Hmmm, so we are supposed to write a final post here. I haven’t much to write about except for reflections on this module, Storytelling.
It’s been a good ride, with Leslie being the most open-minded and approachable lecturer I’d ever come across. He swears during lesson sometimes, which is SO COOL for a lecturer, mind you. I honestly think soooo, but I’m not sure about others though. And sense of humor is needed for any kind of lecture, SERIOUSLY. If not we will just sleep away during the lesson. The overall experience have been fun and the one thing I will not forget from this module is the screening of Old Boy. Well well, the sex scenes are explicit and stunned me. I didn’t expect such a film to be screened in lectures BUT I enjoyed it because it’s an awesome film overall. I like the plot best, so unexpected and surprisingly satisfying for me at the end. I’m going to walk away from this module with two things, I’ll tell you here now.
1st: The storytelling techniques that are going to be helpful for my future scriptwriting career I’m hopeful for.
“Regrets, I’ve had a few; But then again, too few to mention.”
Any fan of Frank Sinatra would know what song the lyrics belong to. Yes, it’s “My Way” by Sinatra the legend. I love this particular sentence from the song especially, and coincidentally, heard it playing on someone’s mobile phone somewhere while I was walking out of the alley behind Rochor Tau Hway on Friday night with friends. The tau hway there is delicious by the way. Anyway, back to topic, I think there were four grown-ups sitting by the table eating their tau hway, and one of them was singing to this song as it play. Don’t get confuse, these three men and erm, one woman, although seemingly aged around late 30s, were actually well-dressed and looked educated.
That moment sprung back memories like when my Dad used to listen this song on his laptop and I would always ask him what song it is whenever I walked past. It may be the only oldie I like cause the lyrics are really really real and inspiring. Yes, REAL like REALITY.
Majority grow old, look back and think, what are my regrets in life? What was it that I did and till this day still hold onto this regret? For myself, I wouldn’t want to end up this way though. And then there’s a quote from my favorite actor/director/screenwriter, Stuart Townsend, he’s Irish and he’s HOT. There you go, a photo for u gals!
Yeah, so where was I? Yes, I was about to mention the quote he said which I find very surreal.
“If you could take a look at the map of your life one day, would you?”
My answer is “No.” why? Because life is full of surprises and excitement! I like living the moment itself. So, why would I want to look at my map and spoil everything? right?
Just like they say, God has a plan for each of us. We can’t find out what it is until we have gone through it. A quote that my dad loves to say, “I don’t want to lie on my deathbed one day and say, ‘I wish I had done that.’ “ He seldom sound so intellectual, i bet he steal it from some philosopher or something! LOL :p
And so I end off my storytelling journal assignment with this question for you,
“If you could take a look at the map of your life one day, would you?”
I had this rather interesting conversation with one of my good pal on msn just awhile ago. The topic which is my main topic today is, “Wine or liquor?” Similarly, Wee Kiat and I had this convo a week ago I think. He’s a WINE person, according to his self-declaration. LOL.
Honestly, I can’t decide which is my preferred because I love liquor as well as wine at the same time. I’m not a heavy drinker but I admit I do drink “heavily” sometimes when I chill out at frens’ parties & gigs. I take shots and the maximum I can take in depends on the alcohol level. My current take has to be Peach Margarita.
It’s not as heavy as Long Island Tea or Vodka Martini which really makes me feel “high” after 2 glasses each. Not a great experience that was.
“Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of grape juice.[1] The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients.[2] Wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast which consume the sugars found in the grapes and convert them into alcohol.” – Wiki
“A distilled beverage, spirit or liquor, is a drinkable liquid containing ethyl alcohol (ethanol) that is produced by means of distillingfermented grain, fruit, or vegetables – excluding fermented beverages such as beer and wine.[1] The term spirit generally refers to a distilled beverage that contains no added sugar and has at least 35% alcohol by volume[citation needed].” – Wiki
Seems like both are similar except that liquor has at least 35% of alcohol. OOH, and yes, I tried Whisky for my birthday last year and that was also not a good experience because I almost got knocked out, but thanks to my cousin who sent me home that I was safe that night. HAHA. My Dad’s a wine drinker whereas my Mum’s more towards the liquor side. So I end up being a mixture of both i guess? LOL. There’s like a collection of wine and liquor at my house so whenever there’s special occasion my family will bring out at least two bottles for celebration. I think it’s quite fun cause to me, drinking helps to release stress and allows me to just forget everything for one night. At least one night, haha.
