2nd Production Week 3
Location: Fake Bahamas (actually Palawan Beach)
As much as possible, I will avoid being a production assistant again, not because it's too tiring or stressful or anything along these lines. In fact, during this production, being a PA is rather slack. It actually gets to a point where I feel guilty for having nothing to do. So, the reason why I'll try to do stuff of other departments next time is that I know I'm a sucky PA. I'm disorganised, I don't communicate well, and I'm the furthest one can get from "passionate about food". Of course, it's easy to decide, but I've made enough empty decisions to realise that I've got to act upon them. So, instead of stupidly picking a job that doesn't suit me, I'll try to choose something else if I do get the choice again.
But this post isn't one complaining about being a PA. I don't mind, actually. In fact, I'm really grateful to be able to be involve in the production of Koji Cooks, and, as much as possible, I try to be useful. Compared to everyone else on set, I'm the least experienced, and definitely less useful, seeing how everyone is so good at what they do. Three weeks in, I'm the only one who got an MC. Given that, I still hope to continue in production after NS. I know I'll get better at it.
It's kind of impressive how it takes me awhile to realise I'm on the right track, and that I don't have to worry that much about life. One thing that my colleagues know is that 船到桥头自然直 (the boat will straighten itself at the jetty), so they are really chill even in difficult situations. No point dictating where to go.
Back a quarter of my life ago, I was at the stage where I was so impressed by media, by cameras, by the idea of scriptwriting, and by Mediacorp dramas. I'd been questioning things like "if the actor throw away that ice cream in the scene and then they have to redo the scene, do they need to get another ice cream? Won't that be a super huge waste of money?" and "if it takes so long to film drama, how is it even possible for 500-episode soap operas to run without breaks?" It's kind of cool that I've got some of these questions answered.
And, I've got to admit that as a newcomer into this whole thing, it does feel quite good to talk to the actors on a personal level. It also feels good to tell people about your job and have them ask you things like "what show is this?" or "isn't that the guy from Mata Mata?" Yeah, this proves that I'm still a freshie. To finally get to my point, I'll try to cherish this project that we're working on.
Labels: production, reflection, things that happened
12 Happy Days
Ah Huat (from DTVM grad show) in graduation robe (from Graduation Bear)
Met up with Guangyi, Zixing, Weijian, and Jessica to watch Godzilla. I guess I don't really appreciate giant monsters fighting because I didn't have a lot of fun watching it. But still, it's fairly decent, I guess. After that, we went to have tze char at some place near red dot museum. It was nice because I've never had this combination/type of dishes before. We ordered things like fish soup, fried rice, hor fun, and stuff and just shared them instead of the usual rice and dishes. Got home late and I had to wake up early the next day.
Two Weeks Ago - Saturday
I know I've already briefly talked about CMPA and stuff, but I guess I'll just write in more details because these are things I'll want to remember. So early in the morning, I headed to Cathay to meet Afiq and Elijah to attend the briefing. Elijah being Elijah, vanished without a trace, so it was just Afiq and me. The briefing got a little draggy and the two girls beside me got really judgmental. It was actually quite funny eavesdropping on how much they judge whoever stood up to ask a question during the Q&A.
The day was long and we headed to Afiq's house area to meet Hazel before proceeding to his house for brainstorming. Skip skip skip. We finally managed to come up with our idea and a script.
Skip skip skip. A lot of logistics issues and stuff, and then the night was spent doing pre-production stuffs like storyboarding and all those things. Actually resorted to awkwardly calling a few of my friends to ask them to act for us at like 3am suddenly. So, most conversation went like:
Me: Hi.
Person: Hi?
Me: This is a little weird, but are you free, like, now?
Person: No, why?
Me: Oh nevermind then.
Person: Why?
Me: Because I wanted to ask if you can help us act in a film at, like, 3am. And the director needs you at his house at 1am.
Person: What? No.
Me: Okay.
So in the end, we used Afiq himself as a talent.
So Elijah came over and Afiq went to fetch Wai Meng and we had 7-eleven supper and I lost my wallet and panicked and realised that I left it at 7-eleven and Elijah and I ran back there and I was so glad that the cashier kept it for me.
After a while, Afiq was driving us (with his infamous driving skills) through empty streets, blasting music and singing and stuff. It was actually quite nice.
Filming itself was not. Lots of disagreements and technical issues, but I think we somehow managed to contain it all and finish the thing.
I would love to post a photo of gay-looking Elijah (as a character) but I don't have any :D
Two Weeks Ago - Sunday
Our filming ended as we rushed against the sunrise. Managed to do it in time. Headed home, dead tired (I only slept for three hours on Friday and zero hour on Saturday), and basically fell asleep throughout 80% of the journey.
Woke up and headed back to Afiq's house. Hazel, Elijah, and I got stuck outside the house for one hour because Afiq was asleep. &$@#%^&!%$^%
Proceeded to doing voiceovers while I edited (agitatedly), and it was a pretty painful process, but we all managed and then it was night and then we headed to meet Matin to pass him the computer for him to edit. And I'm out.
One Week Ago - Monday
And I'm back to edit more. It was actually even more painful and we didn't manage quite well and we edited till night and we settled for what we had.
One Week Ago - Wednesday
After falling sick on Tuesday and doing pretty much nothing, I texted the recruit express person and asked if I could take an MC on the first day of work, and she discouraged me to :(
So on Wednesday, I went to work at the warehouse and it was relaxing but boring and stuff. It was quite funny actually. There's no canteen in the building and no food place near the building, so we were expected to bring our own lunch. Fortunately, everyone there was very nice and they helped me to order something.
For most of lunchtime, we would be taking a nap, lying on the floor with cardboard and stuff, and really falling asleep.
I told myself this will be my life for 3 months, and that it may be quite fun.
One Week Ago - Thursday
Day 2 of work. A new girl joined us, but she quit during lunchtime because she was complaining about having to stand the whole day.
I told myself that I'll hang in there and I'll get used to it, but I kept questioning why I'm even there in the first place. Every single person tells me that the pay isn't good and the location is far from my house, my parents were kind of unhappy about the whole no-canteen thing, and the staff there tell me to find another job.
And I was asked to OT on day 2, which I tried rejecting and my supervisor pleaded me and... Yeah...
My OT colleague (different from my normal colleagues) once again reminded me of the bad pay and far location and the fact that I should probably not be working here. I was pretty bored of the job as well.
But the good thing about the day was that my mum woke up earlier than me to cook porridge for me to bring to work T_T
By the end of the day, I was still pretty sure I would stay because "this is the working world" and stuff, and I guess being in a warehouse environment really plants my feet on the ground. The people in logistics are very different from, say, production people.
One Week Ago - Friday
My mum cooked for me again, along with my dad.
Before I left house, she convinced me that I should really quit and I actually considered about it.
The day was long and I eventually decided to quit.
That night, I went to vivo city to meet Mj for dinner. Chatted at the rooftop for quite a while, talking about cockroaches and school and stuff.
This Week - Monday
I told my supervisor that I wanted to quit and I would end my work on Friday. He tried to convince me to stay, but I was pretty stubborn about leaving. He finally agreed and told me to inform Recruit Express, which I did. I then told my colleagues and one of them was pretty upset for a few seconds because I didn't told her earlier and I felt really guilty because everyone treated me really well. She decided not to be upset and recommended that I work in Koi. And then the day dragged on until it ended.
