FILM SHOOT: Hidden Peaks continues...

It's still happening and such an adventure with this shoot as the team ventured into the Summer Hills mill. When I say into it, I mean inside it and then the epic trek up the steep pigeon crap stairwells to the top.

I made me cameo debut as a reaper's hand, little did I know I had to hang dangerously off the outside stairwells of the mill and grab fellow actor Jack Ngu as he tries to escape. Good times! 

Here some more selfies.... Because it's fun.

Maria & Joe's filmic adventures on "Hidden Peaks"

Director Adrian Castro sports the RED

Say what? Jack and I had to hang dangerously off this

Jack Ngu aims at his target

Random

Slightly fearing the heights

Hand reaper doubling today

Random #2

UPDATES: Short Film "Gaffa" hits top 60 for Tropfest - World's Largest Film Festival

Great news everybody! You know that short film that I was working the day before I left before heading to China? Yes its called GAFFA and a fantastic popcorn collaboration between Craig Anderson, Andy Minh Trieu and myself and also with the same king pin team: Adrian Chino Castro, Justin Gong and Trung Ly, and we made it to the top 60 for Tropfest!

I got the news from Adrian who got the news from a phone call notifying him of the news. 

I'm not sure if we will make it to the 16 as Tropfest has notoriously evolved to be more "mainstream" in cast, crew and storytelling wise. But hey, top 60 amongst the 700 entries globally is freaking awesome.

Here's the behind the scenes, provided by James Peniata (another gungho filmmaker who helped us out on the day). 

Click link here.

CREDITS
Daniel Van Ly
Joshua Tieu
Angela Tran
Ian Tran
Benjamin Cao
Maria Tran
Andy Minh Trieu

Graphics Design
David Minh Tam Nguyen

Director of Photography
Justin Gong

Editor 
Craig Anderson

Fight Choreographer
Trung Ly

Director
Adrian Castro

SHORT FILM "Gaffa" | Behind-the-Scenes Tropfest Entry

Date: 27th of December, 2012

Written By: Phuong Le
http://www.lea-d.com/blog/gaffa-tropfest-entry/

Last Saturday we were on-location at the CraigFX warehouse in Marrickville for an indy short film production for this year’s Tropfest. Tropfest is a prestigious international short film festival where budding film-makers are asked to create a short film based around a particular “signature item”.

This year’s signature item is “BALLOON” and entrants will be competing for over $100,000 in prizes (not to mention all the glory of having your short film screened to thousands of people nationally).

The short, titled “Gaffa”, is an action-packed kung-fu comedy starring martial artist and TV personality, Andy Minh Trieu, and serial social media blogger, martial artist and actor, Maria Tran. Behind the scenes we had the lines of Craig Anderson of CraigFX and Adrian Castro of Fideo Films.

It was a very short turn-around – there were a couple of days of rehearsals and a single day to do the whole shoot. Below are a few photographs from the day. Video of bloopers will be uploaded at a later date.

UPDATES: Life...In the Fast Insomniac Lane

Chilling out at North Stradbroke Island

Date: Sat, 21 Jan, 2012
Location: Its been a pit-a-pat-a day. I'm home now.

Oh dear...My last blog has been over a month ago. December 2011 ended with an entanglement of intertwining projects, the biggest on my plate was the research and production work on "Once Upon A Time In Cabramatta", in between filling the role as workshop trainer for the "Twinning Project" with schools across Western Sydney and Griffith and connecting the dots in the "One Day in Cabramatta" engagement as managed by Information & Cultural Exchange (ICE) and SBS. The has been plenty of hard hitting challenges along the way, and a string of lovers and haters and come and go and sometimes even poke in to say "Congratulations" or wave the index finger at me saying "sell out".

A big lesson this year is, you can never please everybody, nor do you have to. I've learnt a very nifty trick that I've used time and time again, especially to the critics, "What have you done to address this problem/ opportunity/ situation?". It is so easy to point fingers to who's irresponsible, who's doing a bad job, the woulds, the coulds and the shoulds. People who are quick to judge need to beware. If you haven't done anything, sit down and shut up. What I've learnt is I can say that now. Instead of defending myself, shine the mirror of reflection outwards and gage the reaction.

Other highlights in 2011 was the numerous travels to Melbourne for the collaborative work with Youcake! Production on "Interpretations" and their assistance to make my "Quest for Jackie Chan! - Who Am I" Shoot a possibility.

The Asian Australian Film Forum, held in Melbourne late last year was another good moment for reflection on identity and a communal think tank opportunity for all of us to continue the good works we do. Check out the awesome video I compiled for them here.

I started joining the 9Lives Team and also Invincible Worldwide in December. Together they help me figure  out the stunning "Quest for Jackie Chan! Playground Shoot".

I made my film buddy Adrian Castro my co-producer for the "Quest for Jackie Chan!" and that was a good jump start move to getting the project finished. He has been helping me with the shoots, marketing and in general, film watching.