Alright, pardon me, even if you don’t drink,‘Wine or Liquor” ?
To be or not to be. Do you want to be a productive person? Making the most of your daily life? Of course I’m not thinking sick here. lol. Insiders would know what i mean. haha.
I came across this specific word: Productive, while I was surfing on some random sites. When I saw it on the screen, I paused for a second because something about it just hit me in the face. A sudden realization. Do you agree with me that sometimes we rush through the day blindly and just hope to complete everything we have in our path and that’s it? I mean, sometimes I do that. And now I think about it, have I made the most of those days? Have I made them productive enough? To an extent that I gain something like the least of knowledge at the end of the day? The answer is sadly, no.
Having made your day productive means to grab the most of it that you have and try to gain something at the end before you call it a day. My own reflections on this subject is rather pathetic because I’m not saying that I do not make the most of my days, merely that I tend to rush through the day and just finish whatever that lays in my path of tasks. It is pathetic now that I think of. Just like the saying goes, life is so short, we have to make the most if it shouldn’t we?? So this really gave me a wake-up call which is to learn to be productive and not charge thru the day blindly but use it to a satisfying extent.
Note that I’m not judging anyone here, just myself. Or you can call it self-reflection. Haha. Personally, I do believe that sometimes all human beings need these kind of occasionally pauses to reflect on our life and what we have done with it so far.
Have you ever fall into the position of Middle man during quarrels? If you go stray by taking sides, that will result in things turning ugly. Which, having said that, is not a pleasant sight to see of course.
Yeah, I’d been caught in this situation before. A quarrel occurred between two friends of mine. They had issues with one another because of a SILLY misunderstanding. I wanted to patch them up for the sake of our 4-year friendship so I asked them for a night out on the same day. Killer night of my life, I tell ya! Although we were in liquid kitchen and drinking Long Island Tea to chill out, things were so intense that they barely spoke to each other all night, except for the pauses of “i need the toilet” & “i need more shots”. However hard I tried to set the ball rolling for them to trash things out, it didn’t happen at all.
Then one party ask me to stand on her side. At first I was reluctant to but I gave in due to her constant bombarding questions of doubting our friendship trust. The next day after I took side, was horrendous. The opposite party found out and immediately broke off conversations with me. A cold war that turn into an extreme debate war. Uncouth words all used up. I was speechless with the realization of what a small decision I made could change a situation 360 degrees.
Eventually they patched up. And after that we realize how childish it can be, those little war of words nights over MSN and phone =.= This lesson taught me to devote to staying neutral whenever an awkward situation comes up between friends of mine. Never make the mistake of taking sides unless he/she really deserves your support.
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This week I caught Ironman with some of the classmates. It was a real blast! Awesome movie with incredible effects and an excellent plot. Robert Downey Jr rules! Slightly better than Transformers was my conclusion. Go watch it if you haven’t, it’s worth the 6/8 bucks.
I shall admit this. I’m not really a big fan of American Idol but because of the contestant David Cook (YES), I’m kind of catching it on TV nowadays. He is AMAZING! He’s got this easily distinguished husky rocker voice and has been dubbed as the next Chris Daughtry. I know it’s already the seventh season so everyone’s like argh, BORING, nothing new anymore. But I couldn’t disagree more. Simply because for me, it’s the only or rather 1st season I’d ever watched. HAHA. I mean it! Seriously, I didn’t catch any AI episodes before that except for grand finals where my family would also catch too. Yea, so now you can imagine my household TV being eerily silent on Wednesday & Thursday nights. Lol.
Back to David Cook, he may not be the most handsome looking musician out there, but his voice is just irresistible. And I think he’s the most talented contestant this season. Because he’s brave enough to take risks by changing the songs and turning them into this rocker-style genre even though the song may be some slow oldie.
