Interview: Bong Cheng Tzuu (Gaffer & extra) about KINKS

How did you get involved in KINKS?

How did I get involved? Well, I’ve been working with Juliane & Deckster on a couple of projects which includes Bad Timing, Ramly at War Begins as an actor, One Buck Short’s MTV & Unsecured Loan 2 as both actor and production crew. So Juliane calls me one day and asks me if I am interested to act in Kinks when I was preparing to fly back to Borneo. Well, I was planning to take a break to be with my parents but as I’ve always told Juliane and Deckster, if they ever need me, all they have to do is ask

But Juliane told me that the only fitting part in the film is very short and to fly me down just to shoot for a day was too expensive … hahaha… so we both agreed that I’ll take part as crew as well And of course that was something I didn’t mind to do as well

You were working behind and in front of the screen. What do you prefer and why?

Well, I prefer to act in front of the screen because this is what I have always loved to do: to play different characters to experience different personalities which I think I would not have the opportunity to be in real life. But I like working behind the camera, too. I believe that if I want to be a good actor, I need to know how movies are made from pre to post production.

Can you remember any anecdote from set, what was the worst, what the best experience?

Hahaha, the worst? I guess it would have been the shoot at the jungle camp. There were surprises waiting every day. I was assigned to handle the daily electricity supply when we reached the camp and well, it’s a jungle camp and they use generators with naked wires hanging about connecting the whole camp. And of course the wiring was never meant to handle above 3000Watts with one plug. One plug melted and I had the thrill of my life being scared to get electrocuted while trying to fix the cables it was fun though J

Best I would say was the time we were shooting by the river scene, the whole camera and lighting crew had to dip inside the water while shooting with all the fishes nibbling on us giving us massage while at work talk bout great service.

You are an aspiring actor. If you had a choice, what would your dream role be like?

My dream role would be a psycho murderer cause this role I know I’ll definitely never be in real life But my all time favourite is to play a warrior role in a medieval era, riding on horses and wielding swords running around slashing and fighting

KINKS is over, what’s next?

Well, right now I’m taking time off from the hectic industry of Malaysia but my next plan is to move forward and bring myself to a new level as an international actor. I’ll be returning back to Malaysia and start on mastering at least 1 foreign language of choice.

Thanks so much Bong for all your contribution to our various projects

Check his website : http://chengtzuubong.bravehost.com/

Interview: Dexter Bahjanoon (DoP) about KINKS

Photo: Nancy Ford… But Dex and I couldn’t decide which photo – so he got 2 in 1

How did you get involved in KINKS?

Well… I got TRAPPED! Juliane is my girlfriend – of course I can’t miss the opportunity to work with her. Secondly KINKS has a female director duo (Juliane Block & Virginia Kennedy) – reason enough for a DoP-Duo, don’t you think? The script is compelling and the visual treatment different. It was an interesting challenge to shoot a mockumentary. Lastly I like the idea about the twins… but the main reason after all was the book “Guide to acceptable f**king moral standards” – AWESOME! (Thanks Virginia – the book will be on ebay & Amazon soon hahaha)

We know initially you just planned to drop by the first shooting weekend, but then you ended up staying the entire shoot. Tell us a little bit about that.

Yes, in the beginning I just wanted to help out. (Of course thinking… can’t they find a different guy for the gaffer job??) I just wanted to have a bit of fun. Marc and Juliane knew each other a while. Marc was already long assigned to KINKS as DoP, so I thought there’s no real point for me to add to the crew – just jump in as joker here and there if urgent help is needed.

But after one day on set I changed my mind. The bare minimum crew, often dedicated but untrained students with the agenda to learn, made it tough for the director duo to achieve their vision. I thought a couple of skilled extra hands can make a difference. I would have felt guilty for the rest of my life, if KINKS turned out crappy, knowing I could have made the difference. So I sold my soul to KINKS and offered the best I could.

You like to set up your scenes with reference to comic books or other pieces of art. Now, KINKS required a totally naturalistic shooting style, being a mockumentary. How did this affect your lighting choices?

Yes, in the beginning I had a bit of trouble to adjust. The requirement was all natural and usually I don’t like that. I would consider myself a lighting megalomanic hahaha! But after discussions with the directors and a few adjustments of my style it all worked out.

To be honest, there were bigger difficulties than the lighting style – whenever the equipment was sufficient the power failed us and if we had enough power we suffered a lack of lights.

But – thanks to Bong & Crasher, our two dedicated gaffers it worked out in the final end! Thanks guys, you are awesome!

What was the best, what the worst experience on set?

