Innovation Originates from Living

“Creativity arises from daily life. The richness of life has inspired me to continue creating.”

Victor Wong

Victor Wong, Hong Kong Film Award-winning director for visual effects, is one of the pioneers in Hong Kong multimedia production. From advertising and filmmaking to AI ink painting, his innovative energy never seems to run out. Yet, Victor, being the “Wizard of Imagination”, believes that inspirations are omnipresent if we pay close-enough attention to the minute details in life.

Upon graduation from the Faculty of Electronic Engineering at Washington University in the US in 1989, Victor returned to Hong Kong and founded the first visual effects company of the city. He has produced over 800 TV advertisements and designed special effects for over 100 films from Hong Kong and Hollywood, namely Iron Man, Fantastic Four, The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D, Rise of the Legend, CJ7, Initial D, among others. Many of his productions won accolades from JIAA of Japan, New York Festival of the US, Hong Kong Film Awards and the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards. Victor himself was named one of Hong Kong’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 2005.

Cross-Disciplinary Exploration for Breaking New Ground

This “Wizard of Imagination” is not settled with only his accomplishments in motion pictures. A few years ago, when brainstorming an advertisement for a client, Victor managed to adapt the ink horse drawing by Xu Beihong, virtuoso of Chinese traditional painting, into 3D animation and earned him the Hong Kong Information and Communications Technology Award. Since then, he has never ceased working with ink painting. After three years’ efforts, he brought forward the world’s first AI ink painter, Gemini. Victor entered data of terrain changes into the AI programme, and let the AI painter identify the right angles for drawing, using deep learning technology. “The strength of each stroke and depth of the colour would differ, leading to a unique artistic style.” The masterpieces by the AI painter have received high praises at various art exhibitions in many places such as Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, and London.

Through his cross-disciplinary exploration, Victor is often viewed as both a scientist and an artist. In the era of innovation, Victor believes that society needs not only scientists like Einstein and literary giants like Shakespeare, but also all-rounders like Da Vinci who can combine both worlds. “That is what we call applied technology,” he said.

Creativity as Hong Kong’s Strongest Force for Development

Victor attributes the source of his creative energy to his childhood life. His family operated a shop selling religious oblations, while his father drew images of Chinese deities and wrote auspicious messages on red banners. These extraordinary experiences encouraged Victor to pay more attention to the surroundings.  “Household canopies in Yau Ma Tei are effective in shielding off torrents and squalls; the red lamp covers at the butcher store in the market can boost customers’ desire for consumption… I think creativity arises from daily life. Different people and things are in action at every corner of Hong Kong around the clock. The richness of life has inspired me to continue creating.”

Victor considers that creativity is the strongest driving force for future development in Hong Kong. He hopes to encourage youngsters to take a leap forward: “Hong Kong used to be nothing, and was built bit by bit by Hong Kongers with creativity. It is our most fundamental competitiveness, our soft power.”