Delayed photos: China Trip day 1 - Perth

Hotel room - that's my new-ish Deuter backpack on the left that I got from Malaysia. Genuine, and paid for just half of what it costs here in Oz. Sis with obligatory Asian peace sign pose on the right.

Significant historical figure... was a drag?

Nice medieval looking street - ok medieval is not the word I'm looking for, but this reminded me so much of Munich, Germany.

An interesting way of tackling some public transport etiquette issues... there were a few nursery rhymes used, including Jack and Jill, but I didn't have time to snap them... it was such a rush! A rush I tell you! A rush!!

Your customary/obligatory Chinatown entrance gate - you'll be hard put NOT to find one in any city around the world.

I dunno, this amused me. So I snapped it.
It still amuses me.

Your obligatory modern street art funded by the local council.

Authentic Chinese Chick!?

Authentic Chinese Dude!?

This one's a much more authentic pose.

Authentic Chi! (Chee is my dad's name.. ;) )

Bubbles bubbles everywhere!

Yours truly attempting an artsy shot

Noogie the Gumnut baby!!

Local Space ship.

Local clock tower.

Look! It's a Monkey with a pint!

Go Perth for going green! And Gassy! (lame I know, but I just had to!)

The ultimate 3D experience! (Avatar pre-JamesCameron) 

I know what I wrote in the bracket makes NO sense at all... 

Classic-meets-modern Church

I wish these styles of posters would make a comeback - they're awsome!

White froth on brown liquid in a cup = $3.50 spent to make one feel culturally and socially sophisticated.

It's an upside-down Dome. Get it!

..... shutup

The circus was in town! We were the freak show, these guys were for the kids

"sup"

I dunno what I was thinking getting them to pose like that.. as if they didn't look touristy enough already

Oooh.. low angle perspective shot to emphasise the architecture... artwank douche ;)

A failed attempt at getting a nice shot of Perth's night lights... 

Stayed tuned for more photos later!

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Barbie Video Girl vs Canon 7D

Friend shared this on facebook.

Canon 7D vs. Barbie Video Girl from Brandon Bloch on Vimeo.

Quite funny. I'm amazed at how 'toys' have developed over the years, and this camera embedded into a Barbie Doll? A Curious Classic I think.

This reminds me of discussions I often have with my friend Changas regarding what latest camera technology is the best, etc - it can even be applied to technology of any kind. In the end, it doesn't matter how great the technology is, it's how you use it. They are, after all, just tools.

But even though I know this, I find myself diving headlong into research about the latest gear and what I should invest in... but I just give up after a while because it's just way too much sometimes. And it's turned out well so far. At least, my wallet is happy.

Anyway, thought I'd also drop in this post that next week I'll be shooting my first wedding video with a few of my friends. It's almost a test run of how we can/will work and whether or not we want to pursue it further and create a production company to do this stuff. Time will tell.

I wish to apologise also for the long silence on this space. I tend to do this a lot - I just can't get into the habit of habitual blogging. Note to self: must be more disciplined, and harsher on myself!

Also thought I might as well upload some photos from my China trip from a few weeks back in my next post. The first batch is from the first day which we spent in Perth. Enjoy!

Anyways, will keep you posted (at least.. try.. ) on the rest.

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Check it out! Care Factor: Zero - official trailer

Shameless self promotion in the title of this post, but yes, please enjoy this trailer to an upcoming web series produced with my two production companies MPK Studios and A.B.C =)



Another outcome from my honours project, this short web series is about a procrastinating uni student. I wrote it after, and during, a long bout of failed attempts at starting my project - I just wasn't inspired and just couldn't get anything done. So I decided to use that to kick-start my creativity. And it worked =D

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Mid Year Trip - Day 1

So, day one of the trip is almost over, and we are now on our way out of the country.

For those who don't know, I am currently on  mid-year, 20-something odd days vacation with the family. Main country to receive our motley crew is the People's Republic of CHINA. I've been to China before, once back in 2006 as part of a uni summer exchange program. I was only Wuhan though, which is a central hub between the coast and in-land China - it's a fantastic city bustling with activity (economic AND social). I went clubbing for the first time there, and let me tell you it was absolutely AMAZING!! Ahh... such memories *nostalgic grin*

Didn't have the brains to book myself a flight to the other cities, nor the cash, so this time, Beijing and Shanghai are on the hit list.

The trip is centrally the brain-child (and "heart-child") of my dad, who really wanted to see the Shanghai Expo. We're spending a total of 12 days in China - the rest are a number of transits and a brief stay in Malaysia and Singapore to see family and friends.