Finally, who could resist free trips around the world, courtesy of once a stranger and now a promising pal, Trung Ly - Head of Dong Tam Association, the most long standing martial arts lion dancing team in Sydney. In 10 crazy days we managed to go to Singapore, Malaysia and my favorite place - Japan. Travelling really opens your eyes to the world and all the little problems back home is meaningless when you step back and see the world in an interactive lens.

You might ask, so what's your day job? The 9-5 thing you do that gives you the bread and butter to you know, survive? Lol! All I have to say is, the life of a freelancer is a turbulent one. I haven't had a week's rest and often juggling 2-3 jobs in one go. The pay is still there, but a field like this requires more energy expenditure than the 9-5 one. I believe the rewards are much more higher, and those nagging little kiddish dreams are much more possible.

So what's 2012 in store for me? My birthday is coming up on the 30th and I'll be a good 27 this year. I'm heading to Hawaii and then Hong Kong pretty soon and I guess my focus this year is getting back into martial arts training if time permits, acting and filmmaking. But most importantly, finish on the "Quest for Jackie Chan!". I believe if you put your mind to it, anything is possible.

Peace out and lots of love,

Maria Tran

TEST SHOOT: "Who Am I" Scene #2

Carpark standoff - Adrian Castro & Maria Tran

Take this block...man....

Dammit! Where am I?

I can see you, with my left eye....

Maria Tran, Adrian Castro & Alan LA

Date: Saturday, 5th of November, 2011
Time: 8.30-12pm
Venue: Lidcombe

Today, myself, Adrian Castro and our first time on the Quest for Jackie Chan! Alan La all got together to do Test Shoot #2 - Who Am I. Last week we tested it out indoors with Thuy Ng as the cameraperson and the edits came together pretty well. The time round we had the chance to tweak things up, work in a real environment to get the shots.

I think we most of become a little strokish and I had a hard time remembering bits of the choreography we came up last week. A few injuries here (got punched in the boob and Adrian almost K.O Alan) and there and some external factors that we didn't have control (uneven surfaces that meant the dolly couldn't do a good job.

We decked up a bit. I was in semi "Jackie Chan" gear with a over-the-top wig (that had dramas of it's own) and Adrian Castro was filling in for Christopher Pang.

Check out the vlogs/ behind the scenes for this week and I'm sorry I can upload you the testers, all a secret until the movie comes out. :)

1st Test Fight Shoot - Who Am I? - With Adrian Castro and Maria Tran

Behind the Scenes and having fun!

In contrast to people unwinding for the weekend, I saw myself, Adrian Castro and Thuy Ng at our little den, the Shed and choreographing and shooting a test scene for the much anticipated Quest for Jackie Chan! Who Am I Scene, featuring Christopher Pang in Melbourne this year.

Its been a long time since I shot something for the film. In fact, I was so busy with my 2-3 job juggle that I wasn't sure if I was ever to finish the thing. But now, I've formalised that Adrian Castro will be a co-producer and Thuy Ng will the production manager so they are both kicking my arse on getting it done.

The meeting started up with a discussion between myself and Adrian on what we have left to shot...which is lots.... especially when it changed from being a standard documentary to a crazy weird ass dream sequence laden doco drama (I don't know how it will turn out, but ***k, its fun to make!)

But I'm so glad that we have finally drew a line what content goes in and what stays out and the other scenes will be underway. 

Fight Sequence Practice

At 9-11pm, we started to do some chorie and shot practice to see if we can come up with some slick sequences, and to my surprise, it didn't look too bad either. Of cause there was continuity issues etc...but overall, the edit was its "movie magic" and worked out find. I was pretty happy that I'm starting to develop the 'eye' for chorie and what works well and doesn't. On top of that, always have test shots, particularly when we are working with fight chorie. 

So what's next? I'll be working out the Melbourne shoot in terms of location and a tight 5 max crew, but in between, working on developing the other scenes as well. 

Come on! Lets finish the Quest for Feb 2012! 

FILM SHOOT: Quest for Jackie Chan! ~ Funding Bodies

Date: Thursday, 9^th June, 2011

Time:   8.30-2pm

Location: Parramatta Diocese

Another great experience for my first time newbie attempt at making feature film “Quest for Jackie Chan!”. It was great (but stressing day) with lots of challenges thrown at my crew, cast and I as we truck it forwarded to complete this scene in the film – “Funding bodies”.

Picking on poor Maria Tran

Now originally, the whole movie concept was not going to include something of this sort, but after so many knockbacks for support on this project from what I call the mainstream filmmaking mafias, I’ve decided to take destiny into my own hands and amplify what it feels to tackle to Australian Film Industry. And why not have a cameo of it?

Quan Tran and Saber Baluch

It was a good feeling to have my brother from a different mother, Quan Tran and his gear on board;  Adrian Castro (guerrilla VFX guy and 1^st AD for the shoot), Saber Baluch (Cinematography/ DOP) and once intern but now gungho film maker Thuy Ng (Production Manager). These guys were my eyes and ears for the production and had extrasensory abilities that made my job easier.

