‘Cats of The World II’ Photo Exhibition

‘Cats of The World II’ is a photography exhibition organized by Carlyn Law & Noelle Tan, and features snapshots of cats by cat lovers from all over the world. The aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness to the plight of stray cats in Singapore. All photographs on exhibit are for sale, and all proceeds will go to the Cat Welfare Society. For more information, visit Carlyn’s blog at www.gattidelmondo.blogspot.com or the event page at The Arts House’s website.

‘Cats of The World II’ will be held at The Arts House from May 20, 2008 to May 31, 2008. Admission is free.

I’ve got two photographs on exhibit, so do drop by and support our furry friends.

For want of suit-ability

Who knew finding a suit could be such hard work?

Violet and I spent the entire weekend trawling boutiques looking for a suit I can wear to not one, but two! upcoming weddings. We’ve tried pretty much everything across a huge price range—Zara, G2000, G2 Black Label, Muji, Hugo Boss, Kenzo, Armani Collezioni, A/X, Calvin Klein, Massimo Dutti, Charles Tyrwhitt, The Library by Tangs. And, no, I didn’t even begin to consider Ermenegildo Zegna.

The ones which left an impression on me:

G2 Black Label: their slim cut range fits nice, but has weird angled pockets and very thick padding that shows at the seams. Plus all the cuts make me look very hotel concierge-looking…

Hugo Boss: surprisingly, the cut is too boxy, and didn’t compliment my body shape. And this is after trying four pieces.

Armani Collezioni: too old. Same with Kenzo.

Massimo Dutti: all suits begin at Size 46, which is too big for me to begin with.

I did see a very nice suit at The Library at Tangs, but there wasn’t a size for me. In the end, when one can only look at that many cuts and fabric before it all becomes one big blur, it came down to Zara or Calvin Klein.

I chose not to splurge. After all, as Violet casually reminded me, ‘The attention’s not on you…’

I couldn’t contest that. Heh.

Random cell phone snap

Another potential shot for 1984…

This is rather overdue

Days after I had blogged about the book Life Before Death, LMD called me, saying that a reader she knows in real life—Skates—asked her to pass me a copy of the book he had bought on a trip to China.

Thank you, Skates. But neither LMD nor I still know when I’m supposed to return the book to you.

Finding the right lieutenants

Filmmaking is a highly collaborative effort. The relationship between the director and his or her various key players in the chain plays a crucial part in the success of a production. A typical list of these personnel includes:

• the producer
• the director of photography/cinematographer
• the production designer
• the stylist
• the actors
• the editor
• the colorist
• the music composer

At each stage of a production, whether it is on the set shooting or in postproduction, the director needs the support and the input of each of these personnel—who brings to the table his or her cumulative years of experience, skills and talents—to achieve his aims and vision. The director’s vision has to be one that is shared by every player.

Before the start of any shoot, the one relationship that can pre-determine the outcome of a shoot is that between the agency folks and their director. The trust and confidence the agency folks have in their director goes a long way in selling a final artistic and creative goal to the client. These folks have to stand by the director and defend him should the need arises.

Then, there is the relationship between the director and his producer. The budget of any production is always finite. A good producer, whose primary concern is to keep an eye on the tills, will give, to the best of his abilities, all that the director needs to fulfill his artistic pursuit, whether it is a piece of specialized equipment for a particular camera move or more money for the art department to achieve lavishness in production design.

On a set, the relationship between the director and the director of photography is the most important. These two persons are responsible for the visual aspect of the production; what is happening in this shot? What do we show and what do we hide? Questions such as ‘Where should the focus point be in this two-shot?’ or ‘What is the best camera move we need to contain this scene?’ would have been discussed at length with the director prior to the shoot. Through his or her interpretation of the material, the DOP contributes to the production with his lighting style and sense of framing.

In my personal experience, the kind of DOP I work best with are the ones who are keenly learned in literature, for they are the ones who will be sensitive to words, and can thus interpret scenes and emotions as described in the script and storyboard. Many times I have faced hurdles in getting DOPs to understand what the context of a scene is simply because, lacking literate sensitivity to the material, they could only interpret the concept in vague, sweeping simplification. This results in a lack of shorthand with which a director can communicate to his DOP, and which will often result in time wasted on the set due to misunderstandings.

The next circle of key players on the set are the stylist, the production designer, and the actors, contributing in the areas of wardrobe, art direction, and acting, respectively. With the exception of the latter, the rest of the personnel are the ones whose eyes, along with the director’s, are constantly glued to the monitor, looking out for the smallest of opportunities to adjust what has gone into the frame.

Past principal photography, it is the task of the editor to whittle the footage into the story to be told. Scenes and takes, shot out of order and signifying nothing in their disparate bits, have no meaning until they are strung into a narrative. How well sight and sound is married together for maximum impact depends on the instincts and skills of the editor. Thus, in postproduction, the director’s best friend is the good offline editor, who can add context, subtext and implications to a story.

Upon the completion of an edit, the footage is passed on to a colorist who, through his skills and critical eye, will remold the lighting in each shot to look its best. This corner of the frame needs to be darkened; we need to fill in more light on this actor’s face here… Such polishing is done shot by shot under the guidance of both the director and the DOP.

Finally, music is one area that can make or break an edit. If the budget allows for it, original music is scored to the picture. Otherwise—and most of the time–the audio guys will find library music containing a mood suitable for the story. The infinitesimal tweaks and enhancements made across a soundtrack by the audio guys are, if done right, invisible but indispensable. Any one can tell when something just doesn’t sound right, but a seamless mix will sound like the most natural thing to the ears. Audio post guys are truly the underdogs in the field of postproduction.