This Week - Tuesday
Graduation day. Wasn't feeling very excited at the start because I thought I was late and the crowd was annoying and the graduation robe was bulky and stuff. Kind of frustrating actually. But it felt good in the end, truly graduating and all, with people randomly screaming "graduate loh!" on stage and wearing Hogwarts hat and stuff. Gathered to take selfies and class photos and just soaked in the atmosphere. Told my parents to head home without me, and then went to have dinner with Cx, Hazel, Afiq, Elijah, Stefanie, Mj,and Waimeng.
This Week - Wednesday
Back to work. Fortunately, there wasn't a lot to do because the new stocks haven't come in, I think. Got asked to help up in another department for the day. Was suppose to OT with my other colleague, but because we finished everything really fast on purpose, there was nothing to OT for.
And at the end of the day, my supervisor came to me and told me that we didn't have to go to work on the following day because there's nothing to do.
This Week - Thursday
So, I went to meet Guangyi to return the graduation robe with him. Shared graduation experience and learned that there was this guy who brought a light saber in his session. Went to buy a present for my father's birthday and then went to Maki-san to get sushi for Guangyi's dinner.
It was my father's birthday that night, so we celebrated with a cake and stuff.
This Week - Friday
Another long day. My last day at work felt pretty sad. I was actually quite guilty because my contract was for three months, but I quit after one week, but then I'll be trying to find jobs that are more related to my course. Right now, there's transcripts to do and hopefully I get accepted into some PA job from Joey's company and many of us are taking part in. Also hope to be able to find/get accepted into some writing jobs. Even internship is fine, actually, because what I want is the experience (and entry). My friends say it's worth a try.
Okay, out of point. Anyway, the last day went by really slowly and when it ended, waved goodbye to my colleagues forever and exchanged numbers with the one who guided me, and headed to meet Stefanie, Hazel, Cx, Avelin, and Mj for dinner at Orchard.
Had really nice XL chicken at some Taiwanese food place, caught up before heading to some hotel for our afterparty. Nice place. Just played cards while waiting for the rest to reach. Because too many people entered, there was some hoo-ha about "partying in hotel premises", which we *ahem* totally weren't doing.
We tried to keep ourselves slightly quiet and the hotel didn't make that big a fuss about it, and whenever someone knocked on the door, we literally hid while King opens the door so that it seems like there's not a lot of people in the room.
Started drinking soon and a few of us got drunk. It was quite funny and entertaining, and some people just went outright crazy. First time for me, and I hated that almost-want-to-vomit feeling.
Played more card games and Colin's Ouya. Fell asleep and woke up and played more card games and went to have breakfast with Stefanie, Avelin, Ziwei and Cx. Fell asleep during breakfast and headed home after that.
Labels: dtvm, production, things that happened
Things we do for filming (2)
The funny things about production is that it's interesting yet it can get super annoying. Super.
I think I've went through another series of mini production experience ever since out DTVM Grave Business documentary project and I want to write another post about it. In DTVM, we then had our On-location Production in Penang, FYP, filmmaking elective, internship, and then I did some stuff with my friends. Yeah.
1. Argue over a bubble. Yes, a bubble.
If you use a tripod, you know that you have to centralise a bubble located somewhere on the tripod so that your image will be straight. Yeah, we got into a heated "debate" over how much to care about the bubble.
2. Manipulate passers-by
I feel that we do the most evil things for documentaries. One example included irritating a guy on purpose so that we could capture a secret shot of him being unfriendly. Fortunately, we never used that shot in the end.
3. Shield the equipments with our bodies
The rule is, as my a crew member in my internship puts it: "Take care of the equipment first before your own welfare." Which proved true during on-location production. It was raining heavily, and everyone was giving their all to protect the camera, mic, and (to an extent) tripod. And then there was the story about how Yvette protected the tripod with her body while rolling down a hill, or something.
4. Eat a lot
In the Penang film, we ate all sorts of stuff while filming. In fact, we ate more than we filmed. During internship, no one survives without food. Shall elaborate more on that later.
5. Pretend that a white dress is a wedding dress
I think if we had more budget, we would've settled for a real one, but we didn't, and our FYP was about a wedding.
6. Force actors to deliver cheesy lines to each other's face
"What're you going to do without me?" "You look amazing." "我一定会罪得到你的！” ("I'll definitely be able to catch you!" - pertaining to love)
7. Direct a little girl
Unless you're an experienced director, this is really tough, not because of discipline issues, but because of acting skills.
8. Direct a toy bear
Yeah. The toy bear is a main character.
9. Manipulate a swing
The toy bear was sitting on the swing. The swing was suppose to keep on swinging before calming down, all in the name of symbolism. Working with me may have been quite difficult :p So we actually used a fishing line to control it.
10. Direct a dog
It was Jezebel's dog. She was the one directing it, because she's the owner and she knows how to handle it... But it's a dog.
11. Do 8, 9, and 10 at the same time
For our filmmaking elective project, there was this scene in which the little girl, now all grown up, abandons her teddy bear on a swing and goes after another girl with a dog instead. So, in our 5-man team, one person was acting as the grown-up girl, one person was manipulating the swing, one person was controlling the dog, one person was operating the sound, and I was directing and working on the camera at the same time, while stubbornly trying to keep to my symbolism and rushing before the camera runs out of battery.
12. Race against the sunset
More than one incident, there had been evening scenes in which the sun is setting and the lighting looks really beautiful and pleasing. For our project, we tried to film two scenes during this "magic hour". We failed, but did decently for one of the scenes. For my internship, you have no idea how spectacular the view was in Upper Pierce Reservoir during a sunset - the final scene of 'Scrum!'
13. Film in the dark
This is the worst. I hate this. Never do this, because no matter how much we try to convince ourselves it will work out, it freaking won't, unless you have big-ass lighting.
14. Film lamp-posts and pretend they are living things
For our Cathay Motion Pictures Award film (see previous post). Similar to the toy bear. It's hardly surprising that I like ideas that are not 100% realistic.
15. Force a talent to wear super short shorts and look gay
Kudos to Elijah. He sportingly agreed.
From here on, I shall be talking about my internship, where shit got real. Many of these are not things I did, but more of things the team did.
16. Shift furnitures here and there
Art department stuff. When we shoot at indoor locations, chances are that we have to shift locations here and there to make space for the lights and track and stuff. And then for the next shot, we may need to move them back and make sure it looks like how it looked before we shifted it. And then for the next shot, we may need to move them again. And the director starts scolding you for eating a pao. Okay, that was my fault actually.
17. Go crazy on the details
This is called 'conti'. It means making sure something that is on the table remains on the table throughout the scene, or that if the sofa faces the door, it faces the door throughout. And these little details matter, especially since twitter accounts like 'TV Mistakes' exist.
18. Make rain
Next to filming in the dark, I hate this a lot. It sounds so fun, making rain and spraying water "playing around". NO. Okay, maybe the actors have fun, especially if it's a sports drama. But behind the scenes, lighting still has to go on, the camera still has to roll, make-up and clothes-conti still need to be taken care of, props still need to be taken care of. If that particular shot in which the rain starts falling needs to be retaken, we had to clean the props till they look dry. This means that everyone is in a bad mood, and when the director is in a bad mood, hell breaks loose. Not that I have much against the director.
19. "Manage" 40+ calefares
For the director, this means lying to them to make them feel like their job is the most important. It also means making sure all calefares (acting as audiences) cheer when they are suppose to and moan when they are suppose to. They won't.
For the assistant director, this means making sure they are ready when the director needs them to be, that they don't smoke within the campus (we filmed in RP), and that troublemakers be gone. Tougher than it sounds.
For the casting director, it means making sure they all reach, they all have transport, and they all follow the rules. Maybe the casting director has to lie to them that they'll have fun, although I doubt they will.
