Unexpected Mid Autumn

Last night, at about 9.15pm, just as Avryl (with her little paper latern) and i were walking down the stairs from our 6th-storey HDB flat, heading for the playground nearby, my handphone chimed.

The call was from Qing Pao, a co-actor on "Xiao Niang Re".

QP as Hei Gou (black dog), with his arms folded

He has a couple of scenes in veteran actor/ first-time director Huang Yiliang's current feature production "Autumn in March".

A pic of Yiliang from the web

QP was, at that very moment, on location for a scene scrīpted for 2:  lead actor Bernard Tan and him.

Bernard as Damien the cameraman in "Truth Be Told"

Yiliang, exercising his perogative as Director, wanted a couple more guys added in. So Avryl went lantern-toting with her mum instead. :(

i arrived on location at about 9.50pm and things were generally good-to-go. We rehearsed the scene (seated at a neighbourhood coffee shop, drinking beer, eating peanuts, talking in Hokkien,etc) a couple times while they rehearsed the background actors.

While they shot a quick scene of Bernard walking to the coffeeshop to meet us, i snapped this one and only photo for the night:

After we wrapped, Yiliang, QP, me and most of the crew (many of whom i've worked with prior) stayed on for beer.

This was only the 3rd day of production and apparently, the first opportunity for the director and crew to have an informal sit-down...over beer no less.

i shan't go into detail what i've gleamed but suffice to say, between jokes, lighthearted jibes and feeling of comraderie,  i learned a thing or 2 as i witnessed the synergy between professionals.

Definitely not the mid-Autumn celebration i expected ;)