greatest day

bummer! balls! fuck!

Animax theme song

we were given the opportunity to make some interesting visuals for Animax, the anime channel. check it out at the feature section in our site. if you missed it, click on the work link in our site, and it's in our music videos segment. it really wasn't as easy as just making a music video k, other than the hard work. when we first got an email from Animax asking us if we were interested to work on a project, we had no idea what they had in mind. we had to produce a music video for the band Pupil, and at the same time display much of the brand promise of the channel. that's like killing 2 birds with one stone lor.

we decided that an anime featuring the band members in 4 various stereotypical anime world is to be animated. we added a little twist to the entire plot because i personally felt that it needed something to hold and tie the entire sequence. we came up with the idea that the characters in the anime world are looking at the real world and sees it as anime and think of anime world as reality. foncuse?

another challenge of this sequence was to work around with the green screen shots they have already taken much before. basically, it's like working backwards. it's like giving me 4 wheels and a steering wheel and ask me to make a car without a blueprint. now that's difficult. the other greater challenge was to work with our limited resource and still pushing its limit. we didn't have a fucking hot budget to hire 10 illustrators, 10 animators or whatever. it's just the few of us here at hue. not bad for a crazy bunch of rejects eh.

we were given this...

and we turned it into this.

i hope you enjoy watching it as much as we did making it. it was certainly a benchmark for us. now, if it's not your cup of tea, the least you can do is not tell me. the team spent weeks of sleepless nights to come out with that. these are some of the screenshots from the sequence.

use to be

everyone has their ghosts. some choose to hide them in the closet, and some try figuring them out. i have mine, just as you have yours. if anything at all, i'm all good being just me. i feel so fortunate doing what i do, and being who i am. we are all fine, with our little chipped ends.

someone asked me last night, why am i so close, yet i'm never. i replied, "my dear, i've been messed up a long time ago, and there's a hole where my heart should be. some things are broken inside and i just don't work that way anymore." for now, i'm good where i stand. my heart is cold, but it keeps me safe. i envy my dearest friends who are all married and attached. they seem happy. i use to be. i wish i am too, but i'm too tired to do anything about it, ever. it's so ironic. i would like to have someone in my life too, who wouldn't, but i'm just so afraid at the thought of getting into a relationship. i don't wanna take any more chances. took one too many, and went straight to jail without passing go, and not collecting 200.

i have been trying to just go out, start dating again, but it never ends well. either that, or i just couldn't keep going at it. i would like to blame it on my work or the age, but truth is, i'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired. i'd probably have to fix that hole and resolve my ghosts first, but i'm too tired to give a fuck. maybe in time, i'll find myself falling in love, but i'm sure it won't be any time soon. i'll take it as it comes. i've got some straightening out to do on my own. well, either way, life still goes on. oh bugga.

you can try

woo, this just works my day. and i thought i had a bad week. looks like someone had it worse. anything to get a review eh. is this the same dude that does this? you know you are fucked when your boss starts dancing around, literally. haha. well, cheerios, i hope he had fun dancing as much as i had fun watching. keep it up dude. you certainly have a much better chance at dancing. sorry, that was cheap. couldn't help it. haha.

whoops!! dude, you beat me to it la. i'll just stick to directing and designing. i lose hands down man.

touch up 101

this is the result of an image i recently touched up. just wanna share some light, geddit? some light. haha. nemind. anyways, this image was taken by julian without my knowledge. i'm not posing although i would if i knew. haha. now, let's begin our lesson no.1. in order to see what has been done to it, let's take a look at what it was before.
this is the original image that was taken. bad light, bad hierarchy of visuals, bad colour information, and er, bad everything else. if you notice, my jeans and my jacket is of different denim. my skin on my face doesn't look too appealing, and it certainly doesn't match my hand in the pocket. the background tends to be shouting louder than the subject. see how the whites on the back is on a higher level than the whites on the subject? colour saturation is too high and burnt on the subject. i had to bleach it to harmonize the levels. now that we have identified the problems, let's begin lesson no.1. step 1, i opened photoshop. step 2, i, er.... too many steps la, i'll continue this on the next chapter. tra la la. see you next time. thank you for joining me. this episode is brought to you by the letter H, U and E.