For the props team, this means making sure they don't fold the placards that we made. But they will anyway.
For the production assistants, this means they only get one bottle of free water, no sweet drinks, and only one packet of lunch. No second serving (hello, how many hands do you expect a freaking PA to have... and money). Yet there will be people complaining about double standards.
20. Control traffic. Both literally and figuratively
Literally: We had car scenes, and bicycle scenes that took place in the car park. So we had to block cars from passing when the camera is rolling. Because cars are superior to humans, it's easy for them to ignore us when we frantically wave our arms to stop them. You'll be surprised how many actually stopped.
Figuratively: We couldn't let people walk pass. Some people downright think you are crazy while others went like "I'm timing my run! How can you ask me to stop?!" Well, I'm sorry... I was doing my job.
21. Track the source of a renovation, and ask the renovator to shut up
It was, I think, 2 blocks away, and the renovation was really loud. And when filming, it has to be crazy silent, so as a production assistant (intern), I had to try to track where the sound was coming from and ask the person renovating to stop renovating. To make a long story short, it eventually worked.
22. Carry 100 packets of food
Days with a lot of audience calefares and actors, I had to buy quite a lot of food.
23. Order "20 packets of $3 rice"
And then the auntie will choke on her saliva and ask "how many packets?" and I'll say "20 packets" as if it's the most normal thing to say, and she'll repeat "twenty packets??" and I'll be like "yup."
That's not all, but I guess that's enough for one post. This is getting draggy '_'
5. Pretend that a white dress is a wedding dress
I think if we had more budget, we would've settled for a real one, but we didn't, and our FYP was about a wedding.
6. Force actors to deliver cheesy lines to each other's face
"What're you going to do without me?" "You look amazing." "我一定会罪得到你的！” ("I'll definitely be able to catch you!" - pertaining to love)
7. Direct a little girl
Unless you're an experienced director, this is really tough, not because of discipline issues, but because of acting skills.
8. Direct a toy bear
Yeah. The toy bear is a main character.
9. Manipulate a swing
The toy bear was sitting on the swing. The swing was suppose to keep on swinging before calming down, all in the name of symbolism. Working with me may have been quite difficult :p So we actually used a fishing line to control it.
10. Direct a dog
It was Jezebel's dog. She was the one directing it, because she's the owner and she knows how to handle it... But it's a dog.
11. Do 8, 9, and 10 at the same time
For our filmmaking elective project, there was this scene in which the little girl, now all grown up, abandons her teddy bear on a swing and goes after another girl with a dog instead. So, in our 5-man team, one person was acting as the grown-up girl, one person was manipulating the swing, one person was controlling the dog, one person was operating the sound, and I was directing and working on the camera at the same time, while stubbornly trying to keep to my symbolism and rushing before the camera runs out of battery.
12. Race against the sunset
More than one incident, there had been evening scenes in which the sun is setting and the lighting looks really beautiful and pleasing. For our project, we tried to film two scenes during this "magic hour". We failed, but did decently for one of the scenes. For my internship, you have no idea how spectacular the view was in Upper Pierce Reservoir during a sunset - the final scene of 'Scrum!'
13. Film in the dark
This is the worst. I hate this. Never do this, because no matter how much we try to convince ourselves it will work out, it freaking won't, unless you have big-ass lighting.
14. Film lamp-posts and pretend they are living things
For our Cathay Motion Pictures Award film (see previous post). Similar to the toy bear. It's hardly surprising that I like ideas that are not 100% realistic.
15. Force a talent to wear super short shorts and look gay
Kudos to Elijah. He sportingly agreed.
From here on, I shall be talking about my internship, where shit got real. Many of these are not things I did, but more of things the team did.
16. Shift furnitures here and there
Art department stuff. When we shoot at indoor locations, chances are that we have to shift locations here and there to make space for the lights and track and stuff. And then for the next shot, we may need to move them back and make sure it looks like how it looked before we shifted it. And then for the next shot, we may need to move them again. And the director starts scolding you for eating a pao. Okay, that was my fault actually.
17. Go crazy on the details
This is called 'conti'. It means making sure something that is on the table remains on the table throughout the scene, or that if the sofa faces the door, it faces the door throughout. And these little details matter, especially since twitter accounts like 'TV Mistakes' exist.
18. Make rain
Next to filming in the dark, I hate this a lot. It sounds so fun, making rain and spraying water "playing around". NO. Okay, maybe the actors have fun, especially if it's a sports drama. But behind the scenes, lighting still has to go on, the camera still has to roll, make-up and clothes-conti still need to be taken care of, props still need to be taken care of. If that particular shot in which the rain starts falling needs to be retaken, we had to clean the props till they look dry. This means that everyone is in a bad mood, and when the director is in a bad mood, hell breaks loose. Not that I have much against the director.
19. "Manage" 40+ calefares
For the director, this means lying to them to make them feel like their job is the most important. It also means making sure all calefares (acting as audiences) cheer when they are suppose to and moan when they are suppose to. They won't.
For the assistant director, this means making sure they are ready when the director needs them to be, that they don't smoke within the campus (we filmed in RP), and that troublemakers be gone. Tougher than it sounds.
For the casting director, it means making sure they all reach, they all have transport, and they all follow the rules. Maybe the casting director has to lie to them that they'll have fun, although I doubt they will.
For the props team, this means making sure they don't fold the placards that we made. But they will anyway.
For the production assistants, this means they only get one bottle of free water, no sweet drinks, and only one packet of lunch. No second serving (hello, how many hands do you expect a freaking PA to have... and money). Yet there will be people complaining about double standards.
20. Control traffic. Both literally and figuratively
Literally: We had car scenes, and bicycle scenes that took place in the car park. So we had to block cars from passing when the camera is rolling. Because cars are superior to humans, it's easy for them to ignore us when we frantically wave our arms to stop them. You'll be surprised how many actually stopped.
Figuratively: We couldn't let people walk pass. Some people downright think you are crazy while others went like "I'm timing my run! How can you ask me to stop?!" Well, I'm sorry... I was doing my job.
21. Track the source of a renovation, and ask the renovator to shut up
It was, I think, 2 blocks away, and the renovation was really loud. And when filming, it has to be crazy silent, so as a production assistant (intern), I had to try to track where the sound was coming from and ask the person renovating to stop renovating. To make a long story short, it eventually worked.
22. Carry 100 packets of food
Days with a lot of audience calefares and actors, I had to buy quite a lot of food.
23. Order "20 packets of $3 rice"
And then the auntie will choke on her saliva and ask "how many packets?" and I'll say "20 packets" as if it's the most normal thing to say, and she'll repeat "twenty packets??" and I'll be like "yup."
That's not all, but I guess that's enough for one post. This is getting draggy '_'
Labels: dtvm, internship, production
CMPA and other stuffs
Brainstorming on Afiq's whiteboard for 'Lamps' film
As I've mentioned last week, I was thinking of tackling Cathay Motion Pictures Award (CMPA) with Afiq and friends, so, we did. It was a very tiring 3 days of intense work on this 79 seconds film, but truth to be told, the result wasn't to my expectations. I think most of us were pretty disappointed with it, and it's not anyone's fault this film ended up like this. I guess it just didn't work out quite as well as we wanted.
That was for CMPA. And then just today, I started my first day in my warehouse assistant/packing job. It is really relaxing and brain-free, but it's super boring :( But I survived internship. I can survive this. Shall just do it for the money and stuff.
