Recent Reflections

Writing a brief for MalaysianLah & also for the remake of Where There's Will, There's Wei isn't easy, but it's good. Putting down the 'what's it all about's would be extremely helpful, considering the amount of time & energy I would invest in my passion for movie-making & video blogging - things I'm quitting my job to focus on.

Of course I understand the spontaneity of it all, how there isn't always a need for righteous justification of our actions or behaviour - we laugh, because it's funny; we cry, because we feel the pain. There isn't always another explanation for our modes of expression apart from 'it feels right', 'it's so fun', or 'because that's the only way I know how'. Michael Jordan didn't have to write a thesis on how a flying basketball player could bring about exhiliration & thrill to those who witnessed his flight - he just flew, and he took our breaths away.

You know that feeling, I'm sure. You felt it before - when you heard the piano solo, then the drum roll accompanied with strings, leading to the chorus of David Tao's Who Do You Love; or when Boyz II Men sang the chorus of End Of The Road acapella... it sounded awesome, it felt right. Some of us we even knew what was coming despite hearing it for the first time, and it felt like we were connected the writers & arrangers of the song. Even though we were not part of the production team, we felt like we're part of that music-loving community. Then some of us start to feel disastified just being part of the audience - and it has come to that point for me in movie-making (actually I feel very strongly about music too, I'm just not convinced that I'm good enough).

But feelings can be all so fragile, spontaneity can be put off in an instance. That's where the writings come in for me. I don't want to be without a direction and purpose more than the "feel good" factor. I've seen too many people merely surviving. I don't want to be that ship, wandering aimlessly on that big bad ocean, going nowhere at all, getting battered & bruised for nothing at all, going for repairs just to carry on... frustrations have to at least be standing in the way of something worth persevering for.

(To be continued)

Day 6 Part 2

The timing was almost perfect. We just finished our breakfast after shooting part 1 of the day when Josephine called, announcing the arrival of the people from Subang & all over... We gathered at Brian's place again & got everyone to change to their school uniform. We also gave everyone their school badges & name tags... haha. Will talk about that some other time =)

One of the reasons recording is easier than live acting is that the actors only has to do good once. Practices are minimal & instructions won't have to be given over & over again...
I honestly didn't know what to expect when it came to dealing with a big group of actors. I was really hoping that their experience in live performances would come good this time. And true enough, they didn't disappoint. They acted professionally & the whole thing was really good. Of course, there were some pleasant distractions along the way. But it was fun...


Caleb was on acting duties for this, so Joseph took over his camera responsibilities. It was awesome to see the joy in everyone's face throughout the entire process. I would like to think that I contributed to that. Of course, they are a joy as well. It was really fun working with them. I'm glad to have a bunch of friends I can count on.

Due to the odd schedule, Josephine wasn't able to participate in several of our shootings. When I have the time, I'll take shots from the video I have and blog about the other parts of our movie making process.

Day 6 Part 1

Part 1 of Day 6 was pretty much uneventful. The scene done was apretty short scene, so there was little error. The difficult part was actually waking up that day, as Day 5 ended pretty late. But we managed to arrive in Brian's house before Anna (the sister) woke up =) The Ong family has been very generous in letting us invade their time & space. They opened their home & we are extremely grateful.



The scene took us back to the school again. We actually were ahead of the schedule & had extra time for breakfast!! Naturally we also fooled around with the camera. The following video includes us having fun in our free time & the bloopers from Day 6 Part 2.Enjoy!!