Today I decided to write about I started as a filmmaker and my thoughts thus far...
I'm afraid i'm might not get opportunity to share my life story so i wanted to share it here..
Ever since young my only form of entertainment at home was watching TV.. I love to watch old hk movies, series and singapore tv series.. it was really entertaining back then and I remember occasionally my father would take me to watch Jackie Chan movie during sch holidays.. Jackie Chan's movies are the very first movies I watched in the cinema and I remember it was at Kallang Theatre (think its closed down already). It was quiet and there was not much people. My father would always fall asleep and I would be thinking what a waste of money for him. The interesting part about Jackie Chan movie is that it would always show behind the scenes during the rolling credits and I thought there is so much effort put into it and how I wished i'm part of the crew as well.
During my secdonary sch days... TV programs and shows have evovled but I was still interested to be in the media industry. I didn't do very well for my O level and was rejected by all the courses I applied first time and appeal for 1 course for each Poly. Choo Teck advised me on the courses I should take. I waited for 1 month for the results and NYP MIT responsed fast and I was in the course in no time. The word multimedia was appealing to me too. Sounds so interesting and AH TAS...
The modules were very technical and not what I like to do but at the same time I have no choice and didnt know very much what I can or love to do. It was perservance and the friendship with my poly mates that keep me going...
During my 3 years I joined OGL and there was a finale team (another ahtas name) that was "specially" selected to do a last day performance for the freshies. I was not selected and jumped at a chance to volunteer be an actor for the skit part. I think the writer and director for the skit was Kamal and all the cast was given a temp role to try out. Majority of the cast were given a fix role after a week and i think Nic, my classmates who was in the finale team tried to keep me in the team even though Kamal thought I wasnt good enough. After much discussion I became a backup actor incase any of the main cast was sicked, couldn't make it or decided to backout. I sat there and observed most of time that they decided why not I try to be a "ninja". A ninja's jobs is to move and shifts props when the curtains is drawn between scenes. The 3 weeks of rehearsal became a success. The experience make me feel that doing threatre is not easy but worthwhile. It was an eyeopener for me even though I was not acting. That is my 1st and last threatre experience so far..
Throughout the 3 years in poly I did skit for church as well and for the cambodia trip. For church it was worse because I'm actually nervous about remembering lines and doing facial expressions infront of so many ppl so ended up I acted as "Pig" and "Tree". Yes not even proper human being with lines. It was it and thing that I acted but ppl actually laugh at it and I though just a simple movement and gesture and make a crowd laugh so hard..maybe i can do better next time. So during cambodia trip all of us have to act in the skit. I was okie with anything and acted as a doctor. I think we have to do 2 skits in a day and for 6 days contiuous. This was a simple skit but an experience for me as well as a filmmaker now. We have to make students laugh and feel interesting even though we are already doing it for 3-4 days for the 6-7 times...
Nothing much went on and I went to army.. UIP make me feel really depressed couple with guard duty and being COS duty. After afew weeks of uip suddenly an officer shouted out "Anyone have multimedia background?". Chin wee, Desmond and me raised our hands because all our diploma had "multimedia" word on it and we were picked out to be under a captain. He showed us the multimedia room and I was like "what the" there is such a cool room in army camp? So yeah we are suppose to do division video for the camp. I actually cant edit and was learning.. chin wee thought i couldn't do anything and we decided I did the most tedious yet most simple editing which was to create a pictures montage for the ending video using after effects. First and last time I touch after effects but was really cool.
After the video we went back to our depressing situation then Ronald asked me if I was interested to do video for NDP youtube and of course I said yes. Along with some that do not have film background we shoot whatever theme was given to us for the week. The life was shiok and I get to go so many places and met so many interesting people. We have Staff Sarivjit to drive us around and whenever we are done we can go home and report to camp next day evening. I met ppl like Li Nanxing, Irene Ang, BG Tan Chuan Jin (now MP), Kelvin Tan, Electrico and interesting tourists.. and been to the Flyer for free, went to media event, stage of the marina platform, and ops room where all the COLs operate for NDP, marina barage and even see how shooting gallery work together to shoot for NDP MTV 09.. there is so much more to mention...
After NDP I was convinced film was the path I wanted to take because my life changed and i'm more happy doing films. I took the chance to sign with JCM as a talent. I was cheated of money and they never got back to me. I applied ntu adm 2 times but was rejected. After ord I wanted to study film but I have no money so i wanted to work in films. Only h**ds replied and I couldn't fit in. I was a production assistant and did location but was abused and cheated of salary again. work for 5 weeks i think. I watched some audition tapes and observed onset.. I was thinking that is not so difficult. Haikel doesn't have looks and Belle is so diva and they can stay in the industry for so long...
The only thing I learned is probably their professionalism when they working with outsource ppl and females in the company.
After I left I went to try out acting. I went for afew audition. I was nervous and wasn't selected. After about a week or so a group ITE students contacted me and asked if I was interested to act for their fyp. And i thought why not?.. so in the end the assistant director cum writer decided to drop their mediacorp part time actor as the lead because he is too hard to work with and I became the lead. 3 days shoot became 8 days over 2 weeks. I learned alot about acting through self taught because the role was absuive, depress and violent. The lead artress was good and I learned alot from her infact we got to work again in my 2nd acting gig. It kickstart my momentum and thereafter I got afew more acting gigs. In the end the film was never release because of their imcompetence they have to redo the shoot using different casts.
I was working as a temp admin at that time and taking courses at objectifs and wrote and direct my first short film.. I was spending more than earning..roles became harder to get..from lead and supporting to extras for bigger production.. jobs in film was hard to find and I didn't want to do what I did in h**ds cause i never learned much and the time frame for each project is too long.. as a actor I can act for 2-3 projects at the same time over a month..
I decied it was time for me to stop whatever I was doing and find a decent job. Contacted joke and got into bis. I remember the night before I started work in bis i was still shooting for fairytales as passerby policemen...
Though still working in bis i still managed to get afew acting gigs and decided to direct yet another short film for a chance to work with jack neo and get out of my work situation. I hate to work on sat. I don't like what i do in bis yet i have no choice because i dont have a skillset in anything other than fixing computer and acting. Every now and then i keep thinking to myself should i go try out acting full time freelance for a while or go for acting class..sometimes i see myself onscreen i think i really cannot make it sia.. I didn't win anything for the filmfest but went for an audition for his upcoming movie and was casted as an extra.. again?!
At the age of 25, 1 year 3.5 months into my job.. i'm at a crossroad..i'm looking at my life..this is the turning point.. i could carry on in bis as long as God carries me or quit my job and find a better one and continue doing films as part time or hobby OR I can choose a path that is not certain and clear as a film maker but whether as a actor or director/writer producer i'm not sure. I want to quit my job and venture acting for a while..maybe 1 year? if cannot then find a part time job.. continue acting and consider studying BA in creative producing and see where i can go from there?
This is my life history so far! The journey continues…….
I hope next year when i blog again everything will be better...
