Remembering The Lines

The greatest fear most actors have is forgetting their lines in the act. Moreover, the lines also have to be 'internalised'  to flow out smoothly.

I normally start by doing an unemotional flat read of the script, then visualising the the characters and actions with the lines. That way, it is easier to remember. It also helps to practise the lines amid mundane daily chores that are not safety critical, to get them into the sub-conscious.

Yet having done everything right, my lines didn't flow. I was tensed and tongue twisted. I was puzzled. It has always worked, why not this time? What was wrong?

Thankfuly, everyone on set was very kind to me. The co-actor offered me a chocolate and told me that I will be fine after taking that. And true enough, it worked. I became instantly alert and the take was done!

The chocolate gave me a temporary energy boost. Basically, I was too tired. After six other gigs this month, I was depleted of energy. Besides, I came to realise during the shoot, that I had not got out of the previous six characters completely. What more, they were depressive and contradictory characters to the present one. Whereas in this scene, the new character is to be jubilant after a grand police award ceremony as he goes to pick his daughter from her singing class.

Little by little and unknowingly, the remnant depressive traits of the previous characters settled, hardened and block the new character from forming. (I wonder how much of these also happen in real life! :) )

Luckily, I had a rest day the next day. I tried practising the lines in the morning but found it hard. So I dropped the script, went for a run, and after that all was fine. The next day on set, the words flowed, as the mind and body  relaxed.

The moral of the story is not to bite off more than one could chew. Seven gigs a month, as I have found is one too many. I was brave enough to turn one down, whilst another clashed with the schedule and could not happen. Otherwise, I would even be more worn out!

In all, it amounts to living in the moment. If we are too tired, we don't live in the moment. If we live in the moment, we capture the moment of eternity and remember everything.

Fairytales

Some comic relief in between takes.

"Fairytales", by KSP productions.

Directed by Kelvin Sng.

Starring: Royston Ong / Siona Wu Murphy / Yogendra Santhiran / Louis Fong / Maguire Jian / S. Gunasegaran / Guest Starring: Maia Lee / Leena Salim / Chen Shu Cheng

I felt connected to "Fairytales" from the time I responded to the call for casting. So, I was delighted when I was shortlisted.

Then, I had to rush and hop into a taxi after a gruelling day of running around the tracks during the production of "Hentak Kaki", from Woodlands, at the north part of the island, to Tanjong Pagar, at the southern tip of Singapore.

During the audition, I was to act out the scene of the emotional departure between the father character and his daughter, after their chanced encounter. The father being prevented from seeing his daughter as a result of an acrimonious divorce.  I felt for the pitiful father and cried my hearts out during the audition, surprising the audition panel. Actually, it surprised me too, given that I had been acting out the contrarian character of the tough Army Warrant Officer Lee Teck Hong in "Hentak Kaki" for a few days, up till two hours before the audition.

"Fairytales" is about a group of youths, who because of the lack of parental attention and guidance are being lured into peripheral and illegal businesses by some shady characters in society. The story is inspired from some social realisations in the aftermath the unfortunate gang clashes and slashings during the year 2010. Kelvin wanted to make a movie to educate young people, empower them to make their own choices in life and not be led astray by the darker sides of society.

Here is the trailer:

This is the scene where Amanda, the lead character, calls her father on her birthday. The dialogue for this scene was re-written on on the spot on set. I had hard time remembering the lines, as I was still very new at that time and was used only to well rehearsed scripts. "Fairytales" was also my first experience acting in a Mandarin feature film.

Note: The following two videos are very primitively extracted from the DVD I bought. I am blogging this in between shoots, so do not have time to do a proper extraction yet.

Besides the lines, there were a lot of movements in the scene, from closing the boot, walking to the front, putting on the ear-piere to talk to Amanda, getting in the car, taking out the ear-piece after talking, look at the rear mirror to greet the passengers, turn on the "Hired" sign, buckling the seat belts, starting the engine, ...etc, with specific parts of the dialogue synchronised with some of the key actions/positions. Miss out on any one of the key action and there would be a re-take. 

