A Spring Day in Winter

This winter has been a strange one. We barely get any snow and then the weather at times was unseasonably warm even though it was only February or early March. On one of those late, warm afternoons, I went for a walk around Burke Lake, saw a beautiful strange bird fishing for dinner, and experience Days of Heaven moments which Terence Malick himself would approve.

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A Sneak Peek at Finding Rachel

It took Christopher Nolan about a year to make his first feature film Following on the weekends with his friends. How inspiring is that? So when my friend wrote a screenplay for Finding Rachel, we all decided to get together for a weekend to shoot a few scenes, even though the script was not entirely finished ... yet. We were a tiny cast & crew of four. Can't tell you much more about the story other than it's a romantic comedy loosely based on something that happened in real life.

I'm stoked to be the DP for Finding Rachel and edited a few scenes last night. Hopefully, we can finish this project one day. For now, here's a sneak peek at Finding Rachel, written and directed by Nora Hoang, starring Alex Chhang, sound & boom operated by Kathy Eng. All are close friends of mine. By the way, Alex is also one of the best Muay Thai fighters I know!

A Quiz for Terence Malick's Fans

We all know that Terence Malick films are not for everyone. Those who love them, LOVE them. Those who don't get them, can't stand them. I'm in the first category. Sometimes even when I don't get them, I still love them. Malick is well-known for his philosophical visual storytelling that showcases nature in her finest, most awe-inspiring moments. This video by Jacob T. Swinney demos just that. You'll have fun trying to guess which shots are from a Malick film and which shots are from a nature documentary. Have to admit ... I was a wrong a few times, huge Malick fan that I am.

Behind The Scene of "Hong Kong Strong" with Brandon Li's Director's Commentary

That's a mouthful of a title. But if you follow my blog, you know I'm a huge huge fan of Brandon Li, the talented nomadic filmmaker. His latest short film is Hong Kong Strong. It is a gorgeous roller coast ride through the iconic city. 

To start off, you can watch Hong Kong Strong here.

And here's Brandon's Director's Commentary:

And there's also a commentary by Steven Richard Davis, the composer of Hong Kong Strong:

If you're totally inspired now to go out there and make your own beautiful travel films, here's a bit of advice for filmmakers from Brandon.

Gus Van Sant's 6 Golden Rules of Filmmaking

Gus Van Sant shared his six rules of moviemaking with Moviemaker Magazine recently. 

Rule No. 6 on Photography is my favorite:

Don’t get cuckoo with the lights; you don’t really need them anymore. Film stocks today can handle wildly different color temperatures and low light levels. Keep the pace lively. Don’t waste too much time making the shot look perfect, moving objects on surfaces, playing with the blocking—just shoot it. Don’t over-think. Get a really good director of photography, but don’t fight with him. He has the same control over you that you have over the actors, so he can make you cry.
 

The remaining five rules are:

1. Be strong. Confident. Get enough sleep. And relax. 

2. Stand up for your ideas. Be direct, as in being a director. Take it easy, but don’t let them tell you how to make your movie.

3. Take control of the budget. Go through the budget line by line, and decide if the items in there are things that you really need—or need more of. 

4. Make the directions clear and simple for your actors. 

5. Take liberties with the script. It's not written in stone.

For more details, check out this Moviemaker Magazine's article.

 

Werner Herzog's Advice for New Filmmakers

I'm reading Werner Herzog's book Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed, a 592-page book full of fabulous passages on life and the art of filmmaking. 

Werner Herzog - image via Google.

Werner Herzog - image via Google.

Here's my favorite quote-of-the-day from Mr. Herzog, a self-taught filmmaker who saw his first movie at the age of 11:

“The best advice I can offer to those heading into the world of film is not to wait for the system to finance your projects and for others to decide your fate. If you can’t afford to make a million-dollar film, raise $10,000 and produce it yourself. That’s all you need to make a feature film these days. ”
— Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed

Cameron Douglas's "Lisbon Love" - Sofar London

I discovered Cameron Douglas, a talented musician based in London, totally by chance today on sofarsounds.com.

Cameron Douglas, performing at a Sofar London event. Image via Google.

Cameron Douglas, performing at a Sofar London event. Image via Google.

After my sister told me about sofarsounds.com, a website that brings together musicians and music lovers everywhere in the world, I started browsing their list of international musicians. And soon enough, I stumbled upon a couple of YouTube videos featuring Cameron Douglas.

On their site, Sofar describes their mission as: 

“Bringing the magic back to live music. Amazing artists in intimate spaces, performing stripped-back sets to carefully curated audiences. Please, arrive on time, stay to the end. Sit down, settle in and just listen. You’re gonna love it.”
— Sofarsounds.com

And you will! When you sign-up to attend a Sofar event, you won't know who will be performing until close to the day of. The live music event can be hosted anywhere, and usually in an intimate setting such as someone's home or rooftop.

A Sofar performance on a rooftop - image via sofarsounds.com.

A Sofar performance on a rooftop - image via sofarsounds.com.

It's an event made possible by music lovers for music lovers! My sister is attending one tomorrow and promised to tell me all about it!

When I'm next in London, I hope Cameron will be there performing again.