Feature posts Archives - Mocha Chai Laboratories

Jul 21
3

Finding lost films in modern times – Chai Yee Wei gets real about film restoration

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Our Founder & CEO, Yee Wei, recently attended a prestigious Film Restoration Summer School in the beautiful city of Bologna, in which 46 filmmakers from 36 countries gathered for one single purpose – to preserve our film history for future generations.

Organised once every two years by prominent film archives Cineteca di Bologna and L’Immagine Ritrovata, a world-renowned film restoration and conservation laboratory responsible for some of the most difficult film restoration projects in our time, the training programme allowed its participants to delve deep into the film restoration process, learning about the past and future of cinema from some of the industry’s finest.

Image credit: Cineteca di Bologna

As luck would have it, the summer school also coincided with the annual international congress of Fédération Internationale des Archives de Film (FIAF) and Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, in its 30th edition, where Yee Wei had the privilege of experiencing many films that were once considered lost, screened at their best. Shoulders were rubbed and ideas were exchanged, with some of the world’s best historians, archivists, critics and fellow filmmakers in its attendance.

Suffice to say, it was three glorious weeks of cinephile heaven that left Yee Wei more inspired than ever. In his own words:

 

My perspective of film as a medium has been forever changed.

Chai Yee Wei

Read on as Yee Wei gets real about film restoration, with newfound insights fresh from his time in Bologna, and why it’s an increasingly important art in today’s digital landscape.

 

Film, like time, waits for no one

From the moment a physical print or negative is developed and processed, it will almost immediately begin to decay, shrink and eventually fade away. Nitrate and acetate films can last hundreds of years under extremely strict temperature and humidity conditions (nitrate prints have to be stored in 4°C and 30-40% relative humidity for optimal preservation), but even the best conditions can only slow down the degradation process, and not prevent it entirely.

While polyester films were introduced in the mid 50s — replacing its nitrate and acetate counterparts for its increased stability — it can decay even faster when not properly taken care of, with a lifespan as short as 8 years.

And the sad truth is that any restoration can only be as good as how much you can retrieve from a decayed print or negative.

 

The harsh realities of film preservation in Singapore

Singapore is known for many things, of which our “endless summer” comes to mind, with relentless heat waves often well above 30°C and a relative humidity of 90% all year round.

We’re also increasingly known for our growing crop of homegrown filmmakers — the likes of Eric Khoo, Royston Tan and Boo Junfeng, among others — whose films have found recognition both locally and overseas, putting our little red dot proudly on the map.

Yet, when you put those two together, it’s befuddling that we don’t even have a proper film vault dedicated to preserving our own film history.

While the Asian Film Archive — Singapore’s only repository for film and tape which turned a decade last year — has been religiously providing refuge for Southeast Asia’s rich film heritage; their prints are stored in vaults designed for paper prints and other forms of media with an average temperature of 18°C, a far cry from what film prints require.

In fact, 80% of the prints currently held by the archive are now suffering from “vinegar syndrome”, a nasty little pickle commonly faced by “infected” prints that decay at a faster rate when kept together, even in a controlled vault.

A scene from Eric Khoo's Mee Pok Man (1995) restored by Mocha Chai Laboratories

A scene from Eric Khoo’s Mee Pok Man (1995) restored by Mocha Chai Laboratories using the original 35mm camera and sound negatives at L’immagine Ritrovata. It was screened at Singapore International Film Festival in 2015, two decades after its inception.

Did you know that we came this close to losing the prints of Eric Khoo’s 90s classics, Mee Pok Man (1995) and 12 Storeys (1997), which survived only because they were recovered from overseas? Imagine that.

If you think a preservation copy on tape is good enough, think again. Even the high quality and clarity of 4K is limited when it comes to representing the grain on film. At the end of the day, we still need to preserve the negative or print in its best possible state so that — as better technology comes along — we can achieve better restoration.

