Lies a very ugly place, filled only with people who have no vision, nor creativity, nor the ability to take responsibility for their own failures. What I detest most are these fakes who believe only absolutely in themselves, blinded to everything but their own imagined fears and stupid worries.

So today I will learn. I will learn not to make the same mistakes twice, to be careful with my work, to try and try and try to make sure everything's perfect. No more fear, no more doubting myself, fearing that I'll not make it.

Because what greater feeling is there when one day I've proven that I can reach the top without having turned into people like these.

And then I will spit on them.

Labels: design work

The one thing that every intern should learn before he goes to work at any company is that when sending items abroad, always lie about the value of the item.

And always say it's dirt cheap - because in places like China their perception of cheap is TOTALLY different from yours.

Just remember that. And you'll do just fine.

Labels: Wormwood

The Wormwood Chronicles: Day One Or How I Learned To Use Excel & Do Printing

This would be the first entry for the new section here, a section that is going to carry on for the next six months. I work somewhere in the Newton area, inside a very nice-looking vintage-style apartment, with 2 rooms, one living room, one balcony and a small walkway somewhere. It is very very nice, and makes me think of days sitting by the balcony, stoning away the night.

But this will probably not happen, because there would be no need to stone after work. Unless I'm doing some intensive shooting or what-not. We shall see. I sit at a desk nearest to this nice small balcony, and will probably feel the pull of the weather in the coming days.

I am currently understudying the 1-month old intern Ms. C, and have one producer Ms. J, and one boss man TBP above me. There is also one editor Az. There is also a fashion designer working in one of the rooms. I found out that she's a good lunch partner. The other intern is leaving on Thursday. Which means I have until then to learn the ropes.

I've discovered that the kind of water the clients are served are different from our own, and this in turn is also different from the crew's. I am now adept at creating and formatting contact lists. I also kinda sorta know how to print stuff on CDs. I discovered that I will be working in the same area as I was back in NS, and this is not the only reminder from that period.

Tomorrow morning I will have to wake up early to try and pass my IPPT once more. I am incapable of running that damnable 2.4 km like it was a walk in the park. Forgive me if I need to breathe.

Also discovered that the P2 card storage does not have any available card reader in the market. This is dismal. More tomorrow.

Labels: Wormwood

Yesterday was the screening for "Zealot", the new short made by Ms Chng Bee Hwee and myself. Audio and everything finally came together. The only problem was the contrast of the screen - totally off by a mile. At the AVID workstation we have 2 screens (unless you sit at this other one), one shows a really light version of what you're editing, another shows how it's supposed to look like on a True HD screen. So all was supposedly well.

Then yesterday happened. The TV screen downstairs is configured differently. But everything seems better than what was initially exported. My goodness, that would have been a complete disaster. Not that the film was fantastic or anything.

Otherwise, it was bloody fun filming with pals. Good times with ol' buddy ol' pals. I guess it's time now to begin studying for the exams.

Sorry for the lack of updates about things that have happened in between, but that's cause I've been spending too much time in the AVID suites just going crazy trying to work with the clips that don't screw up. All in all, I think we did a pretty good job with all the disasters falling from video-editing skies.

For example,

E. Bee Hwee, delete the sequences we don't need. I think we didn't use any of those right.

Bee Hwee proceeds to delete one or two which are enough. And goes on to delete the rest.

E. Uh, Bee Hwee are, can stop deleting already. Eh, stop. Don't need to delete that one.

Erwin looks at another screen in which the clip that was being used for editing has been wiped off the screen. Bee Hwee ignores Erwin and continues her cleaning frenzy.

E. Uh. Bee Hwee, you just deleted our stuff.

Bee Hwee snaps out of her stupor and looks at me bewildered.

I decide to terminate our friendship before leaving for home, several contingency plans of how to work through this in time for the next day's screening running through my head.

I decide that I WANT TO DIE.

Then I see that last glimmer of hope. ONE CLIP, renamed earlier by me ("FINAL", how apt), escaped Bee Hwee's mad culling, because it wasn't named like the others.

Salvation never tasted so sweet.

I realise now the main thing that stumbles me at each turn is my irrepressible need to be lazy. And after I've undergone the laziness and experienced the horror of That-Which-Laziness-Produces, I freak out and allow Last-Minute-Panic-Salvation to create something from the dregs captured earlier.

So the secret would be to be consistently hardworking.

Yes.

Right. I shall just say an endeavour will be attempted.

And hopefully succeed. Wish me luck.