The Hong Kong Heritage Museum’s largest ever exhibition, Dunhuang - Untold Tales, Untold Riches, showcases nearly 120 sets of exhibits introducing numerous aspects of Dunhuang culture including religion, art, history and folklore. As part of the expo, the museum has also constructed three significant replica caves featuring murals.
One of the Buddhist tales on the cave walls is the Nine-Coloured Deer Jātaka, which, for the first time, has been brought to life through a 3D animation by a team of creative media students.
From concept design to completion, it took a year for the students to create the five-minute animation, which includes captions and music.
Moral of the tale
The original story promotes the Buddhist concept of "benevolence and good deeds will bring good retribution; ungratefulness and evil deeds will incur severe punishment".
It tells the tale of a nine-coloured deer who saved a man from drowning and in return asked him not to reveal its whereabouts. But the ungrateful man went to the palace to disclose the place he had seen the deer, prompting the king to hunt the animal for its antlers and fur. When cornered, the fearless deer appealed to the king by exposing the man’s treachery. Deeply moved, the king issued an order forbidding anyone from hunting the deer. The ungrateful man suffered from sores all over his body for violating his pledge.
Hong Kong Design Institution Creative Media Student Indy Chan was part of the animation team. He said one of the main challenges was designing the deer.
“We designed more than 20 deer models, some in American and Japanese styles. After considering the museum’s views, we decided to stick to the original design,” Mr Chan said.
Design challenge
The original Dunhuang murals, found in caves at a major stop along the ancient Silk Road, depict different scenes. Designer Karman Fung was responsible for animating the river. She admitted that when she first saw the paintings she could not comprehend the tale.
“I believe this animation will pique visitors’ interest and help them better understand the story,” she said.
Another animator, Eddie Li, said the challenge for him was creating the deer and horses’ movements, which differ from those in real life.
Hong Kong Design Institution Communication Design & Digital Media Lecturer Ken Wong led the animation production team. He believes the students have benefited from the practical experience of presenting ideas and concepts, particularly when they were sent back to the drawing board - a scenario that often occurs in a real workplace.
Art appreciation
Since the exhibition opened last November, visitors’ response to the animation has been positive.
“When we visited the museum, some people told us the 3D animation looked good. That made me feel happy and excited,” Mr Li said, adding that animation brings joy to people of all ages.
Dunhuang - Untold Tales, Untold Riches is at the Heritage Museum until March 16.
