Today I will be doing a banal post about things I want but can not have. From lawn furniture to accessories, I’ve been struggling to decide what to buy and in the end purchasing nothing. Since our last few posts have been on the serious side; Election posts, Geohot’s Trial, etc. It’s time for some girly frivolity.

And let me be selfish as to use this time to weigh the options of my future purchases and let the bimbo shitbit out of the bag.

More spending urges after the jump.

Item No #01

Isosceles Necklace by Stone & Honey. Hand cut brass and oxidized silver triangles hang on a delicate oxidized sterling chain from Stone and Honey.

Well because it’s so pretty and because it oxidizes so each and every piece is personalized, cheap thrills like that buy me in. Besides, buying triangular jewelry helps me fights the strong urges I have to tattoo triangles all over random parts of my body.

Item No #02

Ikea Lawn Furniture from the AMMERÖ series.

Why? Because truly, my balcony tanning has gotten out of hand. I lay on a towel on the floor beside Mr Bonsai. All this would be much more glamorous if I was on an AMMERÖ. Plus, my Malibu Orange would stop spilling all over the floor.

Item No #03

NIKICIO’s mixté / vol.06 / Unisex Multiway Apron & mixté / vol.06 / Unisex Bomber Jacket.

Now that’s an apron I would adorn and bake food babies in. I’m basically loving all of NIKICIO’s stuff and I only personally own 1 item, that’s imbalance right there.

Item No #04

An iPad so I can use the iPad Flipboard Ap. Browsing lookbook.nu and reading feeds has never been prettier than on Flipboard. Flipboard is my favourite Apple Store Ap and I don’t even own the platform that utilizes it.

Item No #05

Doc Martens’ Cosmic Boots. I’ve wanted them for so damn long now. If not only for the fact that they’re awesome but that Han; loves the cosmics and would literally kinda be intrigued by the space I walk on. Hur hur, pun? No?

Item No #06

LUXIRARE’s Fox Fur Tails.

I had this crazy dream once I was riding a white horse down a beach, and I had a LUXIRARE Fox Fur Tail hanging off my outfit. Materialism has crept into my dream states. A higher power compels me to shop and waste my money.

Item No #07

KeepCups! Ever since Charine bought me one of these in blue for Christmas, I’ve been craving various colours for the portability of caffeinating my friendships. My blue one has treated me well, transporting my home made expresso, cracking me out regularly, faithfully and surely. And I know for a fact, Pat’s been lusting after them too. Must have moar!

Item No #08

A Canon 60D. Because no matter how much I borrow Han‘s 7D, it’ll never be like having one of my own. It also means not being shrieked at in case you accidentally leave the camera bag open or something. It’s just that after years of buying an average of 2 cameras a year, I am much more cautious about my gear purchases. Maybe it’s time and well this one’s a beau, isn’t it?

There’s also that urge for a new iMac and a new Miumiu bag but I’m going to avoid putting those in this list as buying any one of them would make purchasing anything else impossible.

So there you have it, the list. Is it making you have hot flashes and urges too?

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50 seconds into Esquire’s Feature Video you’ll catch Glee’s Heather Morris dancing to Deadmau5′s Sofi Needs a Ladder. Not a big fan of Glee but I am a fan of Heather Morris.

Sexy. If food turns you on more than females then there’s Epic Meal Time making a Cheesy Grilled Cheese Tower to the music of Deadmau5 to fire your buns up. Deadmau5, soundtracking cheese towers everywhere.

EPIC! For more Deadmau5: Visit their MySpace.

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To those living in my home of Sunny Singapore, you’d be aware of the recent elections. For two days, nobody tweeted about anything else. And if you happened to randomly tweet about sunbathing in your own balcony, your tweet would get lost at sea, a sea of political rants, thoughts and statements.

I think the most significant thing this election is that everyone finally saw each other. Not for the apathetic folk that we presumed each other(and ourselves) to be. But for an actual nation of people. People who argue, people who debate, people who actually give a shit. A few months ago, everyone thought Singapore was like the Singapore some dumb American thinks it is. But we know better now.

