Last Saturday, one of my short films finally saw the light of day (actually, night), 16 months after production. It was screened publicly (ok, not that publicly since it was a private event) at the Butter Factory for cast and crew and friends.

The film is called The Trainee and it’s gone around the world in film festivals before arriving in Singapore for its debut screening. That’s kind of cool, is it not?

My co-star Sunny Pang is also really cool. He was in the movie, Perth, and he’s also going to be acting in like a zillion feature films this year so I think he’s someone to watch out for.

His hair has grown longer while mine has seen some shrinkage since we last met.

This was taken in September 2005 at the location set of The Trainee, which I blogged about in my ancient old blog but it’s kind of a too-long entry, so don’t check it out if you’re a restless sort of person.

Director Craig Rosenthal was at his humorous best on Saturday night with his opening speech. I shan’t tell you what it’s about, except that he thanked the people he needed to thank while talking about sex, which was wildly entertaining.

I think Craig made a really great film with a local flavour, an astounding accomplishment considering that he’s not local and he doesn’t speak Mandarin and Hokkien, which were the main languages for the film.

I don’t know how he did that!

Maybe he did it with the expert help of super producer Adriane (picture, right).

I’m still waiting for Adriane to give me my next job because the production house he works at has lots of cool jobs. Haha. Anyway, he’s been a great friend, besides being a wonderful producer who doesn’t have to yell to get things done, so I have a lot of faith in him.

Well, this is all very sad. I miss the production. Short films are really heartbreaking to act in. They’re too… short. I need to get myself checked into a long film or like a drama series which goes on forever.

This is a super busy week for me. One more week till production for Hole in the Wall starts and I’m not prepared. Things getting crazy at day job front, with projects piling up and getting bottle-necked.

…

You know what, I just came into a pseudo eureka type revelation:

Some blogs get to be really long because the writer can’t think of a way to end the entry gracefully, so they just ramble on until an end jumps out at them.

Or maybe it’s just me.

Well, anyway, I’m feeling very hyper now so I’m going to put on my ballet shoes and do a silly dance.

Tara!

Categories: Acting Journal
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Filming hasn’t even started for Hole in the Wall and already I’m dreading the end.

This is one short film that’s uncharacteristically demanding in terms of pre-production preparation, but I’m loving every moment of it. Rehearsals, costume fittings, styling, research, dance practice.

But because it’s so involving, I predict the aftermath will be all the more unbearable. Many actors know the feeling of abject loss and emptiness following the end of an acting project. The longer and more involved one is in the project, the worse the effect.

I suppose it’s something like what druggies term the “crash” after the “high”. Or something like what a person who gets dumped might go through.

It’s a horrible feeling.

You live in a totally fantastic world for a period of a month to a year, depending on what kind of project it is. You fall in love with the people around you, the sets, the story, everything. And then, one day, it just ends. Everything you hold dear is wrenched away from you, and your loved ones walk away from you forever.

Terrible, terrible.

And then you start craving more. MORE. MORE!

But why am I even thinking all this? Duh.

Let me enjoy the high first and later will take care of itself. I suppose.

Categories: Acting Journal
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I am sacrificing one precious night of EQ2 play time to write this blog because I’m afraid my dear blog readers will delete my URL off their bookmarks for lack of updates.

So, come back, y’all, I haven’t died yet.

I have been busy working (boring temp job) during weekdays, playing EQ2 weeknights, and going for rehearsals weekends.

I feel stretched really thin.

Despite that, I think 2007 started on a very good note.

On New Year’s Eve, I attended a rehearsal for my coming short film (Hole in the Wall).

On New Year’s Day, I had a costume fitting and a photoshoot.

It was kind of a bummer not being able to spend the long weekend hanging out with my friends, but I love rehearsals and costume fittings and photoshoots, so I guess it was an excellent tradeoff.

This is the first short film I’m doing in which I get to wear sponsored clothes (with at least five sets of clothing changes) so I love my producer to death for procuring the sponsorships.

I also get a ballet dress and ballet shoes custom-made for me. It’s so exciting. I’ve always wanted to be a ballerina.

To top that all, my co-star is that funny cute StarHub commercial (among countless other commercials) guy. (You can read Edric Hsu’s blog here.)

We were taking a wedding portrait to use as a prop for the film.

I repeat: THIS IS A BOGUS PHOTOSHOOT I AM NOT REALLY MARRIED TO THIS GUY.

I received a phone call from a dear friend yesterday. She said, “Qiaoyun!!! Are you pregnant?!”

“Er… no,” I said, “Never been.”

I was bewildered because this is a friend I hang out with a lot.

She said, “I just read your blog and you said you’re practising being pregnant!”

Ha ha ha.

I realise people have a tendency to misread things or jump to conclusions, so I feel a need to stress that this is not a real wedding photoshoot.

Anyway, here’s another photo with the director and producer.

The streets were teeming with locals and tourists on New Years’ Day, enjoying their long weekend. We saw a real marrying couple doing a real wedding photoshoot by the One Fullerton merlion. At least, I think they’re a real couple, just like how everyone probably thought Edric and I were a real couple (save for the more perceptive ones who recognise us as actors even if they don’t know our names).

When we were at Telok Ayer Street taking photos outside a temple, a tourist on a trishaw went past us. He smiled broadly and waved at us, and then he shouted, “I’m really happy for you!”

That was cute.

The shoot starts at the end of January, but we have rehearsals every weekend till then.

This was taken at our first rehearsal, which wasn’t so much a rehearsal as a session for exploring character and dialogue. Which is really cool. I love doing stuff like that.

Well, although I talk about having a good start to the year, I predict this will be a slow year for me.

Since I have to do real work to pay for singing and acting classes, I don’t really have time to get involved in too many acting projects, unless I can get long-term projects that pay at least as much as regular day jobs do. But that’s a luxury reserved for the lucky cream of the crop.

Low-fat nobodies like me have to rough it out and wait for a lucky break that may never come.

To look on the bright side of things, it makes life unpredictable and interesting.

But that is not to say that I am happy with the status quo. I am certainly not adverse to receiving my lucky break.

See, here is my practiced beseeching look.

“Please…?” it says to anyone who cares.

Categories: Acting Journal
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