4 posts tagged “brisbane”
First weekend of shooting Dream Cradle. Unfortunately I haven't any of the actual stills just yet. These are all photos from continuity.
I think I did well, considering it's my biggest production yet. I still have a way to go but oh my god, we got some beautiful shots thanks to Rich Wang, our brilliant DOP. Sascha was a superb First AD and of course I wouldn't be anywhere without Pasquale as producer nor our lovely actors. Damien was right when he said I must have something to have a crew of such caliber. I'm not sure what it is, luck probably, but working by their side was humbling and it made my job so much easier. Everyone was slick efficient. I'm quickly developing some techniques to directing and it's been a really great learning experience so far. It's pretty amazing how the script is so shootable because being broken into three different narratives, we can afford to shoot in throughout two weekends, which is invaluable to an independent production.
It's knowing exactly what you want before everyone else that's a challenge, but that's something that comes with practise and experience. I still think that for the lack thereof, I did really well. The rushes look beautiful so far. I hope post comes along smoothly. The Red is a beautiful camera to shoot on, it's not funny, but post is going to be a bit of a bitch. Addamski's going to be doing special effects and with him on the team too, I can't imagine how we could go wrong.
I've been trying to update my blog for the last month but partying and work has gotten in the way. Even now, this is going to be such a rushed post because I'm about to have dinner with my colleagues and my 'boss' is cooking. I'm back in Brisbane now but KK was a blast, I could hardly leave! I'm currently struggling with my personal goals a little bit but it's nothing to worry too much about. Actually, I don't worry as much as I used to anymore and I've learned to be happier about my circumstances. I keep telling people that I'd be happier after university and no one believed me. HAH! I'm happy nowww...
It's not as well thought out as I hoped for the first post in a while. Yes, I do take these things into account, which is why I don't post too often. I don't have internet at the house I'm at currently. I'm in the process of straightening out my life all over again. I'm busy working, scriptwriting mostly, and I might direct another music video soon. Life's a bundle of errands now and I'm in the process of turning into a social smoker, which is going well. My parents suggested it and I'm taking it on. Who needs it anyway?
So for my last few months in Australia, I'm trying to figure out for sure what I want to do. It's the final push till my graduation ceremony at the end of March, which is unfortunately on the same day as The Who live in concert!!! What a bitch. At least I'm going to Mogwai and Future Sounds Music Festival where N*E*R*D*, CSS, Basement Jaxx, Paul Oakenfold et al. will be playing. Be jealous. Be very very jealous. Muahah.
"Sex Space Intimacy
It's Melody's Show at the Judy :) ...A plethora of good shit.Event InfoHost:The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary ArtsType:Music/Arts - ExhibitNetwork:GlobalTime and PlaceStart Time:Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 5:00pmEnd Time:Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 8:30pmLocation:Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary ArtsStreet:420 Brunswick St (Cnr Berwick St), Fortitude ValleyCity/Town:Brisbane, Australia
http://web.me.com/vote.bohemia/Site/Home.htm
OCTOBER
Tues 7th until Sat 18
Opening night Thurs 9th Oct
more details: http://www.judithwrightcentre.com/02_cal/details.asp?ID=620
Sex Space Intimacy is an unabashed look at the feminine identity and its relationship to sexual culture, the physical/historical space we occupy and our intimate relationships.
Emerging artist, Melody Woodnutt fuses sound, light, construction and artwork in this interactive installation to challenge our position and relationship with art, inviting us to question our perspective and heed our compliance with popular thought. Participate in the interplay between abstraction and experience, literally stepping into, on and around the fabricated construct of societal views.
Film by Nadira Ilana.
OPENING NIGHT DRINKS Oct 9th Rock up to take a peek and have some drinks!
Pop an arty cherry.
Hell pop an arty cherry every night of the show!"
Pre-production for project 'Dream Cradle' is going to officially begin next week. I'm finishing the final draft of the script this weekend and my producer is a godsend. A GODSEND.
This past week I've been busy with the Brisbane International Film Festival. I'm taking International Cinema as a subject this semester and I had to watch 10 films and attend a seminar but I attended two: Asian Filmmakers and a DIY Film Festival Guide, which teaches you how to target film festivals. I don't know if it was really helpful. I got to meet Woo Ming Jin and as far as filmmakers go, he was very down to earth and friendly. It's such a competitive business where egos can easily collide but I'm making it a point to deter from that stereotype.
