Well, tomorrow’s the Big Day. Or a Big Day, anyway…
Well, tomorrow’s the Big Day. Or a Big Day, anyway: the start of principal photography. It’s hard to believe that May is already at the doorstep. I admit I’m a bit nervous; so many things could go wrong, but at the same time it’s also a bit of a relief to be actually shooting instead of just planning and working out details all the time. If things go smoothly I’ll be very happy. It’s been a bit drizzly today, but the rain has stopped. Hopefully the weather will not deteriorate any further, but if it does we’ll just reschedule. We did lose our still photographer Peter Ma, who got caught in the Hoping Hospital Quarantine (though he is quarantined at home). Lessee…limousine: check…lights: check…microphone and batteries: check…bribe money: check…
I did get some wierd news today concerning the last shoot I was on. It seems our esteemed host, who was nothing but gracious the whole time we were there, thought very little of my “abrupt” manner. Just when I thought I had my manners under control, too. This comes as no surprise, though; I’ve gotten such reactions many, many times in the past. One time I turned around in a store, caught myself in the mirror and thought: Damn, I look like one mean son of a bitch. And I wasn’t even in a bad mood.
Perhaps I should just effect a British accent, and people will think “He may seem mean, but he’s British so he must just be sardonic.” If they call me on the fake accent, I can always say, “Well, it’s either this or giving everyone an uncontrollable urge to hate me.” I think my father may have had a similar problem, which probably explains why he became an engineer. That and a predilection for cold, hard physics. I lack such ability in the hard sciences, though, so I just have to keep from giving a shit what people think. I’m happy, damn it!
Speaking of my sparkling personality, I got two more requests for radio interviews today about the damn book, one from CBS and one via Nelson Wu of the China Post from ICRT, which is somewhat strange since fellow filmmaker Jacques Van Wersch works at ICRT; all they had to do was ask him how to get in touch with me. I don’t know how I’m going to fit any interviews in with this filming schedule, but we’ll see what can be worked out. Actually, I’m surprised they can fit any non-SARS programming in their busy schedules.
I met an old co-worker for lunch today. His name is Cai Sen-tian but everyone calls him “Cai Tou” or “Vegetable Head”. We talked about the production and he gave me some hints and advice, as he is still a cameraman. He might also be able to help us get some fight choreography, since the film he’s working on at the moment contains a good deal of fighting. I also called Steven the Mover to ask about borrowing one of his little blue trucks to film the car chase. He said it shouldn’t be a problem. Things are slowly coming together.
