HappyPower × First Fantastic Film Festival：A Case Study

echofline
Nov 14
3 min read

I. Project Background & Origin

1. About the First Fantastic Film Festival

The First Fantastic Film Festival is one of the most pioneering youth-oriented film festivals in China.It focuses on the experimental and social dimensions of filmmaking, serving as a public space for young creators to explore art, society, and self-expression.

Running in parallel with the main FIRST Youth Film Festival, the First Fantastic Film Festival blends film, music, art, and technology, fostering a new creative ecosystem and emerging cultural currents. It has developed into a distinctive and highly interactive festival with strong cross-industry influence and remarkable creative energy.

Audience size: 100,000
Participating celebrities: Duan Yihong, Song Jia, Gao Yuanyuan, Rao Xiaozhi, etc.
Cultural positioning: Youthful, experimental, independent
Media coverage: CCTV, Beijing Daily, and others

2. Why HappyPower Came Here

We illuminated the campsite through play and used creativity to invite participation.

Film and games share a common origin — both are native languages of human storytelling and empathy.

At a festival centered around watching, we brought in the energy of doing.Amid a space where fiction and reality intertwine, we allowed the body to once again become the protagonist.

II. Installation Design Concepts

1. Power-Generating Seesaw: Merging Play and Ritual

Design Intent:To create a “participatory energy node” for the festival and turn joy into a form of public energy.
Product Logic:Made from recycled wood and plastic bottles, modular in design, and quick to assemble.
Symbolism:The seesaw symbolizes balance — the flow of energy between people and the world, and between art and reality.

2. Inspiration Prayer Wheel: Transforming Creative Anxiety

Interactive Concept:Allow creators to transform “anxiety” into “energy” — each rotation becomes an act of release and renewal.
Social Interaction:Open to strangers, film crews, and audience members to participate together.
Emotional Connection:To set unseen emotional energy into motion.

3. Pop-up Deployment Principles

Modular and portable structure
Fully self-powered system
Suitable for rapid setup and recovery in outdoor festival environments

III. On-Site Interaction & Mechanisms

1. How Participants Were Attracted

The installation itself served as an open invitation — light and sound became natural signals of play
No hosting or guidance required; audiences joined spontaneously
The “co-operation required to generate light” mechanism naturally encouraged social interaction

2. Who Participated

Festival visitors, young directors, film crews, volunteers, journalists, and local residents —even pets and children joined in.

3. Unexpected Forms of “Secondary Creation”

Self-organized “power-generation competitions”
Small improvised performances involving audiences and actors
UGC trends such as “#GeneratePowerForTheFestival” on social media

IV. Social Interaction & Feedback

1. Informal Estimated Metrics

Participants: approx. 1,000 visits
Electricity generated: approx. 10 kWh(enough to fully charge 400 mobile phones and illuminate the campsite lighting)
Peak activity hours: afternoon to night

2. Observed Interaction Scenes

Strangers collaborating, directors playing with visitors, journalists joining and reporting;spontaneous mini-games, improvised performances, and festival greeting videos.

3. Media & Social Reactions

Featured in a CCTV news report
Numerous short videos shared by festival attendees and filmmakers
Became one of the most popular interactive highlights of the festival

V. Festival & Social Significance

1. Festivals as Spaces of Social Innovation

Festivals have always been a key context for HappyPower.They are not merely celebrations or rituals — they reorganize time, relationships, and values.

They allow us to pause utilitarian life and enter moments that are “useless but real” —moments where we can sing, fail, dream, and become human again.

As Victor Turner describes, festivals place people in a liminal state where social hierarchies temporarily dissolve, and individuals become equal, fluid, and open — forming a strong sense of communitas.

2. Shared Origins of Games and Film

Both originate from play and imagination.HappyPower responded to the festival’s “imagery” with “play,” building a shared field of perception and resonance.

3. Rediscovering Real Human Connection

Through collective play and power-generation actions,participants no longer acted as mere spectators —they became co-creators.

VI. Challenges & Responses

Compressed production timeline & material shortages:Contract confirmed only three days before the festival; rapid sourcing from local suppliers; flexible engineering adjustments.
Outdoor weather & safety concerns:Additional rain protection added on-site.
High-efficiency collaboration with festival organizers:Active communication ensured maintenance and smooth operation.
Community co-building & volunteer management:Organized campsite volunteers for collaborative support.

VII. Sustainability & Future Outlook

The power-generating seesaw has been preserved by the First Fantastic Film Festival for future exhibitions.
Developing a “festival energy solutions” model to provide interactive installations for different events.
Creating programs themed around “film × behavioral energy” such as night-time light interactions and creator energy rankings.
Building a “Festival Energy Toolkit” to help more events establish low-carbon participatory spaces.