Now, I would also like to extend my welcoming to new crew (whom I just met on the day): Rushan (Sound guy) who was probably the only guy that had enough stamina to keep that boom stick up for that long (well done!), Kleo & Sophea (Production assistant), who were such an asset to the film shoot, they were on the ball, quick thinking and generally fun (with the vlogs) to have around (Keep it up girls!).

Also, Ms Thao Le (Glamour World Beauty Hair & Make Up) made such a difference to how the actors look like on screen. Big ups to her!

Thao Le of Glamour World Beauty

After lots of searching high and low for the “funding bodies” cast, I finally found the right kinds of people who made the scene a bellyful of laughs.

Introducing, Bruno Starrs (“Main director”), Danielle Antaki (“Female Director”), Christian Tancred (“Jock Director #1), Scott Cantrill (“Jock Director #2) and Felino Dolloso (“Asian Director”) who were all brilliant, patience and professional to work with.

Overall, I was very happy with this shoot. There is still lots to learn after but I’m proud to say this shoot is pivotal to many more great shoots (the key is bringing out the best in people, in return they will make a great shoot). There was a sense of team spirit and constant learning. Post shoot, Adrian Castro called to remind me of what I’m doing – my first, movie! No budget, unconventional, gungho, Jackie Chan style (director, producer, actor) and with such great energies to make “something from nothing” (as Saber Baluch would say).

What I learnt: Directing/ producing/ writing/ acting is some darn crazy mother of a multitasking head spin. I had to juggle a shoot in the conservative boardroom church, get away with bring in mock AK47s and other weaponry, remind the crew not to use the “F” word too loudly (because we are in the house of God – the Catholic one), and remind composed and focus on getting the actor’s performance (including mine).

What I will continue: Using the making of this movie as my way of getting schooled in the filmmaking progress.

 

What is next: Long weekend is up and I’ve postponed the shoot with Farid Farid, Ali Kadhim and the parkour crew till end of July. There’s so much potential for that shoot to develop and honestly, I don’t have to rush into things. There’s no actual deadline for the project to finish (only for it to premiere in Feb 2012). This weekend, I’ll be working on costume design and the major fight sequence shoot with Andy Minh Trieu (renown onscreen “Ninja”), which will see some new collaborations with VSS Studios (Vanna Seang) and David Nguyen (Filmmaker and Dong Tam Association). Bring on the collaborations and let more learnings begin!!!!

Also, check out Adrian Castro's blog!
Check out the full photo album!

PROGRESS: Quest for Jackie Chan!

Its been 18 months since the inception of the “Quest for Jackie Chan!” idea, and so much as happened ever since. I did have moments of creative blocks with the project, but I think it was fueled by my own overwhelmingness of the rapid change throughout.

The idea began as being very 2D; it was like an A to B linear journey, to meet Jackie Chan, not really understanding my own inners, the context and how far and wide this project reached.

I’ve sampled the topic from varying perspectives and I’ve finally reached to the peak that has allowed me to be organically creative. I don’t know if there’s such terms, but creativity and innovative thinking is what fuels this project.  Organic, in a sense, that I’m not straining as much to come up with the details of the movie, and everything that has been learnt and experienced is finally coming together.

I think I don’t want to make this movie for the sake of getting attention, to be cool and other ego and narcissistic means. I probably did, in the beginning, but now its transcended onto more of the craft of filmmaking and storytelling.

Life doesn’t get any easier from this moment though, it becomes an obsessional thought, everything I think of, or do relates to the craft. I have major troubles getting to sleep (often fantastic ideas hits just when I about to get to shut eye).

It has been exciting though, I got on board Adrian Castro who is a D.I.Y savvy filmmaker who knows about visual FX, graphics, stock motion and fight chorie to assist and kick my butt when I’m slacking off.

He’s been throwing me movie after movie and literally, sitting with me, and making sure I’m watching it like some sort of school kid.

I’m at the point of my project where I’m calling on a team people dedicated, innovative people to inject their collaborative minds on it. 

PROJECT: Meals on Wheels with Adrian Castro

I get all sorts of emails lately branded with "Quest for Jackie Chan is dead". But wait on a sec, just because I haven't met Jackie Chan doesn't mean the whole quest world has collapsed. Everything I do is purposeful and I don't believe in failure, just obstacles that tests our capabilities.

So the "Quest" has veered its directions to the making of a quality movie of my journeys (as well as many others) on the "Quest". This Sunday, i spent a solid 3 hours with film buddy Adrian Castro who is committed in recreating the Meals on Wheels Benny The Jet vs Jackie Chan notorious fight scene.

I was lucky enough to meet Benny The Jet last year (through Misha & Warren Coulton) and ever have been inspired to pay homage to the meet up.

So in the month of April, myself and Mr Castro will be dedicating our 10 solid hours a week in full exploration of fight choreography, training, costume design and location scouting all in the lead up to a full 2 day shoot of one of Jackie's best fight scenes of all time. I will be playing "Jackie" (girl version but with the same hairstyle) while Adrian will be donning "Benny". I look forward to working with Adrian because I know his level of pedanticness and "go hard or go home" attitude will surely push this clip (which will be a part of the "Quest") to the best it can possibly be.