solace

i know i have issues. i realize acknowledging is not good enough. i'm not offended, and i take it gracefully. i really din mean to offend anyone, especially ppl that i'm close with. frankly, i never really cared about pissing ppl off; can't make everyone happy right or not, but there are some really close ones that i never want them to think otherwise or lesser of me. never needed the advice, just someone to listen. all i know in my head at this current point is that i need a friend just to listen or tell me things are gonna be alright, even if it doesn't. yes, certainly denial, but it helps. its not like i expect, but i really don't know who else to turn to.

i admit that my life's a walking drama. some are made and most are given. some i chose to amplify and most are handed down. it's true. its insecurities. i don't deny that. i'm not perfect, and i've always been trying to be a better person, especially with my insecurities, and my attention deficit disorder(ADD). subconsciously for me, he has always been my comfort and pillar. he tells me to jump, i say how high. his acknowledgement means the world to me. yes, i am dependant on him emotionally. my solace. he has always been even without him realizing. i know now that he can no longer be.

i apologize for my obnoxious behaviour. really can't help feeling stupid and the lousiest the past few days. i'll be there still for you if you ever need me despite whatever. im still your soldier my dear friend. push come to shove, i'll always be. im sorry.

ARGH!

OMG, this is really getting bad to worse. my whole creative career is on the line and nothing is materializing. is there no other way to do this? tired balls. everyone is burnt out. i don't know how to do this anymore, and i'm running out of time and solutions. three long years to build, and it takes one project to fuck this goodbye. give me this, i need this. please. ARGHHHH!!

im so intolerant to bullshit right now.

birds day

it's my birthday, but it sure hell feels just like another ordinary stressed out day. if i only had one wish, that would be to complete this project well. and soon. director happy, production house happy, agency happy, client happy, joey can sleep. pls give me at least one good night's sleep. that's the greatest present a man can ever have. but the looks of it, i doubt it. oh well.

4 in the morning

Gwen Stefani. i think she's one of those superstars that doesn't need to try to hard in being one. please, even if you don't like her tracks, you gotta admit she is talented. she's hot, a sassy attitude to go with that and she has sang some really great tracks that goes down in music history. this ain't one of them, but i adore this song.

apparently, this song is about the birth of her child, Kingston. not bad for a kid named after rams. anyways, i personally think this is one of those songs you play in your car as you take a midnight drive. i love the mood in this music video. love what 35mm and a little colour grade can do to a great subject. enjoy.

I wanna dye

it's been a crazy week. the weekends ain't easing up either. fuck. got a fucking fever last night in the midst of a deadline. why la. as if i not enough stress as it is. kaninehhhh! got so fed up, i decided to do an overhaul on my hair. bleach, dye, wash and cut. all for 240 ringgit. waa-laa! this is what i look like now. it's actually ash colour. quite nice the colour, just not on me i guess. lol.

no more the stupid rain+my chemical romance look. haha. at least thats what i wanted initially. what was i thinking the last time when i combine an asian with a gwai lou. you get sohai hair. its like mix breeding between a pitbull and a shitzu. what you get? bullshit lor.

dunno la, got that hongkie ah beng feel to it. dun really like it, but hell, its fucking therapeutic lor. feels so much better. can you feel the ahbengism?

take a 5

a close friend of mine, joachim, introduced me to this tune and i've been loving it ever since. my anthem of serenity and solitude. this track makes me wanna take a five... minute break every time i listen to it. the lyrics to the track.

Above & Beyond - Good For Me
To be with you is easy
I know you're good for me
This feeling inside me
Oh it sends me sky high

To for feel for you is easy oh baby
I know your good for me
This feeling inside me
Oh it sends me sky high

You're good for me my baby
So good for me my love
Your good for me my baby
So good for me oh love

of course this feeling sends me sky high la, just chill oni. no worries. so above and beyond on a five... minute break.

chicken and duck

ocassionally, we do a chicken and duck, and I get this stupid.

click on the image for a closer read.

he malas wanna layan me after that.

he sure lovin' it

awww. no worries, i'm sure he won't leave.