I think the general consensus amongst the Gen Y-ers is a general disappointment with the lack of opposition seats. I share that opinion. How does a party with only 60% of the vote get 93% of the seats? Simple my friends, by manipulating the GRC system.

How can a party with 60% votes get 93% of the seats? – Temasek Review

As someone from the outside looking in, and by the outside, I mean the uncontested Tanjong Pagar GRC, I feel I’ve gotten a bird’s eye view of everyone’s passion, furor and well, what’s the opposite of apathy? One thing we can’t argue is that Singapore had a political awakening this year. Or at least for me, I’ve never seen my peers as invested in the shaping this country as during this General Election. Prior to this, the most common question was, “Who actually cares?”

Well, this year, we found out, we actually care. Weird. I didn’t think I did either. The antidote to apathy? Well, it’s being able to have a voice, and using it. This time, we had help from Zuckerberg, Jobs and the Tweetbird. For me, this talk on TED, felt incredibly relevant to me during this election time.

Dave Meslin, The Antidote to Apathy:

Reason being, yes this year, we had a really super mini revolution, a GRC was finally won by the Worker’s Party. And it had been the most contested election since independence. And many of us feel it’s still just not enough and I agree. But what I find has been really healthy, is apathy being slapped in the face this year. And people paying some damn attention.

The power of the people is stronger than the people in power.

Sounds horribly cheesy? Well, let’s just not take it for granted next time.

I leave this post with this final video. And yes, Egyptian issues are a totally different ballgame than Singaporean ones, but I like what Wael Ghonim says, “The power of the people is stronger than the people in power.”

Wael Ghonim, Inside the Egyptian revolution:

Don’t Wait is after the jump!

Want more? Check out more tracks on their MySpace or at the Official Website.

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But as Sony’s GeoHot / Fail0verflow fiasco unfolds, I can’t help feeling betrayed… Turns out Ol’ Uncle Sony is not only senile, he’s simply quite a dick.

Trying to master the art of making enemies and alienating friends? Uncle Sony shows us how with exceptional finesse! Let’s observe as GeoHot fends his harasser off with a sling.

Update: GeoHot continues to sink Battleship Sony from South America (23 Mar)>>

This post has 2 updates (23 Mar)>>

Preoccupied with developing, protecting and stealing technological IP, Sony has not only neglected to pick the minds of arguably the most valuable outliers in its’ PS3 following, they have come to believe that it’s necessary to haul their cerebral asses to court.

Um. Hello if you’re looking to “borrow” clever ideas, don’t you think these PS3 brainiacs are a great place to start?!

Also, if you’re going to sue, don’t pick a dude with more than 1,000,000 friends.

This whole FAIL extravaganza has been going on for some time now, and really doesn’t count as news. Nonetheless, when there’s buffoonery of such monumental proportions going down, there’s no way MiscShitBits can sidestep our responsibility to admire this epic quagmire.

Oh no they didn’t #1:

Sony fails to recognize that people like Fail0verflow & GeoHot are FOC crystal balls because:

• Users in the long tail are typically gold mines for ethnographic insights,
• i.e, they are the ones who will explore new frontiers for Sony,
• hence, their community is the best place to source for and test out new ideas.
• Also, they are probably the ones who can articulate feature wishlists the rest of the bell curve can’t.
• Better yet, they have the know-how to prototype and show you potential permutations to your products.

It really doesn’t take an expert to see that if Sony isn’t genuinely researching this group of prosumers, or recruiting them like crazy, they’re really shortchanging themselves.

Oh no they didn’t #2:

Sony pretends to seek out the kind of people they are concurrently suing. Hear that rumbling? It’s the rolling of a thousand eyes…

Oh no they didn’t #3:

Sony blunders on,  actually attempting to recruit the kind of people they are suing. The noble Koushik Dutta gives them a beating with the most cordial stick we ever did see.

(More via. Makezine.)

Ok, Intermission:

Just because I feel bad that Sony is experiencing such torrential FAIL, let’s just say… that Sony’s ham-handed rage against these PS3 wunderkinds as an isolated case of poor judgement on the part of Sony’s SCEA arm…

Why isn’t their PR crew already busting their asses remedying the situation!? Especially when people are literally pieing Sony with the solutions! Here’s our faves:

• Hire GeoHot
• Muzzle them lawyers
• Give GeoHot a t-shirt

Easy enough right? What’s stopping them?! “Naaaahh… that would be too simple…”

Problem is that regardless of the legal outcome, Sony’s actions are currently incongruent with most of their consumer’s values. While the SCEA legal team is fighting zealously to preserve the perceived profitability of their PS3 consumer base, the whole Sony brand is now pissing off a larger population that includes people foreign to planet PS3.

Why has a plan to salvage the situation has not already kicked into action?! Perhaps because of this?At the rate Sony’s FAILing, these guys are going to have to change their names to W1N0verflow by the time this is through.

If something doesn’t change, this is a losing PR battle for Sony. In the event that GeoHot is successfully sued, Sony will only reinforce its’ Corporate Bully label for victimizing a kid who happened to pwn their system. Otherwise, Sony loses and becomes the Goliath to GeoHot’s David.

Not to mention, all this press coverage will catapult PS3 jailbreaking into the mainstream either ways.

If just to add icing on this cumulo stercore George Hotz happens to be an anomaly – this is hardly the stereotypically reclusive hacker. As the first kid to Jailbreak the iPhone, this boy has had his fair share of experience in dealing the the media. Despite attempting to be a rapping caucasian (alamak why?!), he pretty much hits all the right notes in his public appearances on shows like The Alyona Show and  Attack of the Show.

Attention Sony: That GeoHot kid is also pwning your ass on the PR front.

Alright, let’s get back to Sony’s ridiculously well-rounded incompetence…

Oh no they didn’t #4:

How does one offer their condolences when one is confronted a survey this pitifully clueless? Who knew the peephole to the hacker’s soul was a fourteen-question survey?!

Oh no they didn’t #5:

Kevin Butler, VP at Playstation… retweets the encryption code. Arguably the first time in Battleship history someone sinks their own battleship. Poor bugger.

Oh no they didn’t #6:

Sony mows on despite being faced rather openly by fellow giant Microsoft.

The only thing we can be certain of is that, as this unfolds, more FAIL will overfloweth. Shitbits will be watching closely as Sony continues to harass their targets. I do suspect I shall have the expression of an incredulous lemur etched permanently into my face by the time Sony’s through.

Dear Sony…

Throwing a legal tantrum because not everything is going according to your plan = lame.

Having a 21 year old kid be the target of your wrath = extra lame.

Letting a 21 year old kid out-maneuver you in PR = your brand is eroding right before our eyes.

So please, Sony, #include <chillpill.h>, nyquil your legal team and re-think your priorities. Might I suggest searching for the brave soul who dares to be your next senior VP of marketing & PSN as a starting point?

Sincerely,

The Miscellaneous ShitBits

More? Here:

• George Hotz’ blog
• Fail0verflow’s twitter
• Make: Online’s Phillip Torrone
• Wikileak’s mirror of the ps3 keys
• Boycott Sony

Here’s to wishing a good fight to George Hotz, Fail0verflow and their legal teams.

*Much credit & sympathies to Ottavio Vannini, whose fine piece of work seems to attract the oddest sort of appreciation.

THIS JUST IN (mar 23): Latest buzz has it that GeoHot is now George of the Jungle. And some misc shit bits have surfaced, and unfortunately, not in GeoHot’s favor.

First off, the stuff Sony’s managed to prove really isn’t all that shocking. Sure, he did have a PSN account… sure, some folks in Cali dug him and was generous with the dollarz. Urh. Duh. Didn’t need Sherlock right there. Maybe he did nuke some evidence asap cause he wasn’t all that clean of piracy (just my guess). So what?!

Big picture doesn’t change – Sony is still harassing one 21-year-old hacker. Still exploiting the cheapest way to champion a zero-tolerance system they prefer. And still taking the worst PR route possible while at it.

Sony is clearly on a mission to make an example out of someone by suing his ass off. Sadly, their choice of target really makes them appear outstandingly tasteless and despicable.

Is it that difficult to cut the suing, fix the security issues and focus on actually putting out better products?

What a mess. We’ll be staying tuned.

THIS JUST IN (pt2) : “Hey Sony hey hey, it’s spring break & you’re not invited ROFL!”

http://geohotgotsued.blogspot.com/2011/03/fearmongering.html

Nuanced but definitely tangible PR win for Team GeoHot (again). Hell we’re just observers and even we could use a holiday from this mummery of a lawsuit. Enjoy them trees George o’ the Jungle.

THIS JUST IN (pt3) : More verificación on the vacaciones via GeoHot’s lawyers:

http://au.ps3.ign.com/articles/115/1157239p1.html

http://www.examiner.com/console-gaming-in-national/geohot-says-he-didn-t-flee-and-that-he-didn-t-sabotage-hard-drives

Ok done is done. No more updates after this. All this testosterone is getting to me. Next post shall be smothered in the glittery eyeshadow of a thousand Hello Kitty clad ponies.

Fig 1. DSLR Rig

But everyone knows what a 5d rig roughly looks like. More interestingly, is the contemporary take on scenes of tension in the lets call this, the age of fuckolution. Beyond the surface of what DSLR video has brought, beyond the abilities of crazy low-light, slow motion and new nifty lenses, beyond the boring technicals that geek tech websites is the new look that these capabilities have brought. Things that when I watch, I go, YEP, that’s 2000 and now.

And since I’ve been really into lists recently, alas a list! And how certain films have applied these trends to creating an undoubtedly look of the now.

Read my list of video trends of this day and age after the jump.

Tilt shift is Hollywood’s new surrogate for the wide angle lens. A means to make characters, situations or places seem distorted or trivial. I remember watching it applied for the first time in The Social Network and I was like, right on.

Vimeo/Indiewood example: The Sandpit by Sam O’Hare is a Vimeo tilt shift classic. 15, 873 likes and counting. That’s a lot of likes. If you’re a tilt shift fan, then it’s likely you’ve watched this.

Hollywood example: If you don’t know this, then wake up; the Henley Sequence in The Social Network.

For a look at Tilt Shift closer to home for all you asians, here’s Toy Thailand by joerg daiber.

Extreme Time lapse

Time lapse is by no means a new thing. It has however been taken to the extreme in the recent years. It’s become more than just the shift of the sky from night to day. Or the buzz of city people moving quickly like streams of little ants. Time lapse has gone ape shit on us, the sky now shifts with a million stars. Volcanos erupt in seconds, and all while the camera tracks this movement, almost like a smooth sailing ferry boat in the middle of the desert. Basically what’s happening now is… time lapse on crack.

Vimeo/Indiewood example: TimeScapes: Rapture by Tom Lowe @ Timescapes. Tom Lowe is the 2009 Astronomy Photographer of the year. So you can imagine that his version of a time lapse would leave you starry eyed, and it really does.

Hollywood example: BBC Life’s Plants. Video’s recent affair with extreme timelapse allowed nature documentaries the ability to take advantage of this trend and make for some incredible wildlife study. We now see nature like we never did before, moving, growing through a scape. Stuff like this makes me feel video has got more going for it than filming kittens barfing.

Love this? You might also like Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull by Sean Stiegemeier. Another Vimeo famous video with a whopping 19, 000 likes. Shot on a 5D, harnessing the power of DSLR video. Or California/Arizona Time Lapse by Dan Eckert. The combination of his camera movement with time lapse is insane. At the 1:09 mark, he gets a little trashy techno on us too. Can we say time lapse trippy?

Extreme Slow Motion

Similarly to time lapse, slow motion isn’t a new thing either. But filming it for more than just a floaty atmospheric feel, filming slow motion for the sole purpose of seeing something in slow motion has become, well, a thing.

Vimeo/Indiewood example: Floating by Floating on Vimeo. The new breed of highspeed cameras has brought forth an entire generation of people who love filming floating liquid, shattered glass, slow-motion slaps across the faces and all that lovely mundane stuff we love seeing in slow motion. Trivial things become exciting. When’s the slow motion dog poop gonna arrive?

Hollywood example: There are countless examples of this. Slow motion is not a new thing in filmmaking by any means. I mean there was an TV Show dedicated to just filming things move at this extreme snail pace. For the hollywood example, I’m going to site the Inception kick. Yes it’s just a man falling into a bathtub. But slow-mo made it, well, a man falling into a bath-tub omg.

Note that he is Caucasian. Why is it always the white guy? For more footage of mundane items moving in warp speed, check out what happened when Tom Guilmette got locked in a Vegas hotel room with a Phantom Flex.

Lowlight/Shallow DOF

Fig 2. Atomic Love, Gregory Crewdson

Pair this glow of soft light and atmospheric illumination with the common man’s f2.0 and tada, we’ve got the distinctive look of the DSLR/Red/Etc. generation. Now, let me remind you shallow depth of field isn’t really a film trend, people have been making movies with it for years. It’s just the abundance of it nowadays in stark contrast to the days of handycams and low budget digital productions is quite apparent. And everyone uses and abuses it. Some scenes do need it’s deep focus, so for you shallow junkies out there, take a queue from the f/64 people. But for now, let’s enjoy this libation!

Vimeo/Indiewood example: APRICOT, A Short Film by Ben Briand. No mixed color temperatures here. But there is that glow. And of course that shallowness that has infiltrated any contemporary Student/Indie/Whatever film out there. APRICOT was one of the first few shorts I ever watched on Vimeo. And from that day forth, Vimeo stole my heart.

Hollywood example: The Canon 5D House Episode, an interesting turn for network TV. You’ll see the 5DmkII footage kick in at the 0:40 second mark.

For those of you shallow DOF, macro enthusiasts, here’s as low as it goes; the awe inspiring Macro Kingdom.

Strangely Shaped Bokeh/Extreme Bokeh

Find a quick explanation on Bokeh here. Bokeh, in the recent years, has taken various forms, most commonly; heart or star shapes. Because of this, Bokeh, has many romantic notions attached to it. Maybe it’s time to make Pang Sai Bokeh…

Vimeo/Indiewood example: Light Works by Supernormals. By far, one of the most awesome Bokeh videos I’ve encountered. Combining two of my great loves, beautiful Graphic Design/Typography and nifty video work.

Hollywood example: Heart shaped bokeh in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Watch as the Bokeh becomes sentimental at 0:20.

Love this trend? Then you may also like Danny Cooke’s Bokeh.

Skateboard Camerawork/Footage of Extreme Sports in Slow Motion

Video on wheels! This is pretty much self-explanatory.

Vimeo/Indiewood example: Pre-Bitter Cold 2010 by Imperial Productions. Shot by the same Vinny Minton that the producers of House eventually got to shoot their skateboarding scene.

Hollywood example: The skateboard scene on House. They actually flew down the above forementioned Indie Skateboard Videographer down to film this scene. Yay for indie filmmakers. You can see here how Hollywood Lighting and Art D make this scene pop though.

Watch a behind the scenes look on how they did it here.

For slow motion of extreme sports, a link I just have to share is BMX tricks in 7D 1000 fps by Oton Bačar. Combining two trends, slow-motion and biking/skating/extreme sporting scenes makes for trippy shit.

Cameras in weird places/POV shots

Fig 3. Head Cheese

Small cameras like that one, the iPhone 4, and the GF2, mean that cameras now fit into the tiniest places. Stories are told in a new way. Cooking shows now do shots from the point of view of your steak!

Vimeo/Indiewood Example: Po Chan’s The Last 3 Minutes. One of, if not my fave short of all time. The majority of the thing point of view. Helmet cams galore.

Hollywood Example: Guy Ritchie’s Nike Spot, Take it to the Next Level. This is the awesome director’s cut for those of you who’ve already seen the original.

For a very Hollywood example of placing cameras into tight nooks and spaces, go rent Iron Man 2 and watch the F1 car race crash sequence. It’s said that they destroyed a couple of Rolls Royce Phantoms and 5Ds filming that scene. Here’s a link to more info.

We come to the end of my contemporary Film post. Film today like always will always be story first. But it’s lovely to know that certain visual consistencies define our generation. Awaiting what all of it will be called in the history books. From yesteryear’s Ozu Low Angles to today’s Social Network Tilt Shift extravaganza.

Starting by my fave by my friend Danny, you’ll see one of our lovely poobits, Patty, in this one.

Directed by Danny

Since I am afterall, trying to embarrass my shitbitty counterpart. Here’s the exact time Pat appears in this video: 0:08 sec.

Directed by Zihan

Get your Pat action starting at 0:15 sec! Also at the 0:26 sec mark, she gets oomphy and puts on her best “I love it” face. I kid, you look fab kid!

Directed by Kenny

Danny who made the first commerical above actually appears in this one at the 0:35 sec mark (and apparently as the still graphic), representing filmmaking. Who knew that 2 years down the road, he’d be representing banking?

If you’re reading this Danny, we miss you over here in the land of moneyless unsuccess. Come back!

Alas, that’s all the ADM commercials I’m aware of. If you spot any more, post a comment and we’ll hang them up. On an unrelated yet kind of related note, here are other ads made for 16mm class that don’t advertise ADM at all. This section is mostly so I can pimp my work from 16mm class. SORRY LA.

 
Directed by self-praising but probably untalented Amanda

I uploaded the video just for this post, mmmkay?

Directed by my good friend Nicole, who now lectures at said Alma Mater

Yes, these videos are uber yesteryear. It was almost everybody’s first attempt at 16mm film, and probably one of the last. Seeing as how it’s the decade for the death of film and all. We made them quite a while ago, but they hold a special place in my heart. Watching them again today after so long, I actually think they still hold up. And it was pretty nice seeing all my friends again in youtube form, albeit bouncing or running around in 360p. So yeah, I’m posting these in shameless self promo and heart-swelling nostalgia.

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Like Oh Land, a nice cuppa Brooklyn-brewed deliciousness with a nice zing of Danish lilt. Hypnotically mellifluous.
 

Oh Land- Sun Of A Gun (Live) from Oh Land Music on Vimeo.

Too delightful? Wondering what happy humpa thumping, singing balloon heads flaunting a hot chick sound like on crack?

Extra shitbit-certified crass candy after the jump…

 

 

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If you are searching for information on course work and modules, feel free to visit ADM’s ghastly website which used to be somewhat nice till NTU abolished it for this gauche black version of its home page. Kinda makes me hurl a little when I see it. Worry not, everyone hates it. But if you’re looking for a unbridled, shitbitten, real account of the benefits of ADM by two seemingly vapid but actually very awesome women who can pick up 2K lights like we pick up lipgloss. Then you’re at the right place! And yes I said women.

I’ve decided to be concise, I’d make a list of 8 things we learned form being film students at ADM. And some tips on how to manage school life there.

1. Call sheet your life

Not just your life, your work, your business, your Saturday night clubbing schedule. At film school, they like calling simple things by a fancy name. A schedule is a call sheet, a mother is an executive producer, monitors become hamburgers, pegs are C47s and a crate is an applebox(but a thin appebox is a pancake!). Hence a schedule is a call sheet.

You’ll find that organizing your next drunken birthday party will also become more efficient

2. Date a DP/Flirt with a technician

Yes, I am guilty as charged. I am in fact fraternizing with my Director Of Photography. I can’t help it. You’ll find that facebook pictures of yourself are much better lit after you date your DP. Also, you’ll never find yourself without crew. There, I said it.

Also under this category is flirting with the school Technicians. Yes, this is a rule that applies to both guys and girls, for those who were wondering. Trust me, you’ll thank me for this.

Here’s some pointers that always work for me:

3. Pull two chairs together, for crying out loud!

Here’s one thing every successful ADM student is familiar with, sleeping in school. I’ve watched the prettiest of my girlfriends, transform into slobbering pieces of flayed kimchi on the ADM swivel chairs. Which by the way, if you lean too far back on, will fall over. So when’s 3.45am, and all the sound suites are taken by drooling malay boys (obviously the smarter ones in this scenario), pull two chairs together! Rest for a couple of hours, flank them chairs to the wall, and rest your brains out. You need that rest. I once encountered my friend, J, print one print for Narrative Portrait class, then fall asleep for an hour before printing the next. This went on from 12 midnight to 7am. I wanted to tell her to just nap for 3 hours and then come back, I mean, hello, efficiency? But ADM plays with YO MIND, but hey, she did finish…

4. You can leave 100 oranges in the editing suite, but be careful with your twizzlers

The Film Editing Lab, or more affectionately known as the FEL, is a hotbed for food scavengers. The unhealthier the better. If you leave a box of candy there, do not expect to ever see it again. At this point of time in the post, you should be realizing that ADM, will be your second home. While now you may grimace at the idea of eating from a Sandwich vending machine, when you’re hungry at 4am and wolfing down your second mushroom melt, and at the same time thinking its the best sandwich you’ve ever had, you’ll know what I mean.

Always go for the ham, mushroom or cold cuts

You’ll be glad to know however, the ADM zombie flesh eating hunger has its limits. While Pat’s box of twizzlers were devoured in a day, my box of 100 oranges were only half gone one week in. Why did I have 100 oranges, you may ask? That’s a secret, try your best not to google it. Anyhoots, turns out, dry mouth from dehydration and lack of sleep means that oranges made the mouths of my fellow film mates razorsharp and raw. Unpleasant, but we bonded over it.

Finally, all the above can be avoided if you bring your own food. I started doing that every day in year 4.

5. Be Fearless. In University, you can piss off professors and you don’t have to do squats for it.

One gigantic pain in the ass gripe I had with the secondary education system, is that talking back is unacceptable. And I suffered by doing many squats for it. In University, they encourage and applaud it. But it’s you who has to take the first step in doing it. There are two kinds of students, the nodders and the questioners, don’t be a nodder, it’s useless. And any good professor would want you to respond with the fact that you hate Warhol, or that you’ve had enough of Wong Kar Wai DAMMIT, or that you think FYP without a producer is stupid. This is not to say they won’t push back, but seriously, no one is going to suspend you if you do.

Take control and speak. Retain your tact and honor, but don’t sew your mouth shut if you’re unhappy. Our batch of film students added 1 entire film to their repertoire, transforming the final outcome of 9 final films to 10, opening up several new roles for people, just by yapping incessantly about it. A few good men…

6. Make the Systsem what you want it to be

ADM has many imperfections. It’s still a very young school. Some people find it difficult to adapt to an ever evolving system. Some people have gotten the more grating side of stick. But I’ve seen them overcome this by bonding with each other and making some amazing shit.

Common Complaints:

Yes, business marketing and astronomy were really just things I rather have not spent 4 hours a week on. But in which other school in Singapore will you get awesome Asian Film History with a well dressed Asian Film Archivist (sweater vests galore!), Experimental Photography where you mess with chemicals that took 6 months to clear customs; eg. 1, eg. 2, or Nude Drawing Class where two men pose together with porcelain jugs (no example, sorry).

As for FYP, that’s everyone’s epic battle against The Systsem. But most people seem to triumph. Seeing how our films run through festival mills like water at a bountiful country cottage home. That’s a battle that’s hard to comment on, I’m afraid. Every batch will have its own trials and tribulations. The only thing to remember is that its better to work with each other than against each other.

And for every bad Confucius of a professor, there will be a Jan. Our editing Professor Jan was ever so German in his ways. So much so he’d blush if he spotted a spelling error in his slide. And proceed to apologise excessively before correcting it. He was just wanderjahr. Everytime you think of how bad a prof is, Just Jan It. Cancel him with your favorite professor. Make he or she an iPhone wallpaper if you have to.

7. Form life long sweat bonds with your film mates

One of the most, if not the most important thing to learn from film school, is to find kindred spirits, and form unbreakable working relationships. Sweating together in a non-air-conditioned room (for clean sound recording dur), and mixing your foul personal scents whilst working hard on set, begets great friends. Even for the most reclusive filmmakers, most have told me they became better artists and better people by learning to play well with others.

They became better artists by learning to play well with others

People who compete with one another in Art School, just baffle me in general. What are competing for exactly? I know people who seek glory, fame, who want to be the best and who think that’s all anyone wants. In year one, my 4D professor, asked me why I came to ADM. I replied “to be humbled”. I’ve had people tell me that I’m a liar for saying so. A deduction which I can’t understand. You see, I came to learn and be inspired by my peers, to be humbled at the sight of beauty and intelligence in art and learning. I didn’t come to flaunt silly well lit photography with no meaning and exclaim my DP prowess or die to win at brainless 2 bit festivals where they can’t even muster the communal spirit to name a winner (yes, I’m talking about you SSFA!).

Ultimately, I’ve had selfish moments where I couldn’t grasp the concept of “Never Say No” when a classmate asks for help, but when you open yourself up and forget about elevating yourself, you’ll find that the greatest elevation is in elevating one another. That’s how I found people to start a company with. That’s why I look back on ADM and say it was alright. That’s why most of my favourite filmmakers have a Zoetrope.

8. In the end, the lobby is more comfortable than the rooftop

One day, at some ADM Halloween crap, you’ll find yourself one day with a plastic cup of beer at the driveway and wonder to yourself, why am I drinking here when we have a famously beautiful rooftop?

Why am I drinking here when we have a famously beautiful rooftop?

The answer is simple: The grass is itchy, the rooftop door won’t stop beeping and all your friends like smoking at the lobby.

Dingdingding! You’re in ADM suckers! Those reflections in the ADM glass at the smoking area will be your friends and best working colleagues for a long time. Love it and live it, it’ll be the best 4 years of your life, well, almost.

With Apple being declared an “aspiration brand” in China and iPhone 4 rioting the in Beijing flagship store, you’d think that Apple would be pretty serious about Chinese input. But no. OSX chinese handwriting recognition is still in its’ infancy.

Well, since Snow Leopard, users have been able to input Chinese on Macbooks & Macbook Pros via trackpad. But have a shot at this and you can verify for yourself that this finger-painting business is about as slow and as ergonomic as a seatless unicycle.

This is particularly annoying for people whose command of Chinese, like mine, sucks balls. Dealing with the mysterious language / omnipresent inconvenience is a constant struggle between not knowing how to pronounce a character I’m looking at, and not knowing how to write a character I can say.

Users like me are reliant on both handwriting input (to google characters) and pinyin (to make a sentence without knowing how to write the characters).

Additional complication? As a loyal Wacom fan, I will rather Comic Sans my headstone than purchase those overpriced handwriting recognition softwares that come bundled with rickety digital pens of the ass variety.

哎呀, so how?

OSX Chinese Input Comparison

Solution	Wacom Friendly?	Price	Misc Shitbit
	No		Upgrade from Leopard begins at $29 (single user license).  If you’re not on a MacBook or MacBook Pro, you’ll need to purchase a magic trackpad for this to work. iMac users, cue collective sigh.
	No		Badass name kinda redeems it… But I don’t want to finger my 汉语not even from my iPhone / iPod / iPad.  Deserves special mention as the cheapest solution!
	No		This is imho the most despicable option. I’d know because my dad is a Penpower fiend. Generations of these plasticky, low-res pesudo tablets clutter my home. They may work, but let me just sound the Rip-Off Alarm.  Also, I find the UI a bit of a victim of feature-creep. But don’t take my word for it, screenshots here.
	Yes		QuickScript & MyScript are, as far as I can tell, totally identical, except for the pricetag. I believe these are folks from whom Apple acquired their chinese handwriting recognition technology from in the first place.  Users can input writing from any stylus, even mouse. And having road-tested both these programs, I can say that they decifer even the worst handwriting. Best part? It’s multi-lingual. Just install the dictionary you need. So chinese, russian, hindi, japanese, you name it, this little power house will take care of it.
	Yes

For me, the winning solution was definitely Axiotron QuickScript paired with my Bamboo or Intuos. It’s been working like a charm on every one of my macs and I don’t have to finger paint. Well worth the buck. QuickScript is pretty reliable and recognizes even the most mangled penmanship.

Cheap Wacoms

Hope this will be of help to anyone else who is trying to input Chinese via a stylus. Again, QuickScript comes in plenty of other languages, and you will have to install the right “Lingo Packs”. (Download Lingo Pack at the bottom of this page.)