I’m not sure what was good and what was bad. I felt like a mix out of genius and lunatic – always trying to solve problems without spending money – hence I learned a lot! How to set up a scene with almost no light and no power… well, we had bad days on set as well and I think it taught me how to handle airheads, how to train new crew on the spot or work without anybody at all. I wasn’t a big fan of the food either. But in the final end it was ok! Now I know how to value gaffer tape and cookie card boards.

Do you remember any anecdote from set?

KINKS was for me like watching a TV series – each day got a new episode

KINKS is over, what’s next?

I’m a freelance DoP, so there are a couple of projects ongoing. I’m right now working on a story myself with Julie. To be involved in the film making process at this very early stage is new to me, but fun!

Thanks Dexter!

Check out his website here!

Interview: Jeza Fenton (“Chad E. Tanner” / PA) about KINKS

Jeza aka Chad in the midst of the show contestants. Photo: Nancy Ford

How did you get involved in KINKS?

I first heard about kinks through a casting call announced through one of Malaysia’s prominent arts web sites. They were looking for a young Caucasian male actor, naturally I felt obliged to audition. I emailed the director my bio and some profile photos, the next thing I knew I was invited to come in for a casting to be held in early February, Bangsar.

I was absolutely thrilled when I got the call from Juliane herself confirming the role, and at the time I was studying film at the University of Malaya; film and acting has always been my passion so I offered to volunteer as a production assistant. A month later we started rehearsals and by March I was acting in my first ever feature length film which was really exciting. The rest was history.

I heard there were some issues with your blond hair… tell us about it!

I’m half Maori which till today shocks most people when I tell them. Thus you’ll notice my hair is very thick and curly, so when I coloured it blond for the second time my hair was literally falling out and resembled what Virginia (the director) described as “The inside of a mattress!” This was days before shooting were to commence so I quickly rushed to a local Chinese salon to fix it up. I returned to the set with wait for it yes PURPLE hair. I had requested for ashy blond as that was what the descriptions of Chad had said in the script, but I had ended up instead with this purple mop that looked like the inside of a mattress. I looked so daggy, but i just jumped in the shower and washed what nearly felt like 10 times till the die came out. Alas I had a colour which was passable for Chad. Definitely wont forget what having hair the colour of ribena was like. Juliane and Virginia just laughed.

As far as I know Chad was your first main role… what do you like in acting?

Acting allows you to fluidly step in and out of a persons life recreating a living and breathing sculpture. You transcend the real world in acting and recreate fantasies and other realities which audiences find humorous, amusing, moving, compelling and in some instances abhorrent. I like acting because by becoming these living and breathing sculptures we essentially reflect ourselves through the similarities or through differences which in fact define our own identity. Acting allows you to see life from a panorama of different perspectives and an objective one too. Other than this the family and ensemble you get to work with is unlike any other workplace you’ll ever find. Something I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Will you pursue a career as actor?

I have been and really lucky since doing Kinks. A lot of work has come up, a few commercials here and there as well as featured extra role in a Malaysian film to be shot in July. I’m really enjoying my career so far and will continue to pursue acting as well as film production. Meanwhile I’m planning to learn Mandarin and brush up on my Bahasa to give my acting options a broader horizon.

Can you remember any anecdote from set? What was your worst, what your best experience?

Malaysia is a tough climate to work in. Every day it can be over thirty degrees and it can rain unexpectedly. The most difficult day would have been the last days shoot in the van. The air conditioning had broken and the lighting was patchy while driving which meant we had to do take after take after take in awkward positions. I nearly died. The heat really just saps your energy and I think one of the girls threatened to walk off set.

Some of my favourite scenes were with the gorgeous Tati. I always loved our scenes together because she’s very professional but also has a really great sense of humour. I wont forget the scene where she was suppose to seductively cook me some food. Instead she shoved a whole six inch banana (which was not ripe I might add) down my throat. I nearly choked on set. I wasn’t expecting it at all and I tried hard to cover my tears from both pain and laughter. Acting in kinks was really at times spontaneous which made each day working on kinks a marvellous joy.

Thanks Jeza, and we wish you all the best in your acting career

Please add me on face-book
http://www.facebook.com/Jezdogz

Interview: Marc Oberdorfer (DoP) about KINKS

Marc enjoys the wrap party in between Sofia & Tati

How did you get involved in KINKS?

I met Juliane, one of the directors and cast of Kinks in 2008 in Hong Kong at a independent filmmaker and actors meet up. A few months later I got an email if I wanted to shoot a short film for her since she was coming to Hong Kong soon. I said yes and the outcome was “Kowloon Story”. We worked very well together so when she approached me later and asked me to shoot Kinks it was a no brainer for me.