Recap:
Left Melbourne last night to arrive in Perth for our first transit - flying cheap has it's disadvantages. The flight to Perth was strangely unbearable - I'm usually great on flights, but this time, I just couldn't sleep, and I was fidgety. Even the book I'm reading - Spandau Phoenix by Greg Iles - isn't helping. Don't get me wrong it's a great intriguing thriller, but it just reads quite long. It's never taken me this long to read a 700 pager before, it's quite embarrassing. I'll just put it down to the fact that's it's a really nutritious read - in the sense that it's packed full of research and many many intersecting story lines.

Anyway, Perth was alright. It's quite small, and rather quiet - the fact that it's Sunday doesn't help either. The weather was great - not that much warmer than Melbourne but at least the SUN is shining here. Other than that, there's not much here - had Yum Cha for lunch of all things.

Anyway, have to get going - flight is calling

ciao

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iPhone Condom

An interesting marketing campaign by DUREX, the condom makers ;)

My initial thoughts was "cool!", but then it succumbed to scepticism as to how successful it will really be in terms of encouraging guys to use condoms. I mean, it'll have the fun element at first with everyone rubbing iphone's, so the viral part of it will definitely have a great 'viral' kick-off. It will definitely get annoying after a while, no doubt, especially if it is, from what I gather, a very hard app to get rid off unless you actually go and buy an actual durex pack. And I know that's the point, but will it really make guys more condom conscious?

But then I remember, this marketing tactic, more than anything, is to market the brand itself, DUREX, and anything that gets people talking about a brand and imprinted in the mind as the first association to a product (in this case, condoms, or even contraceptives in general).

It's been a while since I did the introductory Advertising/Marketing subject, so forgive any of my over simplistic evaluation/terminology - I just wanted to put my 2 cents worth on something that I reckon is interesting in terms of the use of new media in marketing.

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Tribute to Michael Jackson - our cover of "Heal The World"

A year has passed since the departure of one of history's most beloved pop icons and so, in his honor, A.B.C would like to dedicate this video and our cover version of 'Heal The World' to the one and only - Michael Jackson as well as all his fans. We are not professional singers but merely passionate fans of his work.

So enjoy the video and lets all honor his legacy by remembering the love and joy he gave to the world through music.

For the King of Pop.

We recorded this song late last year in the recording studio at RMIT - I just wanted to try out the studio because it's always been there, so I figured why not? And one of the sings I really wanted to record was this beautiful MJ song, because that way we could get a lot more people involved in the one song. I also thought we could film it and do some sort of tribute to one our most beloved pop icons, and had this whole nice MV planned out where we would have a fedora, placed onto a lonely mic, with one spot light shining down.. it was all very epic. But alas, not even time since recording the song alone was difficult enough. But it was really good fun and I reckon everyone did a fantastic job. Big kudos to Peter for putting it all together in what is a more than fantastic, sweet and solemn tribute to the one and only Michael Jackson.

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Useless Experiments

*Courtesy of Andrew Kramer from VideoCopilot and his awesome rack-focus experiment.

Here's a list of the 10 most wackiest experiments of all time - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article2779808.ece?print=yes&randnum=1193877775343

From Elephants on Acid, to Vomit Drinking, the list provides an interesting insight into the almost limitless imagination of the human mind. The list makes one wonder why the Jackass crew haven't been inaugurated as honourary scientists already...

Hmm.. I wanna try coming up with weird experiments now.. time to hit the drawingboards Poindexter!

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Rising Sun - a mini-series

One of the outcomes from my honours.

It is a draft of an opening credit sequence to a mini-series I am developing about Asian ANZACS. I reckon such a story is highly relevant at the moment, in light of the Billy Sing feature film fiasco.

It is a DRAFT, so not perfect. It's just a way of exploring our options. Will hopefully be able to get out there and shoot the real thing soon.

The title Rising Sun was an interesting decision process. Whilst brainstorming ideas for a title, I started off literal and dragged out titles like "The Diggers" and "The Forgotten". I was trying to capture a sense of the forgotten nature of the ANZACS that have slipped through the cracks of mainstream modern Australian history, including those from the indigenous population.

I arrived at Rising Sun because the symbol of the Australian army is the "badge of the rising sun". But what also occurred to me was that the term Rising Sun is often associated with the Empire of Japan - land of the Rising Sun. Because of this, I became a little unsure, and a began to ask everyone around me what they thought when the hear the phrase "Rising Sun". But then I thought, maybe this plays to an advantage. Since I am focusing on Asian ANZACS, and Rising Sun has the Asian connotations of Japan, maybe the confusion would suit the series purpose on the whole.

