Hongyi Liu Is Designing the Next Generation of Cinematic Storytelling

Written by Tom White

In a recent U.S.-based short film exploring female autonomy, visual designer Hongyi Liu constructed an entire emotional arc around one powerful element: the color red. Using DaVinci Resolve, After Effects, and AI-generated imagery, Liu designed the visual system for Women in Red (2025), a highly stylized narrative about a woman’s escape from oppression. His compositing and color strategies turned red into more than a palette choice; it became a visual rhythm that mirrored the protagonist’s internal transformation. Collaborating closely with the director, Liu used motion rhythm mapping and AI-enhanced image sequences to express what could not be spoken, helping translate abstract emotion into cinematic form.

Originally from China, Hongyi Liu was born into an artistic family, his father a film educator, his mother a painter. Alongside his early exposure to visual arts, he developed a fascination with science fiction books, which sparked a lifelong habit of building imagined worlds in his mind. 

“I get chills thinking about letting people see what’s in my head,” Liu says. 

He studied directing at the Beijing Film Academy and later earned an MFA in Cinematography from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Now based in the United States, Liu continues to develop visual strategies that merge storytelling with technology, laying the foundation for a new wave of projects that bring his early visions into view.

Liu’s early breakthrough arrived with Island Keeper, a true-story drama that won Best Feature at the Golden Rooster Awards, one of China’s most prestigious national film honors. As the film’s visual designer, Liu used Blender and Unreal Engine to reconstruct the island environment in 3D and produced full previsualization sequences for complex scenes such as the lighthouse explosion and the storm-night rescue. These animated visual plans, completed with camera blocking, lighting direction, and production design references, allowed the creative team to make critical decisions before stepping on set. In harsh and unpredictable locations, Liu’s simulations enabled precise planning, saving valuable shoot time and ensuring safety. As Tingxiao Huo, Art Director of Island Keeper, noted, “He’s turning ambitious ideas into tangible, cinematic realities, and setting a new standard for how technology can elevate national-level filmmaking.” The film also received the Jury Prize at the Changchun Film Festival’s Golden Deer Awards, one of China’s longest-running and established film festivals.

The Composer, which received the Special Jury Honor at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, featured several complex aerial combat and ground taxiing sequences—shot entirely without real aircraft. As the film’s visual designer, Liu built 3D models and flight path simulations to guide the production. He developed a shot-by-shot spatial blueprint that included aircraft choreography, camera angles, timing, and environmental interaction, allowing the crew to shoot as if a real aircraft were present on set. A low-altitude flight through ruined buildings, was executed almost exactly as previsualized, reducing VFX revisions and saving an estimated 20 percent in post-production time.

Archive footage restoration using AI was at the core of Liu’s work on Go Forward, Children of China, Awakening, and Mountains and Rivers, all of which received the Outstanding Film Award at the Macau International Film Festival. As visual designer, Liu used deep learning tools, depth map generation, and compositing techniques to restore and reconstruct historical footage that was often blurred, overexposed, or incomplete. He rebuilt spatial environments, corrected exposure inconsistencies, and filled in missing visual information across scenes. In Awakening, for example, he restored a parade scene from a low-quality fragment by referencing period maps and architectural records, then composited smoke and particle layers based on historical context. Liu describes the work as an attempt to “presenting history through today’s visual technology,” using AI and compositing not just to restore the past, but to make it perceptible in a way that feels real.

After restoring the faded memories of a century-old China, Liu now launches into orbit with his latest project, Drift (2025), a sci-fi short set inside a space capsule. Liu built the spaceship capsule not in a NASA facility, but in a warehouse near his apartment, designing a lone astronaut seated by the window, watching Earth drift by as soft simulated sunlight moved across their face. Everything from the view outside to the light behavior was created in Blender and Unreal Engine.

If Liu’s creative approach and visual sensibility resonate with you, his upcoming U.S. projects are not to be missed. One explores a woman’s psychological journey toward freedom, told through a bold visual structure shaped by color and rhythm. Another transports audiences to a post-apocalyptic island, where Liu designed and built a fully virtual environment using Unreal Engine 5 and LED stage technology to simulate a crumbling lighthouse, radioactive skies, and storm-driven terrain in real time. “I’m excited to share my experience with my U.S. colleagues,” he says. “They are very inspiring. I look forward to working with more free, talented spirits like them.”

Photo credit: Hongyi Liu