The exhibition "One Language: Film storyboard art and other visual creations" at the century old Shanghai mansion "Rongzhai" will officially open to the public from the 4th, bringing together the works of more than 30 film directors, photographers, visual artists, graphic designers, animators, and action designers to explore various methods of film production. The first stop of "A Language" will be exhibited at the Prada Foundation Observation Deck in Milan from January 30 to September 8, 2025. Through exploring storyboarding art and other materials closely related to film production, such as mood boards, drafts and sketches, scrapbooks, photography works, etc., it reveals the complex process of film creation. The second stop held in Shanghai this time highlighted and deepened the research on Asian films, especially Chinese films, covering more than 500 works from 1940 to 2024. The origin of storyboards is closely related to the rise of animation. Since 1940, Fleischer Studio, Walt Disney Company, and American Joint Production Company have all commissioned internal animators and artists to create visual materials such as sketches while shaping storylines and character images. Since that era, storyboards have gradually evolved into an important tool in the production of animated and live action films, becoming a visual expression that presents stories concretely and systematically. In movies with stronger plot dominance, storyboards are often used to refine key events or scenes. This exhibition showcases the storyboards of "Wandering Earth 2" drawn by Fei Xuehao, which vividly reflect the thrilling and dizzying rhythm of the film; Gabriel Hardman's artwork for Interstellar depicts a thrilling tsunami scene. Sometimes storyboards and sketches during the preparation process also possess artistic qualities. The storyboards created by Qiu Jiqiang for "Jiaoma Tang Hui" imply the strange and epic temperament of its first feature film; Jia Zhangke presents the creative evolution of the movie "The Wind and Fairy Generation" from initial imagery to editing, and finally to the final product through his three screen video installation "Starting from Images". The exhibition also transforms the storyboard artist's work scene into an immersive spatial experience. One of the highlights is the table inspired by classic drawing tables, with each table corresponding to a specific movie work for the audience to explore up close, allowing the audience to shuttle between different rooms in the Rongzhai, as if passing through every frame of a movie. This experience encourages the audience to appreciate the essence of storyboards - not just static images, but also an essential element of film storytelling. Melissa Harris, who is in charge of planning this exhibition, pointed out that for most of the history of film, the viewing experience has been relatively unified, "we sit with anticipation, ready to be taken into another world. A Language "shares a large number of methods in the early stages of film production, which, although rarely disclosed to the public, are crucial. It is reported that this exhibition is planned to be held until February 1, 2026. (New Society)