Treatments

Yesterday was spent writing treatments and plans for a science fiction comic series currently titled '1894'. It's an epic that will span three books, roughly three hundred pages each. I'm keeping the story and plot under wraps until I get the first few issues penciled. I've been doing research for this story for a month now. I'm trying to get the language down and even history.

I'll probably have a script done late August. In the meantime, I'm going to work on designs for the world and characters. I want this to be a sprawling epic comparable to the works of Osama Tezuka, Hayao Miyazaki and HG Wells.

I probably won't have any material out until mid-summer next year. Which is a long time, but considering that I'll be working most of the time and finding a team of artists that can put to together without pay, I expect it to be done on people's invested time. It's a passion project and most passions take time.

The future of 'Outdoodled!'

As some of you may know, 'Outdoodled!' is a comic mini-series I worked on with my good friend/artist Shogo Kadoya. We worked on it for a year and have kept it sitting quietly on our bookshelves for a while. We met up yesterday to go over some editing notes I had on the work edition.

We also discussed about the way we wanted to distribute the comic and I think we've come to a decision to put it all into one volume and shop it around. One particular venue we look forward to is the Brooklyn Comics and Graphic Festival, which happens every November. We'll also try out for independent comic book stores and online venues to distribute our work.

I'll also give RS Blogged readers a first look sometime soon. So be sure to check it out.

State of Blogging

Blogging and updating has never been my strongest suit. When I blog, I blog about things I'm interested in such as photography, film trailers or music I'm listening to. Naturally, I have days where I work on film projects or TV shoots and that keeps me busy for a period. Then I forget I have a blog and it keeps me from writing whatever it is that's on my mind. Even on my days off, I tend to fill it with killing time wandering about the city, consuming on movies and concerts. The point of me starting this blog was not to only share my interests, but to also share my work. Whether it be photographs, drawings or even video clips. The idea was to be able to express myself on a public forum and receive critiques from fellow artists like myself. But lately with technology being so accessible and on top of my laziness, I've stopped being creative for a long time. I use Instagram to take most of my photos now (which you can follow @madebydanlam).

I've been working on this TV show for the Biochannel called 'Celebrity Ghost Stories' for two and a half seasons now. It has been a great source of finance and community for me. Now I have two weeks off the show before working on it again and I feel like I would like to use this time to get back on the creative horse, as it were. In doing so, I want to make a point of document my progress, here on blog-o-sphere to share my experiences and the changes I've gone through. So far, the list of things I plan to do for these coming weeks vary. One is a comic book that I've collaborated with a High School friend of mine, Shogo Kadoya, we've completed the pencils over a year ago and haven't gotten around to finishing the product. Today we are meeting up to discuss the final edits of the remaining issues. I've seen the first issue and it has come about nicely. It's still funny after years since I've wrote it. Which gives me hope that we'll complete the darn thing and share it with the world.

 I've several writing ideas that I want to develop. One is a science fiction comic book and the other is a dramatic short (possibly feature) film. I'm thinking of working on a treatment for both ideas before fully investing my time on one of them. The science fiction comic book is a retake on George Orwell's classic dystopian novel '1984', of which I've already made several sketches of the technology of that world. The dramatic film is something autobiographical and deals with my explorations of sex and death, or the idea of mortality.

 I also have plans for collaborations with my friends. Most likely within the photography and video realm of things. I've several photography projects I would like to work on, one is portraits of my friends. The other is something more interactive.

I also have friends that are in bands and I would like to propose music video ideas to them. I have also been meaning to do a small personal documentary on my grandmother and her experiences growing up in Vietnam, then immigrating to the United States. So check in from time to time and feel free to comment, critique or make suggestions. I want to put myself in an environment that nurtures creativity and productivity.