Other than these things, my holiday had been pretty uneventful. Went to support Afiq in his participation in 'We Are Singaporeans'. So, as audience, we were forced to laugh and cheer and look intense when cued to :'S It's a pity Afiq didn't win, but good enough. I think. Also got to observe how an actual set-set works, since I was only ever involved in drama production.
Also met up with 'The Jeanettics' (sounds so cool right) - made up of Jeanette and gang - to have dinner plus catch up.
And then there was also Mother's Day Dinner. Nice tze char with lots of nice, expensive dishes - my uncle's treat.
I guess that's about all that happened nowadays. Kind of looking forward to graduation next week.
Labels: production, things that happened
It's a wrap!!
The amount of stuff we carry around
So, it ended! We finally wrapped last Monday (16th December) and I only got around to write about it now. But it ended!!
The final days of production had been really tough, being out in the field and all. The sun, the people, and the amount of stuff we have were crazy. So when the director said "收工了" ("it's a wrap"), everyone erupted into cheers.
We became a happy mob and went around taking photos and eating pizzas and chicken wings and drinking beer, and thrashing all the unimportant props. As you can see from the above picture, part of our props, the placards were thrown on the floor. We did some jumpshots on them before tearing and crushing them.
And there was this green stick that served as an eyeline for a bunch of calefares - I javelined that away. Had to run there and pick it up though :(
There was a celebration that night and a few of us got drunk. I almost did, but I didn't. It was quite amusing.
I would do a reflection on what I've learnt, except that I don't feel like it. So, that's it! The end.
Labels: internship, production, things that happened
Good Person
Filming a scene with a toy helicopter
Anyway, it's just 8 more days before filming is officially over! As much as there is a hint of sadness, in the sense that we are probably all going to part ways, I'm kind of looking forward to it as well, since I'll finally get to live like a human.
Through this internship, I've learnt quite a bit about being a good person. Because everyone works so hard in the production, things like kindness and attitude are what we count on to make us happy (along with food). When I was a PA, what I really hated was people not cleaning up their own mess. At that point, being a good person meant being responsible for your own actions. I hated it when people complained about the food I buy. At that point, being a good person meant being grateful for what someone has done for you, even if it is that person's job.
Being a good person also meant helping one another. When I was a PA, I constantly argued with drivers and sometimes hawker stall owners because I was stressed and because we expected each other to do a good job. For example, there was once the driver expected me to know the direction to the location, and I expected the same thing of the driver. Thus, we ended up lost and stressed up. The driver started shouting at me and I retaliated.
When I am in props, I deal with people issues less. However, due to certain things that happened/did not happen (which I really shouldn't elaborate on), I've come to feel so frustrated at irresponsible people who affect me with their irresponsibility. Being a good person means being professional.
Finally, I've also developed a more empathetic mindset. Because I no longer want to be pissed (or scolded), I read deeper into people's actions, and I hate less. The irony is that I used to read people too deeply and had to shallowfy my opinions. I guess I'm a better person now.
And one final thing I've came to observe from admirable people around me is that being a good person also means being confident.
To end of abruptly, here's a picture of a beautiful scenery:
I feel like writing another post for the things we do for filming :P
Labels: internship, personality, production, reflection, things that happened
We the Icebox
Maybe we all deserve a pat on the shoulder for having survived about 2 months of internship already. For some of my friends, more. As for me, the team is halfway through production! It was an estimated 13-week shoot, now we're left with 6 weeks.
This also mean that round 2 has officially begun (the production was split into round 1 and 2). Now, there's a change in director, assistant director, crew, and then there are some miscellaneous shifts. Amos (props intern) and I (PA intern) switched roles and I'm now in props and he's now a Production Assistant. Randy the props man left due to multiple reasons. A new person called Angel has come in to take over today, but I fell sick, so I haven't seen her yet.
I really hope I do well in props. I feel that I sucked at being a PA because the PA is suppose to take care of the team, and that is so not me. Hopefully, when it comes to props and dealing with objects, I will do a little better. And not get scolded. I almost got scolded by the director yesterday :(
But then again, I know I will get scolded now and then. It's normal.
So far, I'm enjoying the props stuffs. But of course, I'm still getting used to it and there are so many things I'm unsure of. And as I've mentioned in the last entry, I'm not very good at adjusting to changes.
Meanwhile, Pearline (my PA supervisor), Amos, and I went to AFA during our break last Friday. What sucked was that I just had to fall sick. Nonetheless, it was pretty fun and I bought a One Piece shirt, a One Piece cushion, a Charmander bead thing, and received free stuffs such as an Internet Explorer shirt, a pencil case, and a Coppelion poster.
We got them in a goodie bag because we liked IE's facebook page and queued up to take a photo with Byakuya's senbonzakura as background. And, seriously, Pearline just lights up and goes like "why not?!" whenever there's a way to get freebies o.o
So that kind of wraps up what's been going on these two weeks.
And, a quote I just came up with: There's an icebox behind every camera. :D
Labels: internship, production, things that happened
Production Week 4
It felt so long I thought that it's been almost a month since I last blogged, although I've yet to even write in detail about what I do in my internship, but I guess that's unnecessary.
So in the past month, two newer interns joined us and it had been really fun, but then they left two weeks later because their internship duration was really short. But of course, because we were having too much fun as interns, my assistant director (AD) was kind of strict about what we do.
Something else that happened was that the director for the second half of the production (this production is split into two halves) took over for two days and it was stressful and fast-paced. I got to compare the difference in the two directors' styles, which was extreme. If you watch the show, you'll be able to see a big difference in the style.
I also bought an iPad during this one month. And I also got my pay.
So far, I guess I'm still surviving pretty well. There are stories I would love to share here but I shall just keep them to myself.
I don't really have much to elaborate, so I shall just summarise 10 random things that occurred to me during internship;
1. I've experience some different kinds of excursion bus/taxi drivers, and jumped onto a not-so-nice conclusion that drivers are generally frustrated. This means that being a driver suits me.
2. I'm greatly inspired to write and direct. Going to create and film a web series after internship ends.
3. I learnt that I can't put bitter-gourd into bee hoon because they don't go well together. My first director keeps complaining about it o_o
4. I guess I'm no longer afraid of speaking to strangers. That's a good thing, I guess.
5. The team and I have successfully managed to piss many of NYP's students off. We asked them to go away and shut up quite a lot. In a nice way.
6. "Yay, I just need to buy 20 packets of food today~"
7. "Yay, I get to wake up at 6am~"
8. I got to experience the true meaning of hypocrisy.
9. Whenever we put dried chilli, chilli, and garlic at four corners of a field, it doesn't rain.
10. Production had been fun and the team had done lots of crazy and interesting things for its sake.
So in the past month, two newer interns joined us and it had been really fun, but then they left two weeks later because their internship duration was really short. But of course, because we were having too much fun as interns, my assistant director (AD) was kind of strict about what we do.
Something else that happened was that the director for the second half of the production (this production is split into two halves) took over for two days and it was stressful and fast-paced. I got to compare the difference in the two directors' styles, which was extreme. If you watch the show, you'll be able to see a big difference in the style.
I also bought an iPad during this one month. And I also got my pay.
So far, I guess I'm still surviving pretty well. There are stories I would love to share here but I shall just keep them to myself.
I don't really have much to elaborate, so I shall just summarise 10 random things that occurred to me during internship;
1. I've experience some different kinds of excursion bus/taxi drivers, and jumped onto a not-so-nice conclusion that drivers are generally frustrated. This means that being a driver suits me.
