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RYAN HUI MV - "TRANSFORMERS" IS ONLINE!
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 3:42AM / Members only
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RYAN HUI MVs - TRANSFORMERS x MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 12:14AM / Members only

Haven't had to time to blog the past several weeks cuz of multiple projects that just seemed to all happen at the same time! When it rains it pours! Its definitely been fun, but also a lot of work to try to finish everything on time! In fact, there are several blogs that I need to find time to post up!
But I'm back on the blog now with some fun stuff to show!
The most recent stuff I've been working on with the boys are developing and shooting 2 MUSIC VIDEOS for RYAN HUI, as he just finished his album and will be releasing it next month.
So his team needed a couple of videos for his two new singles, TRANSFORMERS and MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN.
We decided to shoot them each back-to-back on two days (in fact, we just wrapped today!)DAY 1 : "TRANSFORMERS"
First up was the single, "Transformers", and its about singers having to conform and transform themselves into an image that they are not. Record labels are notorious for this, and this is especially true in Hong Kong.
We shot all the way up in Tai Po, on the only abandoned street in NT!



One of our main props was a bed, which we had to put together on-set.
Ryan Fan signs.....check!
Its not the size that counts.....

Rob putting in that elbow grease!


Decisions, decisions.......
hmmmm......

Simon was director on this one....
.... and I manned the camera.
Of course, Ryan wanted in on the action....
... but I politely told him to go listen to Simon!
Also, Simon had a very "different" approach to directing......


... he wanted you to make him "feel it in his loins and channel your inner tiger!"
Hair and makeup is always important.





And of course we had to choose THE HOTTEST DAY to shoot OUTSIDE. I think I lost 20 pounds!

All in all, it was a very successful first day and we pulled off a very complicated shot that required precise timing as it was all done in one shot!DAY 2 : "MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN"
So with a good night's rest, it was onto day 2!
This time it was ROB who was front and center, playing a person who doesn't fit in and is just looking for that special someone that he can relate too. Oh, and he's also in a big Cat Costume!



As opposed to the first MV, which was all shot in ONE location, this video was shot in multiple locations: Mongkok, Shatin, Tai Po.
Rob's character was looking for his soul mate and Ryan was sort of a guardian angel looking over him.






Scottie giving some "brotherly" support....
When he does chance upon his soul mate, its none other than a MOUSE, played by the lovely Jane.




Overall, it was a very fun and creative experience! I love working on Music Videos because they are short and sweet and leave a lot of room to really be creative. These were no exceptions!
BIG THANK YOU to:
the Brothers Hui (Scottie and Ryan) for letting us work together!
Mr. Ass AKA Patrick Cheung!
the hard working team of HAIR, MAKE-UP, EXTRAS and DANCERS!
my boys, CB FRESH!
Keep an eye out for the videos, they will be released soon!
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NEW YORK : ADVERTISING, ATARI & MICHAEL JACKSON
Thursday, Aug 13, 2009 5:50PM / Members only
So before traveling to San Diego and Comicon, I made a 5-day stop in New York City. Having left that city to come to Hong Kong, it was great to finally be back and see what had changed.1. ADVERTISINGIt was interesting to see several different kinds of advertising techniques in one of the most commercial cities in the world.
A more traditional "Billboard-style" advert at the famous ad space at Houston & Broadway. They usually paint a massive ad and leave it up for a month or so.



This one took the billboard style one step further and completely wrapped the whole vehicle in the ad. I've seen subways covered on the outside but never the entire interior. It was pretty crazy.
The advertising even continued out of the subway car and onto the platform! I wonder how much all of this costs? Gotta love them advertising dollars =)

This was definitely the most unique form of advertising I saw on my trip. They have TELEVISIONS on their SHIRTS! Now guys have an excuse for staring at a girl's chest =)2. ATARINext stop was Atari headquarters, where one of my good friends was working. He said to drop by anytime and he'd give me the 10 cent tour.



Poster for their latest release, Ghostbusters the Videogame!
His desk, where all the magic happened. Currently he was working on the new MMO game, CHAMPIONS ONLINE. He was play testing some character designs and checking for improvements.








The ONLY way to work!Also posted about were some motivational words from ATARI:




And of course, I was hooked up with some GREAT swag items!





3. MICHAEL JACKSONFinally, the last stop of the day was to the Apollo Theater in Harlem, where they had a Michael Jackson memorial displayed.
