After so many years in the industry, I can safely say that I have almost a complete list of who’s-who to fill the various roles in a production, unique individuals whom I can count on to deliver beyond what I need for my spots, people on whose shoulders I can stand on so that I can surpass my own standards one production at a time. These are the people I will call upon when the journey of my career delves into the area of feature films.

Stand by your cell phones. Almost there, and any day now…

Arranging shots

Trying to figure out the shoot order so we can maximize setup efficiency…

I am not him

If it’s not work, it’s the family.

Why can’t I have parents who love each other?

In the month-long fiasco that has rocked this household upside down, some things have never been clearer to me: that I am not my father, I will not be my father’s son, and I will never be the bearer of his failures.

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For the typographically anal…

… you will find vindication in this post, ‘Ten typographic mistakes everyone makes’, by Christopher Phin.

Just another day

9:12am. The day begins.

Day One of a three-day shoot for a condominium marketing video. All the crew members had already arrived and are going about their respective ways playing their unique roles; the gaffer is pointing out the areas to set the lights in; the camera assistant has the camera cradled in his secure embrace; the PA is setting up the catering table. Most of them are familiar faces, people with whom I’d done a dozen shoots with. A lot of ‘Good mornings’ all around.

10:23am. The first setup.

We were supposed to have rolled the first shot at 10. The slight delay is expected; every shoot takes time to get up to speed. Especially if it starts on a Monday. Plus, we have our aims set way above average. High fashion and couture are the words we had tossed around when describing the direction of the video.

And what we are setting out to achieve easily crosses into the realms of the television commercial, with the sort of high production values and polished aesthetics one expects of a commercial. Considering that the average marketing video for a property is nothing more than a montage of nicely-framed shots of a showflat, we clearly have our work cut out for us.

11:10am. Moving on…

Finally, we have the first setup in the can. A quick playback, and I’m happy with the takes. Agency nods appreciatively.

“Next setup!” my first assistant director yells. “Art department, get ready!”

Each camera position, along with its accompanying lighting plan, is considered as one setup. Any time the shot calls for the lights to be dismantled, moved and re-rigged is considered a new setup. Within a setup, there can be any number of shots. Some setups call for only two shots; some may have five—wide-angle, medium shot, close-up, extreme close-up, cutaway, etc. Factor in time for the blocking of actors—industry parlance for arranging actors to hit their marks—and the time needed to measure the right focus length for each mark, and it becomes apparent that 14 hours for a shoot does not translate into much time. An average of fourteen setups per day. The average number of setups for our three-day shoot is 12, which is way above the average for the typical condominium marketing video.

4:31pm. Shiiiiiiiiiit!!!

The sound of a 2.5Kg MacBook Pro hitting the floor from a height of 1.5 meters is not a sound one would want to hear at any point in his or her lifetime.

The damage? All four corners of the aluminum top lid of my MacBook Pro pockmarked by hard granite floor tiles, and the left hinge of the top lid permanently dented. I can barely close the lid now…

5:43pm. “Once more…”

The scene isn’t working. We try two more takes. So-so. Nailing perfection in one take, in which acting, lighting, focusing and camera moves have to unfold together in grand orchestration, is akin to juggling while tap dancing.

Then there is me. If it’s not working, it’s no good for me. The working philosophy for any director is simple; to deliver each and every shot as designed in the storyboard, and as presented to both the agency and the client. At the end of the day, under the scrutinizing eyes of agency creatives and client, whether the $60,000 put into a production pays off in the final cut is a weight that rests solely on the shoulders of the director. He or she is expected to approve, with certainty, the best framing, the best prop arrangement, the smoothest flow of action by the actors. The buck stops here. Hence, it is not without good reason that the director is the one person on set who is frowning the most.

8:22pm. Waiting for makeup.

The camera is set. Everyone is waiting for the lead female; she’s getting her hair done and it is taking way longer than expected. I glance up from the monitor and catch a look from the 1st AD.

We are so gonna overrun, says his look.

2:04am. The cockroach incident…

The scream caught everyone by surprised. The conversation suddenly hushed, we turn our heads to the door in time to see the lead female running in, with a look on her face that can be best described as a mix of horror, disgust and anger.

“Where is the fucking toilet?!” she shrieks. In a hissy fit, she quickly disappears around a corner with a PA in tow.

Apparently a cockroach had landed on her face and had stayed there. O-kay…

The creative director turns to me. We trade the kind of blank look that comes naturally at two in the morning after a whole day of filming.

“Man, and it has to happen in our last shot of the day,” I muttered. As we waited in silent fear at what is to come when the lead female returns, I console myself with the reassurance that nothing worse can possibly happen between now and the moment I yell ‘Wrap!’, and that all this is just another day at work…

Normal services will resume soon

To every one on my MSN contact list who has been feeling rather annoyed at my bouncing on and off MSN, my apologies.

The spate of problems I’ve been having with my MacBook Pro and, separately, with my wireless router and/or cable modem is simply beyond my control.

Words to be inspired by

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will find them gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.
- Rainer Maria Rilke

You are where you are today because you stand on somebody’s shoulders. And wherever you are heading, you cannot get there by yourself. If you stand on the shoulders of others, you have a reciprocal responsibility to live your life so that others may stand on your shoulders. It’s the quid pro quo of life. We exist temporarily through what we take, but we live forever through what we give.
- Vernon Jordan

The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind.
- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
- Henry David Thoreau

We judge of man’s wisdom by his hope.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’m all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let’s start with typewriters.
- Frank Lloyd Wright

Many people know so little about what is beyond their short range of experience. They look within themselves and find nothing! Therefore they conclude that there is nothing outside themselves either.
- Helen Keller

Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
- Henry Van Dyke

The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth.
- Pierre Abelard

Every face a story

 

Coming soon.