This time around I watched a lot of Asian films. It feels more practical because I'm closer to Asia than America or Europe and I'm heading towards that market anyway. It's only been in the last couple of years that I've discovered Asian films. It started with Parkpoom Wongpoom and Banjong Pisanthanakam's 'Shutter' and was cemented by Royston Tan's '4:30' and '15' (which I managed to get yet another copy of today and I'm glowing I tell you, GLOWING). It's taken me a while to realise but I'm in love with Asia. I still ask myself from time to time whether it's bias or whether Asia really is more interesting. The stories are fascinating. I miss Asia every day that I'm here because the western world is too clean for my taste (New York is trashy enough for my taste though). I like being shocked, intrigued and intellectually stimulated every day. It's the tiny things that do it like walking past a beggar masturbating at a Bangkok bus stop; not getting an ashtray in Sabah at a coffee shop because there's only one and someone else is using it, happy pizza in Phnom Penh and boys throwing rocks at transgender prostitutes in back alleys. THOSE are stories to me. I don't want remakes, I don't want substitutes, I don't want to pay $15 to watch fucking Nicolas Cage be politically incorrect for the third time in National Trash Treasure.
I don't think my Australian friends see what I see in Asian cinema. It's such a unique genre in itself. It's got this wide variety of genres and it can be so intelligent. It's hardly different from Hollywood that it has its bad films but it also has its gems. Just that right now I find more Asian than western gems especially now that mainstream Hollywood's trying to imitate independent films. I watched 'Ploy' last night and it was love. Thai cinematography is exceptional and you know what I would compare 'Ploy' too? American Beauty, Jarhead. Intelligent films on the human condition shot right in my backyard. It's so raw. Asians are cynical about local films also because of censorship but '15' was cut 27 times and Royston Tan retaliated with a brilliant short film. Years later, his masterpiece was printed; in full, and distributed worldwide. A few years ago I couldn't buy it in Singapore but I've bought copies in Brooklyn and Brisbane. No one really knows about it but it has a special, special place in my heart that's starting to look like a garden because the film is fucking choon like that.
And what does the western world know about Asian cinema anyway? Nothing. People are patting Scorsese on the back for 'The Departed', which was credited as being "based on a Japanese film" during the Oscars - cinematic gang elitist warlords of the world. How is it that 'La Vie en Rose' got Oscar nominations but 'The Counterfeiters' got best Foreign Language film? No one watched the American-but-shot-in-Japan-starring-an-Australian-actress version of Thai 'Shutter'. Somehow they got the maker of Ju-On to remake 'The Grudge' and the their sequels. How he can do the same film four times makes me sick just thinking of it. I would die from the monotony. They're fussy about who they give credit to in films. I'm still wondering why 'Lust, Caution' was so hush hush when it was brilliant. Is it because Ang Lee made a Chinese film that wasn't a martial arts film and Hollywood didn't know what to do with it? They knew what to do with 'Memoirs of a Geisha', which ruined the reputation of the geisha the book was based on. Furthermore, the starring role went to a Chinese actress. They shipped Wong Kar Wai to New York to replicate his works for them and 'My Blueberry Nights' was absolute shit. I guess right now only Asia knows Asia. We're the biggest continent but the world still thinks we're small. The only westerners who think we have power are economists and the rest just think Japanese people are cute and General Tso is Chinese food.
We're not just the weird people that made 'Kung fu Hustle' and 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. They have 'Godfather', we have 'Election'. They have 'Kids', we have '15'. American Beauty? In The Mood For Love and Ploy. The Mist? Try 'The Host'. They have Michel Gondry, we have Park Chan Wook. They've never seen anything like 'I'm A Cyborg but That's Okay'. I don't see why DVD shelves in Australia are full of American and British films whereas Asian and European films fall under 'foreign cinema'. Filmmakers here all aim for Cannes or really really far film festivals. Geographically, Asia should be perfect but it doesn't seem like they want anything to do with us. Did they want to be a part of Asia or not? At least Asian cinema knows where it stands. We're not afraid of languages we don't know. We still watch their films and absorb their culture. Their ways are not foreign to us yet to them, we're still novelties. So who really is ahead of who here?
I'm an Asian filmmaker. I don't do horror, I don't do gore and I don't do martial arts (although I would do horror). But truth be told I'm struggling right now. I'm trying to figure out a way to make this work because I've been repeating to myself how I don't want to be part of the diaspora. My American accent and I have had enough globalisation. Money and resources are colossal issues but that aside, I want to represent the Asian culture in a way that does it some justice. I want to highlight its wildness, sensuality, intelligence and even the sheer stupidity of it all. Not as a distant culture, not as a fixture or something through the looking glass but as real people with human emotions. I want to devise works which keep in contact the context of the human condition which has been lost in translation. I don't care if I get paid better here, I don't want to be a part of this diaspora. I grew up not knowing or having a culture and now that I have one I'm not budging. Ultimately, Dream Cradle (my short film) is going to make or break me. I really hope it comes together and that it leads up to better things so I don't have to talk as much as do.
Henceforth, 'action' is the keyword here. No pun intended.