From this, I learned not to rely solely on the memorization of script, but rather focused on listening and responding to conversations and integrating the speech with the actions. This became very useful some months later, when I acted as a gangland boss in action films, such as the "Back Alley Bulls", a US production.

What was to come was even more coordinated actions, as we needed to leave the covered car park area where we were supposed to drive around and instead proceeded to  an alternative route, driving amid real traffic, road constructions and speed humps. This, with the camera mounted on the bonnet, the director on the front passenger seat but plastered to the side out of frame and the sound recordist in the boot. Yes, we had that poor man in the boot!!! The speed humps were real interruptions and noise to our taxi conversations, and violent bumps for the sound recordist in the boot.

Anyway, I learned fast and executed this part swiftly, driving around and chatting to the passengers. However, I was exhausted after this scene.

I was asked if this was my taxi. I take that as a compliment! :)

Lastly, this is the clip on "The Makings of Fairytales":

"Fairytales" was screened during the Singapore International Film Festival and a few other screenings in the cinemas. Subsequently, it was screened in the schools, with the aim of educating the youths that they do have the power to exercise their choice, and not be led into crime.

I particularly like the last part of the film where the co-lead character, Jason, is asked by an older man in the coffee shop to look at his 'friends' from the perspective of an outsider. The older man told Jason that he too is an obedient boy, though not to his parents, but to his gang boss. That I think, is the central message of "Fairytales".

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Blissful Scripts

Life is a bliss without the agitation

This is one shoot that I will remember because I finished up feeling more relaxed than I had started. It was set by the banks of Lower Pierce Reservoir, amid the tropical nature reserves of Singapore. There was tranquility and silence punctuated by the gentle waves beating the shore and the brush of leaves against the breeze. A dream come true for the audio man to capture pristine sound.

It was a production for a soft drink ad. A scene where I sat by a deck chair fishing and having an innocent discussion with a little boy about why real men consume the drink. It was amusing and tongue-in-cheek. Why aren't more scripts like this?

There are more aggressive and violent scripts than happy and peaceful ones. Perhaps that is because more people can relate to the former better, and it gives them that adrenaline rush they need. Which is  why TV drama soaps usually have a key character in a hospital intensive care unit dying of terminal cancer. Just watching a few minutes of these dramas stresses me out, let alone acting as one of the characters.

Author and spiritual teacher, Ekhart Tolle once said that there are such films because they are 'pain films demanded by pain bodies'. 'Pain bodies' as in a body suffering from the directions of an un-peaceful soul. So until we find peace within, there will be demand for 'painful' films that painful bodies relate well to. Pain is due to fear. Many people make money selling 'fear' and nobody made any money selling love.

Given the choice, I would choose a peaceful day anytime. Wouldn't you?
A part of you says "Yes" and another yearns for the 'excitement', isn't it? :)




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A Busy Week

I have been on a back-to-back acting schedule for three NYU Tisch films and a Mediacorp TV programme and so have not posted fresh articles in the last week. It has been a satisfying experience, but one that was exhausting. Below is a sneak preview of what I have been working on...

With an insane wife that locks herself in the bathroom and refuses to come out, the mundane trip for groceries becomes an escape from the daily torments at home, for the lead character "Liang".

This short film is called, "Alone/Together", directed by Abigail Prade. It is about the struggles of a husband with his depressive spouse who locks herself in the bathroom for two-and-a-half years!

Confronting the daughter for purportedly speaking to imaginary characters in the night.

This short film is called "Yishun" (working title), directed by Philip Liao. It is  a suspense story of a man trailing an attractive young lady from the train to her apartment that ends with unexpected results.

An otherwise happy family during Reunion Dinner, before tragedy struck

This is a Mediacorp TV production called, "UnNatural", directed by Joey Chan. It is about a tragedy of a family when they moved into their new apartment.

This is not an aftermath of the wrap party!

It is an act and part of the production for a Peranakan sci-fi film called "Ersatz Aria", directed by Elizabeth Lyon.

More about these productions later. Meanwhile, I have to catch up with some sleep as call time is early tomorrow! It is Good Friday, but the show must go on!