Series of technologies create the first superhero "speaking Vietnamese, attending weddings"

(Dan Tri) - A superhero wearing a helmet, riding a motorbike, speaking Vietnamese and wearing a 3D printed armor with the bronze drum mark, that is "The God of War Lac Hong", the first Vietnamese superhero on screen.

How to create the "Lac Hong War God" armor in the first Vietnamese superhero movie ( Video : Khanh Vi - Thuong Huyen).

A superhero who wears a helmet, rides a motorbike, knows how to "follow trends", speaks Vietnamese and wears armor printed by a 3D machine. That is "Chien Than Lac Hong", the main character in the first superhero movie of Vietnam.

The product combines digital effects technology (CGI, VFX), 3D printing technology, post-production with modern software such as: Premiere, Blender, Unreal Engine - all done by a Vietnamese team, with a young director at the head: Do Duc Muoi.

From the founder of a studio specializing in cosplay armor, to the creator of Vietnamese superheroes on screen, Muoi and his colleagues spent nearly 5 years - through the pandemic, lack of funding, and countless script revisions - to turn the idea of ​​a superhero with national spirit into reality.

Dan Tri reporter had a conversation with the 9X director to discover : Making a Vietnamese superhero movie - with a small budget, big dreams - where to start? And what technology helped them create the first purely Vietnamese superhero movie?

The Vietnamese superhero's missed screen appointment

The film “Chien Than Lac Hong” released its first images in 2019 but has only now officially been shown on the Youtube platform. During the “conception” and production of your first film, what was the biggest difficulty you and your crew encountered?

- At the time of the first trailer, we were just fresh graduates, the capital we spent and the money we raised for donations were not enough to produce a film. We asked for sponsorship from many places, but all of them refused.

We asked for sponsorship in many places, but all units refused.

Do Duc Muoi Director of the movie War God Lac Hong

I remember every time I asked for funding and was rejected. The main reason was that at that time the idea was too far-fetched for the majority, because they had never seen the image of a “Vietnamese superhero” before, and it was too risky to invest in.

Most of the ideas were just on paper, so they were rejected even more. Honestly, thinking back, my brother and I laughed at each other, “Why did we act like kids talking to adults about such silly ideas?”

Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and everything came to a halt. For me, this was the most difficult time, as filming was not possible and the business at Transform Studio was also affected. Making a film without a stable source of funding was almost “impossible”.

But then he decided to continue?

- Up until the time I decided to continue making this superhero movie, the only thought in my mind was "If I don't do it now, then there will almost be no chance to do it again in the future."

A scene from the movie God of War Lac Hong.

Because now audiences have many choices, plus action superhero movies are gradually becoming saturated.

We want to make a product with Vietnamese identity, not simply “imitate” foreign countries. The film has many details inspired by national legends: the Hung King legend, Son Tinh – Thuy Tinh, folk monsters… Both the character designs and the armor have their own cultural imprint.

Bringing a movie to the screen requires the coordination of many people.

When we decided to remake it again, we had to adjust many things compared to the original prototype of Chiến Thần Lạc Hồng: from the script, plot, actors...

The filmmaking process often has many objective and subjective situations, so it often has to be filmed over and over again, not to mention the post-production and special effects steps that also have to be adjusted accordingly. Therefore, production costs also increase, some costs can be 3 times higher.

The character designs and armor also have their own cultural imprint.

Fortunately, when I restarted the project, I received a lot of support from my brothers, friends and many young people who share the same passion. Most of all, I appreciate the support of the audience, some of whom have been waiting for the product since 2019 until now.

Cut your coat according to your cloth to have a Vietnamese-speaking superhero on screen

But obviously, making movies – especially superhero movies – always comes with a strict financial problem. How did you and your team improvise to maintain production?

- The reality is that without the consensus and sharing among the professionals, the project certainly could not have come to where it is today. In many stages, we have to "cut our coat according to our cloth".

My team and I negotiated with the production groups. For any expenses that we could not afford at the moment, we suggested paying later, paying in installments, or at a “friendly” price. There were post-production expenses that we still told each other, “Let’s save the money for later, we’ll figure it out after we finish the first 8 episodes.” There were even actors who didn’t count their salary when they participated.

Even for the opening song for the film, we thought of the song “Heroic Spirit of Vietnam” from the beginning, but we didn’t think we could contact them to get the copyright.

Right at that moment, an unexpected fate came, the musician Holy Thang - the composer of the song texted me and said "I like your project so much, please use the song as the opening".

A week before the first episode was released, we still didn’t know what music to use for the ending. Then we received a suggestion from CCMK and G Rose: “Hey, I have this song, please listen to it”. The first time we heard the song ‘Never give up’, we knew this was exactly what we needed, and it also represented the spirit of the whole crew.

CGI, VFX, 3D printing and a series of technologies to realize Vietnamese superheroes

After premiering 6 episodes on Youtube, Chiến Thần Lạc Hồng is receiving many positive responses from viewers. So how elaborate is the process of making a movie with so many effects and techniques?

After the pre-production and filming steps, Muoi will be the one to rough edit the whole thing on Adobe Premiere.

- Each episode only lasts 30 minutes but it takes 1 to 2 weeks for the post-production team to produce a finished product.

