4D Assignment 1: Alter Egos

 

5 Characters from film or literature

1. Baseball team from GLove
2. The Little Prince
3. Jane Eyre
4. Little Red Riding Hood
5. Petyr Baelish from The Game of Thrones

 

5 public figures

1. Messi
2. Banksy
3. Koji Uehara
4. Alan Turing
5. Connor Franta

 

5 people I have known or know

1. Goh Yong Hang (my softball coach)
2. Dance crew
3. Chow Kuan Fong (my mother)
4. Koh Chye Poh, Sam (my father)
5. Anne Riana (my ex-supervisor)

 

Baseball team from GLove

The movie was based on a true story of a team of high school boys with hearing-impaired trying to play baseball. What is definitive of their character is their determination to overcome the obstacles together as a team. I was moved by their team spirit and sheer handwork to grow as a team even though they were seen as hopeless teenagers who should give up hopes of even playing baseball. I could relate to them very well because I started softball with a group of people who had no background in sports and people often looked down on us for being lousier team. However, we proved them wrong and worked hard together. Eventually, we reaped the results of our hard work and become the team to claim the championships during our final year.

• confidence
• team spirit
• determination
• growth

The Little Prince

The little prince represents the open-mindedness of children. He is a wanderer who restlessly asks questions and is willing to engage the invisible, secret mysteries of the universe. I could relate him as being a creative person trapped in world surrounded by narrow-minded people who cannot appreciate being different from societal norms. I often struggle to truly do what I want because of societal expectations put forth before me which I am expected to conform to so I agree on how the little prince views the adults.

• creativity
• open-mindedness

Messi

Ranked as one of the best players in the world currently, he carries a heavy responsibility of bringing his team through the championship. Despite so, he plays humbly and as a captain he encourages his team on the field. As a fellow sports person, I understand the pressure of playing a game with the expectation of performing our best. However, what I notice about Messi is that he is an emotional player where his emotions can determine much of his performance which I can relate to as well.

• sportsmanship
• playing style

Banksy

An artist who has revolutionized the street art scene with his satirical and often controversial pieces. I commend his bravery and he inspires me to challenge myself my daring to make a bold statement in my works.

• bold
• art style

Goh Yong Hang (my softball coach)

He saw me through 6 years of my life and brought me up as a student as well as an athlete. To me, he resembles an ideal softball player that I want to be – one who trains with passion and plays with confidence. Furthermore, as a coach and teacher he makes it his duty to pass on his knowledge and passion to the new generation and I admire him for that.

• passion
• confidence

Dance crew

As individuals we were just amateur dancers. However, we managed to come together with the same passion for dance. Together we trained and improved to put up performances we were proud of. Each of my crew members represent a part of me because of the bond I share with them but as a whole they gave me the confidence not only as a dancer but as a person as well.

• growth
• passion
• confidence

 

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MY ALTER EGO: THE BALL GAME

Common qualities

1. growth
2. confidence

With my top 2 common qualities in mind growth and confidence, I based my alter ego on how people in softball/baseball has had an influence on me and how it has shaped me as a person (from my coach, famous sportsmen and baseball players in movies).

There are three parts to the story:

1. Revelation of a new ball

2. Struggling to bat the ball

3. Finally hitting the ball

To me, life is just like a ball game so I chose to explain my alter ego through the use of a batting sequence. I started off by introducing myself as just a common softball among many others just like how we are born as an ordinary person in the sea of people. The clean new ball is chosen  just like how we all begin live with a blank canvas.

From the moment we are born, we choose what we want to make out of our lives. We become who we want to be just like how the batter holds the choice of whether he wants to hit the ball or not. At the beginning, I was someone who is afraid to challenge myself and I would just stand there timidly as opportunities go pass me. Just like how I just stood there and missed the first ball the passed me. Later, I realised what I wanted and I went for it but my efforts were not enough so I just swung and missed the ball. It was only when I gained the confidence in myself and really focused on my gaol that I managed to achieve what I really wanted.

In conclusion, what I am trying to portray through my alter ego of a ball game is that when we choose to play the game; we choose life. More often than not, our greatest enemy isn’t our opponent (obstacles) but ourselves. We are the controllers of our lives and how we want to live it is all up to ourselves.

INSPIRATION

 

Ideas on how to film baseball scenes

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REFLECTIONS

 

I found this assignment an interesting process of self-discovery and self-reflection. I never realised how so many people has had such a great influence on my life. Only when I stepped back to reflect, I realised that if if I had not encountered certain people when I was younger, I might not have been who I am now.

An alter-ego; for me I was certain I wanted to portray a character who will struggle at first but gain confidence as she grows. I went with softball to portray this character because it was something I grew up with and fell in love with. I felt that I could relate to it the most and it would create a good metaphor about the struggles of life.

For the filming process, it was rather challenging because it is not common to film about sports and even more specifically softball/baseball so I tried to reference commercials and anime. During storyboarding, I had a variety of shots in mind but actually filming some of the shots were too difficult so I had to improvise and work with what I had.