I reckon it's interesting that the symbol of the ANZACS is similar to the symbol of one of the former enemies of Australia, and I dunno, that might add an interesting element to it, especially in terms of marketing the show.

Anyway, here are some details of the vid:

Filmed by Changas, again on his d3s.

Music composed by yours truly in garage band, with the orchestra JamPack.

Ending title graphic was knocked up in 10 minutes in AfterEffects with just some jpegs of a hill, the Rising Sun badge, and a digger - sunset flare created with Video Copilot's Optical Flares.

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Reflecting on Creativity

A quote forwarded from my Honours program director. Wise and thought provoking words from the founder of Apple (i.e.; the person who gave creative geeky type people cool laptops and gadgets to play with. Oh and allowing people to go deaf younger.. =D)

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask a creative person how they did something, they may feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after awhile. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or have thought more about their experiences than other people have.

Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. They don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions, without a broad perspective on the problem.

The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better designs we will have.”
- Steve Jobs

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Changed the name of my project to "My Accented Lens".

The change came upon further reflection of the title 'The Slanted Screen' - it was referring to how representations of the Asian male was slanted or skewed, and thus referring to the racist connotations of the term Slant.

It would only be appropriate for my project if I was exploring the negative and stereotypical representations of Asians by non-Asian filmmakers. However, my project is about me dealing with my Asian-Australian heritage through filmmaking, and through my own lens. If i called it Slanted Lens, I would be referring to myself as a Slant. This of course can have it's positives for certain themes of Asian representations in Western media, but it's not specifically related to what I want to say in my project. It is far from it, though it does deal with it somewhat in one of the projects that I am currently developing and hoping to pitch. More on that after this Friday!

Anyway, settled on My Accented Lens since I have been using Hamid Naficy's 'An Accented Cinema' to frame my project, and since it's from my perspective as a filmmaker, thus me looking through my lens... you get the imagery.

Anyway here's a preview of what the main menu looks like. The transition is cooler, but no time to upload that - I shouldn't' even be on here writing this! gargh!!!

Wish me luck guys... :s

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Independent Film

Just doing some non-project-related, yet career related.. research...

Picked this up from David Liu's facebook, a talented Singaporean based director I met at the Singapore Film Festival last year.

Nothing amazingly new but in the videos below, producer Ted Hope talks about the benefits of going into Independent Filmmaking, utilising all the opportunities afforded by the New Media technologies. Ted Hope has produced a number of films, the most recognisable for me being 21 Grams, American Splendor, and even Ang Lee's Xi Yan (The Wedding Banquet)!

The most interesting was his mention of the 1000 True Fans 'theory' by Kevin Kelly. That article is definitely worth a look as food for thought to anybody seriously wanting to make a living as a creative artist.

Some Job Opportunities in Indie Film with Ted Hope (part 1) from Hope for Film on Vimeo.

Some Job Opportunities in Independent Film with Ted Hope (part 2) from Hope for Film on Vimeo.

Haven't had time to review and process my own opinions as yet on these topics - I have an exegesis to write for my Asian-Australian Film project. Oh, I have a title for the project now "The Slanted Lens". It is a re-appropriation of a similar titled documentary "The Slanted Screen" by Jeff Adachi, about the representation of Asian men in American Cinema. You can check it out a preview of it on youtube here. It is a really interesting and insightful documentary, especially when you find out that one of the biggest Hollywood silent film actors was Sessue Hayakawa, who actually played romantic leads opposite Caucasian females.

I figure my title is appropriate since it's about me as a filmmaker, finding Asian-Australian stories that I really want to translate onto the screen. Anyway, it's too late to spend any more time thinking up another title.. so it stays... for now.. maybe... opinions please!!! I need help on this matter!

Wish my luck with the rest of my assignment.. 5 days left to go!! argh!!!!!!!!!!!

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Boom!

Here's the promised battle VFX test video.

Description:

Short video testing Visual FX and props for an upcoming film. The costume here is very ww2/Korean war, but the film we are testing for is to be set in WW1 and revolves around ANZACS of Asian descent. Rifle carved from wood with simple door bolt screwed on for the 'bolt-action' - it's meant to be a Lee Enfield MkIII* and still needs some finishing touches. Helmet and packs from Mitchells and Aussie Disposals. Jacket is an old one my dad used when he was in the UK.