 Until then, keep on making stuff! madebydanlam

Vote for my Photo

I've entered a photo I took in Nigeria as part of a contest for Adorama.com. Please help me win the prize by voting once a day, until March 29th. It would mean the world to me, or an iPad 2. To vote just click on the photo below and click 'Vote'. thanks Dan

VOTE FOR EBBE

Hi there internet world and blog readers. I just want to drop a quick line about a short film I worked on two years ago that is being entered in a film festival in France. Ebbe the Hunter or Le miroir et l'enfant as it is called in French. It is slightly cut for the film festival, but it would be great if we can get the support from my readers and visitors. I'm very proud of this film, I was the cinematographer on it. I've worked with this cast and crew many times and I don't think we could've made the film without them. We shot the film in Toronto, Canada on one of the snowiest winters. It was a joy and pain to make the film, but it was all worth it. So please watch and vote! Vote everyday until January 15th!

WATCH FILM

Thanks,

Dan Lam

t r a i l e r s - h y p e

Hollywood has a way with hype during the holidays or big events. Whether it's releasing teasers during the Super Bowl or bombarding and repeating trailers everywhere during the July 4th. It seems that this winter holidays we are treated to next year's 'must see' sequels, prequels & adaptation blockbusters. From 'Prometheus' to 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

It seems that these 'event-trailers' are tied to films that don't belong to the same studios. As in, 20th Century Fox's 'Prometheus' with Sony Pictures' 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' & Warner Bros.' The Dark Knight Rises (trailer 1) is the opening act to Paramount Pictures' Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Even the 6-8 minute prologue is screened before the IMAX version of Mission: Impossible. Which is reasonable, seeing how 'Mission' is the only film to open in the IMAX format this month and The Dark Knight Rises has portions of the film shot in the same format.

Non-Spoiler-
The 6 to 8 minute prologue which gives us a taste of The Dark Knight Rises, includes a scene that I think belongs somewhere in the first 20 minutes of the film. Afterwards it just gives us brief glimpses of thrilling scenes from the film, some not in trailer no.1. Where the montage of clips failed for the prologue actually succeeded in the actual trailer. In trailer no. 1, the clips are voiced over with Ann Hathaway's Selina Kyle confronting Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) of what's to come to the 1% (there seems to be heavy references to Occupy Wall Street.)

This comes in the style of most Christopher Nolan films, where dialogue is placed over a dramatic montage. A device he uses at the end of 'The Dark Knight', 'The Prestige', 'Memento', etc. Unfortunately, trailer no. 1 falls into the traps of big Hollywood action/comic book movie trailers. Apparently, it's protocol for these genre trailers to include an epic CGI effects laden scene. Where footballer Hines Ward runs through the field not realizing his playmates tumble into a massive crater that is formed in a series of explosions.



The trailer for Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' will open before his co-production with Steven Spielberg of 'The Adventures of TinTin'. The trailer seems to be a warm reminder of what 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy looked like and how the next two movies in the world of Tolkien's Hobbits will be. Returning are Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm & Ian McKellen.

This trailer works because it is familiar with it's fan base and it doesn't exclude newcomers to the world of the One Ring mythology because this is the prequel to 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. The trailer starts with Ian Holm's Bilbo Baggins explaining to Frodo that he hasn't told him the full story of his adventures with Gandalf. Then the trailer proceeds to flashback to the young Bilbo Baggins this time played by Martin Freeman (The Office UK, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.) Gandalf introduces us to new characters that will join in their party, cut to a scene of the only human singing and the rest follows, then a montage of their journey (just like old times.)



Ridley Scott's highly anticipated return to science fiction since 'Blade Runner' with 'Prometheus' has been cleverly teased throughout this past week, with daily countdown teasers and twitter tweets of images from the film. Although the film has not debuted online yet (it is said to go online today), it has already screened in front of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' since December 20th. I'm planning to catch the film tonight, so I will be posting an update on my review of the trailer.


Courtesy of Coming Soon.net


Other trailers that have all the hype following them are 'Clash of the Titans' sequel 'Wrath of the Titans' , Adam Shankman's film adaptation of Broadway hit 'Rock of Ages', Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' return in Men in Black 3 & Dwanye 'The Rock' Johnson's turn in 'G.I. Joe - Retaliation'. These trailers don't offer anything special, they feature your typical spectacle of action, movie stars and over the top music. One thing is clear from all of this, next year promises to be bigger than the one before it. Hopefully, we won't feel bloated from all the camp.