 

Keeping cinema alive through film restoration

To understand the purpose of restoration, we need to first understand “what is cinema?”

 

Cinema is the telling of stories with moving images and the consumption by an audience.

In itself, cinema has changed throughout the years, and will keep changing based on improvements in technology and shifting trends in how it is consumed. As the Greeks once philosophised – the only constant is change itself.

When we look to preserved copies of film for restoration, it is often for one of two reasons – because we don’t have the tools to view them, or there are easier or better ways to present them. You’ll be hard pressed to find a functioning film projector in most countries these days, and the only way we can view some old 16mm or 35mm prints is to move them from older carriers to new ones such as DCP (Digital Cinema Package).

Likewise, when the time comes for newer standards to replace DCPs, we will have to migrate the content to new carriers and containers.

Film restoration, however, is more than just moving the content from one carrier to another. The content itself may have been warped and degraded, leaving behind marred images with lost colour, scratched pictures, or in the worst cases, frames or sequences get lost. Rather than a simple scanning and screening, film restoration represents the extra effort required to recreate the original content, if even possible at all.

 

But let’s be clear about one thing: no restoration will be possible, if no prints survives.

Chillingly similar to climate change, if there is no will of mankind to preserve the celluloid, the time will come when there is a point of no return. However, unlike climate change, when that happens, there is nothing even the best in the business can do to recover a print that is lost forever. A damaged print cannot magically heal itself.

 

It doesn’t end with digital

Some might argue that the concept of preservation and restoration is less relevant in today’s digital landscape, where most films are shot and released digitally.

But just take a look at how cinema has evolved over the decades. Film prints have evolved from nitrate to safety prints. 16mm films are duplicated on 35mm negatives for preservation. Data will be moved from PATA HDD to SATA HDD. Spinning discs become solid state; LTO-6 becomes LTO-7; FAT32 becomes NTFS, so on and so forth.

Big, scary technical jargons aside, one thing remains the same – change. It’s been happening all throughout history and we can safely assume technology will not be spared. In fact, technology will only continue to evolve, churning out shiny new tools to help us migrate our digital films. As filmmakers, it is our responsibility to keep up with times and try to preserve the original source as much as we can.

Perhaps a century from now — thanks to our continued efforts in the preservation and restoration of film — our local classics like Mee Pok Man (1995) and Money No Enough (1998) will still be viewable in the cinema of the future exactly as how the directors intended it to be, continuing to inspire a new flock of homegrown filmmakers. But time is not on our side, and it’s imperative that our efforts begin now.

Preserve so we may restore. Restore so we can preserve.

Jul 01
2

The sound behind Boo Junfeng’s “Apprentice” – an interview with Tingli Lim

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Boo Junfeng has done it again.

Following his debut feature film “Sandcastle” which made its mark in Cannes International Critics’ Week back in 2010, the local filmmaking wunderkind’s latest endeavour “Apprentice” has found its way back to the French film festival, having premiered on 16 May to much acclaim.

Apprentice-Poster.ai
The film explores Singapore’s harsh death penalty laws through the complex relationship between two men working in a prison — a young correctional officer and its retiring chief executioner — riddled with hidden agendas, conflicting motivations and a haunted past, all while raising hard questions about morality and mortality surrounding the noose.

Not your usual capital punishment film, “Apprentice” spends a considerable amount of effort trying to reconcile the points of view from both the world of the executioners and the families of the executed. It offers a grave but intimate, and somewhat perverse, look into death row and the people it leaves behind.

 


The Singaporean film — which has been been described by critics as “thematically complex” and “ambitious “ — brings together filmmaking talents across the globe, including British-trained Director of Photography Benoit Soler and French composer Alexander Zekke, to name a few.

In fact, our very own Tingli Lim was responsible for providing the film’s soundtrack; one of the projects she worked on in the UK before joining Mocha Chai Laboratories as our Director of Sound.