2. I'm greatly inspired to write and direct. Going to create and film a web series after internship ends.
3. I learnt that I can't put bitter-gourd into bee hoon because they don't go well together. My first director keeps complaining about it o_o
4. I guess I'm no longer afraid of speaking to strangers. That's a good thing, I guess.
5. The team and I have successfully managed to piss many of NYP's students off. We asked them to go away and shut up quite a lot. In a nice way.
6. "Yay, I just need to buy 20 packets of food today~"
7. "Yay, I get to wake up at 6am~"
8. I got to experience the true meaning of hypocrisy.
9. Whenever we put dried chilli, chilli, and garlic at four corners of a field, it doesn't rain.
10. Production had been fun and the team had done lots of crazy and interesting things for its sake.
Labels: internship, production, things that happened
The Awesome and Awful of Internship
As I've previously mentioned before, internship had been both great and bad at the same time. Of course, the right mindset is to focus on why it had been great, but then I guess I shall just talk about the not so good parts as well.
Anyway, I'm at week 4 of my internship right now, and we're into week 3 of production. Two weeks down, only ten more to go! Things had moved really fast during these two weeks, because I'm already feeling so familiarised with the people there and I think I'll really miss the friends I made there after those ten weeks :(
My role is a production assistant (PA), and I feel so valued and appreciated by the people there. For one, my fellow interns are really cute in the sense that when I went out to get food, they took a picture of themselves and wrote on it "I'm hungry". And every time I came back with the food, they would say things like "辛苦你了!" which means "must've been tough!" or something along the line. As a PA, I think I should feel really grateful to be treated this way. Everyone there are so polite and thoughtful, even the actors.
But of course, sometimes I don't do things well enough, so people complain, which I guess is part and parcel of the job.
I can't believe how patient the assistant directors, production manager, and director are when it comes to me making lots and lots of stupid mistakes.
But the bad things are, as I've probably mentioned 10,000 million times to my friends, the crazy working hours (which is even crazier for some of my colleagues/superiors), the lugging of breakfast/lunch (which I think I mentioned 10 billion million times), and the claim forms - which takes up a big part of my free time.
There is also this constant "production stress" in which it's super easy to make mistakes, and you'll feel super bad for each mistake you make. For example, not blocking the passers-by because you were careless, bringing lunch back late by an hour partly because you got lost, troubling the driver to make second trips because you forgot to take something, dropping food, counting the wrong number of food, spilling the entire ice box, etc.
Nonetheless, going out to get food is fun and sometimes my fellow interns are jealous that I get to do it. Carrying 40+ packs back is crazy, yes, but you get to rest during travel time. Plus, time passes really fast when you're buying food.
For the next weeks, I really hope I don't screw up anymore and do a good job. And possibly have a lot of fun. But let's just start with not screwing up anymore :/
Anyway, I'm at week 4 of my internship right now, and we're into week 3 of production. Two weeks down, only ten more to go! Things had moved really fast during these two weeks, because I'm already feeling so familiarised with the people there and I think I'll really miss the friends I made there after those ten weeks :(
My role is a production assistant (PA), and I feel so valued and appreciated by the people there. For one, my fellow interns are really cute in the sense that when I went out to get food, they took a picture of themselves and wrote on it "I'm hungry". And every time I came back with the food, they would say things like "辛苦你了!" which means "must've been tough!" or something along the line. As a PA, I think I should feel really grateful to be treated this way. Everyone there are so polite and thoughtful, even the actors.
But of course, sometimes I don't do things well enough, so people complain, which I guess is part and parcel of the job.
I can't believe how patient the assistant directors, production manager, and director are when it comes to me making lots and lots of stupid mistakes.
But the bad things are, as I've probably mentioned 10,000 million times to my friends, the crazy working hours (which is even crazier for some of my colleagues/superiors), the lugging of breakfast/lunch (which I think I mentioned 10 billion million times), and the claim forms - which takes up a big part of my free time.
There is also this constant "production stress" in which it's super easy to make mistakes, and you'll feel super bad for each mistake you make. For example, not blocking the passers-by because you were careless, bringing lunch back late by an hour partly because you got lost, troubling the driver to make second trips because you forgot to take something, dropping food, counting the wrong number of food, spilling the entire ice box, etc.
Nonetheless, going out to get food is fun and sometimes my fellow interns are jealous that I get to do it. Carrying 40+ packs back is crazy, yes, but you get to rest during travel time. Plus, time passes really fast when you're buying food.
For the next weeks, I really hope I don't screw up anymore and do a good job. And possibly have a lot of fun. But let's just start with not screwing up anymore :/
Labels: internship, production, things that happened
Lugging Nightmare
To be more accurate, I should say "morningmare" instead of nightmare. My internship started last week and production started this week. Woke up as early as 4.30am because our call time was 6.30am in the office. I had to buy breakfast too.
My internship is at a production company, Threesixzero Productions. My job is the production assistant (aka assistant producer, which sounds so cool), and I'm basically the saigang guy - buy breakfast, find sponsors, buy lunch, collect meals, push trolleys around, set up garbage bags, and so on. But, although it sounds so depressing, I kind of enjoy my job now.
Can't believe that into the third day of production, I'm already feeling so used to it all and comfortable with most of the people. The production team is a bunch of nice people, and there's so much to observe and learn, such as the ways of a good director, assistant director, and how wardrobe and props work.
And my job scope is making me grow. I'm naturally a person who's afraid of details, but due to my job scope, I had to be meticulous and delve into the littlest details. It's making me a more detail-conscious person. The fact that there's hardly any free time at all also made me learn that if I can't have it my way, I've just got to love what I have.
Speaking of which, I was so bothered by the whole "I don't have free time" thing. Basically, we start at 6.30am and wrap at 7pm. After wrapping, we have to head back to the office to prepare for the next day. At our earliest, we leave at 8pm. Reach home at almost 9pm, and have to sleep soon because I have to wake up early the next day. And then another complain I had was that I had to buy breakfast and lunch, up to 30+ packets at one go and lug them into the office/filming location. Sometimes (such as today), I would make mistakes and have to go back and buy more.
But I guess I'm getting used to it.
Tonight is a luxury because I have time to blog. Tomorrow is a break, in which I'm supposed to do some minor working from home. And then Sunday is when it all starts again.
But still, so far so good~
My internship is at a production company, Threesixzero Productions. My job is the production assistant (aka assistant producer, which sounds so cool), and I'm basically the saigang guy - buy breakfast, find sponsors, buy lunch, collect meals, push trolleys around, set up garbage bags, and so on. But, although it sounds so depressing, I kind of enjoy my job now.
Can't believe that into the third day of production, I'm already feeling so used to it all and comfortable with most of the people. The production team is a bunch of nice people, and there's so much to observe and learn, such as the ways of a good director, assistant director, and how wardrobe and props work.
And my job scope is making me grow. I'm naturally a person who's afraid of details, but due to my job scope, I had to be meticulous and delve into the littlest details. It's making me a more detail-conscious person. The fact that there's hardly any free time at all also made me learn that if I can't have it my way, I've just got to love what I have.
Speaking of which, I was so bothered by the whole "I don't have free time" thing. Basically, we start at 6.30am and wrap at 7pm. After wrapping, we have to head back to the office to prepare for the next day. At our earliest, we leave at 8pm. Reach home at almost 9pm, and have to sleep soon because I have to wake up early the next day. And then another complain I had was that I had to buy breakfast and lunch, up to 30+ packets at one go and lug them into the office/filming location. Sometimes (such as today), I would make mistakes and have to go back and buy more.
But I guess I'm getting used to it.