UPDATE: 'Prometheus' Teaser

So having seen the teaser to Ridley Scott's widely speculated Prequel/Not Prequel of 'Alien', 'Prometheus' seems to be one exciting science fiction film of 2012. There is many evidence in the teaser the points to it being at the very most related to the Alien films. The trailer starts with the eponymous string of lines that as the teaser progresses forms the film's title, there are also clips of familiar set pieces such as the crescent shaped space craft, a field of jars (?) that resemble the field of Alien eggs and a scene of one of the crew attacked through their helmet and possibly burning from acid (?) Even the unmistakable Jerry Goldsmith score with it's various plucking of strings comes from the first Alien film.

So maybe the film won't directly link itself to the Alien series, but it certainly comes from that world. The teaser does an excellent job in "teasing" the audience, each clip is shown for now more than three seconds each. Even the premise as revealed in the title cards are compelling, "They went looking for our beginning, What they found could be our end."Almost reminiscent of the 1970s kitschy marketing with 'Alien' with the tagline, "In space, no one can hear you scream."

It's been a while...

Haven't been keeping up with the blog due to lack of interest and abundance of work. Wish I had a secretary... or another writer. Anyhow, I'm back and winter is here. Which means I'll have more time on my hands to devote to this blog here. I'll be bringing back my movie trailer reviews and more photographs from work! Here's a preview taste:

Taken in El Mirage Dry Lake Bed, CA for 'Reservoir'

When I was in CA

Here are some more photos from my trip to Berkeley.

The one thing I love about California is that it is a big car culture over there.

You can find fixed up vintage cars parked in almost every corner.

Abandoned sneakers.

View from Grizzly Peak.

Daryn Deluco (Director of Photography)

While I was in Berkeley, I made myself a little playlist that included mostly Cali's own Best Coast. And one of there songs, I would like to post up here is my favorite.

"Gone Again" by Best Coast

Berkeley, CA Part 1

Earlier last month I spent some time in California working on a short film for a friend. I've had an amazing time out there and plan to go back to visit. During the shoot, I would take walks in the mornings before being picked up to go to the set and I would take my Nikomat with my 24mm lens with me and document what I saw. There's more to come.

Nature

Photos I took during work in Upstate New York for a short film.

Best of Director John Woo

Continuing my list of favorite Hong Kong directors and their best films, is famed "Gun-Fu" director John Woo (Face/Off, Mission: Impossible II)

John Woo is famous for his gun action films, his trademarks are double wielded guns, ballet-like choreography, slow motion, themes of brotherhood and justice, tragedy and of course doves. Just think of him as the thinking man's Michael Bay. Even though his action is described as "high-octane" and "roller coaster ride", Woo knows hows to inject irony into his films. Whether it be a 'killer' caring for a victim in The Killer or a huge shootout in a hospital in Hard Boiled, all of these conflicting images work in a bigger poetic narrative.

Woo is a master of timing. His action sequences are cut in a way where it flows smoothly, his protagonists know exactly when and where to shoot. Violence is glorified and yet at the same time it becomes a shock to the viewer. We get to see the blood in plain sight and it's not pretty, we can sense the fear and pain in Woo's victims. John Woo has stated that he doesn't encourage violence, this can be apparent in his films when an innocent bystander gets hit with a bullet or the fact that no good comes to any character firing a weapon.

Although John Woo has had a string of critical successes in the late 80s and early 90s, his career has been shaky in the 00s. After the success of Face/Off, Woo could not replicate that with his other American films such as Windtalkers and Paycheck, and several failed attempts at the television industry. Woo later returned to China to tackle a big budget historical war epic with Red Cliff. The film includes Woo's previous themes, in addition 'politics' is something he hasn't tackled before in his films.

Feist 'Metals' Album Cover debut. (My take)

Leslie Feist's long awaited third album is to be released in October 6th in North America, she recently released a paint by numbers album cover on her facebook. This is my take on what the cover could look like. Hope you all like it!

You can also catch snippets of her new music at her official website @ www.listentofeist.com. There is a great piece about the new album which gives a more information on the songs that may be included in the album, you can find there here.