In the following interview, we chat with Tingli on her role as the film’s Supervising Sound Editor, as well as her creative process, inspirations and challenges that helped shape the film sonically.

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Hi Tingli! Tell us bit more about your role and work process in the film.

I was the Supervising Sound Editor of “Apprentice“. I discussed sound ideas and concepts with Junfeng and, together with the sound team, helped realise his vision for the film using sound. The entire audio post production took a year to complete due to recuts. The initial blueprints for the sound design were done a year before the project commenced using test shoot materials.


You’ve worked with Junfeng in the past, including his award-winning feature film Sandcastle which also premiered in Cannes in 2010. What were your expectations heading into this project?

Boo-Junfeng-Apprentice-750x457
I took on the job before reading the script as I’ve always loved working with Junfeng. He’s such a diligent director and his attention to detail is incredible. When we first discussed the idea, I had a feeling it was going to be his boldest work to date. The subject matter was highly contentious but as always, he managed to handle it with such sensitivity both on and off screen.


The film was shot primarily in Singapore and Australia, edited in Singapore and Thailand and the composers and yourself were based in France and the UK. How did you overcome the challenges that stemmed from having to working together on different continents?

Technology has made it rather easy to work remotely from one another. As I was living in the UK at that time, I asked to be put in touch with the sound recordist, Justin Loh, so he could help record some of the more unique sounds on set. James Page, the production designer, had built the working gallows from scratch so Justin had to record the trapdoor, levers and anything that was unique to the film which would be hard to recreate.

When the first cut was locked, I was holidaying in Singapore so Junfeng and I spotted the film together with the editor, Natalie Soh, and discussed the sound ideas for the film. What resulted from the session was a set of clear time-coded notes that the sound editorial team, Maiken Hansen and myself, worked off. We also did some ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) and group loops with local talents before I headed back to the UK. What followed was a series of works in progress which I would send to Junfeng. He’d watch it and email me his time-coded notes. This way of working was very efficient and the time difference actually worked to our advantage as I’d end my work day as he starts his, so we pretty much woke up to new material or comments for each other. Needless to say, Skype and WhatsApp were our best friends.

The sound edit sessions were then passed onto the good hands of Warren Santiago, the re-recording mixer whom I’ve also previously worked with in “Sandcastle“. He did the final mix in Thailand and the result is what you hear in the cinemas today.


Talk us through your creative process in developing the film’s sound scape.

My sound design ideas usually stem from reacting to the visuals. Some people are great with visualising soundscapes without picture, but I’m not like that. Usually when I watch a first cut, I’ll start hearing the film in my head, jot down my notes and then get to work. The first viewing is always the most crucial for me as I come in completely fresh and I can get a good sense of what is missing sonically from each scene or what’s working well and needs to be retained.

film19
Conceptually, we wanted the film to be very psychological in nature as the prison is such a significant place for Aiman, who plays the young correctional officer, but it needed to be believable at the same time. The prison had to sound very high security so for most of the prison scenes, we introduced a security system that was filled with buzzes, beeps and hums. For example, whenever a gate is opened, it would keep buzzing until it’s shut. We then contrasted that with the archaic nature of the gallows block, where only locks and keys were used and hence had to sound creaky, heavy and old.


Short of visiting an actual working prison, what sources of inspiration did you draw from in establishing the sound elements of a prison?

A lot of the inspiration behind the sound came from Junfeng sharing his experiences having been to the actual prisons during his research. For example, he made a comment where he said that the holding cells of the death row prisoners felt very much like a nursing home and was very peaceful. So sonically, that was the direction we went with. Short of the buzzes and gates, the holding cell scenes were filled with airy and breezy sounds, with the occasional rustling leaves in trees. This was completely different from the rest of the prison.


The gallows managed to provide some of the film’s most haunting scenes in a setting that was otherwise visually muted, so there was an opportunity for sound to play a larger role in developing these scenes. In these instances, how did you use sound to create or amplify the atmosphere of the gallows?

