A surreal day- we went on location with Chin Yew, the founder of the '30 Day Artist' movement. We recorded him painting with acrylic on canvas and then grind chinese ink on an inkstone to draw a comic strip. These guys are famous for creating 40 works of art in 30 days.
I always thought artists required some time off in the woods to clear their minds and get some inspiration. Nowadays, it's all found on the internet! Chin Yew assures me that he still takes trips to go up north to experience the simpler life. He listens to conversations for the spark to get him going on his next piece of work.
I had a room like Chin Yew's when I was at college rushing artwork assignments and burning the midnight oil. His room was so cramped that I'm sure if I stretched out my leg, I would've broke a lamp! With all due respect, we creative folks need a cosy place to roll out that masterpiece. Large spaces make us feel alone but large spaces give videographers more room to maneuver! What a trip :)
Later, she gave each of us one of her famous accessories! Talk about being appreciated! Thanks Sze :D :D
Today, we were treated cordially by Szee Yoong (owner of Sze Accessories) during her videography session. She prepared a nice breakfast spread for us! We were even told where to find the most delicious swiss rolls (Atria, a shop called Bon Bon's)
Recoring Sze crafting her gorgeous accessories was a breeze. Her beautiful home (she will be moving in with her fiance after their wedding), decorated in the modern contemporary style, inspired us to find the perfect angles.
Though it was a little hard for us to move around in her cosy workshop, we still managed to get pretty shots of Sze doing her research and then forming something from nothing.
Sze treated us warmly and we were inspired to do our best for her!
We experienced first hand how she delicately crafted her famous trinkets. It required a balance of meticulous and delicate manipulation of the tiniest strand of material and all the while her mind is working like a sculptor's, seeing her creation taking form in her hands.
Later, she gave each of us one of her famous accessories! Talk about being appreciated! Thanks Sze :D :D
Cecilia was really smooth on the dance floor and I had a hard time 'flowing' with her with our video camera on the tripod dolly. Flowing with the pros.
The Martell Rising Personalities Award is back for 2009. We've already completed 10 up close interviews with this year's nominated personalities. We're in the midst of videography sessions on location to record the personalities at work in their element.
Today, we were at The Dance Point at Plaza Damas for videography of Cecelia Yong, the champion of the 'So You Think You Can Dance' season 2 competition on 8TV. She was really smooth on the dance floor and I had a hard time 'flowing' with her with our video camera on the tripod dolly. Watch out for the video. We'll be uploading it sometime next month.
Cecilia looked youthful and nimble. Together with her partner Billy, they worked their magic on the dance floor. Both Cecilia and Billy were very accommodating with me when I asked them to repeat various moves (stunts) from their dance sequence. These 'stunts' were usually physically demanding but they obliged time and again.
Tomorrow we'll be with the founder of Sze Accessories. The adventure continues :)
'Prior to the award night, WOLFANG DIGITAL produced Biography Videos of each of the award recipients...'
Martell VSOP hosts the 2008 'Rising Personalities Award' an extravagant gala dinner to honour 10 of the most promising personalities from various industries.
The Rising Personalities Awards recognises individuals who have risen above the competition, life’s challenges and more importantly, their own expectations, in their pursuit of career advancement and life as a whole.
WOLFANG DIGITAL captured the nuances and ambiance of the gala dinner as it unfolded. Our Videography team provided Live Video Feed which transmitted video of the Rising Personalities as they arrived, each chauffeured in a Mercedes. The video was played live to guests already lounging in the reception area.
Prior to the award night, WOLFANG DIGITAL produced Biography Videos of each of the award recipients. These videos were played for guests before each personality walked onto stage to receive their award.
A fashion show titled 'Birds of the Amazon' by Fashion Stylist Cris Yong, jointly produced by DJ Blink dazzled us with flamboyant haute coutour accompanied by exotic tunes. Grand Prize winner Joanne Yeoh also entertained us with her mastery of her violin, mesmerizing us with renditions of classical tunes. Malaysian Idol Jaclyn Victor also got into the act and presented us with choice songs.
WOLFANG DIGITAL projected the activities on stage onto colossal screens so guests could fully experience the awards ceremony regardless of their seating location.
We deployed two video cameras for this event: one to provide Live Video Feed while another mingled with guests, capturing choice close up shots. As before, this year's Gala Dinner was a fun experience for us.
Biography Videos. Another innovative product from WolFang Digital, is a delightful video that features YOU. One drawback about Biography videos is the limited time at our disposal to complete one. In our case, the interviews were quick because our client was had a tight schedule to work with. Videography sessions with luminaries like Justin Chan required that we not compromise on the quality of the video. This means less time for setting up and testing but the deliverable had to be top notch.
To counter this obvious disadvantage, we traveled with a small studio's worth of equipment and worked with a skeleton crew of 3.
The main challenge with this series of Biography Videos was the script- our objective was to let Justin speak freely, although within relaxed guidelines.
We had the privilege to visit rising star, Justin Chan in his home: a posh and contemporary two storied apartment in the centre of town. Appearing at ease and amicable, Justin made our job a breeze. He composed songs, played the guitar and even sang a few lines for us.
