Sunday, August 31, 2008 @ 13:15
Shine Production On Location
My Video Production lecturer Ms Hazlin challenged those of us who want to major in Film&Television to think: "Is the pain worth it all?" A question that has crossed my mind before. I want to pursue this for the right reasons, adamantly following passion and interest. Not just some flash in the pan search for coolness and fun.
SHINE lighted with candles in the sand. Such a beautiful moment.Production equals lots of creativity, planning, teamwork and unexpected scenarios. This semester we got assigned to film a music video for a local musician. We chose to use the song 'Shine' written by Jen and music composed by Mei Cher. Wei Kean & Susanny's candles inspired me for the scene you see above.
Filming at the beach was such an awesome experience. The sand on the first beach we stumbled upon was too ugly for words but the moment we stepped out of the car onto the second location, we knew it was just perfect.
Clockwise from top left: Me, Ley Lynn, Sarah, Vincent, William, KroboOur team was made up of six individuals, five friends whom I have grown to understand and appreciate. I was the scriptwriter for the music video and there I am happily munching away on the nasi lemak that would give me food poisoning later.
(Producer) Ley Lynn overlooked the whole process.
(Logistics) Sarah seriously provided everything we needed and more.
(Editor) Vincent's main job came after the shoot.
(Director) William was confused with my script haha I should have explained it better.
(Cameraman) Krobo obligingly moved the camera everywhere William and I pointed.
The storyline spins off from a message in a bottle. I was glad we did not keep to the first story idea because this was much better even though our execution stumbled.
We had Louis as our artiste. Poor guy had to fake playing the guitar for us when he can actually play the piano and violin! Wasted. Angeline was our female lead. She worked so hard to deliver what we asked for.
Wang rounded up the cast as the female lead's ex-boyfriend. Such a good sport. He waited for us to shoot other scenes before his and stayed till late for a night shoot.
Evidence of how we mistreat our cast. Louis is holding the umbrella for us, the production team as we take a short break to discuss some matters. We sure made our cast feel at home :P
The full team behind the camera. We set out for Port Dickson at 7 plus in the morning.
Explaining and pushing for my vision to the director and cameraman.
The same three of us discussing a shot at our last project fliming a television commercial. Krobo was director then, William the cameraman and I was the producer.
We always have tonnes of fun at every meeting and shoot! I feel we had really good communication with each other and learnt to voice out our opinions with no fear.
Back at the beach, we took some time to create picture memories.
Preparation before jump shot.
Honestly, three cameras on set was such good fun!
Ice-cream break to prevent dehydration.
I missed the highlight of our shoot (the candles) the first time because I had vomitted a total of 7 times due to the 'wonderful' nasi lemak. My group members and cast refused to let me go along for the evening shoot. Poor Louis suffered slight food poisoning too but thank goodness he felt much better than me.
This pretty shot is in line with Merdeka. We had a reshoot to better some scenes. Our final product provokes a mixture of emotions and we recieved many constructive criticisms from Ms Hazlin. The harsh reality that we could have done better. I'm happy with our work and teamwork but definitely not satisfied. Need to constantly push myself to produce better work. So, I'm still asking myself, is it worth all the pain?
Saturday, August 30, 2008 @ 12:00
SYTYCD Malaysia Season 2 Top 6 show
Nail-biting Top 6 show! I had my favourites whom I desperately wanted to see perform in the finals. I started out this season thinking I would save money, abstain from voting but in the end I still did aiks. Pictures by Mei Cher.
Black, Sly and Hong.
Jojo, CC and Sim
Sly and Jojo brought on the mambo. Ballroom is not their genre and it showed but nevertheless judges thought it was energetic, engaging and their best performance so far.
Black and Sim sizzled with seductive movements in their Argentine Tango. Judges loved the passion and sensual chemistry. Still the partnership to beat.
Love this moment!
Hong and CC took on the Jive. Good drop and lifts. Hong seemed less sure of his footwork.
The drop that went so well it brought a 'wow' to my lips.
For solos, Hong danced a contemporary piece to Sempurna by Andra and the Backbone which was absolutely lovely! Black impressed us with his Michael Jackson inspired Hip Hop. There's just something so pure and moving about Sim's contemporary piece to Daughtry's Feels Like Tonight. CC brought sexyback with ballroom. Can't figure out what genre exactly.
Sly krumped his way out of the competition and Jojo joined him after her contemporary piece to Bleeding Love. That song has been used in three versions of SYTYCD already!
Pix by Su ChengI am so thrilled my favourites made the finals! And finally after eight episodes, I get to speak to them instead of just the eliminated contestants.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 @ 19:09
Daughtry
I am slowly catching up on blogging about the most exciting happenings in my packed semester. Can you believe I managed to catch Daughtry's concert in Malaysia?!! I have always been a fan of Chris Daughtry but oh man, his bassist Josh Paul is so much more animated and hotter. Check out the picture below, the colour and clarity is freaking amazingly awesome.
Pix by VinoThe lucky three of us, Vino, Mei Cher and I got media access to cover the show for Malaysian Today. It was such a last minute thing that I still can't believe we were so fortunate. Thank goodness press conferences for international stars almost always start late so Vino had time to rush over.
I miss the good food that hotels serve. Hungry me had at least three servings if I recall correctly. It's funny that I always have more photographers than other media usually do.