The major scenes in the gallows consisted of long shots with very clever blocking shot by the Director of Photography, Benoit Soler. Hence, there was a need for the sound to move as well to keep it interesting.

apprentice-770x470
There was a ventilation fan by the window and we used that as a way of playing with the scene’s tension sonically. We created and layered many versions of this fan – a natural sounding one, a bass-y one and fast and slow variations, including one that sounded very much like a slow helicopter blade. We then rode these layers up and down in the premix, using the emotional arch of the characters as our cues. When it was tense, we brought up more of the slow and ominous fans so it’s like we’re hearing it as they’re experiencing and when everything headed back to normal, we hear the natural fan ventilation again. This, along with Matt Kelly’s subjective music scores, changed the scenes considerably.

In order to do all of these effectively, we completely replaced the dialogue for the gallows scenes with ADR and recreated them from scratch so we had full control of all the elements.


What were some of the challenges you faced in the audio post production process?

As the prison scenes were shot across different locations (a museum, a set, a corridor and an office) we faced 2 main challenges – to make them sound like they are in the same vicinity and to add life and activity to the otherwise silent locations.

APPRENTICE

We did lots of group loops with different groups of people in the recording studio and we’d give them roles and scenarios for them to play out. For example, one guy would play an officer shouting for “Master check” while two other guys would play the role of prisoners trying to wake a sleeping inmate. We then peppered these dialogues all around to give life to the location, and repeated this process for the office and canteen scenes.

The film also faced 2 recuts during audio post so there was the monumental task of reconforming the sound work to match the new cuts.


In your opinion, and without giving away too much, what is the most powerful scene in the film, and how did sound add to that?

I think the most powerful scene for sound has to be the opening. It starts on black as you hear the prison come to life. Interestingly, this was conceived at the very end of the post production process but has grown to be one of my favourite scenes now. I can’t say more without giving away too much, so people just have to catch it themselves to find out more.


In no more than 10 words, why should people watch Apprentice?

It is a powerful film that will set you thinking.

 

 

“Apprentice” opens in Singapore on 30th June.

For more information, visit their Facebook page here.

Jun 10
0

Uncovering Dolby Atmos through the evolution of cinema sound

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Any respectable audiophile would be more than familiar with Dolby Atmos – the latest technology in cinematic history that allows filmmakers to place and navigate sounds anywhere in the theatre to a tee.

With its 3D positional sound capabilities, Dolby Atmos joins the forefront of immersive media technologies — alongside HDR screens with Dolby Vision — that will drive the next generation of cinema and home theatre experiences.

Dolby AtmosImage credit: Dolby

Touted as the next generation surround format for the industry, Dolby Atmos is a virtual reality of sound that puts moviegoers in the heart of the action.

But as with most of today’s ground breaking advances, comes a long history of technologies and innovations that precede them. In that spirit, let us take a step back into the early days of cinema sound and chart the evolution that led to the breakthrough of Dolby Atmos.

 

The mono beginnings

Silent movies were never entirely silent; they were largely accompanied by sounds from a live orchestra to the noise of the projector. It was not until the release of Warner’s ‘The Jazz Singer’ in 1928 — the first feature-length motion picture with synchronised sound — that suggested the end of the silent films era.

jazz

However, there was little advancement in the decades that followed and until the 1970s, almost all movies were in mono. With a single speaker placed behind the screen, the audio experience was flat at best.

 

Breaking new ground with stereo

Dolby Stereo then found its way into our cinemas in the mid 70s, which allowed for two channel soundtracks to be decoded to a dedicated dialogue track in the center of the screen, along with two additional speakers on the left and right and an additional surround channel. This gave a spread and sense of imaging inside the room that was never heard before.

With the potential of a richer sound, the possibilities of stereo was endless, and there was no greater example of the technology’s breakthrough than the 1977 release of ‘Star Wars‘ – an experience that attracted moviegoers by the thousands and forever changed the expectations for cinema sound.

