My blog
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Fun and Games
Thursday, Aug 14, 2008 8:35PM / Standard Entry / Members only
Everything in Beijing has revolved around the Games of late, even myself!:
My local ping pong table before the opening ceremony. The city is eerily quiet as everyone watches TV at home. Everyone, that is, except this dog...
Waiting for the fireworks to go off during the opening ceremony. The real sky-show didn't begin until midnight, lots of waiting and listening to the radio!
The torch is lit - it's a massive flame! But after 4 hours of standing, everyone goes home, exhausted. There are no empty cabs, so people line the roads waiting for a ride. After getting back into the city, it takes me an hour to walk home. People chase empty cabs and "bag" the rights to them. Still, quite a memorable night!
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"Watch Me" US DVD Release: 电子邮鬼！
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 12:11PM / Standard Entry / Members only
DVD cover artwork for the indie Australian horror film, Watch Me 《电子邮鬼》, has been released by the film's distributor. The film, about a ghost seeking vengeance inside an email attachment, hits shelves on September 2nd. Amazon is doing pre-orders here. Cover looks pretty freaky!
Actor Dave Peterson, with his eyes sewn together, nabs the gruesome cover. You can see Dave below, just after the make-up artist, Louise, wreaked her havoc. He seems to be taking it all rather well!
Make-up took about an hour to apply, then he had to do the shoot that night blind (his eyes were literally glued together). Taking off the make-up was just as difficult as applying it! Clay casts of the actors' faces were made beforehand:
Also pretty freaky! In the end this idea of making fake eyes that fit the contours of the actor's face was abandoned, and the stitched together eyes were applied directly on set.
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Retro Movie Posters! 老电影海报！
Saturday, Jun 21, 2008 12:33PM / Standard Entry / Members only
Another day off shooting in Changchun so I headed to one of the antique markets, two floors of stores above a pet market. Very, very cool shops, including one that sells old equipment from the Changchun Film Studio: massive film projectors (taller in height than I am), old school TV cameras on wheels, studio lights, sound editing equipment, you name it. The highlight antique was a pristine condition 1916 Chicago manufactured 16 millimetre film projector. It even came with the certificate of warranty. Starting price? 10,000RMB. Instead I went and bought lots of retro film posters, supposedly hand-me-downs from cinemas. Starting prices ranged from 5 yuan to 200 yuan. They also had lots of massive 1960's Chinese film posters, starting at 500 yuan each. I didn't want to spend much money though, and most posters were so massive I wouldn't possibly have had the wall-space!
L'Animal, France, 1977. Jean-Paul Belmondo in a gorilla suit? Raquel Welch with an oozi?Gotta buy that!
The Rebel, Italy, 1980. Very Steve McQueen in Bullitt feel to the artwork.
Le Silencieux, France, 1973. Really like the artwork on this one. Reminds me of scenes in Bertolucci's The Conformist. Love the mafia types on the right, the girl in the forest on the left.
Disco Star (?) 1970's Bollywood film. Looks like an Indian version of Saturday Night Fever.
Army Station 51, China, 1961. They made a re-make of this in 2007. This was the most expensive poster, very different in style from the other 1960's posters of the time, much more film noir. I'm having a bunch of the posters framed and will leave the rest to when I have a bigger apartment!
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Puyi's 满洲国 Palace
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 6:16PM / Standard Entry / Members only
I've spent the last 12 days back in Changchun 长春, continuing my work on the war movie. On a day off shooting I went to former Emperor Puyi's 满洲国 palace! This is the palace built for him by the Japanese during his puppet reign over Manchuria (1931-1945).
The photo below is of Puyi's personal movie theatre, an enormous room with a very high ceiling, which he also used to play badminton in. I think there is also a scene of him watching movies alone in this room in "The Last Emperor".
The photo above is of the chairs facing the cinema screen! I was surprised there were only two chairs, though it's possible he used to have a more comfortable sofa in here and they moved in more "regal" chairs for the exhibit. Notice the holes in the walls for the projector. It all looks rather formal for saturday night movies!
Every morning, after spending two hours in the toilet (according to a guide), Puyi would have a shave and trim. This room is right next to his bedroom.
The formal dining room. This room also has an orchestra box for musicians to play in during the meal.
This is one of Puyi's cars (made in America).
This is Puyi's swimming pool. Apparently he couldn't swim in it because he was not supposed to be seen undressed. There is also a horse racing track. A very impressive museum and palace, definitely worth a look!
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鲜鱼口 Xianyukou Construction Workers
Sunday, May 25, 2008 8:13PM / Standard Entry / Members only
A few hours spent this afternoon in Xianyukou, near Qianmen. This is one of the more traditional (老北京) neighbourhoods here; hard-hatted construction workers "beautify"as well as "chai" (拆）.
