Recently, I have been thinking about something- A post graduate study either in Architecture or Film. Probably battered by news of gloomy economies, the dread of job hunts, the new wave of film that is supposed to hit Singapore but not-yet.
Googled abit about USC and UCLA, here's an interesting suggestion.
"To sum it up, you have two options:
Option 1: Go to film school, spend 4 x $50,000 + $25,000 (thesis, if you get picked) = $225,000, win a couple festivals, and get your first job as a PA unless your dad is a producer.
If that’s your decision, then what school you want to go to depends on what kind of films you want to make. If you want to work on big Hollywood productions, go to UCLA. If you’re more of a Scorsese type or European filmmaker (and you’d rather go to a school located at the heart of New York City instead of a campus) go to NYU.
Option 2: Don’t go to film school, use the $225,000 to make a feature film, and who knows, if it’s good and fairly commercial, you just might get a distributor, and funding for your next feature film."
I honestly have been going back and forth about what I want to do in this industry. First it was studio directing, heading no where but Mediacorp for that matter. Next it was DOP-ing, then it was events broadcast. And that most common thing to dilemmas is you know what you don't want, but you don't know what you want. Sigh...
You know Boo Junfeng? Yea, he just got himself a premiere at Cannes film festival. I googled abit about him and landed at this interview:
" I think what was especially meaningful is the awards this time round was that Sharon Loh [the Director of Photography] and I won awards for our particular roles together. Because in 2005, when my film Family Portrait got the Best Film and Special Achievement awards, she was there with me and we were celebrating for the film. Following that, she shot Changi Murals, Katong Fugue, my Lucky 7 segment and Keluar Baris - and as you know, working for short films, you're doing it for free. It's quite a lot of work to do for something that is not paying, but she believed in what she was doing very much.
For Keluar Baris, I told her: "After this I'm going into film school. This is possibly my last short film for some time, so could you work with me this one last time?" And it took some convincing but she decided she wants to do this. And the first award of the night went to her.
And I think that was the only time that night I was close to tears. When she was on stage and just said - after she calmed her nerves - she basically just said, "It's really difficult to be a female and a cinematographer in Singapore."
Recently she shot Brian Gothong Tan's Invisible Children, so I believe she is the first female DOP to be doing a full-length feature in Singapore. And this is at a time when she was about to give up and just do wedding videos - not that there's anything wrong with that, but I just felt that her talent really could bring her places, and these two events probably gave her a lot more confidence.
The director always becomes the poster boy or poster girl for the work, but cinema is so collaborative - I see my job as a director as making sure that what I've envisioned is realised. This whole group of artists are also my collaborators - without any of them doing what they do, something is bound to fail. And I would say the other person who's helped me is Lim Ting Li, the sound engineer for almost all of my films.
You know all these people, they work for the passion, and they do it willingly, and they know that when recognition for the work comes, the spotlight will never be on them. And that is very admirable. "
There are like 3 stories going on in my head now, and I just visualise scenes and images in my head as I lie on the bed. Will head out to 星巴克!
Recently, I have been thinking about something- A post graduate study either in Architecture or Film. Probably battered by news of gloomy economies, the dread of job hunts, the new wave of film that is supposed to hit Singapore but not-yet.
Googled abit about USC and UCLA, here's an interesting suggestion.
"To sum it up, you have two options:
Option 1: Go to film school, spend 4 x $50,000 + $25,000 (thesis, if you get picked) = $225,000, win a couple festivals, and get your first job as a PA unless your dad is a producer.
If that’s your decision, then what school you want to go to depends on what kind of films you want to make. If you want to work on big Hollywood productions, go to UCLA. If you’re more of a Scorsese type or European filmmaker (and you’d rather go to a school located at the heart of New York City instead of a campus) go to NYU.
Option 2: Don’t go to film school, use the $225,000 to make a feature film, and who knows, if it’s good and fairly commercial, you just might get a distributor, and funding for your next feature film."
I honestly have been going back and forth about what I want to do in this industry. First it was studio directing, heading no where but Mediacorp for that matter. Next it was DOP-ing, then it was events broadcast. And that most common thing to dilemmas is you know what you don't want, but you don't know what you want. Sigh...
You know Boo Junfeng? Yea, he just got himself a premiere at Cannes film festival. I googled abit about him and landed at this interview:
" I think what was especially meaningful is the awards this time round was that Sharon Loh [the Director of Photography] and I won awards for our particular roles together. Because in 2005, when my film Family Portrait got the Best Film and Special Achievement awards, she was there with me and we were celebrating for the film. Following that, she shot Changi Murals, Katong Fugue, my Lucky 7 segment and Keluar Baris - and as you know, working for short films, you're doing it for free. It's quite a lot of work to do for something that is not paying, but she believed in what she was doing very much.
For Keluar Baris, I told her: "After this I'm going into film school. This is possibly my last short film for some time, so could you work with me this one last time?" And it took some convincing but she decided she wants to do this. And the first award of the night went to her.
And I think that was the only time that night I was close to tears. When she was on stage and just said - after she calmed her nerves - she basically just said, "It's really difficult to be a female and a cinematographer in Singapore."
Recently she shot Brian Gothong Tan's Invisible Children, so I believe she is the first female DOP to be doing a full-length feature in Singapore. And this is at a time when she was about to give up and just do wedding videos - not that there's anything wrong with that, but I just felt that her talent really could bring her places, and these two events probably gave her a lot more confidence.
The director always becomes the poster boy or poster girl for the work, but cinema is so collaborative - I see my job as a director as making sure that what I've envisioned is realised. This whole group of artists are also my collaborators - without any of them doing what they do, something is bound to fail. And I would say the other person who's helped me is Lim Ting Li, the sound engineer for almost all of my films.
You know all these people, they work for the passion, and they do it willingly, and they know that when recognition for the work comes, the spotlight will never be on them. And that is very admirable. "
There are like 3 stories going on in my head now, and I just visualise scenes and images in my head as I lie on the bed. Will head out to 星巴克!