Image credit: The New York Review of BooksOpening day of George Lucas’ Star Wars at Grauman’s Chinese theater, May 25, 1977

It didn’t take long for stereo to catch on with more hit movies that followed, such as ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind‘ (1977) and ‘Superman‘ (1978). By 1985, every film was in Dolby stereo.

 

The advent of surround sound

By the time the 1990s came along, it became clear that digital was the way to go.

Dolby Digital was hence developed, delivering 5.1 channels of cinema sound by splitting the room into half – left, center, right, left surround, right surround and subwoofer. This allowed the sound to have more sense of movement across the audience. ‘Batman Returns’ became the first movie to be released in this format in 1992.

Image credit: Dolby LaboratoriesImage credit: Dolby Laboratories

With the transition into digital cinema came the 7.1, where the rear surround speakers were split into left and right channels. This gave the sound even more definition, adding more dimension to the cinematic experience.

 

Redefining the cinematic sound experience

While logic would entail that the natural next step be to keep piling on the channels, it was also evident that the format’s potential for enhancements was coming to a standstill. Channel-based solutions allowed for basic movement of sound, but lacked the sensation and precision that content creators wanted.

To that end, Dolby Atmos was developed in a bold effort to lead the charge in redefining the cinematic sound experience. Touted as the next generation surround format for the industry, Dolby Atmos offers filmmakers the flexibility to place individual sounds anywhere in the cinema and move them around with precision. Simply put, it’s a virtual reality of sound that puts moviegoers in the heart of the action.

The fundamental shift from channels to object-based solutions allowed filmmakers to approach sound elements as dynamic objects travelling across the room. The sound can travel through each speaker placed around and above the audience as it moves across the cinema, in what’s called a pan-through array.

Image credit: Dolby LaboratoriesImage credit: Dolby Laboratories

By also placing speakers above the audience, the overhead surround adds an upper hemisphere of sound that moviegoers have never experienced before, creating a truly immersive feel of sound.

 

Coming to a Dolby Atmos cinema near you

It comes as no surprise that Dolby Atmos is quickly becoming the format du jour among filmmakers, with more than 100 titles from major Hollywood studios adopting the technology – most prominently in ‘Gravity’ (2013), which won seven Oscars, including awards for sound editing and sound mixing.

Image credit: Warner Bros.Image credit: Warner Bros.

In fact, most of the anticipated upcoming releases such as ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’, ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘Wonder Woman’ will be available in Dolby Atmos. Here’s the full list to get you excited.

What’s more, you don’t have to go too far to experience the magic of Dolby Atmos, with Cathay Cineplex Jem and Golden Village VivoCity equipped with Dolby Atmos cinemas.

Alternatively, you’re more than welcome to drop by our studio for a demo in our very own Dolby Atmos certified dubbing theatre! Email us at contactus@mochachailab.com to set up an appointment.

 

 

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May 26
2

8 Common Mistakes a Film Producer Makes

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No film that’s worth two hoots was made without a good producer. They steer the film from beginning to completion and beyond – from bringing together the entire creative team and hustling for a peachy budget in pre-production to making sure everything that’s earmarked “we’ll fix it in post” actually gets fixed in post.

Take away the producer from the equation, and you’ll probably end up with a budget that no one who can do basic math would approve, a madhouse for a set, locations with no permits, a crew with two left feet and a director in dire need of therapy. Oh, and good luck finding a post-production house that specializes in miracles.

Suffice to say, we have the utmost respect for producers. Working with a producer who gets it can make all the difference in post-production – be it in time, labour or money spent.

But even the best fall down sometimes. Here are 8 common mistakes a producer makes – and how to fix them… and we don’t mean in post.

 

1. Not organizing a pre-production meeting

Sure, you’ve assembled your dream team. The script’s a winner. Your director had his third coffee. Everyone’s in their place and ready to go. Who needs a pre-production meeting when the stars are aligned in your favour? Well, you do.