After the pre-production and filming steps, I will be the one to edit the whole thing on Adobe Premiere. Then I will send it to the team specializing in editing special effects and effects. To get a film is also very sophisticated, requiring the coordination of many different software such as Adobe After Effects, Blender, Unreal Engine 5...

The film has many details inspired by national legends: the Hung King legend, Son Tinh - Thuy Tinh, folk monsters... Both the character designs and the armor have their own cultural imprint.

Do Duc Muoi Director of the movie War God Lac Hong

In fact, Vietnam has many very good CGI and VFX units, even receiving orders from abroad. But their services are often not cheap, and the number of specialized human resources in the industry is still very small.

Luckily, in this project, I got to collaborate with a team that had worked for foreign companies. They were very dedicated and understood that this was not just a movie, but also a big step for Vietnamese superhero cinema.

It seems like "Chien Than Lac Hong" is an art project, but it operates very much like... a technology startup?

- That's right. We have to be creative and count every penny.

How much does it cost to make an independent film project: Equipment rental, pre-production - post-production, special effects, VFX, actors, character design, costumes... and also promotion and marketing costs.

In addition to the mandatory investments, we have careful calculations to both have a well-crafted product and optimize production costs.

We researched and referenced some foreign films. Then, the group chose to produce films in the form of many seasons. Each season of 6-8 episodes will be a journey of developing the character's personality, inner self, and strength.

Many seasons will be spin-offs (understood as prequels, prepared for a larger project) of a future theatrical film - this is also my and the crew's ambition.

Above all, doing it in many seasons will also balance costs, both rolling out and preparing "breath" to carry out the next projects.

We also take advantage of our existing strengths. Our Transform Studio can produce superhero costumes and film props by itself. The armor of the God of War Lac Hong and other characters are all "forged" here.

The armor of the God of War Lac Hong is also a detail that many audiences are interested in and love. Can you share the process of creating this armor?

- For us, superhero armor is not just a costume, but an important part of building the character's spirit and identity. And to create an armor that is both beautiful, has cultural depth, and is also flexible enough for the actor to fight comfortably, is a journey that combines craftsmanship and digital technology .

Superman armor is not just a costume, but an important part of building a character's spirit and identity.

First, we created a complete 3D design based on the character image, body measurements, and artistic elements such as color tones and cultural motifs. The armor of the Lac Hong War God has details inspired by bronze drums and the armor of generals in the Hung King period, combined with geometric cuts to increase modernity.

From this 3D model, we transfer the data to engineering design software – which can be understood as “digital cutting”. Folds, corners, proportions – all are calculated to ensure that when printed, it will fit perfectly to the wearer’s body.

3D printing technology is used to produce the armor parts.

The detailed manufacturing stage is supported by 3D printing technology and CNC cutting machines. Large details such as the chest, shoulders, mask, etc. will be printed from PLA or resin to ensure hardness and durability, while soft parts such as the wrists and knee joints will use heat-treated EVA foam to be both light and flexible.

After printing, we move on to the manual process: polishing, coating, drawing details, and surface treatment using techniques such as creating faux metal grooves, scratch effects, etc. This step takes a lot of time but is what makes each armor soulful.

Superman goes to a wedding, follows the Tiktok trend

Letting superheroes catch the Tiktok trend is one of the ways the film crew helps promote their products.

One of the factors that made Chiến Thần Lạc Hồng go viral was the image of Vietnamese superheroes riding motorbikes, attending weddings, and even following TikTok trends. Many people call them “domestic superheroes”. Was this a communication strategy that the team had planned from the beginning, or was it just an unexpected effect?

- We jokingly call this zero-cost marketing.

Taking advantage of the wide and fast coverage of social networks, the crew realized that this was a suitable promotional direction for an independent film project, not requiring too much cost and effort to implement but achieving better results than expected.

Currently on all platforms, the videos of Chien Than Lac Hong have received more than 10 million views and reach.

In my opinion, what attracts many viewers is the closeness and familiarity. Now an image like Superman, a Vietnamese Superman, also integrates with "customs and practices", and knows how to follow trends is also a good way to attract viewers.

In this film, the main character is just a young person like many other ordinary people. The main character's journey is also what the production team wants to convey to viewers about the responsibility of young people towards society.

Everyone has moments of doubt and hesitation, but how can we believe in ourselves, use our own strength to become an individual, a citizen useful to society?

A film full of technology and special effects but the media is very "popularized". It seems that this is the crew's very own formula?

- Maybe so. Technology helps us create products that can compete with the international market. But it is Vietnamese life, closeness and folk culture that help the product truly touch the hearts of the audience.

We created a superhero who can fold his motorbike, stop at red lights, and refuse to “like” to do the right thing. And the audience, especially the young, can see themselves in it. That is when the audience not only sees the superhero, but also believes that they can be a part of it.

Thanks for the chat!

Director Do Duc Muoi: "We created a superhero who knows how to fold a motorbike, stop at red lights, and refuse "fake likes" to do the right thing."

Photo: Quang Truong

Video: Khanh Vi

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/khoa-hoc/loat-cong-nghe-tao-nen-sieu-nhan-dau-tien-noi-tieng-viet-di-dam-cuoi-20250527185755450.htm