This could have been good, but I'm lazy...

Joining the production industry in KL has definitely changed me as a human being. I don't know whether the overall change is for the better or worse, but on a micro level, there are some very brilliant new skills that I'm acquiring. Things like punctuality, efficiency, and the wonderful ability to find you almost anything you want in this city.

I've also made a very conscious decision to keep my bitching to a 5 minute minimum for each non-industry friend I meet. I don't want to be that guy who complains about his job all the time. That being said, there are tons of things that I absolutely detest about work. Let me explain a little bit about production for a second though...

There are three phases to a confirmed shoot. The first phase is the prep stage, where you go about finding locations, talents, equipment, crew etc. It's the planning and presenting to clients stage. The second stage is the actual shooting of the commercial and the third stage is post-production where the processing, editing, and special effects are done. The first stage is what I absolutely hate. The third stage I don't know enough about because I'm always busy on the first two stages. The second stage though, I am absolutely in love with.

My good friend Pizza the Kid (Mr.Wong Himself) once described shoot as "exams after you've been studying like a fucker for a month". Which is the perfect way to describe them. Rushed late-night prep periods feel exactly like picking up your textbook at 6pm the day before mid-terms and the resulting shoot feels exactly like sitting in an exam hall and just praying that the stuff you studied for comes out. A lengthy prep period makes you extremely eager to go to shoot... it is a special feeling watching all the work that I hate to do coming together seamlessly in an intelligent, chronologically efficient, manner... and bugger it all. Shoot is FUN.

Today I got to drive a fire engine red BMW 330 Ci convertible with 19" Brighton rims and a Brighton bodykit back from the outskirts to the middle of the city. This is a serious car and when you drive it, alot of people turn around to have a serious look at it. It is triptronic and the gear shift is from the steering wheel, to give you that quasi-F1 feeling. It is effortlessly powerful, handles like a pair of handles, and is something I'd never have the opportunity to do on my current paycheck.

In the short time I've been working at Your Mother Pictures, I've got to do some cool things...

- Go all over the city on technical recces. Access to rooftops of skyscrapers in the center of town hence some of the best views of KL. Some have beautiful swimming pools, some have been around since the early 1900's. All make me love my city even more. From 40 storeys above the ground, traffic jams look fun.

- Drop a half-ton metal plate into the Klang River, smack in the middle of downtown KL from about 70 feet above the water... and then raise it back up and do it all over again. It creates a splash about 20 feet high and sounds like a bomb going off.

- Guide a helicopter to its proper landing area and then guiding it back up into the air.

- Go swimming in an underwater river

- Meet, flirt, and talk absolute nonsense with some of the hottest women I've ever seen.

- Watch countless sunrises and be amazed by each and every single one of them. My favorite was at the paddy fields in Sekinchan. Green as far as the eye can see, fog, birds flying in formation, silhouttes of old kampung houses, old man on a bicycle, purple clouds, orange skies. Gor-ges.

- Carry a walkie talkie.

- Drive El Stormo Guapo through Mars like terrain on the top of hill.

- Wade through leech infested ponds.

- Race that BMW convertible while driving a tricked out Mitsubishi Airtrek Turbo through morning traffic. Being late for crew call does amazing things to your ability to charge through traffic.

- Use a loud hailer.

- Cover the brand new unlaunched national car with a truckload of "mucus" (cooked tapioca starch with green food coloring).

- Smash a car with a sledgehammer and then turn it on its side. After that I had to get in and climb out through the window while acting like I didn't know what hit me.

- Flatten an entire beach with a tractor.

- Yell at massive amounts of extras.

- Work with a fun loving bunch of pirates (the crew).

Ok lah enough already. I love shooting. I love the focus, the maddening pace, the constant vigilance, the absolute control that one needs to co-ordinate 45 or so people through the blazing hot sun.

There is more but I'm exhausted. I started writing this blog coz I was too tired from today's shoot to go home immidiately. Now I'm too tired to continue writing it. Instead, I'm going to be lazy and post some pictures.

Man, this is my worst entry ever. I guess I really contradicted my opening paragraph.

Whatever, balls.