Most common issues faced in post can actually be resolved before production begins simply by setting up a meeting with all the key personnel. We’re talking DOP, Location Sound Recordist, Data Wrangler, Editor, Sound Designer, Composer, Production Designer, Art Director, Costume Designer and Colourist at the very least. Issues like framerate, workflow and schedule can easily be mapped out before it gets too late.

What’s more, with all these great minds in one room (and perhaps a bottle of whisky to get those creative juices flowing) you can turn a boring briefing into a brainstorm session for ideas to enhance the film.

 

2. Not hiring a Post-Production Supervisor 

There are about a million and one things that could go wrong in a production, and even the best producer may not have the technical know-how to solve every one of them.

Having a Post-Production Supervisor on your team would take the technical problems out of your hands, leaving you with more headspace to deal with everything else.

Need to shoot in 4K but don’t know how to handle the huge file sizes? No problem. Conversion from film to TV without the ugly strobing? Piece of cake. Need to ensure sync across double system recording? With a little bit of planning (see point 1), you’d be guaranteed a smooth ride ahead.

 

3. Not hiring a boom operator

A boom operator is an indispensable asset to every shoot. Sadly, as our cameras get smaller, so does the size of the crew, and the boom operator often gets left out of the hiring mix.

Having a boom operator on set can make or break a recording. Not only does the boom mic offer the most natural sound, having a 2-person team can also help the Location Sound Mixer bring out the best of the audio source – from being able to focus on his/her mix to resolving any noisy problems on set such as adjusting bad mic placement, padding clunky heels, and the list goes on.

Besides, if anything goes wrong with the wireless mics, there’ll always be the backup boom track to fall back on, saving you plenty of money and cringe-worthy moments from bad ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement).

Hey, if you want that ‘Hollywood sound’, you’ve got to start investing in it.

 

4. Under-budgeting for post-production

There’s an old saying that goes something like “Fast, good or cheap. Pick two.” Well, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Taking your raw footages and developing them in post-production isn’t as simple as slapping on an Instagram filter. It takes time to explore the full potential of the rushes – from finding the exact expression that the character needs to shaping every scene sonically. What’s more, every time you play the “we’ll fix it in post” card, bear in mind that while we certainly can, it’s going to cost you.

Still not convinced? What if we told you there’s a correlation between the Best Film and Best Editing, both nominees and winners, at the Academy Awards? With enough time and for the right price, you may be one step closer to that golden statuette.

 

5. Changing the edit after locking picture

Do any of these file names look familiar to you? Locked Cut, Locked Cut 2, Final Locked Cut, FINAL FINAL LOCKED PLEASE NO MORE CHANGES CUT.

While it’s crucial to get the right edit, changing it after the next process has started — be it Sound Post, VFX or Colour Grading — unleashes the dominos from hell, resulting in a chain of technical nightmares waiting to happen. Not only will picture and sound most likely go out of sync, you’ll end up with different people working on different cuts – all of which will take a whole lot of time and money to resolve.

If you’re out of options and really have to change the cut, then hopefully you’d have hired a Post-Production Supervisor (see point 4) to plan the best recut workflow.

 

6. Starting the subtitling process too late

It’s no secret that subtitling is the most underrated function on screen, but wrongly translated or badly timed subtitles can easily ruin the entire film viewing experience.

Starting the subtitling process in the offline edit can ensure any mistakes to be spotted throughout the approval process, allowing less margin for error. Given that we work in a multi-racial industry, it also allows all key personnel to understand the story rather than work through the film blind.

 

7. Not asking enough questions

Working in a technology driven industry is never easy. After CD and PG, the abbreviations can get pretty intimidating – think AIFF, DCI, DCP, MPEG, OMF and the list goes on. No one expects everyone to know them all — although a Post-Production Supervisor would (see point 2) — so don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Any craftsman would be thrilled to have someone else taking an interest in his/her craft, and would be more than happy to share a tip or two with you. Besides, it never hurts to know more about everyone’s roles when you’ve got an entire production to manage.