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SAN DIEGO : COMICON 2009
Thursday, Jul 30, 2009 12:31PM / Members only

I just returned from a 3 week trip to the United States and I'm slowly re-adjusting back into the Hong Kong State of mind.
The main reason for the trip was because one of my oldest and best friends was getting married in San Diego, and it just so happened to coincide with Comicon!
Along the way I also stopped by New York City, which I will blog about on the next one.
Having never been to San Diego or Comicon, I was quite excited to see what they both had to offer. This year was also quite appropriate for going because many friends from Hong Kong were also attending the Con or were in the San Diego area. Spencer, Jason and Digger were all there to keep me company.DAY 1 - ARRIVAL & EXHIBITION HALL
I knew that I was going to see some cool stuff but even right from the beginning I was surprised at what I found. There was a huge promotional push for District 9, one of my most eagerly anticipated movies of the year, and I was glad the studio was backing what was sure to be a great sci-fi film.

Comicon is basically divided into two parts: browsing the exhibition hall for products or attending a panel discussion with your favourite Film, Television or Comic creators.
I learned quickly that you had to pick and choose your battles. There was no way you could attend everything because the line ups were INCREDIBLY LONG. You really had to plan and decide where you wanted to go beforehand and then stick to your guns.

Of course, I didn't know any of this on MY FIRST DAY so I ignorantly highlighted all these cool panels I wanted to go see and thought there would be no problem getting in. Getting there thirty minutes before was surely enough time. WRONG.
This was the line up for the infamous HALL H.
Actually I don't think you can even call it a line. More like a MOSH PIT. In fact, the line snaked all the way around the convention center into the adjacent Marriot Hotel!
HALL H was where all the major studios and presenters spoke. Everyone from James Cameron to Peter Jackson to Johnny Depp showed up there, so it was no surprise that it would be packed.
Deterred, I decided to head into the main Exhibition Hall.
The first place I stopped by was the HEAVY METAL booth. For those who don't know, Heavy Metal is an adult sci-fi / fantasy magazine that had featured some of the industry's most prominent artists. The publisher and editor is Kevin Eastman, who also happens to be the co-creator of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (TMNT). Kevin happens to be a good friend of Digger's and In fact, the main reason I was able to go to the Con.


It also happened to be the 25th Anniversary of TMNT, so the booth was super packed with fans of the long running series.
I was helping out Digger with the promotion of his new project, A Fistful of Blood, a horror-western graphic novel that he is adapting into a feature film. The book was co-created by Kevin Eastman and he fully supported the project.
Promo action figure set piece for "A Fistful of Blood".
The gun replicas of the main character "Blondie". These things are totally bad ass with triple barrel action and a large spike protruding from the handle. OUCH!
The guns were created by Gentle Giant Studios, one of the major companies in the industry who have worked on Star Wars, Spiderman and the Harry Potter series just to name a few.




Freebies and swag were all over the place. You just had to grab a big bag and then be at the right place at the right time and start filling up! The rest of the day was left to scavenge through the main hall and see how much loot I could accumulate.DAY 2 : PANEL DISCUSSIONS
On the second day, I felt that I had gotten a good taste of the main floor and wanted to focus more on the interesting industry speakers. By the time I arrived, Hall H was already out of the question, so instead I headed up to the second floor where all the speaker rooms were.

FLASH FORWARD -
The first panel I attended was for a new tv show, FLASH FORWARD. The premise was about everyone in the world recieving a "flash" vision at the same time about the future. In this glimpse, people saw themselves with other partners, imprisoned, fighting for their lives to name a few. The first season is supposed to lead up to this glimpse and we are to see if the vision comes true or not. There is also an overarching plot about what caused the flash, as well as the fates of its protagonists.

The show was co-created by David S. Goyer (far right), who wrote all the Blade movies, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and Dark City. He also directed the pilot episode.
Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love).
John Cho (Better Luck Tomorrow, Harold & Kumar, Star Trek).
Courtney B. Vance (Law & Order : Criminal Intent).
Newcomer, Christine Woods.
They showed 15 minutes of the pilot and I have to say that it definitely looks great. It has a LOST-like appeal and could turn out really good if they keep up the intensity of the footage shown.
Speaking of LOST, just before the panel ended, they showed another trailer and when they got to the last shot...

