My blog
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HONG KONG ART FAIR 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009 3:53AM / Standard Entry
About a week ago I was able to attend this year's Hong Kong Art Fair. Having not been as knowledgeable about Hong Kong as I was a year ago, I jumped at the chance to check out the status of Art on this side of the world.
I knew I was definitely in for a treat and what followed didn't disappoint!1. ARRIVAL
Tennis legend, Martina Navratilova, was on hand for a live demonstration of art she created with tennis balls.2. INSIDE
3. THE ART
This was cool, a post apocalyptic take on "Journey To The West".
Check these pieces, which just HAVE to be seen in motion!
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDB1scPISwo
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ1deF7r_no
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lKoCXS81oc
I was getting a slight hint that it was time to go...
Overall, the 2009 Hong Kong Art showcased showcased a phenomenal amount of creative visions by both established and up-and-coming artists. It was very stimulating and got my creative muscle pumping, the sign of any good art show.
Can't wait til next year, where maybe it will be ME who has something to show
Oh yeah, one last thing:
WHO DOES THIS REMIND YOU OF?
I don't know if that's just coincidence or artistic inspiration. Maybe its just a little spiritual goodbye.
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FIRST SINGLE + MUSIC VIDEO SHOOT
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 2:17AM / Standard Entry
So this past weekend, Simon and myself shot and edited our first music video for our very first song.
I am by no means a musician or singer at any sort of level and I do not have any aspirations to become one. This was literally a little project that we came up with out of the blue and thought it would be fun to do.
Gratefully, we have a fantastic bunch of friends who helped us out big time and made what could have been a daunting prospect, a rather simple and very enjoyable one.
The actual premise and name of the song I will leave for when it gets released but I will talk about all the steps that got us here.
STEP 1 : RECORDING THE SONG
First thing we needed was a beat, so we approached our friend and super producer / drummer, Jun Kung. With the help of Don Cruz, Jun was able to craft a melody that was a fantastic fusion of Rock and Rap.
After that, it was up to us to come up with the lyrics, so we sat down and furiously wrote while bouncing ideas back and forth.
With the first draft done, we headed over to Jun's place and had an impromptu recording session, laying down the groundwork lyrically so that we could build from there.
For the next session, Jun invited us over to Aberdeen where we mixed in the same recording studio that legendary JACKY CHEUNG uses!!!
Suffice to say, it was an honor and a privilege to able to record there. With the track almost done, it was time to get ready for the Music Video (MV) shoot. Simon was leaving back for LA soon, so we knew we had to finish before he left.
STEP 2 : SHOOTING THE VIDEO
This being our first song and all, we decided to pull out all the stops and call ALL our friends! If we never made another video again, we wanted to be sure that everyone could get in on the fun.
With the stars confirmed and the dates set, all that was left was to pick up the camera and START SHOOTING!
Once again, thank you so much all you party people that came and helped us out. The footage looks fantastic and we're having trouble deciding what shots to use!
I will properly thank everyone in the next blog when the official video gets released.
Which brings me to my next point...
STEP 3 : POST-PRODUCTION & RELEASE
The edit was actually quite quick, and we are pretty much on picture lock. All that is left if color correction and some graphic work.
Here is THE PROBLEM:
Even though the video is practically finished, we can't show it until the END OF JUNE. This is because we decided to enter it into the I SHOT HONG KONG film festival and cannot release it to the public until then.
Which is a HUGE bummer because I'm really proud of this and want to show it off NOW! =P
Alas, we may release a teaser or material that is related to it in the meanwhile to wet your appetites.
Anyway, it was an amazing experience and something new as I have never recorded a song before. This in turn made shooting the video that much more cooler and fun because it was for OUR SONG.
Stay tuned and the watch for it soon!
PEACE!
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... AND WE'RE WRAPPED!!!
Wednesday, Apr 22, 2009 12:53PM / Standard Entry
Principal Photography : DONE!
Its been a crazy, exhausting and fun 2 months but now we've reached the end of production phase for Director Pang Ho Cheung's DREAMHOME, starring Josie Ho.
This being my first experience on a Hong Kong feature set, it was great to see the working styles compared to North America. Part of it is quite in line with the regimented system of union films, but there is also a big part of it that feels very much like my film school days, where we would just go and steal shots from location we didn't have permission to shoot in!
It was definitely a fantastic experience and I was able to meet some great people who have been in the industry for many years.
Director Pang with Stunt Coordinator / Actor Chin Ka Lok looking over the storyboards.
