"BLACK" Official Thread

[Vincent Wong Yoon Wei]

Hi guys. I am currently in pre production stage for my next project titled "BLACK". It will be a neo-noir story with a touch of horror/thriller element to it. It will be shot with the DVX102B.

I will be writing and directing with my partner who will also be playing the main character. This will be the first feature length project of our newly formed production company Chaotic Serenity Pictures.

Location is Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, perfect because it is always raining, there are lots of old decaying buildings and train stations from the British Colony times, and a large and busy urban population.

Language will very likely be in Mandarin though English is still a high possibility. Just not sure how others would react to a Chinese cast speaking English.

This project was initially planned as a short 30 minutes film but has since been expanded to feature length. Due to timetable and monetary reasons, I have decided to shoot the movie in three 30 minutes parts (kinda like a TV episode).

I estimate that it take around three days of shoot and a few weeks of post to finish the first part. If the first part is successful, I can probably get some sponsorship to make the other two parts better. If I can't I will still finish them though it will probably take longer.

When all three parts are done, it will be combine into a feature length movie.

Current production date is around April or May.

Do check back here often for updates on the locations, characters, costumes, etc, etc.

I will post the finalized storyline hopefully next week but for now enjoy the main character's costume test stills.









I appreciate any comments or suggestions.

[Cynic821]

i wish the jacket didnt have a zipper. i like it though, hes got a beleivable face for movies. not the usual im clearly not an actor face we are used to seeing on here

[Vincent Wong Yoon Wei]

Originally Posted by Cynic821

i wish the jacket didnt have a zipper. i like it though, hes got a beleivable face for movies. not the usual im clearly not an actor face we are used to seeing on here

Thank you for your comment. I am stuck with the jacket since that's the only one I got. It is notoriously hard to find decent looking coat here since it is a very hot country that rains all the time.

The actor has some experiences in starring roles in shorts and supporting roles in features. He is definitely comfortable playing the conflicted man type of role.

[Herman Witkam]

Sounds interesting - I'd go for Mandarin language btw. Not that I speak it, but if it's the main language in your area, it sounds like a logical choice.

[Vincent Wong Yoon Wei]

Some updates. I have been working on a short video for a competition lately, using the main character and look for this movie as the basis. The girl is not the one that will be featured in the final movie.

Here are some stills taken from the video. This should give you some ideas as to what to expect in terms of the visuals. Take note that the compression to MP4 degraded the footages greatly.



















Story wise, I am currently working on the second draft. The first draft has been banished to my personal black hole. In the first draft there was a blatant attempt at creating a very pitiful, sad, and angry main character. There was an over reliance on shocking visuals and actions to make the character really dark and unlikeable. After much thought, I concluded that it was too pretentious and unoriginal. It lacks the human quality that makes us feel for the characters.

In the current draft, the main character is still not very likeable with not much redeeming quality except for his commitment and integrity to his job. I am still currently drawing out this main character and will be posting more updates soon.

The name of the main character is 'Black'. Sounds weird in English but in Chinese it will be fine.

Production date will have to be moved, very likely to end of the year. I have been booked to shoot a feature length movie in May and another one around July/August. Instead of shooting in three parts like originally planned, it will now be done in one go like a proper feature length production.

The current draft of the script has a bigger scope and I will need a bigger budget and bigger crew for this.

Do check back offend for updates. I will be posting pictures of locations and more test shoots when I have time.

[Vincent Wong Yoon Wei]

Originally Posted by Herman Witkam

Sounds interesting - I'd go for Mandarin language btw. Not that I speak it, but if it's the main language in your area, it sounds like a logical choice.

We actually speak a few different languages here. Malaysia is multi cultural and we have three main races (Malay, Chinese, Indian) and three main ethnic languages (Bahasa, Mandarin, Tamil).

The national language is Bahasa hence everyone here knows it. But since Malaysia was a British Colony, everyone here knows English fairly decently too.

The Malays, Chinese and Indians tend to stick with their language for everyday communication among their own race but will usually use English or Bahasa as a 'bridging' language between different races.

Therefore, different races speaking English is a common sight here though you are right. The cast will be mainly chinese so Mandarin is a logical choice.

I might throw in some English or Bahasa for certain scenes that feature other races.

[Herman Witkam]

Originally Posted by Vincent Wong Yoon Wei

We actually speak a few different languages here. Malaysia is multi cultural and we have three main races (Malay, Chinese, Indian) and three main ethnic languages (Bahasa, Mandarin, Tamil).

The national language is Bahasa hence everyone here knows it. But since Malaysia was a British Colony, everyone here knows English fairly decently too.

The Malays, Chinese and Indians tend to stick with their language for everyday communication among their own race but will usually use English or Bahasa as a 'bridging' language between different races.