Daughtry came late and left so quick! Josh Paul (in the middle) is simply hilarious and such a big kid proudly showing off his Bon Jovi tshirt that he bought on e-bay. Sadly, we barely managed to squeeze in 6 questions in the limited time we had.
Pix by Mei CherThe concert was simply fantastic! So much energy, excitement, lots of jumping about. Of course I had my notepad in hand to jot down little notes here and there.
Pix by Mei CherIt helped that I knew quite a number of their songs so I could identify them in my article and also I could sing along at the top of my lungs. It's a wonder I didn't lose my voice, one week before the Merchant of Venice play and there I am screaming bloody murder. Dangerous.
Pix by Mei CherI absolutely love this picture of Josh Paul. I am so a fan! Mei Cher and Vino were seriously click happy. The pictures they got were so fantastic it's crazy! The lightings complimented the band well. After the whole show, I agonised over writing the article because I wanted it to be the best I'd ever written so far.
And I did my best. I think the article flows pretty ok, am happy with my last paragraph. Seeing it in print with 6 pictures is such a high. I hope John Mayer comes to perform in Malaysia!
Monday, August 18, 2008 @ 21:28
SYTYCD Malaysia Season 2 Top 8 show
Photography for this Top 8 show comes from my fellow crazy dance enthusiast Mei Cher! She never missed a single week that I was there. She is seriously my PR adviser.
Without Yannus choreographing the group number, it just seemed a little lackluster. Then again, we are lucky to be able to see belly dancing and middle eastern contemporary on our SYTYCD stage. Haven't seen it in any other version if I'm not wrong.
Su Cheng and I enjoy being up at the media balcony drinking our free coke and having the space to breathe and move as we wish. I don't envy those jostling with the crowds downstairs.
Sly and Jojo were up first with a Middle Eastern Hip Hop choreographed by Nancy, Ali & Boojay. The combinations they dream up are just unbelievable. Sexy, cheeky and suggestive.
House has always been a genre that does not excite me and Ray's and Farah's take on it did not change my opinion of it. Balancing problems. Judges thought the energy was patchy.
Love this shot! Loved the dance as well. The moment Hong and CC stepped out in full Corpse Bride glory, we knew we were in for something awesome. Great partner work especially the intricate arm work and no hint of preparatons for any of the lifts!
The donut drop! On a Malaysian dance reality show! By Black and Sim no less. Their Latin Fusion had smooth turns. Judges were blown away by the fire, energy and sharpness.
Sly and Jojo did justice to the first Paso Doble this season. Smooth beginning, good carriage and smooth spin into a split by Jojo. Totally grabbed the audience.
Malaysian Contemporary choreographed by Zainal & Said. Interesting choice to use stilts. Could have pushed the parallelism more I feel. Judges thought it was rough at the edges.
Hong and CC got everybody swooning to their Hip Hop by Yannus & Manuela. Soft lyrical movements coupled with sharp movements and Hong was definitely in his element!
Jabbawockeez anyone? Black and Sim dance a Pop routine. Energy levels well compensated their loss of facial expressions. Intricate hand movements, interesting storyline.
In the end, Ray and Farah were eliminated. Partners seem to be getting the boot together every week now. Will it occur next week too?
The Top 6 dancers. The numbers swindle, the show gets better, the excitement explodes!
Thursday, August 07, 2008 @ 01:19
Merchant of Venice
Somehow in the months of June and July, I got myself involved in a play (The Merchant of Venice) that became affectionately termed as "the play that's ruining my life!". Our English Literature lecturer, Ms Lilian thought up the idea and the total theatre amateurs we were went insane and agreed to take on the project!
The moment it began, we really couldn't believe how much we'd accomplished in two months. Nervous energy, lots of peeking from the backstage and shuffling about trying to remember our lines but seriously too excited to focus.
The gist of the play is Antonio (Dwina) and Shylock (me), a Christian and a Jew who both hate each other so much that Shylock tries to kill Antonio. Yes, I played Shylock the murderous fellow but my character is sorely misunderstood!
See..a smile! There's always a softer side to a villian especially when good friends are around! When I found out the play clashed with SYTYCD finals night as well as my trip to Singapore, I was seriously ready to chop off a few heads. The play was adamant in sucking up all my free time, social life and also I had to put aside other assignments for this, how could I not be moody and brooding?!
Lorenzo (Marianne) and Jessica (Jerica) are the best couple of the night. Those two can't keep their hands off each other I swear haha. I was pleasantly suprised at the backdrop of Venice too! It looks like we have some artists among us.
I had to do a lot of fierce gazes as Shylock, it seems I hate the world and everything in it, besides myself of course. The result of suffering from endless discrimination.
The rest who are all Christians just can't seem to understand Shylock the Jew and they got pretty emotional at court when I pulled out my dagger (a real one at that) in preparation to cut Antonio's flesh.
A smart lawyer Portia (Carmen) finds a way to stop me and swindle me out of all my money. I am utterly shocked at how unlucky a man can be.
They gave me no choice and no room to breathe. Completely broken. My last scene of the night and it went well despite the bunch of us missing out a chunk of three or four sentences LOL.
Not much post production photos because I was madly rushing to attend SYTYCD finals. I made it just in time to hear them announce the winner!
So all in all, even though the play took up half my life and at times, I would rather have been watching TV at home (to quote Louis' tshirt), I'm still thankful I did it. Everybody's been so kind with their comments and am especially grateful for the constructive ones leading up to the play. Audience was really responsive so a pat on the back to all of us!