Shot on Nikon d3s + Nikkor 28-70mm, f/2.8.
Composited in AfterEffects CS4. Editing + Sound Mix in Premiere CS4.
Visual elements from Video Copilot's 'Action Essentials 2'.
Colour grading with Red Giant's 'Magic Bullet Looks'.

This footage was shot as a quick test of the 5dMkII and d3s for rolling shutter artifacts and performance in low light. Rolling shutter on both were negligible, and the Nikon out performed the Canon in low light, thanks to its amazing ISO capabilities.
d3s is our favourite because of its low light performance, and its much sharper images.

Please note that this was a quick test of several things, and not a proper controlled test. We just wanted to shoot some war stuff with two great cameras!

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That's a wrap!

Finally, the camera's of stopped rolling for principle photography on my short films. There are a few pickup shoots to follow, but the bulk of the two films have been recorded onto digital celluloid, better known as CF cards.

It's been a long haul, filled with interesting experiences both old and new, but the journey isn't finished - yet. Editing will continue till the films are ready to be released to the critical eyes of you, the public. The 'real' work of putting the film together will now occupy my time, as well as eeking out points of discussion for m exegesis which is still to be properly drafted (I feel so screwed now...).
I will be working my hardest to ensure my vision is as understandable as I hope it to be, and then it shall be released, at which point the film will no longer be in my hands but in the hands of people who will really make the meaning of the films known - the audience. I can only hope that I have the skills to be able to communicate it properly in my chosen medium, video/film, and that it is engaging enough for you, as the audience to actually pay any attention to them.

Anyway, below are stills from Going Home, which we wrapped on Saturday.

You may notice that the meal being eaten by the family in this film is the most Western of takes on Asian cuisine... and it's supposed to be Chinese New Year Dinner... poor planning and limited resources... but not to worry, it can be edited around.

On Tuesday, I shot the short Romantic Comedy 'Dumplings'. It was just the one night shoot, which we shot at the bookstore I work at - Academic and General bookstores. Just about a guy who wants to ask his co-worker out. Nothing terrible original, but it was fun to shoot. No stills from that, but it should be a quick edit.

Also, stay tuned for from test VFX footage for a possible WW1 trailer on ANZACS of Asian descent.

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Production

Going Home is almost finished! Last day of shooting is this Saturday (not including pickups, if we have any).

It's been a great experience, and my first real, proper taste at directing. The actors have been great to work with - Daniel Wu as the lead, and Kareem Ford Sarhan in a small part.

We shot the first scene last Saturday, and it was great to work on the dynamics of characters with two fantastic actors. Definitely daunting at first, but I'm getting used to it.

Below are some production stills. The first few is us on location at Flinders St Station. It was great to get permission to film at this iconic station of Melbourne, so thanks to Metro for their kind support.

The second lot is us at my RMIT post grad room., We re-created an office is that space with two computer screens, two sets of keyboards and mice, one phone, cups, pens and pieces of paper. I reckon it looks 'office-y' enough given what we had.

There's also some stills of our actor Daniel, taken with my Pentax k7 with the 50mm f1.7

The stills were taken by either my k7 or changas d3s. Awesome cameras.

Film will be finished soon, and will hopefully be able to upload more videos soon.

Watch this space.

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Going Home - first preview

Here is a first preview of the short film I have been filming, Going Home. More information about the film can be found in this earlier post

This is the first cut of the first flashback scene. Only the first part of the clip is almost finished - the Chinatown clips are random fill shots. Most of the footage has not been colour graded yet.

Shot on Nikon d3s, 720p 24fps. Edited in Premiere CS4.
Shot on Location in Melbourne, Australia, at Tian Jin Gardens Spring Street, and Chinatown on Little Bourke.
Flashback scenes shot in Siem Reap Cambodia.

More details can be found on the youtube page.

Watch in full screen to enjoy the pristine 720p HD footage that Changas shot with his beautiful Nikon d3s.
Enjoy.

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DSLR Audio

Just doing some research on audio recording gear for DSLRs.

I am shooting most of my project on DSLR - my own Pentax k7 and Changas Nikon d3s. The audio on these camera are good, but sometimes, better audio via better microphones are needed, so I will be recording audio separately - back to the old school way of doing things. I was settled on doing the traditional clapperboard sync, but my supervisor, Paul Ritchard, mentioned a piece of software that can do automatic sync. I googled it, and have become quite impressed.

It is called Pluraleyes - it automatically syncs your DSLR footage to your separately recorded audio by matching the footage audio with the audio captured on the separate device.

A problem with this software though is that there is currently no compatibility with Adobe Premiere CS4, which is what I primarily use to cut my work. Only FCP and Sony Vegas are supported thus far. They say a CS4 version will come out soon, so fingers crossed.

