My countless mistakes are just my glory and my glory is just part of shame.
Dear Readers of skitzoinsomnia.blogspot.com,
I know I'm being such a jerk for not keeping an update on my daily life, and all the crappy stories I have. I'll have you know that I'm not dying (out of hunger, pain, lovesick, etc) and that I'm still alive and still lovin'! *giggles* Happy reading & keep commenting!
My life is suddenly packed with lotsa stuff! Wednesdays: STA Workshops & Fridays: Film Screening till 7pm latest. I really love STA, and it feels like heaven! *guffaws* On Friday, I had my 'first' (cos I missed the 1st one!) film screening, City of God. Damn SUPERB! No regrets, no NOTHING! Just felt like "Awww... Damn Good!" Love the whole storyline, camera angles, acting & concept... Gotta watch it again & again! You haven't catch City of God, go rent it...
On Saturday (23/04/06), it was the first time doin film production assignment with Ghaz. Newly recruited members like Adam & Nora (including me!) know nuts about setting up lights, equipments, establishing shots, shoulder-to-shoulder angles, operating the cameras and of course, directing! Jose De Castro, the in-charge, thought we weren't new to all that, though. We were super lost, and all of a sudden everything was being pushed to us, and judging from yesterday's film progress, I can tell it will be okay! Monday is just the continuation of other scene, then it'll be a wrap so it means go edit! Well, for a basic foreground on the behind the scenes work, the Camera 1 (Adam) is the main camera for the whole production, Camera 2 (Nora) is the other camera for short. The Audio (Me) holds the mic (the wooly microphone) and attached to Camera 1. Ghaz directs the whole 'film'... Of course, he's the seasoned & experienced dude! We ended at noon-12.15 I guess (lost track of time, though) and Mita & her cast treat us for lunch... They were surprised how 'experienced' we are with filming works. The apostrophe is just a contradicting thing, cos we are NEW and not EXPERIENCED yet. So, it does take time...
Went to Singapore History Museum later in the afternoon for a seminar/talk on Arab Cinema... It's damn classy, and artistic! Okay, the seminar/talk was a bore to me, Adam & Nora though... Too much talking & the translator really ain't doing the work. I slept for a while, then I woke up for the Q&A session, cos I love Q&A sessions like durrr.... Interesting & can hear what the other Art-aholic asks. There was this really annoying Chinese woman, with long hair and wore blue floral outfit, very hippie! Her questions were really insulting to say the least, filled mainly on September 11 + Arabs + Religion + Films = Heated argument. Just because they are Arabs, do you need to question them about the past? Ghaz said it was a question at least... But, hey, this woman really has serious problem with the politics... We're talking on Arts & the Films, why go on to dwell about the Iraq issue? And FYI, Irans & Arabs are not the same... The Iranian films fall under the Persian category. She touched on questions like religion, but her question was being shot with a really nice answer: "Go to Arab & see it for yourself" and "You don't understand!" *guffaws* Nice move... But what's nicer is the refreshments! *guffaws* Okay, let's talk about the food served, I love the CHICKEN, I love the MINI APPLE CRUMBLE, I love the CHOCOLATE MUFFIN and I love the COFFEE... Yummmy...
We left the seminar, and went to Windsor Building (is that what it's called, Ghaz?) to catch free German Film Screening @ Goethe. Really great concepts shown on 'Short & Sweet II'... We missed the 1st film, though! The 'first' film we watched called Transposed Bodies, is about 2 bestfriends in a feud over the same girl. It was told by the baby who was dumped in the female's parents' home. Tragically, the 3 of them died in a train crash... What the filmmaker made us believe is that you can fix back your heads if it detached from your body! *guffaws* Okay, what I meant is: The 3 lovebirds were in the car, unfortunately they met with a train crash so the guys' heads detached. Marie, the female character, is the only one who knew which head belongs to which body, truth be told that she mixed them up! So, the guy who made her pregnant, Jan, is in Jon's (the guy she has a crush on for his toned body) and Jon's head on Jan's body... It was told thru a photography concept, black & white... No speech, Humorous, yes, twisted, yes! I love it!
The next one: A story told backwards. The protagonist's relationship is in the rocks, therefore he wanna move forward, but living in a rewind mode. No dialogues, black & white, music & very cool! The 3rd film is about a girl who stole a car to make her way to Baltic Sea in order to dump her dead boyfriend's body. Also in black & white, the film was rather cold... But the scenes she was with her then-alive boyfriend was warm. Twisted plot, but made the whole concept really magical. The last film was about 4 men who drive around to commit robbery. This is the only film with colour! The twist in this film is, unbelievably was a musical... Very lush, humorous & natural. This is a modern take on musical I think. Concept-wise, a really inspiring work!
We head to Mitre for a chill-out session before making our journey back to Goethe @ 7pm to watch more films. At 6.45pm, we chao. Had kaya toast which costs 70c! Yummy... I just love Killiney Road; vintage, relaxed & unSingaporean! The first 3 films were more like a photography film & didn't really enjoyed it much. The 'Inside Outside Mongolia' was a nice, lengthy & nothing much. I really didn't recall the rest though, didn't have impact on me, except for 'Childhood Sky' & 'Free Choice'... For 'Childhood Sky' (is that what's it called, once again, Ghaz?) is about how different people from different part of the world, from different background, sees the sky and how they intepret it thru their childhood memories... It really evokes a bit, because about 12 different countries tell a different perspective. Some good, some bad childhood experiences. 'Free Choice' is about a continuous film, shot at an amusement park. The vendor was repeating the same line for the past 7 mins, starting off with the line "..." *brain juice drained* and ended the film with the exact same line, unintentionally... I guess, it's unintentional... "What's the concept?" Ghaz asked... We weren't that sure, though, but he answered wisely, "The concept is: You want to watch, you watch. You don't want, then don't!" *guffaws* Like durr, why didn't I think of that? I mean, it is true... Repeating the same line over and over again for 7 mins was like, "Hey, wtf, what is this short film about, man?" Of course I didn't have that kinda thought, but it is evident in the rest...
The whole day was filled with Arts & Films. It really does feel like Media/Arts Student! To be exposed with different genres & concepts of the films worldwide can broaden the creativity, imagination & ideas in future projects. Just like the film screenings, it was inspirational...