Plus, don't forget to catch the amazing documentary on Feist and her creative process called "Look at What the Light Did Now"

I don't know about you but something about listening to Feist's music makes me feel like I want to put on a nice wool sweater, drink some hot chocolate and feelin' chilly (gonzales). And since I'm on a Feist fix right now, here is my playlist of her music that I will be listening to all week:

Best of Director Tsui Hark

So, I've been away from blogger world for a bit and now I've come back with some stuff to share.

I've recently made a short playlist of videos that culminates the best work of Hong Kong action film director Tsui Hark. Considered to be the Steven Spielberg of Hong Kong cinema, he brought action, comedy and dazzling visual effects to the films of the 1980s. He has produced and directed many staple Hong Kong films such as A Chinese Ghost Story, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Iron Monkey. He's produced for "Gun-Fu" Director John Woo (both of which famously had a falling out) and famed Action coordinator Yuen Woo-Ping.

His directing efforts has been few compared to other prolific Hong Kong filmmakers. He's best known for the Once Upon a Time in China series with Jet Li, based on an actual historical Chinese figure Wong Fei Hung (a physician/martial artist). They were made in a time where Hong Kong was still occupied by the British and national identity seemed to be at a crisis. Peking Opera Blues is a kind of Charlie's Angels set in early 20th century China, Twin Dragons was his first project with Jackie Chan and Seven Swords was Tsui Hark's 'Lord of the Rings' big adaptation.

The playlist was inspired by a recent Facebook posting by a friend who posted the trailer of Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Tsui Hark's latest film starring Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs I, II & III), Tony Leung Kar-Fai (Election I & II) and Carina Lau (Days of Being Wild, 2046). I felt that Detective Dee was not Tsui Hark's strongest film, it had the well intention of being a period mystery thriller, but bad screenwriting, sloppy cinematography and underwhelming CGI made the film campy. The film will be released on September 2nd in select theaters around the nation.

So I put together a short list of films that I think best represents Tsui Hark's body of work.

Watch my playlist here:



Coming out at the end of the year is Tsui Hark's second attempt at the Dragon Inn story, working with Jet Li again but this time in 3D. Here is the teaser trailer of their latest effort.



Update (7/31):
Catch the chance to see one of Tsui Hark's early special effects heavy film, Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain on the big screen at BAM in Brooklyn, NY on August 8th. The film stars Bridgette Lin (Ashes of Time), Yuen Biao (Once Upon a Time in China) and Sammo Hung (Project A).

for more info click here.

While we take a break, here are some photos!

There has been an unexpected hiatus of entries that I will have to write for another day. In the meantime, here are some photos I took on my little Nikon camera and beautified with the iPod Touch app, Instagram. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Dan Lam

When Fish Attacks the Taste Buds! (DK)

North Bank Seafood Restaurant
The West Building in the TimBuck II Shopping Village
794-G Sunset Blvd.
Corolla, NC 27927

(252) 453-3344

One might not notice the North bank Seafood and Raw Bar when driving through North Carolina's Outer Banks. The restaurant is tucked inside a strip mall flanked by surf shops and ice cream parlors, and had the most unassuming front door. When entering the restaurant you might think it's kind of small but probably has an additional party room in the back. When you sit down in your seat, you'll realize that this place really is just kinda small. The blue wallpaper and fish replicas floating by the ceiling offer little decor but it's certainly a reminder of what I'm eating. Yum!

We were a party of 14 and were told to wait for about 30 minutes. The lobster beepers they handed us kept me entertained but we were soon whisked off to our seats and given our warm bread basket. We didn't wait long for our orders to arrive, with the raw clam appetizer coming first. The clams were definitely appetizer sized but were quite good despite being particularly fishy.


Their Panko Fried Shrimp had a very satisfying crunch to them but the seasoning on them was very plain. The tangy and sweet sauce that came with it was delicious and I spread that all over my other dishes.