...Dominic Monaghan, who plays Charlie on LOST, showed up and the room erupted! It was a pleasant surprise and definitely a fan favourite that he is going to be a part of this show.
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ -
Discussed his new film SHORTS, developed and filmed with his family. He talked about his movie empire and how it has developed into one of the most influential independant studios making movies today. The big studios give him a lot of creative freedom and he basically does everything in-house and with his family. He also gave tips of filmmaking and parenting in general.

DC NATION -
I have to admit that I haven't been following comics lately, and when I did I never really read the standard DC COMICS. It wasn't until one of my good friends at the wedding recommended that I read the latest Green Lantern series that I checked out what was going on.
To sum it up, the major story arc on everyone's lips this year is GREEN LANTERN : BLACKEST NIGHT. It was EVERYWHERE in comicon. There was a new animated movie, exclusive action figures, and (to continue the Green Lantern lovefest) it was on the official Comicon 2009 exclusive t-shirt. That alone should show how important it is.

So as you can guess, the DC NATION panel was mainly focused on Green Lantern, and the man who has been writing it for the past 5 years, Geoff Johns. He had been slowly building up the story until this point and now all the pieces were coming together. Lucky for me, I decided to jump on now, so I didn't have to wait all that time and I can read it all in one go.
Even though this panel was the one I had the least knowledge or interest in, it was probably one of the more fun ones because of the great energy of the moderator as well as the crowd interaction.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES : 25th ANNIVERSARY
The highlight of the day as well as the last panel I attended was for the 25th Anniversary of TMNT. I have many fond memories of the turtles and they definitely hold a place in my childhood as well as my facination with comics and character design.



On hand to discuss the history and evolution of the Turtles was:
Co-creator Kevin Eastman.
Steve Barron, director of the first (and best) live-action Turtles movie in 1990.
Producers Scott Mednick and Galen Walker, both industry veterans (having worked on Superman Returns, 300, Where The Wild Things Are & the animated TMNT movie in 2007).
They basically talked about the genesis of the turtles and its journey from black & white comic produced in their living room, to self-publishing and selling out their first 2 issues, to signing the toy deal and making the animated show which led to its breakthrough success, to its various movie incarnations, to the new animated tv show and into the future with the upcoming live-action film set for 2011.
There was even a surprise guest when Ernie Reyes Jr. ran up to the mic and asked a question.
It was a fantastic and informative discussion and the producers promised a darker more edgier turtles movie that was true to the original comics.DAY 3 : HALL H
Finally the day had come. I was ready to take on the olympian feat of trying to get into Hall H.
I had already missed out on some fantastic panels: James Cameron (showing for the first time footage from his new 3-D film, AVATAR); Peter Jackson discussing projects DISTRICT 9 and THE HOBBIT; Tim Burton & Johnny Depp for ALICE IN WONDERLAND. It was now or never.
Today was the last day for Hall H panels so I had to man up and jump into the trenches.
YES...this is a line.
Success! Finally after several hours of waiting, I had made it into the coveted HALL H.
You basically had to suck it up and prepare to be there all day because once you were inside, you wouldn't be able to come back in, and usually the best panels are at the end of the day. Today's highly anticipated panel was IRON MAN 2 but there were several other ones that were noteworthy.
First up:
LOST -
One of the best shows on television, this was also their last Comicon as the 2010 would be the end of the show. So suffice to say, the audience was expecting something big for their final hurrah.
First to show up were the writers and producers of the show, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof.
Jorge Garcia, who plays Hurley.
Michael Emerson, who plays Ben.

Josh Holloway, who plays Sawyer.
Nestor Carbonell (far right), who plays Richard Alpert.
Throughout the panel, they poked fun at the show and showed some great Fan-created material. They punched holes in most of the rumors flying around the net and even showed that they were not making the show up as they went along by locking up the supposed "final page" of the last episode's script in a box which was then supposed to be opened when the last episode aired.

This was quickly done away with as Sawyer threatened Cuse and Lindelof with a taser to open the box and read the ending. Then, as Michael Emerson read the page, it was revealed that it was actually a page for an episode of HEROES, much to the humor of the audience.
Finally, after showing a tribute video of characters who had passed away, with the last segment showing Charlie's death, the lights came on and revealed Dominic Monaghan standing on the stage, his second great entrance at Comicon!

