More babbling about my new project 談談我的新習作

Just some update about my new short film project, we just have the cast and crew, as well as most of the locations confirmed, currently, we are in the process of doing some rehearsals with actors, and trying to prepare the props.

I feel quite excited talking about the project here, as it is the first time I am blogging about a project during its production. It is something new and I hope it is also something I would enjoy doing. And I just want to let you guys know, every bit of your support is very important to me!

While it is still too early to talk about the story of the film itself, one can probably tell from the stills I uploaded that it is gonna be quite a dark film. It isn’t horror but the subject matter is definitely irritating and some may call it a little controversial. Yeah, I know it is just probably too abstract to say something like this, let’s wait for me to finish the film, and then I’ll try to cut a trailer asap and put it on this blog, so that you can get a sense of what I meant.

To me, filmmaking is more like a journey of exploration. Every time I am trying to make something different, or to practice a different approach. One of the advantages of making independent short film is that, it provides you with good opportunities to experiment without worrying too much about budget or expectations. You can do whatever you like as long as you have the resources you need.

Thinking about the shorts I made, I am quite proud to say that even though they might not be successful (from a mainstream perspective), I have learnt a lot every time. For instance, I learnt how to expect the unexpected when I was making Yellow Fish; In Therafter, I learnt how to interact with the crew (through a lot of trial and error), and in Dedicated to…, I realized some totally different approach to filmmaking. 

After tackling with family matters in Yellow Fish, tradition Chinese presentation of art in Thereafter (both films are about the role of a father, by coincidence..or not?), and personal emotions in Dedicated to…, this time I guess I am thinking a little bigger and wider, just like the Chinese saying “ 修身齊家治國平天下”, now I am moving forward slowly step by step.

Another good thing about filmmaking is that it gives you opportunities to read a lot. Last time when I made Thereafter, I spent quite a lot of time to find and read articles/books about traditional Chinese art. I wanted to learn how to represent and visualize the ideas of traditional Chinese arts and philosophy on the screen, especially the Taoist theory of landscape painting. This time I am also spending quite some time to read about articles relating to the subject matter. So in some senses filmmaking is a very good learning experience for me too! : )

Anyway, enough for the babbling… please look forward to my next film… but don’t expect too much, it is a low budget indie short film by some inexperienced fledgling filmmaker after all…

談一下我正在籌備的新作﹐正如之前說過﹐演員和幕後工作人員已經齊集﹐場景方面也大致安排妥當﹐現在我們正在和主要演員進行排練﹐也開始製作戲中需要的道具。

老實說﹐我是第一次一面拍電影﹐一面透過一個博客和他人分享感受。這對我來說是很新鮮和特別的事。希望我會持之以恆﹐繼續寫下去吧。不過我想告訴大家﹐你們對我的每一分支持﹐都是非常重要的!

現在談劇情好像有點言之尚早﹐不過大家有興趣的話﹐不妨看一看我日前上載的幾張概念照片。我想大家從相片中可以感到﹐這將是一部很黑暗的電影。不過這不是恐怖片﹐而是題材本身比較另類和富爭議性吧。我也知道這樣說是「講左等於無講」﹐比較抽象﹐看來我是想保持一點神秘感吧﹐哈哈。通常愈秘密的東西你就會愈想知道… 怎樣也好﹐就等我快點完成電影﹐剪一條預告片放上來給大家看﹐到時你們便會明白了。

談到拍電影﹐我覺得是一個充滿冒險性的旅程。每一次我都在嘗試拍不同的東西﹐利用不同的方法。拍攝獨立短片的一個好處﹐就是不用害怕成本和觀眾期望﹐總之在有限的資源內喜歡就拍!

回想以前拍攝的短片﹐我大膽講句﹐雖然未算成功( 在主流角度來看) ﹐但每次都讓我受益非淺。例如拍Yellow Fish 時﹐我學會應付突然發生的事( 試想主要演員突然退出…)

﹑拍Thereafter 時我又學會怎樣和工作人員溝通( 也付上了不少代價)

﹑而在拍Dedicated to… 的時候﹐則讓我嘗試了很多以往不會涉獵的拍攝方法。

中國人有句說話: 「修身齊家治國平天下」﹐拍過講家庭的Yellow Fish ﹑講傳統中國藝術表達的Thereafter ﹑講個人感情的Dedicated to… 後﹐今次我嘗試一下擴闊自己的思想空間﹐希望能走遠一點。

拍戲另一樣有趣的東西﹐是提供了很多閱讀機會。自從大學畢業後﹐看書的機會減少了﹐不過拍電影就是會逼你多看一點書﹐進修一下。記得上次拍Thereafter ﹐真的花了不少時間看一些傳統中國藝術的書籍﹐很希望能夠找尋一種藝術表達手法﹐把中國的哲學和藝術在電影上展示﹐尤其是充滿道家概念的山水畫藝術﹐最教我著迷。今次開拍新片﹐也不免參考了不少文獻﹐再一次提供了一個絕佳的學習機會!

我想今次寫得太長﹐大家也沒有心機看完。怎樣也好﹐希望大家期待我的新片… 但請勿期望太高﹐始終﹐這只是一部成本極低的獨立短片﹐拍攝者也是沒有什麼經驗的初出茅蘆的無名小輩吧了…