Their version of the fried onion appetizer comes in the form of their Bird Nest; it's exactly what you'd expect if you had this sort of thing before like the Onion Bloom at Outback Steakhouse's. It's considerably thinner than the onion bloom and it's enjoyable if you're into this dish and comes in a shareable portion. 

t r a i l e r s, p t. 7 [The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: G r e e n B a n d V.S. R e d B a n d ]

In the United States, Entertainment has been subject to careful censorship since the late 1920s. During the time of prohibition, rich conservative Christian groups banned alcohol because they thought it was the reason for society's depravity and crimes. People started looking at films and found that there were material cause enough to form a censorship group. The Motion Picture Commission, which oversaw all films before they were exhibited in theaters and cut out any material that didn't fit into Christian morality such as nudity, violent deaths, etc.

Today we have the Motion Picture Association of America. You might be familiar with their name from those green place cards in front of every trailer that is shown. They're simple notification for the audience to let them know that what they're about to see is deemed 'appropriate' by the MPAA for anyone who watches them. Those trailers are called green band trailers.

t r a i l e r s, p t. 6

The Muppets (2011)
With Jason Segel, Amy Adams and the Muppets crew.

Kermit, Miss Piggy and co. are finally back! This time with the help of Flight of the Conchords series co-creator James Bobin and writers Jason Segel and director of Forgetting Sarah Marshal, Nicholas Stoller.

Disney's marketing strategy (or more like Muppet Studio's) is to turn out faux trailers that mislead the audience into thinking that the film has nothing to do with the Muppets and turns out to be the Muppets. I like this approach and I think it is a smart one. This helps to gain new audience while enhancing the interest of the former audience.

The first teaser to come out of this is a faux Romantic Comedy film called Green With Envy, it stars Jason Segel and Amy Adams as school teachers who fall in love and move to Los Angeles. It also features the typical heavy voiced narrator, cheesy uplifting score and of course the boy-loses-girl plot.



The second trailer, which is a straight-forward parody of the recently released The Hangover 2, The Fuzzy Pack emulates the anti-promotion critics' quote.

P E O P L E

I want to share a collection of photos I've taken of family, friends and strangers. Hopefully, this will show 'people' how I view them.

(Best viewed in Fullscreen. Click on the lower right icon.)


Arcade Fire - Culture War by MergeRecords

To go with the gallery is the new track from Arcade Fire, "Culture War" from the upcoming Special Edition release of their Grammy Record of the Year winner The Suburbs. The CD and DVD package includes the Spike Jonze directed short film Scene from the Suburbs.

the end of the world/la fin du monde (mix)

It's supposedly the beginning of the end and what better way than to spend it with the people you admire and love. To help get things going and groovin' why don't I share my newly created playlist that can make the fiery apocalypse a little fun and chilled. Check it out on my iTunes link:

End of the World mix

trailers, pt. 5

The Artist

Starring Jean Dujardin, Missi Pyle, John Goodman and James Cromwell.

French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius is a man of tribute. His previous films with star Jean Dujardin "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" and "OSS 117: Lost in Rio" are tributes to the James Bond films of the 60s and 70s. With every aspect of the films created as they would have been at the time from script to cinematography.

Here we have their new film "The Artist" which opened to great fare at the 64th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. This time paying tribute to the films of the early 1930s, where sound was being introduced and genres such as musicals, gangsters and adventure were thriving. The film seems to be a great companion for Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain", where in that film it is also about a movie star who finds his true love in one of his fans.

Note: This film is produced by Warner Brothers, which also happens to produce most of those famous sound era musicals and gangster pics like "The Jazz Singer" (1927) and "Angels with Dirty Faces" (1938)

The Art of Getting By

Starring Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts

Emma Roberts is quickly becoming one of my favorite young actresses. She is pretty and she has a face of a girl who can't be fooled easily. Her project selection as of late has been very smart, after her big introduction into Hollywood with failed franchise starter "Nancy Drew" she quickly saved herself with hip independent fares such as "Lymelife", "Twelve" and last years "It's Kind of a Funny Story". She also starred in this year's famous horror franchise "Scream 4" for Wes Craven. Although the film tanked, her role in the film shows that she has range to play different parts.