MIKE JUDGE - EXTRACT
Next up was the new film by Mike Judge, creator of Beavis & Butthead, King of the Hill and director of OFFICE SPACE and IDIOCRACY. Extract seemed to be a continuation of Judge's take on blue collar work environments of the everyman.
Mike Judge (right).
Jason Bateman (Arrested Development, Hancock).
Mila Kunis (That 70s show).
SONY PANEL - ZOMBIELAND & 2012
The other big undead trend besides Vampires this year is the ever reliable Zombie genre, and this new film looked to bring the fun back, Shaun of the Dead-style. They showed the trailer and various clips and it definitely looks like a fun romp in a zombie wasteland.
2012, the latest from destruction director Roland Emmerich, is about the mayan legend of the world ending on that auspicious date. He showed several clips of stuff blowing up and people running for their lives. One question asked to him was what film who could do next since he had basically destroyed everything already in his movies, to which he replied, maybe he would do a romantic comedy!
Director Ruben Fleischer.
Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers, The People VS Larry Flynt.
Jessie Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale, The Village).
Director Roland Emmerich (Stargate, Independance Day, The Day After Tomorrow)
IRON MAN 2 -
Finally, the panel that everyone had been waiting for was about to start. You could feel the electricity as the crowd brimmed with excitement.




Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Elf, Zathura).
Robert Downey Jr. (IronMan, Sherlock Holmes, Tropic Thunder).
Scarlett Johansson (The Spirit, The Prestige, The Island, Lost in Translation).
Sam Rockwell (Moon, Frost/Nixon, Matchstick Men, Choke).
Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Ocean's 11-13, Reign Over Me, Crash).
After some teasing with some fake footage, Robert Downey demanded that Favreau give the audience what they want and show some real footage. To which he gladly obliged by showing an exclusive trailer.
The crowd went NUTS. But it wasn't until the final frames of the trailer when they revealed WAR MACHINE that the room completed EXPLODED IN CHEERS.





(yes I couldn't resist taking a few snaps!)
KEVIN SMITH -
And finally, last but not least there was writer/director Kevin Smith. How anyone could follow Iron Man 2, i really don't know but if anyone could do it Smith could. I heard him speak before in Toronto and he is by far one of the funniest and best speakers I have ever heard. He can talk about nothing and it would still be funny.
The great thing about listening to Smith is the way he handles the discussion. Where most panels seem rushed and constricted, Smith manuevers his talks with a very laid back attitude where he actually takes the time to TALK with his audience. If the person asking the question stutters, Smith gives them time to recover while most of the time going off on a random funny rant.
Listening to Kevin Smith was definitely a great way to end the immense day that was HALL H.DAY 4 : CLOSING DAY
By comparison, Sunday was much more chill and less hectic. Most of the exclusive toys and collectibles were already sold out, all the major panels had already been shown and most people had to work the next day.
There was one panel that I had to check out and that was the one for Stan Sakai, the creator of Usagi Yojimbo, another black & white comic about an animal warrior who was also celebrating his 25th anniversary.

It was also the day I decided to snag a couple of signatures where I could:
Tyrese Gibson (Transformers 2, Death Race) signing his new comic, MAYHEM.
Kevin Eastman (TMNT, Heavy Metal).
And of course, what would COMICON be without its two essential factors:COSTUMES...





...and BOOTH BABES!





Overall, this is has been an exhausting and fulfilling experience, one where I am now much more prepared for the next time. I saw a lot of cool stuff, heard a lot of cool news, and met a lot of cool people. Hopefully, by this time next year, I will be the one presenting something for the masses!

Oh, and one last note for you AliveNotDeaders, I saw a familiar face....
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AWARD WINNER FOR BEST MUSIC VIDEO!!!
Monday, Jul 6, 2009 1:44AM / Members only
So the wrap party for the " I SHOT HONG KONG" Film Festival was on Friday night and was again held at the swanky W Hotel.It was also on this night that they would be announcing the award winners for Best Documentary, Best Music Video, Best Short Film and the Audience Choice Awards.And it just so happens....WE WON!It was such a great feeling to have our name announced and then to have the crowd cheer in support. It really felt like all our hard work had paid off!In addition to the swanky Trophy, we were also given:A full LEGIT copy of FINAL CUT STUDIO 2 ($10,070 HKD)Studio time at a Post Production company in Cyberport ($10,000 HKD worth)


Afterwards, we were asked to PERFORM LIVE!Now this was quite nerve wracking for me since I AM NOT A PERFORMER... at all.I'm ALWAYS behind the camera. NEVER IN FRONT.So this was definitely a new experience for me and although I was excited, I was equally as nervous.


