My "Professional" Site

So I now finally have my own "professional" site! Why the quotation marks you may ask. Well, that's because I'm still new to the technical theatre industry, and I don't dare to call myself a real professional designer yet! So basically what you can expect in my "professional" site is to showcase my lighting and scenic design works, and blog about my design concepts and other related stuffs. Currently I only have my design for "Bloodshed in the Imperial Palace" posted up, but more will come (if I manage to engage in more design works, that is!), so please give me your support!

Model Box of a One Room Flat (Finalised)

So, I've finally finished my scenic design assignment of making a model box on the theme of a room with a view and here you have it:




I'm relieved that I've finished it ahead of time, but that doesn't mean I'm now totally free. I'm now involved in another school production called "The Greeks", and I'm the assistant set designer. It's going to be a very complex set, almost architectural even, and the model construction is almost killing me. Well, there's really nothing I can do much about that, but just press on..

One Room Flat Model Updated

This is my updated model for my one-room flat for scenic design module in school, made to a size of 1:25.


Of course, this is not a realistic scale down of a one-room flat, afterall I'm doing scenic design, not interior or architectural design. And thankfully I'm just doing the former, for this model is just too difficult to build and paint, especially the smaller elements. It's nevertheless an interesting experience and kind of fulfilling once it is done. Having said that, it's still not yet finished and I have still to add more stuffs to make relate more to the given poem by my lecturer.

Twinkle Twinkle Indian Star

I was doing random surfing again and I found this very hilarious video featuring "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" being sung in various traditional Indian musical styles. Of course, this is meant to be just for fun and not intended to make fun to either the old nursery rhyme or to the Indian musical culture. Enjoy!

It's a Messy Show...

Yesterday I went to attend "The Story of Dongpo and Chaoyun" by Guangdong Cantonese Opera First Troupe at the Esplanade. To be honest I had mixed feelings about this production on the whole. The acting and stage direction is great, but there're a few big flaws which I just can't accept.

First, the lighting was horrible. Despite being designed by the famous Zhou Zhengping (he'd designed lighting for many big shows in China), but it was painful to look at. Like for the final scene where by Su Dongpo was lamenting at Chaoyun's grave, the constant changing of coloured lighting was distracting. At several other scenes too, specials were lit for no apparent reason, misleading the audience to look at areas whereby there was totally no actions taking place. Of course, that is not to say Zhou's design sucks. I believed it is the fault of the programmer and/ or assistant lighting designer. Afterall, Zhou is only a guest lighting designer who designed the whole lighting (and to be honest I feel in general the lighting mood was good), and it is actually the assistant lighting designer who followed the troupe to Singapore and executed it. Somehow I think the assistant lighting designer or the lighting programmer failed to translate Zhou's lighting plan effectively, and it was very obvious on stage.

Secondly, the script contained severe factual problems. No doubt a playwright can change historical facts a bit to suit the whole script and the message he wish to convey to the audience, but geographical facts shouldn't be compromised. For this show, the playwright actually mentioned the West Lake constantly, even though Su Dongpo was supposed to be in Huizhou, Guangdong province. Now Huizhou and Hangzhou is thousands of miles apart!

It's a dismay that a professional troupe like this can make such big blunders. Luckily, the cast and music saved the show, and I believe they should still be given the credit.