4 posts tagged “dream cradle”

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 apologise for my rant about teachers. It's prejudice and uncalled for for me to extend my trauma onto other people who have not shared the same experiences. Different people go through different things. But it's all out on the internet now. Even though I've deleted the post, I know that it will still be out there somewhere. Most bloggers and internet users don't realise the repercussions; that whatever you post on the internet becomes permanent, be it photos or blogs. With my grades, it was unfair but I got what I wanted. I'll be graduating in March. It's still a phenomenon to me as to why teachers dislike me so much. Mmphh... like geese. I've been attacked by birds four times this year; twice by magpies and another two times by geese and probably for the same reason that teachers want to attack me: I subconsciously get in their space without realising. Durrh.

Speaking of blog posts that never disappear, a couple of cousins haven't forgotten a post I made a few years ago on religion. I figured they're still mad at me. Mum says no one complains about me anymore because she jokes that I'm a "gone case" (thank god)... but for a gone case I sure get a lot of love. Heehee. I've been reading back to my old livejournal blog. Would it be narcissistic to compile a best of?

"

Awkward spaces:

[18 Jul 2007|01:45am]

All of a sudden the ceiling just got a little too low. The sun continues to blaze my eyes even when the world's got me tucked away beyond its reach. It's like witnessing yourself being dead. Like chroming indifference, like the opposite of inhaling cigars, like holding a pulsating vein between your thumb and the wrong finger. It's called conscious insomnia, a symptom of the restless and rebellious. (It keeps my feet cold at night)

I wish I knew what to do with my writing but shooting keeps me so preoccupied nowadays. I'm back in KK and things are working out to be very very interesting. I like when people doubt me but the right people have faith in me. I can't wait to start working on Dream Cradle. Woot! Being back in Sabah has a hype that probably isn't going to last for too long but I'm still a Taurus after all and I like having the stability so I can start climbing career ladders instead of constantly having to start over again in different countries. I like it here. Stories happen.

At present, I don't quite want to do much else other than photograph. I've an exam to study for and a narrative soundscape to do, which is gonna be cool if I can figure out Protools. It's going to be a two-minute soundscape of three people on a quiet beach with a tape recorder, who towards the end of the soundscape, witness a commercial plane crash into the sea. Now if only I can make the product sound as good as the pitch. Pfft.

It's going to be a weird next few months for me. I haven't been able to blog much because nothing ever really happens in Brisbane; a factor which has desensitised me to the point of oblivion. I'm devoid of intimacy. Maybe that's why I wear black more often now and paint my nails dark purple. Bright colours are a bit too loud for my numb self at the moment. I wish my life was real again.

I've lost interest in participating in school activities. I can't stand sitting with other uni students because their enthusiasm is so overblown and I'm so jaded. I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist about how every camera angle, edit or mise en scene has to connote or symbolise something, it's a movie and the filmmaker is too smart for you to figure out so stop. It's so frustrating how a majority of universities make money off breeding generations of pseudo-intellectuals as opposed to implementing effective education. Not unless you're in Ivy League or Ox-Bridge. It's a sick industry encouraging stupid people to pay money to think they're smart. Case example: one of my juniors forced his way into having coffee with Pat and I. I was the only person having lunch and the guy stole my napkin... twice. He took my first napkin so I got up to secretly get another napkin so as not to make it socially awkward. After this, the waitress cleared the table, took his napkin and he saw the one that I just took for myself and used that after I'd used it thinking it was his!! STUPID! I nearly died from disgust because I'd just had smoked salmon for lunch and the moron used that. Eww!! WHY SO OBLIVIOUS, EH? Gawd, I need to get out of school. -_-

But the best part is, what am I whining for? I have 11 more days till I finish my degree forever! The transition is going to be intense but I'm prepared. What I'm having trouble preparing for is shooting Dream Cradle. Doing a major rewrite, trying to wrangle funding and shoot it in a way that's not going to kill my crew or me. Fun. Can I finish production by March? Har har! We'll see... weeee'll seeee... Oh, by the way I'm going to the Brisbane premier of 'How To Lose Friends and Alienate People' tonight. Free alcohol! Woohoo!

I'm so glad to be back in QUT. I love my classmates and how professional everyone is. Everyone knows their place and position. There's nothing I appreciate more than people who are professional about their work. It's like butter and honey, I swear to god, I love it that much. They're such characters that I almost want to kick myself for ever leaving them for New Jersey, but then again I needed the move then.

I'm glad that I'm good with opportunities and surviving. I revel in being back in Brisbane and I'm surprised that I'm actually sad about leaving these people when I've been begging to graduate. These awesome, awesome human beings - I forgot how much I loved my friends in Australia. I think back to what I learned in New Jersey and wonder if it was worth it. In terms of film and technical things, I learnt very little, which I regret. Yet I don't regret that the experience made me so much stronger. I don't think I got enough of an academic education out of it but I got savvy, maturity, experience. You can't put a price on that. I think it definitely helped my writing skills and how I read people, direct actors, see stories and my survival skills.

People think I'm crazy for wanting to shoot a feature in KK. Of course. But I'm not in this (and by 'this' I mean life) to do what everyone else has done. I'm 21, I have the rest of my life to get paid. I want to struggle, I want make an effort to come out with something exquisite until it doesn't work anymore; till either I die or it becomes an absolute necessity for me to sustain myself because I'm getting evicted from whatever gutter I have to start living in. It's okay. I'm trying to milk my youthful enthusiasm while I still have it.

Dream Cradle is going to happen. I'm so worried about finances because 35mm lenses are gonna cost $AUD3000 for that week alone. I need a job. Things have changed since the 80's, I can't sell my blood like Robert Rodriguez did and I'm hesitant to make use of my pert rack for artsake only because I do still need to prostitute myself to my conservative Asian nation first and foremost. I'm going to call for donations online soon so once we start a blog, tell your friends. Advertise me if you can, I'd appreciate it so much that we can be friends. Yes. Real friends. I offer, in return for your amazing support, my friendship and eternal gratitude. If you won't spend on this short film, at least consider some more lucrative and deserving charity association to do with a good humanitarian cause or some terminal disease that involves women or children. It's the gift that keeps on giving!

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." - Albert Pike.

And with that I've just incurred guilt into your souls with some dinky quote I found on the internet. But think about the possibilities. It beats paying for Astro (satellite TV).