Tonight is a luxury because I have time to blog. Tomorrow is a break, in which I'm supposed to do some minor working from home. And then Sunday is when it all starts again.
But still, so far so good~
Labels: internship, personality, production, things that happened
#50 OLPenang!
My OLP team! (as if you can tell who's in it) -
Just came back from Penang yesterday night, but received some really sad news today. 15 minutes after our plane departed from Penang, a freak thunderstorm hit Penang and 2 people died in Georgetown - our filming location. I really don't know who they are but I really hope the super friendly people we met there are alright. And I'm super grateful that the whole DTVM cohort is alright. My father said he did feel that something bad would happen, that's why he prayed really hard for me. I'm so thankful. I'm also thankful for Ms Mary and the Christians for praying for the trip beforehand too. It was pretty close.
On a brighter note, On-location production had been awweessssooommmmmme! I have so much to blog about because so much happened. If you don't really want to know, then maybe just at least read the next paragraph? :(
So I made friends with many people from class 01 and some jetty people, ate quite a lot of good food, had fun filming (I've always loved filming), and bought quite a lot of coffee packets home! :D
Departure + Settling In
So, we met up in the airport and headed to the plane. After a long while, we were ascending and flying in the air. Sat next to Joey Liew and Geradine. Slept in the plane, and then finally reached our destination, Penang, after about an hour. Went to our hostel, Ryokan, by bus. The head of the hostel is called Mr Luffy! He's a nice guy.
So, I'm the room I/C for room 202 and my roommates were Wai Meng, Joey Liew, and Alex. We're the quiet room. Really. Managed to know Joey Liew a little better, but I didn't get to talk much to Alex.
For the first night, Stella + the lecturers brought us out for a walk in the vicinity. It was pretty cool seeing shophouses here and there. There was also this cute parking pole which I have no idea how it works. And telephone booths which do not exist in Singapore. Yeah, it was pretty cool.
And since it was the first night, I headed to CX, Elijah, Pascal, and Zi Wei's room to play Binding of Isaac. It's some pretty screwed up game based on the Bible and it consists of floating stomachs that can shoot blood, a main character that uses tears or pee to fight, random poops everywhere, and so on. It can be quite cute at times.
Anyway, went to sleep after that and got all energised for day 2.
Location Recce
Headed to Georgetown to scout for our story. To me, the worst part of documentary making is pre-production - the stage where we have to search for an interesting person/place/topic. The rest of the parts are pretty fun actually. Learned about the Clan Jetties (a place in Georgetown). It's made up of 6 or 7 jetties (can't remember), each with a different surname. There's Chew Jetty, Tan Jetty, Lim Jetty, and so on. Then there's a 'mixed surname jetty' where all the miscellaneous go. Learned a lot about its history while interviewing people.
Which I shall not elaborate because it's highly likely to bore you.
Didn't manage to get a profile before lunchtime because we were:
1) Slacking off, sitting at narrow bridges and taking photos like the one you see above.
2) Shooting mockumentaries about kingfishers with Elijah's narration: "This is a Kingfisher. It is found in Penang. Thus, it is called, the Penang Kingfisher."
3) Satisfied with the idea of shooting a poetic documentary about the rubbish in the jetties. It was my idea, so Elijah calls me the poetic garbage.
Lunch was alright. Some coffee place called 'My Arte'. The server was pretty and super friendly, and as a result Elijah had a crush on her.
Continued our recce after lunch, but it was raining really heavily. Squeezed in umbrellas and protected the camera like a baby. And tried to interview fishermen and traders who were obviously put off by the rain. Got rejected coldly as a result. Eventually, we decided to just do a documentary about the Chew Jetty.
The warm thing was, we did talk to this guy before lunch, so he invited us into his house when he saw us caught in the rain. And he also let us to an interview with him. He's called Mr Chew because he live in the Chew Jetty. Serious. The jetties are splitted according to surnames.
Production - Day 1
The first day of production was really slack. The interview with Mr Chew lasted for 45 minutes, which is super long. Actually spent the rest of the time slacking even more :P Got ourselves popsicles which Hira demanded for the whole morning. And attempted to make an epic mealtime of it.
We were sitting beside of the water when this friendly woman invited us into her house. Chatted with them and learned that she was the niece of Mr Chew whom we interviewed. Small jetty. Actually, according to her, 60% of Chew Jetty people are family-related. Uncles, aunties, father, mother, cousins, etc. The culture there is really cool.
And this woman (Ms Chew) has a nice balcony thing facing the water. It has a rocking chair and is super relaxing and comfortable. So, we went there and did some vlog, which I guess I shall edit soon.
Ms Chew
Got ourselves chendol. Hira was a brave, reckless road-crosser. Penang style - cross the road whether a car is coming or not. The chendol stall was full of bees, and everyone there is acting like there's nothing :O
So that's production day 1! Not much of a production day, but we needed to recharge our energy :D
Not really, actually.
And then at night, we had to rush out our script. It was a tiring day, so I went to sleep early.
Production - Day 2
The final day of production already. Elijah got himself a horrible injury on the head by knocking it on his locker. So, for the first hour or so, he was seeing the doctor and our group had to film without him. Fortunately, he joined us after that. Day 2 was a lot of filming, and also a lot of lepaking at Mr Chew's house + the nice narrow bridge where we took the photo above. Dipped our feet into the dirty water which consists of urine and pollution and stuffs. It was super relaxing.
Also got ourselves popsicles and chendol again (Hira, CX, and I are the pigs who keep eating). This time, also bought goreng pisang.
We were pretty manipulative people. Firstly, we knew that some people in other jetties were unfriendly, so we purposely approached them with the camera rolling and asked for an interview. What we wanted was a shot of us getting rejected to show that they are unfriendly, and it went according to plan! :/ Secondly, we placed a camera in a house facing outwards. People who walked pass all looked into the camera in the house. This shot was supposed to be about people looking into the house.
And then there was this funny moment when we stood outside this unfriendly woman's house to record the ambience sound emitting from her house (some traditional chinese music). She shooed us away from standing on her house's "boundaries", so we stood directly outside and pointed the mic at her. The camera was facing away, and her whole face was like "da fuck?"
The night was pretty emotional because it was our last night in Penang, plus Stella was going on about the fact that this would be our last 2-3 months together. So, the lecturers, being the sweet people that they are, made us do a confession video where we just talk about our DTVM experience to the camera.
Some of the things everyone said was funny. Natasya actually told a hilarious story about how Wai Meng and Yvette fell off a cliff while trying to take good shots. And Yvette added on by saying that her groupmate asked "Is the boom-mic okay?" instead of "Are you okay?"
What I wanted to say
I wanted to say a lot of things, but my whole mind just went blank with 40+ pairs of eyes staring at me. So, I just said the first 3 things that came to my mind. Here's what I really wanted to say:
My OLP group is awesome. There is Heidi, the cool producer with the sunglasses and an aura. There is Rebecca, the cool camerawoman who looks like a professional National Geography photographer. There is Hira, the one who is fun to make fun of. Then there are CX, Avelin, and Elijah - people I feel comfortable with from my class. They do work, and they know how to have fun. It was great.
As for the whole DTVM, there were a lot of painful times, honest. But there were a lot of great memories. Filming, discussing stuffs, watching one another panic before a major pitch, creating a haunted house together, torturing our main characters together, preparing for skits, celebrating, eating, playing catching on Marina Barrage, Christmas celebration, going for LEAP camp, and so on. I built memories with most of my classmates.
Then there were class dramas which were fun to watch (I'm glad I didn't say this).