My favorite from him has to be “All I really Need is You” by Neil Diamond. This is one SUPER oldie song if u listened to the original singer, Diamond. But Cook changed the melody to a more electric rocking style so I love it. Many others too!
Video below. He sang it this past week. I didn’t catch it on TV, on Youtube actually. LOL.
But so far the song he’s received great reviews for is “Billie Jean”. Again, this one was a Chris Cornell remake, sounding very much like a rock song. It garnered more than 1 million viewers on youtube already.
Another contestant I like a lot is Jason Castro. That dude is awesome with his acoustic guitar! His style is somewhat similar to Jack Johnson, and being a huge Jack Johnson fan, how can one not love Castro? I just have issues with his hair, or rather dreads. HAHA.
The guy same age as us, David Archuleta, is so CUTE. He’s got this likeable personality, beautiful voice for his age, and good looks.
I predict the top two’s gonna be both David. Cook and Archuleta fighting it out at finals.
The judge I prefer among all 3 has got to be Simon Cowell. He always says the right things and is clear & concise with his words. So what if he’s mean, sometimes they got to hear the awful truth to improve or they can just get their asses out of the competition! Critical huh? I mean look at Paula Abdul, always saying nice things and sweet stuff to contestants. She’s really nice, nothing against her. People like to hear nice things about their performance, but nice words don’t get you far, the truth which sometimes hurts does. Randy Jackson is kind of like a bullhorn, “Yo DUDE, that was hot, HOT, fire baby, FIRE!” Repeating the same sentences again and again… =.= He can be like a motivator or something. Hahaha.
And I think the voting for AI is kind of ridiculous. More than millions of viewers vote each week, hell! The producers must be millionaires or billionaires by now! So unfair, LOL. Okay, random blabbing above, ignore me.
My next post’s going to be less personal and more boring, so, till then!
For a second, I pondered at the title of this post. But it’s kind of true I thought. When we have problems, we tackle them. In doing so, the problem fights back. And it all last until either the problem won or we.
Ok, it’s confusing right? Never mind me, I’m being random here. LOL.
So I watched “21 Grams” on one of the nights in early March. I feel like sharing it here because it’s a FANTASTIC script, ace actors and great storytelling. Ever heard of it? Or watched it before? I bet majority may not have because it’s a R-Rated film back in 2003. Not because it’s filled with porn, in fact there’s only one scene of full nudity in the whole movie. Personally, I think it’s much needed for the film because it was at a point of emotional core for the two characters involved.
Basically, it’s an incredible film about mainly three characters and how their lives intertwine each other’s through an unfortunate accident. I really loved the way this movie was told and that’s what makes it unique. Presented in a non-linear arrangement, the movie jumps forward to the future and then suddenly, backwards to tell the past of the characters- all at different/random points during the movie. It sounds complicating, but I feel this was what made the movie amazing and special. It’s one of those that’s unforgettable, unlike erm..”The Hottie and the Nottie” ? Erm, Paris Hilton’s movies kind of ends up nowhere. LOL.
Back to “21 Grams”, it stars Sean Penn, what an amazing actor I have to say! Did anyone watched Mystic River?? Another great acting by Penn himself. He won the Oscar Best Actor for it. Naomi Watts, fellow Aussie of Nicole Kidman, along with Benicio Del Toro stars in “21 Grams”. Alright, I’ll just use the actors’ names since their characters’ names can be confusing.
Story follows them three, beginning with Penn as a critically ill man with heart failure, on the verge of death. Watts lives the typical life of an American family with two daughters and her husband. Del Toro appears as a man with a troubled-past-turned-faithful Jesus Christ follower. He too, has a wife plus a son & daughter.