Although I stumbled on a few words, it was actually a very fun experience! Once I got up there and then the music played and then Simon started going at it, I just simply slipped into the right mode.The main issue was the the sound system of the lounge was not equipped to handle a concert of any kind and therefore had a muffled audio signal as well as my microphone cutting in and out, making it VERY hard to hear myself or what I was saying.Aside from that, I think I would be up to try it again in a better technical environment.
It was a great honor and privilege to be a part of this festival and have so much support from our friends and family. This experience had given me a lot of "firsts":First SONGFirst MUSIC VIDEOFirst AWARD WINFirst LIVE PERFORMANCEand several more!Overall, July has already started on a great note! Next up... COMICON!
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My guestbook More comments >
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Michael Chanposted on Thursday, Oct 22, 2009 12:16AM [Report]Glad you like those! Btw, you still owe me a photoshoot or two..!! haha Cheers and have a safe trip!! Cheers,
Michael aka R.O.I. -
Alan Waiposted on Sunday, Oct 18, 2009 11:40AM [Report]Hey Derrick! Thanks for dropping by & for the kind words. Sorry was out at a party last night so up later than usual to check to email & messages. :P Yeah sounds interesting. I should be able to meet up sometime today, so drop me a line & we'll try arrange something. :) -
Junichi Kajioka posted on Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 3:20PM [Report]Hey Derrick,
thanks for your support! :-) -
Derrick Siuposted on Tuesday, Sep 29, 2009 10:35AM [Report]Hey Derrick!! love your work (Just saw the piece you shot for Simon Yin's Fun Taiwan entry :) - cheers, another Derrick;) -
janewong1987posted on Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 4:18PM [Report]Thanks Derrick! Had lots of fun working with you guys. And I'm seriously considering being a mouse this Halloween ;-)
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Scottie Hui posted on Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 12:12AM [Report]3D left for dead??? I found something even better!! Left 4 Teletubbies in 3D!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-db9qgn99o -
Emily Eldridgeposted on Monday, Sep 21, 2009 8:05PM [Report]Rock!!! Good times ahead indeed.... See ya Weds! -
Tanya Bennettposted on Monday, Sep 7, 2009 1:09PM [Report]Spanxs very muchly, and yes for shizzle lets do something spectacular soon -
Pedro Chavesposted on Wednesday, Aug 26, 2009 4:25AM [Report]thanks for the support Derrick!
really greatly appreciated in these hard times!
:-) -
Etchyposted on Thursday, Jul 30, 2009 12:57PM [Report]actually its a toss up, in the short term you could get more views by splitting it up into pieces, but probably in the long run, you'll get a lot more views to the combined one because of search engine traffic (case in point, Jesskah's anime convention blog from two years ago is one of the most viewed blogs on here for exactly that reason, people searching for cosplay pics on google....) -
Derek Tsang posted on Saturday, Jun 20, 2009 2:44AM [Report]wazup dude? how's the making-of coming along? Can't wait to see it man. Hope all is well!! -
Chung Dha Lamposted on Friday, Jun 19, 2009 6:00PM [Report]Hey I want to know if you would like to film me cutting my own hair and trimming it. Either in a studio shoot or maybe with a short story line. - More comments >
Stats
- Derrick Fong was born in Winnipeg, Canada but grew up and lives in...Derrick Fong was born in Winnipeg, Canada but grew up and lives in
Toronto, Canada. At a very young age, Derrick was interested in
expressing himself creatively through sketching, painting and
photography. His informal education was fueled by a constant supply
of movies, music and comic books. Through these mediums, Derrick
expanded into graphic design, 3D animation, and visual effects. But
it was in filmmaking that Derrick found he could combine all these
traits into a single form. Cinematography was just an extension of
photography's composition and light; storyboards and concept sketchs
were an extension of traditional handdrawn art; poster art and visual
effects were an extension of the digital tools he had acquired.
His formal education includes: Earl Haig Secondary School and Don
Mills Collegiate; Humber College, where he studied 3D Animation for
Broadcast and Design; and The New York Film Academy in New York City,
where he completed the Filmmaking Program in 2005.
He currently splits his time between Hong Kong and New York. - Occupation: Cinematographer , Photographer , Animation / Special Effects
- Gender: Male
- Total visits: 77,878




