Pang directing Josie
Some cool camera set-ups like TWO REDS! and a body mount.
A tight fit for the photographer and the director lost in thought.
These are the exclusive crew shirts that I also designed.
The Thai Blood Crew!
The other stunt coordinator Fai who has worked on many films including Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3.
Ka Lok, who was part of Jackie Chan's stunt team and is well known in the Hong Kong industry, was recently in Shinjuku Incident.
Legendary Anthony Mutha Fuckin' Wong!!!
The young blood! Phat, Derek Tsang and Lawrence Chou.
Director Pang Ho Cheung
Lighting Designer Ming, who has worked on everything from Mission Impossible 3 to Wong Kar Wai.
Stills photographer Samuel, who works for Wing Shya.
Eason Chan also has a small role as Josie's boyfriend.
Now that the day to day filming is done, there is sort of a "Summer Camp" feeling I'm getting, where after being so close with these people nearly everyday, it feels strange not to see them. Call it withdrawal symptom if you want, but I do kinda miss the scheduled order and purpose to things.
Overall, a great experience and now its on to the real work ..... EDITING!
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WATCHMEN
Sunday, Mar 15, 2009 12:21PM / Standard Entry
"WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN?..."
Comic books are an interesting medium. They straddle between the the mental literary playground of novels and the visual audio feast of the movies. It was only when writers embraced this, that they were able to finally reach its potential. Although they started out as something of a form of entertainment for children, they have quickly evolved into a vehicle for telling mature, relevant and entertaining stories.
And one of the pioneering volumes for this cause is Alan Moore's Watchmen.
Seen by many as THE greatest superhero story ever told, Watchmen was able to capture everything that made superhero comics what they were and then flip it to make it completely different and original than anything superhero story that you've ever read.
What Alan Moore did was this: he made superheroes BELIEVABLE.
Practically every comic book superhero up to that point all had superpowers; only knocked out and captured their arch-enemies, never killing them; had no sexual relations; never swore; didn't do drugs or drank; they always lived by a strict moral code; they all had perfect bodies.
It was all very PG.
In Watchmen, heroes killed, maimed and cut villain's fingers off; they had sex; they swore and yelled at each other; lied, cheated and stole; some were fat and overweight.
They were REAL.
You felt that the way they reacted to situations was exactly how any sane normal person would. In fact, no one has ANY real superpowers except for one character. All these people dress up and fight crime as REGULAR people. Sure they have special gadgets and technology, but they don't have heat vision or cannot turn invisible.
Another landmark trait of Watchmen was the way the story was structured and the way in which Moore revealed the information to us. It has so many layers of depth, that multiple read-throughs is almost a requirement, as you will miss a lot the first time around. Everything has their place and just fits.
He perfectly captured what everyone was feeling in the era when the book was written, which was the mid 80's. Paranoia about the Cold War and nuclear proliferation was thick in the air, and it factors heavily into the politics of the book.
Now, the movie version has finally arrived.
Unlike most other comic book properties, Watchmen went through a long period of development hell. It was called "unfilmable", as the amount of character and story would be lost in the time limit of a motion picture.
Well, director Zack Snyder has done it.
Not only did he manage to fit the story into a 3-hour period, he was able to get the essence and mood of the book perfectly. Everything from the costume, set design and lighting of the movie are exactly off the pages of the graphic novel.
And the story still made sense. All the political turmoil of that era in the 1980's was captured. And if you've already read the original, there are many subtle scenes and events that happen that are not fully explained to the audience but that the veteran reader would understand.
Overall, Zack Snyder has succeeded in bringing the rich canvas that is Watchmen from the static medium of a graphic novel, to the reality of motion picture.
Alan Moore, who's previous works have all been bastardized and butchered from making the transition to the big screen, should definitely shake Zack Snyder's hand for staying so true to the source material and watch the Watchmen.
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FILM PROJECT - BEHIND THE SCENES PREVIEW
Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 1:41AM / Standard Entry
Hey guys,
Been 'missing in action' on AliveNotDead lately because i've been involved in a current film project for the past several weeks. After a couple weeks of rehearsals and pre-production meetings, we've finally started principal photography.
My body is almost getting used to being up at 6am in the morning. Almost.
Although I can't talk too much about it yet, I can at least share several unrevealing behind-the-scenes photos:
And, of course, I gotta save the best for last...
More updates coming soon!
Stats
- Derrick Fong was born in Winnipeg, Canada but grew up and lives in...
- Occupation: Cinematographer , Photographer , Animation / Special Effects
- Gender: Male
- Total visits: 79,125
