ZMD Films / 走马灯映画

Thesis

The project reframes “Zou Ma Deng” as an experience-image rather than a decorative cultural motif. A life becomes an archive of images, memories, desires, wounds, fantasies, and cinematic references. These materials are not replayed chronologically. They are compressed, displaced, distorted, and re-edited into a final private montage. In the age of AIGC, this idea gains a new form: a prompt is not merely a command, but an index of the creator’s experience. The model becomes a mechanism of visualization, and what emerges is a montage produced between human memory, machine imagination, and visual culture.

Creative Challenge

ZMD Films / 走马灯映画 is built around the idea of “经历-影像” / experience-image. “走马灯” is not treated here as a nostalgic Oriental symbol. It becomes a metaphor for a final image: one’s life as a material archive, re-edited by memory, desire, trauma, fantasy, and unconscious association into a private montage.

Workflow

1. 01Developed the concept from cinema philosophy, memory, and experience-image theory.
2. 02Used AIGC-assisted visual research and storyboard exploration to test the opening-title direction.
3. 03Iterated prompts around lantern light, shadow movement, paper texture, film rhythm, and memory fragments.
4. 04Applied motion identity thinking to a fictional arthouse studio mark without presenting it as a commercial client project.
5. 05Packaged the result as a public portfolio case study showing how AIGC can support early-stage visual direction and brand concept testing.

Gallery

Video

Outcome

A concise motion identity case study with a confirmed cover image, one supporting still, and a short video asset. The visual system uses lantern light, shadow movement, fragmented silhouettes, paper texture, film rhythm, and controlled darkness to create the feeling of a private memory machine.

Reflection

The horse shadow and rotating lantern function as moving fragments of experience, circling toward a final studio mark. The project is strongest when read as a memory machine: a way to turn personal experience, visual culture, and AI-assisted image generation into a focused motion identity.

Professional Value

Relevant for AIGC content planning, AI video creative production, and visual research roles because it demonstrates concept development, prompt-led visual direction, storyboard thinking, and the ability to translate academic cinema concepts into recruiter-readable portfolio work.