You took a month off your normal work. You had to fight the weather, you had to work with a minimum crew… was it worth it?

Well, I didn’t completely take a break from my normal work, I would get up earlier or stay up longer during shooting days to get my work done. Although the weather in Hong Kong is quite similar to KL there were really tough days to shoot, especially the jungle camp and the paddy fields shooting days took their toll on the whole cast and crew. In terms of crew there were a few days where we could have used more hands but I think we managed pretty well. It was definitely a good experience, to me any experience is a good one since you always have to deal with new problems, solve them and keep learning new stuff.

You live in work in Hong Kong. Are there any differences between working in Hong Kong and Malaysia?

I have worked on a feature film in Hong Kong although it was a American production so I can’t draw a direct comparison. But I think it doesn’t really matter in which country you are shooting since it all gets down to cast and crew. A good crew makes a big difference and determines if your production is running smoothly or not.
Obviously in some countries you may have difficulties shooting certain things, for example on the Kinks shoot I was a bit worried that we would get in trouble with people for shooting our “hookers” in sexy outfits on the streets of KL but luckily we didn’t have any bad encounters.
So are there any big differences? Good question, I think I’d have to stay in Malaysia for a longer period of time to get a better insight.

What was the best and the worst experience you remember?

As said earlier, there is no bad experience to me. Not really. What you would call a bad experience I see as a opportunity to learn from and try to avoid that mistake or improve the next time around. But since you’re asking. Worst: One of the biggest difficulties on a set I believe are misunderstandings. Kinks writer and director Virginia and I had misunderstandings at times and hot weather and tough shooting conditions on top of that led to some frustration but we sorted it all out (big hug here to V). As long as you can talk about problems and solve them together everything is good. Best: It was all a great experience in every regard, I had a lot of fun working with cast and crew! There were a lot of talented people on Kinks and I’m looking forward to seeing all of their new projects they’re working on. A big thanks here to everyone who made my life on set easier!

KINKS shooting is over… what’s next?

I went straight into the next shoot when I returned to Hong Kong, it’s a art house short film that I DPd for Syren Johnstone. We wrapped recently and it’s in post production as we speak. Next is most likely a feature which is in pre-production, to be shot in Hong Kong this summer. I have a project of my own lined up for autumn this year and of course there is a certain web series that I am writing with a talented young German director.

I’d also like to take this opportunity for a BIIIIG thanks to Juli and Virginia to get me aboard of Kinks. Also a huge thanks to Aliff, Danny and Adrian who so welcomingly took me in and played host for 5 weeks! I am really missing the Kinks shoot and all of you guys.

A BIIIIG thanks back to one of our DoPs – Marc!

Check his website: www.youngindiefilms.com

Interview: Amelia Chen (“Mariana”) about KINKS

Photo: Matt Marzuki

How did you get involved in KINKS?

How exactly I got involved I have no idea now. But most probably coz I know so many people involved already. And I’ve been meaning to work with everyone for a while now. So when the opportunity arose, I just jumped at it!

I know that you are a theater and film actress. How is working on screen and on stage different?

Working on screen is just a bit disjointed because the scenes are shot according to locations as compared a chronological told story on stage. But you get used to it and just roll with it. haha…

What is Mariana’s backstory?

Mariana is basically kind of a victim of circumstances. She wants to be a singer but has to do what she does to pay the bills. She loves her family and wants to make them proud but has made a few bad choices in life. She’s hoping with this that maybe, hopefully, she’ll be able to turn her life around. Or at least, make more money…..

Can you remember any anecdote from set? What was your worst, what your best experience?

Though it was fun, the worst was probably having to spend the entire day out in Isi Rimba Jungle camp. By the end of all our shoots there, I’d be tired, sticky and exhausted not from the shoot but all the heat!! Best experience funnily enough was also at Isi Rimba, having that one scene in the river coz it was so cooling!!! Hahahaha… And for anecdotes… during the last few days shooting at Isi Rimba, Nina brought in this book on numerology… and EVERYONE wanted a piece of it. We were all reading it for days after that. Pinjam here, pinjam there… then comparing profiles… quite entertaining. hehe…

Kinks is over… what’s next?

After I did Kinks, I was involved in an indie short called Hold Me Tight. I’m currently in rehearsals for a play called Metamorphosis in August, to be stage at KLPac. So look out for them!

Thanks Amelia and all the best with your upcoming productions!