a project or my next road trip has always been never say never but always do your research first.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Imagine walking in the sunny streets of beautiful downtown in Los Angeles, add the fact that you have arrived in the city just that morning and have no internet or mobile phone to help or guide you to your destination. The weather suddenly changes from sunny to rainy and you are not prepared for it. You. Get drenched as you make your way across the blocks, you get hungry and your international debit card isn’t acceptable. So you just get by drinking water. You hope the rain stops pouring and it magically stops, and it’s back to a sunny day. The. Clouds drift away and now you can see the road signs clearly that help you get to your destination. But it’s still a long way, and then you spot your friend waiting for you on the other side of the block with homemade meal. Oh! What a relief right? She drives you to her home and the next day you continue your journey to your destination.

That how my journey has been so far. It has had its ups and downs. People who have helped me and trusted my work and given me opportunity to create, sometimes I have found my own answers to my questions, in the last minute I have solved problems on set that saved us a lot of money and energy, But ultimately I am happy that I have arrived in LA and walking the path. It’s always interesting when a group of artists comes together to tell a story. They bring in their own set of experiences, skills, their own personalities. Being in LA has a huge advantage, you. Meet people from different parts of the world. So when all of us come together for a project, sometimes the chemistry isn’t always great, we sometimes face attitude problems, communication problems. Some are very experienced and some are very new to the field. Everyone comes in with their opinions and their take on the project.

Throughout it all, I have learned to be confident, always open to learn a new thing, and have a positive attitude towards the whole collaboration process. Most of all you have to be strong mentally. It is so easy to unconsciously influence the work with my own tastes and preferences, it’s a fine line one must be careful to know went to differentiate. Some of these things I have learnt it the hard way, I was afraid of having too much negative spaces in the frame, but now I have learnt it’s just another aspect of composition. By constantly working on projects of all scales, I have devised my own process of working by trial and error method and sometimes I picked it up by observing from someone do it. Being attentive and alert has given me lots of insights apart from what I have learnt in the classroom, the practical film sets have been one of my biggest teachers thus far. About the struggles I have faced, I am ever so grateful to them as they have only transformed me to be a stronger person.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a production designer. Simply put, I design the film sets, select locations, choose props, costumes, make sure that there’s a synergy between the color and costumes and the sets that they’re gonna be on. I help bring life to the director’s vision of a story or a concept. Production designing for me is the material representation of what the movie looks like. When I conceptualize the designs for a film, the story always comes first. Production design is not about putting every beautiful looking thing into the frame, beautiful props is not the criteria for measurement for its suitability, appropriate props is, that’s my basic guiding principle. You must take into consideration various elements; the texture, color, composition, size, background, time period the story lives in, etc.

When I come to creating a space the story live in, I need to make sure what I put in there is not just because I like it, because this is right for that space, story and character. Curating this is the most time consuming process and also where I trust my intuition the most. Sometimes less is more, just a Walmart chair or an IKEA table which looks simple cannot be disregarded just because it’s boring and has no quirks because that is what the character needs, that’s what they would have. As a designer, I want to add my own touch and signature to everything I create but again the story is the hero. Off all the things I have mentioned probably one that is most important is to achieve the director’s vision and to keep it all within the budget. I take pride in creating some of the most luxurious looking interiors of houses with bare minimum budgets.

Along the way, I have come to be known as trustworthy. When directors and producers approach me with projects, they also have this deep trust in me that I am capable of carrying out their visions. Through mutual references of people I have worked with, by developing good networking skills and word of mouth, I have got many challenging but amazing gigs. It’s a litmus test for my work which I can now say I have passed. What sets me apart is the fact that I customize every design based on the project I work on, no two sets look alike in any way. Each of my projects is like my baby, I nurture it according to their specific needs and preferences and I can say I am a damn proud mama of all the projects I have ever worked on.

What makes you happy?
It doesn’t take much to make me happy actually. The first day I drove the car in the streets of LA, I felt so independent. Like I had just grown wings to fly wherever I wished to go. My best friend here is an Indian, she feeds me with all the Indian foods you can think of. Having a tight circle of friends who loves you is so important especially when you are living far away from home. I like to journal my thoughts and singing brings me joy. Satisfaction after a hard day’s work is something I cherish on a regular basis.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/emmazhou1221?igshid=sssiwfn1ps4
• Other: phone: 7472007136