to mom

happy birthday mommy. i know it was yesterday. i hope you are reading this, just as you read the rest of it. haha. i hope the flowers reach you well in Singapore. and i hope you like them. i love you so much, mi. queen of my heart. ah, don't cry ah. you cry, i cry wan leh.

to a close friend

to my dearest friend,

i hope this reaches you well. i know it hurts inside my dear. i feel you hurting though i don't show it. i really don't know what else to do. i would take it as my own if it helps ease the pain. please don't be blaming yourself or feel second best. you are worth so much more, take it from me. it's not your fault that he did what he did. neither is it your fault that the marriage was shaken. it was his period. the selfish bastard fucked up! it's that simple. though im aware that even if its his fault, its you thats gonna bear the consequence. i know you are dying a little inside every day, and things can't be the way it use to be, as much as you wish it could. it's ok to be weak for now, we are only human, but know that you'll need to pull yourself out of it eventually. i can't decide for you but i'll be here like a soldier for you. you'll need to move on. and time is your only cure. you'll wake up one day and it won't hurt as much. but for now, take each step at a time. im behind you each step of the way. it's gonna be alright my dear.

hugs.

ju-hann

sacred pain

meet charlene. she is getting her tattoo done. zzt-zzt-zzt. haha. i took this over the weekends when i dropped by the shop and she was there getting her 3rd session. she probably has another 3 sessions to go. the piece is huge lor. i bet she is one strong girl. she's pretty determine to get it all done asap. at least she doesn't whin like a girl like another friend of mine, which i also designed for across the back. haha. and hers is larger and has much more details mind you.


this is the original artwork as painted in photoshop. good luck my dear charlene. haha. bes eh kena that spot? well, that's the shit you go tru when you get joey khor to art direct. it won't be some simple shit that's for sure. haha. literally, no pain no gain.

what i do

most of you already know what i do, and some of you are still fucking vague. its ok if you don't get, what's most important is that i get it anyway. haha. but if this turns you on as much it does to me, then lemme share with you the recent shoot in Jakarta. and for those of you who knows a little, don't give me your 2 cents worth and try educating me like you've been there done that. i take shit from the client, i dun have to take it from you. till the day you are la.

of course the client is p&c, so i can't disclose that or the intention of the TVC. but i'll be sharing with you a day on shoot. lights, camera, action! everytime i walk into a studio before the shoot, when the lights are still dim, and everyone is setting up, i feel strong and good. its my world of make belief, and for that brief moment, i get away from reality.

i arrived in Jakarta on Friday afternoon, and immediately head for a pre-production meeting with the production house. was bouncing off with the art director on the specifications of the props, cos this is a fairly large set. we actually decided to build to front deck of a cruise ship on separate plates, brought in a jeep, and shipped an actual hot air baloon basket from Bali, all by Sunday morning, cos we shoot on Monday. in lay man's terms, all that meticulously done in a day.
that's not all, we had to be precise with how many light that would do the trick. too few, and you're fucked, too many and the cost goes up. we shot the whole thing on a 16mm camera, so we had to prepare tracks, film stock, and a whole lot of other gadgets that you probably can't pronounce.

the front plate of the deck is build to actual scale over night. siap got lights that works and flashes, with lifesavers. haha. i respect their professionalism.

this is from my angle when we shoot. however, we shot on film, so you wont' be getting what you are seeing in the viewfinder. dunno why i seem to be running up and down the studio like a headless chicken the whole day. tired balls.

testing out the rotation of the basket, too slow, and you waste film, too fast and you don't have enough frames. it's a bitch when either one happens lor.

this is on shoot day with the talents in the basket. i kesian the talents lor. we worked the poor kids to the bone, takes after takes, but that's part of professionalism ain't it. as we were delayed with some technical hiccups, the female talent, shalwini, got a bit bored of waiting as her co talent, chiko is digging some really chunky gold. bet you didn't see me take that did you? haha. i see everything my dear friend. that's my job. haha.

in a shoot, it's always true with the theory, 'what can go wrong will always go wrong'. and it's certainly not easy doing what i do, plus the pay ain't all that. and that's just the shoot, we have the animation and compositing from there on. however, im excited to see the complete motion after 2 weeks. will keep you posted if you are too.

i am fortunate to do what i do. i love this more than anything else and i live to do it all over again.