fear of the camera

I have been doing pre production for the past month on my new short film, 3 For A Dollar. Auditioning, gathering my crew and all. and as the pre production progresses, I find myself always in the same position as I have while I was preparing for my previous short films: the film gets bigger. Inevitably, as I gather friends to help out on the short film, our ambitions over take us and the film takes on a life of its own. It starts growing and growing, and eventually becomes a massive undetaking.

Before I started pre production on this film, I made a promise to myself that I will keep it small. Partly because I do not want to bankrupt myself again for another short film. But more importantly, I just wanted to make a film where it will just involve me, my actors and a camera. As I mentioned in my previous blog, this residency is about getting down to the basics. I did not want any of the baggage that comes with filmmaking. The big lights, the big sets, the big crew.

And I have to constantly remind myself of that.

I have to remind myself that short films are not about the most polished cinematography, or the most lavish sets or the most famous actors. It is about story telling. And the only tool I need to tell a story is the camera.

It is quite telling when most of my short films have been massive and expensive projects. I find myself almost afraid of using just the camera. I find myself having to embellish my filmmaking with ornaments and justify them with a big budget.

Well, with this residency, I hope to use just the camera and tell my stories. And at the end of the day, hope my films will be just as affective.

Ellery

PS: Aaron, here is a photo of Singapore's Char Kway Teow. Although if you want the real thing, you will have to go to Penang, Malaysia. That's where the best Char Kway Teow is.