Category Archives: Research

留莲 – Linger – BTS / Reflection

Reflection

During the process of pre-production, I was actually quite nervous as this is my first time writing a short film and directing.

There were lots of small details that we have to take note from continuity to props and wardrobe.  For this film I decided to go for the color teals and orange to show the separation of the Dad and Ah Liang which he belongs to the bluish tone but with a subtle of orange to feel up his face also representing a sense of hope.

By furthering enhance the color, I told him to wear a blue buttons shirt as blue represents lonely and cold. So during the post production all I need to do is to change the blue into teal in color.

Props were also important as it built up the mood by creating a real setting. Every props in the video we have to source or either buy from it.  For this film I spent about $100 just for durians as props for both of the day.  As we are using the durian store to shoot, I’ve to buy some durians from the uncle to allow us to film in the store which I felt its a good deal.

Overall, I felt it was really a good experience as a first timer to direct our own film. I felt a sense of completion after watching the video in a big screen during our presentation. I’d like to thank everyone who has put in their time and efforts to complete this film.

Hopefully by submitting into local competitions will help us to build a better portfolios and also benefit to the casts.

Lonely and cold (Cooler/Bluish Tone, Wardrobe to further enhance the mood.) Orange tone as feel light to act as a sense of hope.

Actually, I added the date “5/20/15” representing the Dad’s death  anniversary and also the date has it own meaning.

As for 520, it means 我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ, and is a great Chinese love word to say today (and whenever you can) to your loved one. May 20, 2015

Candle were also added to further enhance the scene but it also has it own meaning behind it. Which I added in my film.

The candle symbolizes light in the darkness of life especially individual life, illlumination; it is the symbol of holy illumination of the spirit of truth. Lit in times of death, they signify the light in the next world, and they represent Christ as the light.

 

BTS Photos

Some BTS photos of us in this short film.

Group Photo!

 

 

 

7 Shots Narrative – F O R W A R D

F O R W A R D

 

SYNOPSIS

FORWARD is a narrative short film talking about a guy who won the race of a marathon but people doesn’t know the effort, sweat, time and pain included in his training.

INSPIRATION/REFERENCE

A very good example that I found on youtube, we may seen Usain Bolt winning the race of the 200m during the world championships but we doesn’t know how much time and efforts involved in the training and process.

 

PLANNING PROCESS (Word.Doc)

I started out by writing short dialogues and trying to imagine using the 7 shots. The image above shows a rough idea of how I drafted my script.

After some revision of the whole dialogue, I sent it to my friend to do the voice over for my film. 

STORYBOARD

As I’m not good with words, by using images it is also easier to visualise and explain to my group members. Some examples of my shortlist that I found on the internet.

SHOT 1:

The first shot included quite a few props, like the Singapore flag, gold medal, finishing line, and lots of confetti involved. To be honest, I was a little too ambitious, without the help from my team members I won’t be able to pull through the shot because it has to be well coordinated from holding the finish line from each sides, putting the flag, medal and firing off the confetti on my character at the end of the race.It was one of the hardest shot to achieve and due to the weather conditions, I had waited quite a few days to able to film at the stadium.

For the very first shot, I wanted to portray that he’s a winner at the end of the race but no one knows how much he had put in. I did a reverse in the post to portray from a winner and rewind back to where he started from.

This is one of the props for the very first shot!

VO: You may have seen me with the race, but no one knows how much I’d put in. 

SHOT 2:

I wanted to portray that he always started off his training in the early morning which shows 6am with the help of the dialogue.  The blue LUT also gives a feeling of the early morning.

VO: Every Morning is a hustle.

SHOT 3:

In the third shot, I wanted to portray that he’s actually training very hard pushing himself, step by step to the limit. A low angle with the white stripe also shows that he’s very focus as thick lines on the other hand appear difficult to break. It suggest strength and give emphasis to nearby elements.

Running on the white line also shows sense of stability.

VO: Every step, a struggle. 

SHOT 4:

I wanted to give a dramatic shot so I placed my cast with a low angle against the sun. It gives a strong silhouette feeling while the sweat drips down from his face.

VO: Every drop of sweat,

SHOT 5:

This was one of the shot that I pre-planned while doing my storyboarding, I wanted to give the audience to experience the unique feeling of him training thats why I had chosen a POV shot.

VO: Every ounce pain. In the end, it’s all worth it. 

SHOT 6:

The sixth shot represented that he’s back to his training routine even though he won the race.

VO: And after the race. We do it all over again. 

SHOT 7: 

The last shot is the most crucial part because we are fighting against the time for the sunset. We flew the drone for quite multiple of times to get the perfect shot.

The sun also representing a light of hope where he visits every time right after his training. It is a memorable place for him because while he was preparing for his race he will always run to the edge of the hill and look at the sunset to remind himself to work towards his dream.

REFLECTION 

It took me a total of 4 days throughout a preiod of 2 weeks to film, as the weather was bad during the last few weeks. I’m actually quite happy that I’m able to complete the assignment 1 but there were some shots that needed to be improved for example like the Go-Pro shot.

It was fun working with my current team as we called ourselves “A KiwiDuck Productions”, without their helps and moral support for example, while filming the drone scene (7th Shot) it actually started drizzling, I wanted to call off the shots, but Ryan and the rest was like encouraging me to just continue filming till we get the right shots. Looking forward for my next project!