What's Cooking?
August 2009
We've been out over the weekend with Dax Phelan, an LA-based scriptwriter and cameraman who's in Hong Kong for a while, filming a trial episode for Hidden Hongkong, a new series we're developing that will explore and uncover some of the more unusual places in Hong Kong — places most tourists never get to see.
Futures in Film, our 20-minute educational film looking at careers in the Hong Kong movie industry, is done and dusted. It will be a two-DVD set, with the main film on the first DVD, and 18 separate interviews with different film professionals on the second disc.
June 2009
We've cut together three short test 'episodes' for Tea Trekking with AJ Halkes, a new travel-cum-adventure series we're developing in-house. Centred around tea, its various flavours and permutations, Tea Trekking with AJ Halkes takes the viewer on a journey into tea; not just its history and background (we all know wars were fought over it), but also its significance and impact on different cultures, and how tea has been adapted and changed to meet different cultural tastes. This is hand-on, feet-wet stuff. By the end of it, you'll want a good cup of tea!
UPDATE: We've put the first three shorts shot in Hong Kong, Malaysia and London, up on Vimeo — privately for now, but we'll be releasing them publicly on the web later in the year. If you'd like a sneak preview, drop us a line for the link and password.
May 2009
"It's video Jim, but not as we know it"......
Another project we're developing in-house that involves film and video, but this one's slightly different. WalkMe2 is an all-new location-based video navigation service that is designed to "show" you the way to a local destination, using optimised video, right on your phone or handheld. Eventually, you'll be able to use WalkMe2 from popular mobile devices like the iPhone or Blackberry.
The idea is to utilise user-supplied video content (filmed on pretty much anything) that is geo-tagged and keyword-tagged, that will guide from your starting point (your device, and therefore Walkme2, will know where you are) to wherever you want to go. It's not a navigation system in the traditional sense: its specifically designed for short(ish) distances, to enable people to find a location on foot (a hidden bar or club for instance).
April 2009
Electric Steps is complete (yay!) This film, set to music by Celestial, condenses a day in the life of the Mid-Levels Escalator into 5 very-fast-moving minutes. Using footage from three cameras we deployed throughout the day, Nick (our resident DoP and Final Cut Pro guru), and director Adrian have cut together a multi-view, split screen montage of life on the escalator.
UPDATE: you can now watch Electric Steps on in HD on our YouTube Channel, or on Vimeo, as well as here on the home page. The YouTube Channel includes a directors commentary version.
March 2009
We finally finished filming all prinicipal photography for Futures in Film, our 20-minute educational film about the Hong Kong movie industry. To be distributed to schools throughout Hong Kong later this year as a DVD, the video is designed to highlight the many roles, skills and professions still available to young people interested in a career in film. We ended up with so much useful footage that we will likely create two DVDs: one with the primary 20-minute overview to paint the big picture, and one with a full set of supplementary interviews that will go into much more detail.
February 2009
We decided it was time to do something different. The Mid-Levels escalator in Hong Kong is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. It connects the Central business district down near the harbour with Mid-levels residential areas further up the mountainside. The escalator is over 800 metres long, and rises 135 metres to Conduit Road, from its starting point on Des Voeux Road, Central. It carries over 50,000 people a day, and it's essentially right outside our door (we use it every day!). Since opening in 1993, a whole new "eco-system" has developed around the escalator. Shops, bars and restaurants have sprouted up along its entire route, particularly half way up — around Staunton and Elgin Streets — in the area now known as 'Soho'.
So, we thought, why not film a day in the life of the Mid-Levels escalator? From dawn to dusk, from its startup at 6.00 am to it's final few passengers scrambling to make it up before the midnight shutdown deadline. As it happens, we chose February 14th, Valentines' Day for the shoot.
We used three HDV cameras, one of which was stationary and locked down at a single position just about at the half way point. That camera recorded direct to disc throughout the day. The second main camera was a roving camera, and we took turns going out on the streets in and around the escalator to record the people, the community, and the lives that depend on this ever-moving machine. A third camera was deployed a certain times, particularly at the end of the day during the shutdown, when Government employees wend their way up the escalator, shutting down each set of steps as they go.
The result was over 40 hours of footage, which we've got to review and pare down into something — we'll see!
September 2008
We're currently working on a 20-minute educational film about the Hong Kong movie industry. To be distributed to schools throughout Hong Kong in early 2009, the video is designed to highlight the many roles, skills and professions still available to young people who are interested in a career in film.
August 2008
It's a busy time. We're all running around like headless... well, you know. But that doesn't mean we're interested in new projects. No no no. If you have something in mind, do get in touch. We'd be happy to give you a quote.
May 2008
The production of Pirate Trackers, our documentary following the lives of two dogs trained to sniff out pirate optical discs, continues a-pace. We've just launched a website to support the project and keep interested parties up to date on progress. You can learn more at www.piratetrackers.com.