Justin told us that he has gotten a place of his own and would soon move out of his parent's home to accommodate his plans for a bigger audio production studio. Justin is apparently a family man with deep concerns for living up to his role as big brother to his siblings (Matthew and Jayde). While admiring his aspirations, we were taken aback by his congeniality. Most celebrities tend to be arrogant. Justin shares with us that having a humble attitude will take you to higher places.
I personally take this opportunity to congratulate Justin on his new company, BeanWorks Productions. I'm sure his future looks bright.
Services Provided: Videography, Video Editing, Motion Graphics, DVD Authoring, Launch Video
As interesting as it was challenging, this project took us all over the nation, to more than 50 entertainment outlets. Save Sunday, our team was out almost every night and back in the office the following morning to begin editing last night's videography.
The Martell VSOP Rise Above Dance Tour of 2006 comprised of 5 talented dancers from various dance styles including: Hip-hop, Jazz, Krumping, Capoeira, Street-funk, Freestyle, Salsa and Breakdance. This was an international dance team. The charismatic leader, Eric Devellerez, being a Burmese who grew up in Australia, bubbly Laura New, also an Australian, Andrew Sears is from the UK, hard training Manuela Oliveira from Spain and Capoeira exponent Paul Agyapong from Brazil.
Weaving around crowds of cheering onlookers with a video camera that weighs in at 5 Kgs is a physical feat in itself. Having to pull off elegant camera moves in a tight space becomes an ambitious undertaking. To confound the videography situation, most pubs, bars and clubs are dark. We had to have an assistant standing off-camera light up the scene with a mobile video light.
Each dance performance lasted up to 10 minutes. Audience participation was paramount to the client so the dance team always asked for volunteers to join them in a short dance sequence. We noticed audience in the outskirts were usually more spontaneous and less self-conscious than those in the big cities, go figure... In total, we spent about 20 minutes at a location, excluding the wait.
Oftentimes, we had to wait for a crowd build-up when we arrived at the first outlet for the night. Considering we had up to 3 outlets to visit every night, our team would only head home come stroke of midnight, sometimes later.
As usual, the WolFang Digital style is to place a fair amount of priority on audience reaction. We are satisfied with our extent of video coverage: audience cheering, excited, participating, laughing, etc.
All the video footage were transfered into our editing systems and compiled into a dynamic, attention grabbing 5 minutes video. We presented this video to our client who used this played this video during the launch of the Martell VSOP Rise Above Dance Competition. Gnarles Barkley's soundtrack, 'Crazy' drove the video to a frenzied pitch.
Our enthusiastic client, Pernod Ricard's Marketing Director, Terence Ong, personally expressed his compliments to us for producing such a rewarding experience through the video which truly brought out the essence of the event and launched the dance competition with a bang.
Finally, The dance team were each presented with a DVD of this video. They were overjoyed to have their adventures in Malaysia compiled into a disc. They loved the video we made for them, citing the stylish and elegant editing style accentuated with raw energy.
The anticipated debut of Martell's flagship cognac, the Creation Grand Extra launched with much fanfare at JW Mariott.
Guests were treated to a live orchestra, a fine-dining experience with a live demonstration from award-wining gourmet chef Eric Danger. The night was made more glamorous with violin performances by famed violinist, Genervie Kam and friends.
Looking back, the project seemed daunting; we had guests coming in from all over the region. Martell's Global Brand Ambassador, Mr. Jacques Menier was on the VIP list as well.
It has been almost two years since Martell launched its last flagship cognac, the Martell XO and we were all eager to give it our best shot.
Our greatest challenge would be the Live Video Feed. Michelin Chef Eric Danger would do a live cooking demonstration for the audience. I would be on stage with our video camera, recording the event and the video would be projected onto a large screen for all to see.
As with all Live Video Feed, the distance from the AV console to the demo area pose the greatest difficulty. Once that was overcome, we just had to stay away from obscuring the audience in the front row while projecting video for those at the back. It's a compromise because when we edit the video later, we would not get the best angles.
All things considered, the event went very well and I even got to sample the star of the show, the Creation Grand Extra. A long finish, with a hint of oak and dried nuts. Cheers!
Baron is the owner of WolFang Digital, full-time professional videographer and part-time lecturer with Saito College. He is also a Grass Valley accredited Edius Prime Trainer who has earned the coveted Silver Pin which authorises him to deliver the Edius Prime advanced Video Editing training anywhere in the world.
Even before winning the Cyberjaya Digital Video competition in 2004 for his entry 'BMW X5', Baron has been producing countless videos for numerous corporate clients. Many of his clients are international brand names like Standard Chartered Bank, Premiere Global Services, The Body Shop, Martell Cognac, Chivas Regal, Pernod Ricard, UniAsia Life Assurance, Public Bank and World Cybergames.
Baron is also an accomplished video editor and excels as a motion graphics director. He has edited many videos that he himself shot. Being a skilled scriptwriter as well, Mr. Baron is a master all-rounder who has the ability to complete a video production project from script to screen. He believes that a videographer who works out regularly and trains hard is a master with any video camera.
My Video Production company, WolFang Digital is in constant motion producing videos for the corporate world. There are countless anecdotes I've gathered from the field, many improvised solutions to odd problems we faced, interesting projects that we've completed.
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