In the CHINGMU "Digital Dream" Special Competition of the 20th China Creative Challenges Contest, the national first prize-winning work in the AI Storyboard Creation category, "A Penny's Worth of Time," tells the story of a mysterious shop in an ancient town—where people could spend just one penny to skip an unwanted "today." From avoiding labor to abandoning companionship, responsibility, and growth, the town rapidly ages through repeated "lost days." Only after a fire destroys the shop do the townspeople realize that what they had discarded were not troubles, but irreplaceable moments of life.
As an AI Storyboard Creation category entry, the technical implementation centered on AI-assisted creation—the team used AI tools on-site for storyboard design, covering visual breakdown of the script, composition generation for key shots, and conceptual pre-visualization of the town's decline and characters rapidly aging as they "lost days." The integration of AI tools significantly enhanced the efficiency of pre-production conceptualization, allowing the team more time to refine the pacing of emotional threads and the emotional buildup toward the allegorical ending, delivering a thought-provoking message.
Institution: Hebei University of Science and Technology
Team Members: Zhang Feihu, Xin Minghui, Wei Lina
Instructor: Wang Yaquan
