If you're part of Taiwan's ocean community, the name Yuan Xu-Hu (referred to here as Director Hu) needs no introduction. He always takes the stage with a distinctly Japanese-influenced look and an exceptionally gentle voice, year after year delivering precious ocean film works. My connection with Director Hu traces back to a 2018 interview during the Mermaid film promotion, and with the release of Blood of the Blue, the two of us sat down again for a deeper conversation. 2018 Interview: Using the Camera Lens to Project Your Own Vision of the Ocean – Mermaid Director Yuan Xu-Hu
In 2018, Director Yuan Xu-Hu moved us with the pure innocence of Mermaid (Photo Credit: Joe愛潛水)
The storyline of Blood of the Blue had actually been taking shape in Director Hu's mind for quite some time. Rewind six years from 2021 — back when Director Hu was still a commercial advertising director — a friend jokingly said to him: "You love scuba diving and you know how to shoot films. Why not make your own ocean movie?" That single remark pushed Director Hu toward the concept of an underwater film, something that at the time sounded entirely fantastical.
And so Director Hu began developing the historical backdrop for an ocean film. He ambitiously set the story during Japan's Tokugawa shogunate period (16th century), centering it on Zheng Zhilong's predecessor Yan Siqi — a maritime warlord who dominated the coastal waters of Japan, Korea, and China. With Yan Siqi's failed three-island uprising (1624) and his subsequent move to Taiwan's Beigang as the starting point, Director Hu built out his treasure-hunting ocean film universe. In addition to the treasures of the Tokugawa era, the legend of countless riches left behind as Japanese forces retreated along the First Island Chain in the final stages of World War II further enriched this grand underwater treasure mythology.
Because the overarching story framework was simply too vast, Director Hu drew from different sections of the mental archive in his mind, turning them first into 2018's Mermaid and then 2021's Blood of the Blue.
Blood of the Blue Director Hu Says: "I Never Actually Had a Dream of Making Films!"
Before the interview, I assumed Director Hu would be like every award-winning filmmaker — someone who harbored a grand cinematic dream and spent a lifetime in pursuit of it. But Director Hu had his own definition of what treasure these two films represented for him. Director Hu has long hoped to build a professional underwater cinematography team in Taiwan. The goal of filming Mermaid was to prove that his team was capable of producing a fully narrative underwater film. The goal of filming Blood of the Blue was to prove that their underwater team could complete filming in great depth, strong currents, and low-visibility conditions using decompression diving. Happily, it seems both goals have been achieved.
Underwater scooters and twin-tank technical diving configurations were standard kit for this film's underwater cinematography
In addition to the stunning marine life footage in Blood of the Blue, one scene was filmed at the Lingyun shipwreck in Penghu. Deep diving not only tested the air consumption of every crew member, it also required the team to split into two groups and shoot in rotation. While one group was stationed at 30 m depth for filming, the other had to wait at a 20 m stop. Once the first group completed their assigned shots, they would ascend to the stop and swap with the second group. After all crew had finished filming, everyone would ascend together to 5 m and switch to pure oxygen cylinders for their decompression stop.
Anyone who has dived in Penghu will have a visceral appreciation for how strong the currents can be there. Many of the underwater sequences in Blood of the Blue were shot as drift dives. While drifting rapidly through the current, the team had to maintain the formation they had agreed upon before entering the water in order to execute the planned camera angles, blocking, and actions. If just one person deviated from the plan, the entire take might have to be redone. There is no verbal communication underwater — everything relies on the intuitive synergy built up through long-term teamwork.
The team is an asset, and cannot easily be replaced. When you can't communicate in words underwater, a single glance or a hand gesture tells the other person exactly what you need.
During the interview, we also discussed the hardships of independent filmmaking in Taiwan. In general, a full commercial film crew should comprise 20 to 30 people — including editors, colorists, subtitle artists, executive producers, production managers, coordinators, assistant directors, and marketing staff. Any crew of fewer than five is considered an independent production. But Director Hu operated as a true one-man independent production, personally working alongside every team at every stage of the entire filmmaking process. When I asked why he didn't divide responsibilities the way a standard commercial production would, Director Hu could only laugh helplessly: "The budget was limited — I had no choice but to roll up my sleeves and do it myself." Perhaps that one sentence says everything about the current state of Taiwan's underwater film industry.
The cinematography team behind Blood of the Blue is an asset that cannot easily be replaced
Blood of the Blue Director Hu: I Want to Prove That Taiwan's Ocean Can Be Filmed Like This
Since Mermaid, underwater film and video works from Taiwan have gradually appeared before the public — including 30 Meters Below, Men and Their Sea, and Underwater Runway. For Director Hu, beyond seeing filmmaking as something fun, exciting, and fulfilling as a group endeavor, he most wants to use his lens to show the world what Taiwan's underwater environment is truly capable of. He also believes that the professionalism of an underwater cinematography team needs to be recognized. Having spent his entire career in the film and television industry since graduating, Director Hu understands the market rate for every role on set — but underwater cinematography-related work is often forced to accept far lower pay. This happens simply because producers don't understand the dive profession, assuming that any instructor can be pulled in as a safety diver, while ignoring the very real risks and quality implications involved.
On land, a full production crew has dedicated roles (such as camera operator, camera assistant, production team, props team, art department, set decorators, lighting crew, and more). So why does the industry currently only hire a single underwater camera operator for underwater shoots? Director Hu wants to establish a standard — a baseline — so that the entire film and television industry understands what a proper underwater cinematography crew should look like, and what every member of that crew should be paid.
Respect the profession. Stop cutting corners. That is the only way Taiwan's underwater film industry can move forward.
With every shoot, Director Hu searches for his own treasure — an underwater cinematography team
Through years of quiet dedication and perseverance, Director Hu and his team have gradually built a reputation across the Asia-Pacific region. They have been invited by mainland Chinese clients to film in the Philippines, and by Japanese advertising agencies to shoot at a dedicated underwater studio in Tokyo — and Director Hu has insisted on bringing his underwater cinematography team along for every overseas production. Looking ahead, he hopes to continue nurturing the team and gradually expand it, with the goal of becoming Taiwan's most complete underwater film production unit.
Blood of the Blue Director Hu: I'm Searching for My Own Treasure in This Great Ocean — What About You?
Over the course of our roughly one-hour conversation, Director Hu repeatedly returned to the importance of the team — underwater safety, intuitive coordination, the continuous improvement of filming technique. Perhaps Director Hu has already found the treasure he was looking for in his own heart through the making of these two films. The movie uses the word "treasure" — a worldly, seemingly hollow concept — as its packaging. At first glance it might seem almost amusing, but if you get the chance to watch it in a cinema, you'll walk out understanding clearly that what Director Hu really wants is to encourage everyone to find their own goal — their own treasure — and then pursue it with courage.
Blood of the Blue aims to show that everyone has their own treasure
What If Blood of the Blue Doesn't Find Favor at the Box Office?
Director Hu smiled shyly and said: Then perhaps that grand ocean treasure cinematic universe in my mind will never see the light of day.
Blood of the Blue Trailer:
Blood of the Blue Theme Song: Performed by Power Station
Further Reading:
