The Last Chocolate - The First Taste

Recently, I attended a one-take workshop (doing a movie in one single take) conducted by Song Il-gon. As part of the workshop, we were supposed to come up with our own short script and shoot a one-take movie. This I did, but not without much difficulty, uncertainty and 'dammit, I hate Korean weather'-ility.

Here are some of the pictures taken from behind the scenes of 'The Last Chocolate.'


The skirt and the shirt: My actors, Na Young (left) and Yu. I had written the script in English, but they had difficulty memorising it, so I changed it to Korean. Well, I decided to change it to Korean; they changed it themselves. It worked out alright in the end.


Look, no hands: Telling my actors how I want it to happen. Next to me is Park Chan, my cameraman. He works at JIFA, and has been quite helpful to all of us from time to time. In this case, it's the first time when I'm not working as a dedicated camera operator. It feels a little strange.


When in doubt: look back at the script.


Park it here: Telling Chan shi how I want what to be recorded.


Letting go: finally letting all of them get on with it.

All in all, it went well. Considering that I changed a lot of things right up to the last minute (minor details to the script, the location, etc), things went well. I wanted to do another take, but it was already dark, so I wasn't too happy with the final footage. Having said that, it was only for a workshop, and I'll do it later when I have more time to develop everything.

Then Il-gon hyong (brother) got his hands on it...

Psycho Goes Mad

Some behind the scenes shot of 'The Psycho Returns'.


Scripted: I spent some time on the script, knowing that I have a legacy of Psycho movies to live up to and fans to satisfy. On a more trivial note, this is also one of the first pictures I took with my FZ7.


Boarding school: I learnt my lessons after Goldfish, and storyboarded everything, including the teaser, trailer and the movie itself. Of course, it's crap, but it made for some stressfree production.


Life imitates art: Or the other way round, depending on how you look at this picture (and depending even further on your definition of life and art). Tascha, when we weren't busy killing her, serves as the principal photographer for the movie. "Nah," I said to her, lumping my camera in her hands, "take some pictures." One of the pix that I looked at at realised that it was a good decision.


Back to back: And here's another one. Completely forgot about the mirror in the bathroom, so I had to change my position. Worked out well in the end (and a decent picture to boot).


The Psycho: wihom (dangerous).


Unholy trinity: the director (far right, duh) with his two stars, Damon as...well, Damon, and Pele as the psychotic killer.


Focus pocus: The depth of field in the shots became a problem, especially for the night shots. I couldn't really see through the viewfinder, and only later I realise the flawed photography. No one seemed to mind too much, though.


Action!: One of the moments that I felt like a true director, telling Pele exactly how it's gonna go down. I've decided to include a mention of Goldfish in one form or another in all of my movies (or at least try my damnest), so lookout for that. Within ten years, it'll be in the trivia section of my profile on imdb.com.


Handy: Half tribute to Kerry Ann that didn't really make it into the movie. The numbers were already there, for some reason. The red looks good, though.


Killer shot: Another moment of directorial pleasure. And another picture to remind me that I need to exercise. Hard...


Psycho pitstop: Pele taking a breather.


The Big Sleep: zzz....


...but not for long: Was in the toilet while all this was happening. Heard a lot of commotion and came out to Pele completely caving under the pressure of landing the Psycho role. "DIE, BASTARD, DIE!!" rang out in the midst of the side splitting laughters from me, Damon and Tascha.


Caperkirs: Does her T-Rex impression well-ish. Rrrr....

Twas a lot of fun, fleeting by the long moments of solitary editing, creative considerations and wondering how to best kill my newfound friends. In the end, everyone got into it, and so a big up to the cast. Here's to you guys.

And for those who still haven't seen it (or want to have a good laugh again), check these:

Teaser
Trailer
The Psycho Returns Vol. 1
The Psycho Returns Vol. 2

World Cup Fever - TAY-HANMINGKUK!!

With the World Cup Final upon us, I thought it an appropriate time to finally get off my arse, and get some pics online. They were taken from the night of Korea's first match against Togo.


If there's a will, there's a way: unless that will is to block the main road and set up big screens to show football, of course.


Mass miscommunication at 6pm: Someone didn't tell these lot that the match starts at 10:00pm (local time). Having said that, the big screen here showed the TV coverage from the World Cup stadium in Seoul, which was absolutely packed with people at the same time.


Fighting Corea: (l-r) Park Pele, Choi Tascha, Kim Kae and Kokiri aka Kepoki aka Kim Ki Fri (I wonder why I have so many nicks). The scarf I'm holding is a birthday present from Mr Kuwatanasilpa (Pele). Cheers, mate.


Be The Reds!: Damon didn't have a red shirt, and felt left out, so he bought one here.


Wiguk Saram (foreigner): Horny.


The light says green:...but it's the Red sea (of people) that parts.


If two's company...


And the beat goes on: I actually went up on the side of the stage and took this shot. I like the accessibility.


A family affair: Many people brought their whole family along.


Random Koreans: Friendly. I didn't know their name, but they made some space for us to sit with them.


Point of view: I can see OK from here, but I wondered how the people further behind me fared. Oh, and they sang songs. All night long.


Ordered: A goal Togo, please. Ho hum. :>


Back at COAP: The masses crowded in. They even blocked the way to the elevator. I had to walk around the building to get to it.

Of course, we know now that Korea didn't get past the first round. But it was an interesting experience nonetheless to be able to watch a country's enthusiasm for its national team. I've seen what it's like in England, but the difference is that the Koreans get behind their team one hundred percent, while the English are not afraid to criticise.

At least now I can get some sleep...