I've learned a lot about doing work. First thing is that I cannot do everything on my own. In secondary school, Ms Aljunied told me that I need to trust my friends. That was in sec 2. I only learned how to do that in year 3. Last year, I would be that control freak who manipulate and demand stuffs from the director and editor of my group (I was the cameraman). Now, I've learned to chill and mind my own business. To an extent.
Second thing is that working is not just doing work, but it is also having fun in the process. Which probably is the wrong thing to learn, but I don't want to unlearn it. It's all about liking what I do, I hope.
And even though it had not been a super smooth ride in DTVM, I'll miss many people. Kind of. But it's not like graduation means goodbye. Graduation =/= goodbye actually. Unless you want it to be.
And that's that.
The Night
Wanted to stay up the whole night, but due to misunderstandings (as usual), I thought that people would be busy doing other stuffs (which I shall elaborate on soon), thus I went to sleep instead.
So after the emotional talking-to-the-camera moments, we were told to write little notes of memories to one another. The lecturers would tie them in an envelope and hand them to us before our internship. This is the "other stuffs" that I thought the others was doing. I finished relatively quickly and was pretty surprised to see them still writing, because I thought I would be the most luo shuo (talkative) one.
The night was freaking cold and somehow the controller didn't work, so I slept outside the room for awhile, and then decided to grit my teeth and bear with it back in the room.
Last Day
The morning was fine. Had a walking tour around Georgetown area. Went to museums and stuffs. Then, had a food trail. Went to eat super nice guo tiao, laksa (which I didn't eat), chendol, and indian food! Everyone was so excited about teh tarik. And my group was making fun of how neat Avelin was.
Also tried out some coffee samples and spent 50 ringgit on them. Plus a dou sa bing.
Caught our plane and headed home. The descend was really nice. Sunset, sea of clouds, plunging into the clouds, and the whole view of Singapore lights.
And now, I kind of miss Penang and the people, and my groupmates, and stuffs. Once again, I really hope the people I know are safe.
And I feel blessed.
Labels: dtvm, overseas, production, reflection, reliving those days, things that happened
Things we do for filming
I've been meaning to do this post for quite awhile. After next year's on-location production and film-making elective (I've already decided on the module), I'll probably have more to say. Maybe then I'll do a new list.
So I kind of have a love-hate relationship towards filming, and it may be pretty obvious already that filming is tough. Let me talk about the things my classmates and I have done in the name of filming, for most of the camera-related projects so far. Some are pretty fun and some are just bweh.
1. Smear dirt all over my shirt
This was for a photo-based video about me being a beggar who turns into a dog in the end o.o Being a beggar, I had to be dirty, so we literally stick mud on my shirt, tear my unwanted shirt, and, for a scene in which I die, spam ketchup. It was really dirty, but I'm glad it was shot near my house :)
2. Carry a recycling bin across the campus
Okay, this is the strangest. We actually carried a recycling bin across half of SP for a video about recycling. If you're from SP, you'll know how far is it to carry it from the Spectrum area all the way to the SP's apartments. After filming, we had to carry it back to the Spectrum.
3. Poke a recycling bin with an abandoned broomstick
In the recycling video, we wanted the bin to talk agitatedly, so we had to shake it. But, in the screen, we cannot show that someone is shaking it. So, someone hid in a bush behind the bin and used an abandoned broomstick (which came out of nowhere) to keep poking on it.
4. Make plastic bottles into all sorts of things / put soil and plant on it
This is not my group, but I know that another group made plastic bottles into pen holders, paper holders, and stuffs. They were spending much time preparing the soil and stuff. It ended up being the best video.
5. Stand under the hot sun for hours, carrying heavy equipments
This was freaking tiring, and not fun at all. We had to lug the tripod + camera from one location to another while shooting a video about Arab Street. Under the hot sun. But it ended up being my lecturer's favourite video for that assignment :D
6. Bug shop owners to let us film their shops
For that Arab Street video, we had to beg the silk shop owners to let us film. Then for a documentary about Ghim Moh, we begged butchers and fishmongers to let us film too. All these begging just don't end.
7. Climb under bushes and stuffs, and go on an adventure
This is not my group. I heard that one group who was doing a video on some abandoned railway tracks climbed here and climbed there to take shots. It was like an adventure, but not a fun one for them.
8. Play 'Draw Something' with one another until we reach 99
Only in the creative industry do you do fun things until it becomes boring. For a short romance film, my groupmates had to play the game for like 99 rounds. And we had to film the last 10 stages, which was super annoying because the game loads super slowly.
9. Film in the toilet
Once again, this is not my group. But I can't imagine how tough it must be to shoot in the toilet. The smell is one thing, but the toilet is a super hot and crammed place. Takes a lot of endurance.
10. Buy food for our talents/profiles
Because we need shots of our talents and profiles eating, we need to treat them. Funny thing is, it always happens. Common.
11. Bug people to help us act/let us film
We are becoming nuisances already. Especially for our documentary, we have to keep calling people and beg them to let us film them.
12. Wake up at 2am in the morning
Luckily this isn't my group. Mine was 5am - not as bad as this. This group did a midnight filming on a fishmonger. Sounds quite fun, though.
13. Go to the same place again and again
This was horrible. My group went to Serangoon Gardens again and again, hoping to capture good shots but ended up with no story to tell. So tiring, which leads to point 16.
14. Walk through mud
So 3 of us walked through mud and all our foot went ankle deep in and became dirty. We did this because of point 15.
15. Spy on a dormitory from the back
We wanted to get shots of the dormitory, but the guy in charge of the dorms did not reply to our email, so... And that leads to point 14.
16. Shout at the computer and feel like throwing it
And despite going to the same place again and again, walking through mud, and doing (ahem) sneaky things, the shots were not as we desired. It was pretty bad as we had no story to tell. Editing for awful. I really felt like throwing my computer somewhere, smashing it into pieces. But I persevered. Till today (which is not so long later), I'm still super unproud of this particular video.
17. Call our profile 3 times a day
This is Joey's duty in my group. Poor Joey :/ In our film about an undertaker, she had to call our profiles again and again because he needed a lot of reminders and rescheduling.
18. Film a dead body
This is just me, since I'm the cameraman. Honestly, I find it pretty fine. Maybe it's because I'm used to it, not that one can get used to death.
Filming has good and bad memories. I just tend to remember better the good ones. Some stuffs we did were a little crazy, but I enjoy it. So when we finish editing the video, and when we look back to it, there is this sense of pride. Like, "hey, I did that". It's pretty fun.
So I kind of have a love-hate relationship towards filming, and it may be pretty obvious already that filming is tough. Let me talk about the things my classmates and I have done in the name of filming, for most of the camera-related projects so far. Some are pretty fun and some are just bweh.
1. Smear dirt all over my shirt
This was for a photo-based video about me being a beggar who turns into a dog in the end o.o Being a beggar, I had to be dirty, so we literally stick mud on my shirt, tear my unwanted shirt, and, for a scene in which I die, spam ketchup. It was really dirty, but I'm glad it was shot near my house :)
2. Carry a recycling bin across the campus
Okay, this is the strangest. We actually carried a recycling bin across half of SP for a video about recycling. If you're from SP, you'll know how far is it to carry it from the Spectrum area all the way to the SP's apartments. After filming, we had to carry it back to the Spectrum.
3. Poke a recycling bin with an abandoned broomstick
In the recycling video, we wanted the bin to talk agitatedly, so we had to shake it. But, in the screen, we cannot show that someone is shaking it. So, someone hid in a bush behind the bin and used an abandoned broomstick (which came out of nowhere) to keep poking on it.
