Enhance the audience experience

Ghost in the Shell is causing a fever at the box office with impressive revenue, over 60 billion VND after the first week of release, becoming the Vietnamese horror film with the highest opening revenue ever. Contributing to this success is the technology factor, when the film was released in 4DX format and Dolby Atmos sound - the first time in Vietnam. 4DX is a 4D film format developed by CJ 4DPlex, enhancing realistic motion effects such as rotation, shaking, lifting, combined with water, wind, scent, light... to help the audience have a vivid experience.

Commercially launched in 2009, 4DX supports both 2D and 3D formats. In Vietnam, this technology is available at some CGV theaters in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. In addition to visual effects, Ghost in the Shell is also a rare Vietnamese film that uses modern Dolby Atmos sound technology. Compared to Dolby 5.1 or 7.1, this technology is superior thanks to expanding the depth, width, and height of the sound field, creating a vivid 360-degree sound experience from all directions.

According to director and producer Nhat Trung, to reach foreign audiences, updates on filmmaking technology are necessary, although it is not yet mandatory for all Vietnamese films. “Of course, applying these technologies is still better, helping to increase the audience experience. I believe that in the near future, Vietnamese films will be updated and many films will be produced with these formats,” director Nhat Trung shared.

During the 2025 Tet movie season, Billion Dollar Kiss also became the first Vietnamese movie to be shown in IMAX format - the most advanced movie projection technology today with a 1.43:1 screen ratio, sharp images and vivid sound.

For director and producer Thu Trang, IMAX technology helps bring new, unique flavors to audiences with realistic experiences, especially lifelike rain scenes. By applying new technologies and investing carefully in images and sound, director and producer Thu Trang hopes that these efforts will contribute to the overall development of Vietnamese cinema, bringing more choices to audiences.

Keep up with technology

IMAX, 4DX, Dolby Atmos projection technologies mark the progress of Vietnamese cinema in theaters. Along with that, producers are also increasingly catching up with international technology. In terms of technology or filmmaking techniques, the Vietnamese workforce has reached world-class standards.

Not only outsourcing, many Vietnamese studios have participated in major Hollywood and international projects, affirming their position on the creative map. In 2023, more than 60% of Vietnamese VFX-Animation studios will work in the global market, of which 30% will cooperate with Asia and 31% with Europe. Thanks to that, the Vietnamese VFX and animation industry is growing, opening up many opportunities and prospects.

Among the advanced filmmaking technologies today, CGI (short for Computer Generated Image) is increasingly appearing in Vietnamese films. The film Claws once made an impression with the image of Honey the bear, which cost a lot of effort and money. The CGI for this character alone accounted for 30% of the total project budget.

Recently, the project Linh Luc: Quy Nhap Trang invested in 600 CGI scenes made by 4 Vietnamese companies. Previously, Tam Cam: Chuyen chua ke, Em va Trinh... and many other Vietnamese films also showed visual effects thanks to this technology.

Recently, the films Lat mat by director Ly Hai, or Nguoi mat troi also used virtual studio technology (Virtual Production - a blend of traditional filmmaking with CGI) to significantly save time and costs while still ensuring efficiency.

Director Nhat Trung said that applying cutting-edge technology inevitably incurs additional costs. With Ghost in the Palace, because Vietnam does not have a Dolby Atmos post-production room and sound engineers trained in this field, this stage had to be done abroad. “VFX wizard” Thierry Nguyen also shared that making films with advanced technology always faces existing difficulties: lack of time, tools and especially funding.

In the near future, Blank Blank (directed by Pham Duy Anh) will be the first Vietnamese film made entirely with stop motion technology. Although it is not a new technology (because stop motion has a history of more than 100 years), it requires the utmost meticulousness and thoroughness. The characters are handcrafted, built according to each movement, then photographed, and then edited into a film.

“Films like this are always highly appreciated all over the world, not just in Vietnam,” said Mr. Ta Manh Hoang, founder and CEO of Sconnect, the film production unit.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/phim-viet-choi-lon-voi-cong-nghe-post785723.html