- When Ruby Yip Tsz-ying was in secondary school, she filmed ‘Dear Pandemic’ which was selected as a finalist in the 27th IFVA Awards youth category
- Yip, who is studying forensic science at the University of Toronto, is the first runner-up in the Visual Artist category of this year’s Student of the Year (SOTY) Awards
Apart from videos, Ruby Yip says she also uses other mediums, such as drawing, to express her feelings and comment on social issues. Photo: Edmond SoRuby Yip Tsz-ying showed an interest in filmmaking when she was still in primary school. She went to Dragon Centre in Sham Shui Po one day and took out her iPhone 4 to shoot a vlog – her first video as she embarked on her journey as a young director.
Ruby, who entered Good Hope School for her secondary education, kept on filming YouTube videos and after about a year decided to study filmmaking.
“When I was in Secondary Two, I made a CV and sent it to different production houses which were recruiting production assistants. I actually did not even know what should be included in a CV at that time,” the 18-year-old recalled.
Surprisingly, she received an invitation to be an actress for a sports promotion video. It was her first-ever experience working with production crews on a set, and she was fascinated by their professionalism.
After life-changing kidney transplant, this Hong Kong student made a film to raise awareness
She joined many other productions, and when she was in Form Five, she directed her first short film, Dear Pandemic, which was selected as a finalist in the youth category of the 27th IFVA Awards.
Ruby is the first runner-up in the Visual Artist category of this year’s Student of the Year (SOTY) Awards, which is organised by the South China Morning Post and sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club.
“I saw my friends and schoolmates becoming more stressed because of the pandemic, so I wanted to shoot a video that had a positive message to encourage them,” she said.
Ruby said being selected as one of the finalists in IFVA awards was a huge recognition from the film industry.
Apart from videos, she uses other mediums, such as drawing, to express her feelings.
She took visual arts as an elective subject since Secondary Four, with her artworks focusing on various social issues, for example, the cage homes in Hong Kong and the keyboard warriors in cyberspace.
Class suspensions during the pandemic gave her more time to draw, and that rekindled her interest in the medium. “I liked drawing in the past but I was not very passionate about it. But when I drew more, I could feel I really loved it very much,” she said.
SOTY 20/21: How one winner hopes to raise awareness of eating disorders through film
Ruby is now a forensic science student at the University of Toronto, in Canada. Even though she did not choose to study the arts at university, she draws almost every day to help relieve stress, and she said she planned to take an art course next summer.
She continues to explore different art fields; she is currently learning how to make animations.
She said art taught her the value of perseverance, adding, “I am not a gifted painter. I improved my painting skills by practising. And it is the same for filmmaking. I might fail, but I will keep on trying until I succeed”.