After discovering this, I went on to look up audio recording gear, which I intend to get soon to support my other work. Currently using a Marantz Solid State recorder hired out from uni. It's good, but quite big since it is old school. Not huge, just.. not as small as some you can get now-a-days.

The site dslrfilm.com has an article listing their top audio recorders for DSLR video. The Zoom h4n seems to immensely popular, and I will be looking into where to get it here in Melbourne, and how much - so anyone with that information, please contact me!

Also, Phillip Bloom has a useful article on the subject of DSLR filming and audio recording. Check it out.

A microphone will be next to look for on the list too.... damn so much money to be spent. I am looking at purchasing a new sleeping bag as well as my current one, thought immensely warm, is much too bulky to be taken on treks. Kathmandu has a huge sale on at the moment, and I am eyeing the $200 one... as well as a sleeping mat. *sigh*

Anyway, just got back from a long road trip up to Stawell to help Changas on a photo-doco shoot on a rodeo that was up there yesterday on good Friday. He's gotten some amazing stuff, which should be up on his blog some time soon. I managed to get a few good snaps too, as well as some footage of some bull-riding etc. I think I will cut my footage into a mini doco on Changas and documentary photography. I had a nice chat with Changas on the ride there and back, which I recorded on the solid state recorder. Will go through footage and audio material tomorrow to see what I can knock up. It seems there is a connection as well to my honours project on Asian-Australian identity - we were the only two Asians up at the rodeo, and we stood out like sore thumbs. We didn't get into any major incidents, but the issue did crop up during some moments.

Anyway, really tired and need some shut eye. Photos and more info should be up here soon. Watch this space.

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Reference Photo

One of the shots in the Going Home short film I wish to have is quite nicely summed up by this photo I found on flickr.

I had this exact shot in mind for when the main character looks down from his office into the street, and sees a woman in a red cheongsam and red parasol, disappear round the corner. A really freaky but awesome find really.

Also, just cast the actor for the lead in the film. Met him on Tuesday, and am quite happy with him to take the lead role. Asked my dad to play the Grand-father figure, and will get some makeup on him, mainly grey(er) hair ;). Changas has a little cousin who can play the kid-version of the main character. Still need to cast a housewife. Can hopefully start shooting by next weekend!

Keep an eye out for stuff. =)

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New Lenses

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the lens I got with my Pentax k7, the beautiful DA* 16-50mm f2.8, was damaged in the lat day of my Asia trip. I have been devastated ever since, but some good news arrived last week when CR Kennedy, the only guys in Melbourne who deal with Pentax directly for repairs and what not, finally called me up with a quote to fix up the lens - AUD$324.50c. Quite a bit, but not as much as I was expecting. *sigh*, more money out of the pockets...

Anyway, I was on a bit of an eBay addict phase the last few weeks, looking for lenses. It was the first time I ever used eBay, and needless to say, I was hooked. I have currently about 30 items on my watch-list... but I've only won 2 items so far. So I'm not THAT crazy over it - I did manage to control myself at least.

The items I went after, and won, were some Pentax primes. I just needed some glass to put on the end of my beautiful k7... it had been out of action for 2 months, and my trigger happy fingers were getting restless. So, now I have a SMC Pentax-A f2.8 28mm, and a MC Vivitar f1.7 50mm. Got them both for AUD$160.00, so not too bad. Maybe not the best types fo lenses out there, but I'm not that anal, and I'm more than happy with both of them for that price.

Was thinking of selling them after I get my 16-50 back, but I reckon I'll hang on to them. Primes are damn useful, especially since I'm considering investing in a lens adapter for digital film cameras. I'm looking at the SGPRO at the moment... *sigh* need to save up more money.

Below are a few photos taken with the 50mm 1.7. Not bad. I was debating between the 1.7 or the 1.4, but I just didn't have the cash for a 1.4, so just went for the 1.7 anyway. $56 versus $300+ ? At the moment, anything cheap and good will do. And as you can see, it ain't that bad :)

The night shift on Friday...

...fun times...

...watching the Friday night crowds walk past...

The depth-of-field on the 50 is awesome.

I like how the colour turned out on this one - no PS, just a different white balance I guess.

What the? All the best to that guy in the cab, driving with karaoke-style singing in blaring from the back seat ;)

Never knew that karaoke was that big a hit in this town... but I guess there have been ALOT of new karaoke bars opening up around town. Catered mainly for Asians of course, but I reckon they're trying to break into the mainstream market as well.

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