4. Make plastic bottles into all sorts of things / put soil and plant on it
This is not my group, but I know that another group made plastic bottles into pen holders, paper holders, and stuffs. They were spending much time preparing the soil and stuff. It ended up being the best video.
5. Stand under the hot sun for hours, carrying heavy equipments
This was freaking tiring, and not fun at all. We had to lug the tripod + camera from one location to another while shooting a video about Arab Street. Under the hot sun. But it ended up being my lecturer's favourite video for that assignment :D
6. Bug shop owners to let us film their shops
For that Arab Street video, we had to beg the silk shop owners to let us film. Then for a documentary about Ghim Moh, we begged butchers and fishmongers to let us film too. All these begging just don't end.
7. Climb under bushes and stuffs, and go on an adventure
This is not my group. I heard that one group who was doing a video on some abandoned railway tracks climbed here and climbed there to take shots. It was like an adventure, but not a fun one for them.
8. Play 'Draw Something' with one another until we reach 99
Only in the creative industry do you do fun things until it becomes boring. For a short romance film, my groupmates had to play the game for like 99 rounds. And we had to film the last 10 stages, which was super annoying because the game loads super slowly.
9. Film in the toilet
Once again, this is not my group. But I can't imagine how tough it must be to shoot in the toilet. The smell is one thing, but the toilet is a super hot and crammed place. Takes a lot of endurance.
10. Buy food for our talents/profiles
Because we need shots of our talents and profiles eating, we need to treat them. Funny thing is, it always happens. Common.
11. Bug people to help us act/let us film
We are becoming nuisances already. Especially for our documentary, we have to keep calling people and beg them to let us film them.
12. Wake up at 2am in the morning
Luckily this isn't my group. Mine was 5am - not as bad as this. This group did a midnight filming on a fishmonger. Sounds quite fun, though.
13. Go to the same place again and again
This was horrible. My group went to Serangoon Gardens again and again, hoping to capture good shots but ended up with no story to tell. So tiring, which leads to point 16.
14. Walk through mud
So 3 of us walked through mud and all our foot went ankle deep in and became dirty. We did this because of point 15.
15. Spy on a dormitory from the back
We wanted to get shots of the dormitory, but the guy in charge of the dorms did not reply to our email, so... And that leads to point 14.
16. Shout at the computer and feel like throwing it
And despite going to the same place again and again, walking through mud, and doing (ahem) sneaky things, the shots were not as we desired. It was pretty bad as we had no story to tell. Editing for awful. I really felt like throwing my computer somewhere, smashing it into pieces. But I persevered. Till today (which is not so long later), I'm still super unproud of this particular video.
17. Call our profile 3 times a day
This is Joey's duty in my group. Poor Joey :/ In our film about an undertaker, she had to call our profiles again and again because he needed a lot of reminders and rescheduling.
18. Film a dead body
This is just me, since I'm the cameraman. Honestly, I find it pretty fine. Maybe it's because I'm used to it, not that one can get used to death.
Filming has good and bad memories. I just tend to remember better the good ones. Some stuffs we did were a little crazy, but I enjoy it. So when we finish editing the video, and when we look back to it, there is this sense of pride. Like, "hey, I did that". It's pretty fun.
Labels: dtvm, production
"Draw Something"
I've never played the game properly before. At most, I had borrowed it from a friend and sent a drawing, but this post is not about the game. It's about the production of a script Shahidah and Stefanie wrote for their scriptwriting CA. We had been analysing it, planning it, and shooting it these few weeks, and finally the filming is completed. What remains is Avelin's editing, for my group. A good news is I can't be over-controlling because I suck at editing.
My group's name is 'OMGcp', inspired by OMGpop, which created the game Draw Something. The 'cp' simply stands for 'content production'. The group is made up of Shahidah (producer), Stefanie (director), Elijah (soundman), Avelin (editor), and me (cameraman). It's a fine group, I guess. Good thing is my group members trust me in general, so I feel free to suggest stuff. I trust them in most of their work too, with exceptions here and there. Best thing about this group is there wasn't much backstabbing and subtext-arguments and such. We were all pretty direct.
Got Hazel to be the main lead, Janice. Venessa acted as Melanie, Hazel's friend, and Pascal acted as Dave, the 'love interest' who appeared like a calefare most of the time except till the end. I'm so glad they agreed to help us (and save our lives). And their acting was really good and in-character.
Pre-production
One word: Tedious. I mostly did the storyboard and shot list. Shot list was fine, but storyboard was @$#QT^@5!%!. The first time I drew them, I was pretty patient and happy. Then Stella decided to edit our script and I felt the need to redraw the whole thing. Took much less time, though. Planned the framing while storyboarding though. The rest of the work was mostly done by the rest while I was meddling around here and there because, like I've mentioned in one of the previous posts, I'm a really nosy person, and this production means quite a lot to my academic well-being.
Production
One word: Tedious. Again. First day was pretty intense. Second day onwards was fine. Timing mix-up. Our shoot was cut shot for 2 of the days, totalling up to 6 hours lost. Thus we had to come back on Saturday to do our canteen scene (there was 2 scenes - library and canteen). And people were having a camp there -.- Sound problems. Hopefully some editing magic does the work.
Really put in a lot into this. Honestly, I'm quite proud of Stefanie and my camerawork. Of course, though, there are errors I notice at some shots. Hopefully this all works out. I'm pretty sure Avelin can do the editing well enough. What I'm most concern about is the whole continuity thing.
This is by far the CA that requires the most work. There's no other CA that can make me write a post like this. Come to think of it, 40% is a little too little for such a tedious assignment.
My group's name is 'OMGcp', inspired by OMGpop, which created the game Draw Something. The 'cp' simply stands for 'content production'. The group is made up of Shahidah (producer), Stefanie (director), Elijah (soundman), Avelin (editor), and me (cameraman). It's a fine group, I guess. Good thing is my group members trust me in general, so I feel free to suggest stuff. I trust them in most of their work too, with exceptions here and there. Best thing about this group is there wasn't much backstabbing and subtext-arguments and such. We were all pretty direct.
Got Hazel to be the main lead, Janice. Venessa acted as Melanie, Hazel's friend, and Pascal acted as Dave, the 'love interest' who appeared like a calefare most of the time except till the end. I'm so glad they agreed to help us (and save our lives). And their acting was really good and in-character.
Pre-production
One word: Tedious. I mostly did the storyboard and shot list. Shot list was fine, but storyboard was @$#QT^@5!%!. The first time I drew them, I was pretty patient and happy. Then Stella decided to edit our script and I felt the need to redraw the whole thing. Took much less time, though. Planned the framing while storyboarding though. The rest of the work was mostly done by the rest while I was meddling around here and there because, like I've mentioned in one of the previous posts, I'm a really nosy person, and this production means quite a lot to my academic well-being.
Production
One word: Tedious. Again. First day was pretty intense. Second day onwards was fine. Timing mix-up. Our shoot was cut shot for 2 of the days, totalling up to 6 hours lost. Thus we had to come back on Saturday to do our canteen scene (there was 2 scenes - library and canteen). And people were having a camp there -.- Sound problems. Hopefully some editing magic does the work.
Really put in a lot into this. Honestly, I'm quite proud of Stefanie and my camerawork. Of course, though, there are errors I notice at some shots. Hopefully this all works out. I'm pretty sure Avelin can do the editing well enough. What I'm most concern about is the whole continuity thing.
This is by far the CA that requires the most work. There's no other CA that can make me write a post like this. Come to think of it, 40% is a little too little for such a tedious assignment.
Labels: dtvm, production