Therefore, different races speaking English is a common sight here though you are right. The cast will be mainly chinese so Mandarin is a logical choice.

I might throw in some English or Bahasa for certain scenes that feature other races.

Thanks for clearing that up

[Vincent Wong Yoon Wei]

Exciting updates guys. We will be shooting Black (short version) as soon as next week. The current planned date is 26 or 27 April 2007.

Locations will be scouted this week and the script for this short version will be completed and finalized this week.

As of now, this short version will be done in a way where it will be a story by itself but will also allow me to continue it into a feature length version eventually.

It will be a three to four day shoot with quite a few locations to cover. It will be hectic!!!

The storyline in the latest draft is best described as one man's journey into the depths of darkness.

More updates will come this week.

[Vincent Wong Yoon Wei]

Latest updates!!! Principal photography will start this Thursday on the 26th of April 2007. It will be a three day shoot with one day contigency.

I will be doing some B rolls first this Wednesday on the 25th with an assistant.

Most locations have been locked down and two more will be confirmed tomorrow.

It is a little hectic as I have been busy with moving but this will be fun. Check back tomorrow for some costumes and locations stills.

[Vincent Wong Yoon Wei]

Sorry for the lack of updates this few days, been very busy but good news is, today we are in the second day of principal phtography.

But anyway, recap for for yesterday...

Day 1
We started a little later than planned because a friend of mine was late. We also have a little of a slow start in the first scene as I have trouble getting into the mood. It was a scene where the main character is watching TV and then falling asleep. I never did get the look and lighting right. It was OK initially but when I was previwing the footages later, I though it looked really bad. Let's hope I can get something out of during editing. We were delayed another hour because some guy was there to fix some stuff in the house and we have to stop shooting.

But things start to go smooth after that. We did a scene where the main character woke up from a nightmare. I got the look right and the main actor got the performances right. I experimented with a few more different angles this time. I was happy with the progress. With that scene done, we start preparing for the final two scenes.

We had to trash the lead actress house a little and dress her up for some CSI style crime scene stuff. I also took 'crime scene' photos for the final day of the shoot. With some CC in photoshop, the pictures should turn out great.

We also did some cool POV scene and also a touching flashback scene. I shoot as much angles as I can for options in editing. We overshoot the schedule by half and hour but we got all the needed scenes done for the day.

Overall a great start.

Despite the really LIMITED amount of crew, I think we got something exciting here.

I will post some production stills from day 1 as soon as I get the pictures.

Overall, it's a good start for day one though I am DEAD TIRED.


Day 2
Since it's only outdoor and some B rolls scenes today, I kept the crew to only four including myself because

1) it's so we can move around faster and easier with one car and

2) to minimized distraction as a big crew shooting around in the city might just attract unwanted distraction from the city police, we are shooting without a permit afterall.

The day did not start off well, I was late because I had to drive back to the house to retrieve my mobile phone. Furthermore, the art director/make-up artist could not make it because she wasn't feeling well.

We were also late by almost two hours because of the horrible jam in the city, (it's KL afterall).

When we finally did arrived at the first location, which is called Petaling Street (to you guys, that it's the Malaysia equalvalent of Chinatown), the weather was just perfect for the sunny afternoon look. We started with a scene that introduces the protagonist.

The actor (also my partner) was perfect for the role. He put a lot of effort into it. He based it after John Constantine from the movie 'Constantine' and man, he really captured it.

We got some really cool looking and expensive looking shot because it Petaling Street was really crowded and there were lots of people and cars and buses.

There were a few moments of tension between the main actor and I. There were a few instances were I said roll, action and he just stood there, doing nothing. So it became a situation of me waiting for him to start and him waiting for me to signal.

It was noisy and hot and I guess he didn't hear me or I didn't speak as loud as I should have.

There were also two instances where he looked into the camera in the middle of a take because he thought I was telling him something. (it was busy and there were lots of people around and he mistook someone else voice for mine).

I guess I need to really start briefing my actors better because I have a habit of just making changes or adding scenes at the last moments and more often than not, the actors were a little confused because I tend to not make the changes or addition clear enough.

I really need to improve my PR skills.

After getting some inserts of the city, we went to a the carpark of a shopping mall. Since the carpark is upstairs, we managed to get some really breathtaking helicopter shot of the city. Best of all, it was just raining heavily and it's perfect for the introduction to the short film. With those 'heli' shots done we went down to ground level for some slow shutter stuff also for the intro.

It's really cool with all the lights and cars passing around and the lights and motion in a really blurry dreamy way. It will be a great scene to set the tone to the short film.

With that done we call it a day. Tomorrow will be a big day. We have a key scene to shoot on a rooftop.

I only wish that it's smooth sailing like yesterday and today.

Do check back often for updates.