What happened next is unpredictable. Del Toro was driving home to his birthday bash when, unfortunately, he ran over Watts’ husband and their two daughters. He didn’t stop but drove away in fear despite one of the little girl who stared at him after being knocked down, wanting to tell him something during her final breath. All the victims died. It was shocking in a way because the movie like I said, is revealed in a non-linear manner, thus we wouldn’t know that it was Del Toro who ran over them until later towards the ending part. Ironically, Penn received the heart of Watts’ dead husband. He found out later and decided to thank Watts personally. The movie delves towards the tough and emotional subject when both got romantically involved after their meeting, while Del Toro started to go into the dark side or rather stuck in a world of confusion/guilt.
To prevent from being spoilers, you guys can go watch it online now. Although it’s a 2003 movie, I felt compelled to share it with the class.
Here’s the promising trailer:
What I learnt this week during Storytelling- roles of conflict: Man vs Man, Man vs Environment, Man vs Himself, is completely relevant to this movie. All three aspects are covered in the movie, which of course makes it a great one! Man vs man: Watts wanting revenge against Del Toro and Penn vs Del Toro when he tries to kill Del Toro for revenge on behalf of Watts. Man vs Environment: Penn struggling with his existence in the hospital and his condition, Watts trying to refresh her new life (which she failed to) in a new environment after her family’s death, Del Toro questioning his faith in Christ while being held in prison after turning himself in for the accident. Man vs himself: All three characters. Because they each have to go through their own turmoil of: an illness and a new chance to live (Penn), an unexpected life-changing tragedy (Watts) and a life-haunting mistake (Del Toro).
Best movie I’d watched so far this year- 4/5 stars.
Here we go, my first post for this blog. First of all, I would like to clarify that my blog URL is, unfortunately, kind of spelled wrongly. YES. How in the world did I?! I spelled it as saskEtchewan when it’s supposed to be saskAtchewan! So right now I’m feeling a little demoralized for this careless mistake. After all, I visited Saskatchewan in Dec 06′ and it’s my favorite holiday destination to date & that’s why I named this blog after it! It’s an extremely FREEZING place in Canada & was incredibly beautiful during winter.
Call it coincidental or whatever you like, but I came across the filming of an independent Hollywood movie there! Based on my memory, I’m pretty sure it was called “Sleepwalking”. So what I did was basically stare at the on going filming from a distance like many others beside me did. Gained some insight to actual filming and that’s really about it. Can’t remember all since it’s like 2 years ago? I loved Saskatchewan and still love it. It’s a beautiful place with wonderful delicacies, a truly unforgettable trip.
All right, now for a little intro of myself. I came from a typical neighborhood school- Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary. Was a school team netballer and currently the Debate Club’s alumni. My current FSV classmates most probably may not know about this. But I was a member of the team that was in “The Arena 2007″, the Channel 5 School Debating Competition show that aired on Tuesday nights last year.
Poster of US at top-left hand corner (sorry for the dim photos)
We were in Top 10 teams that screened on Ch 5, unfotunately we didn’t make it through to the next round after that episode. Oh well. Overall, it was a pretty surreal experience. A great opportunity for me to see actual studio production. The entire shoot for the show was at Mediacorp studios. Nonetheless, I was the only girl and the guys are really good friends of mine. Drawing from all these experiences, I realized that you become best friends with the people you spent most time with and are really close to, to an extent that you trust them easily, whether they are of opposite genders or not. Having fun is the most important thing above all especially since advised by my seniors that teenage years are to be cherished. Having said that, my secondary school life had been pretty enjoyable thanks to my clique!
My decision in coming to FSV was due to two reasons. First, guess what? A typical answer: Because I love watching films! Seriously, I like watching a movie and then at the end of it, either criticize or praise it. Somehow, it has always been a small “issue” between my movie-going clique and me. We would chill out at Star bucks or Minds Cafe to discuss about the film we had just watched. Majority of the time, I’d be the last one standing with endless opinions left to make while the rest already got tired of the subject =.=
Second reason: I once stayed in the UK for a short period of time when I was young while my Mother did some research studying in New College Stamford. There, I was exposed to plays in theaters. Simply as put across, those days stirred up my interest in films.
I’d love to elaborate more on my background, but I bet most of you by now are bored to death by my not-so-interesting history huh…
Therefore, I hope FSV will be an exciting platform for my future career in the film industry. Most probably, Overseas film industry.