 

8. Sacrificing the creative process

Amidst all the logistical, financial and technical processes a producer has to manage, it is easy to lose sight of the end game – enhancing and preserving the creative process. Unfortunately, it isn’t uncommon for a producer to make creative sacrifices to a film for the sake of achieving targets; whether it is adopting cheaper solutions or taking shortcuts to make sure deadlines are met.

When faced with numerous constraints that can end up jeopardizing the creative process, a good producer needs to take a step back and remind themselves that at the end of the day, we are making a movie, and it is after all still a creative endeavour.

 

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May 06
2

The people behind the brand

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Welcome to our very first blog post!

We are the people behind Mocha Chai Laboratories, Singapore’s first fully integrated boutique digital film lab. To say we love what we do would be an understatement, and through this blog we hope to share a bit of our insight and passion with the people we do this for – you!

So kick back, butter up your popcorn and let us introduce you to our world on the other side of the silver screen.

 

If directors are the storytellers, we’re the ones responsible for immersing you in that story, pushing the boundaries of your sensorial limitations and bringing the story right to the edge of your seat.

 

A little introduction of what we do

We offer a wide range of digital cinema-related services aimed to enhance, complete and deliver with a ribbon on top – be it for a motion picture feature, trailer, commercial or any professional production.

Colour grading in progress with the latest DaVinci Resolve 12

Colour grading in progress with the latest DaVinci Resolve 12

 

Let’s put it this way: if directors are the storytellers, we’re the ones responsible for immersing you in that story, pushing the boundaries of your sensorial limitations and bringing the story right to the edge of your seat.

 

By filmmakers, for filmmakers

Mocha Chai Laboratories was founded in 2011 by Chai Yee Wei, a Singaporean filmmaker whose penchant for perfection led him to set up shop in his home ground as there weren’t many viable options at that time. With the rise of digital distribution, it wasn’t long before his humble start-up grew into the one-stop facility for top filmmakers from the US, Europe and Asia, handling international features and local projects, such as The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I, A Walk Among The Tombstones, Jobs, The Lady, 女朋友＊男朋友，Sadako 3D and Ah Boys To Men I & II.

Mocha Chai Laboratories - Portfolio

Today, Mocha Chai Laboratories prides itself in delivering world-class digital film services – hanging by its mantel a Dolby ATMOS certification, employing DCI-compliant solutions and constantly acquiring cutting-edge technology to deliver high quality content.

 

The people behind the brand

They say it’s the people who make the brand, and we couldn’t agree more. Get acquainted with our directors Yee Wei and Ting Li in this next segment, where we delve a little deeper beyond the day-to-day technicalities of their jobs.

 

Chai Yee Wei, Founder & Managing Director

The world is a crowded place, and we have to find a niche in order to stand out.

Chia Yee Wei, Founder & Managing Director of Mocha Chai Laboratories

A brief introduction of what you do

I set directions for my “generals” and “warriors”, making sure they have their tools and jobs – and then I get out of their way.

Your philosophy behind your work

I believe that setting up a post-production house that thinks and does things differently is crucial. The world is a crowded place, and we have to find a niche in order to stand out. To that end, my take on this is to simply be ourselves. I endeavour to bring together a team of people who not just demand the best from one another but also from themselves; it is through this approach that we inspire one another (and our clients) to bring out the best we’ve got to offer.

Your professional pet peeve

I can’t stand seeing computers or OS with updates/upgrades that are not applied. When I see that number above an icon indicating there are updates, I feel a strong urge to get the deed done — be it at home or in an Apple store — so the number will be gone. However I can’t do this at work as I may risk ongoing projects facing compatibility issues, and compatibility is key in our line of work. 

3 words to describe yourself

Practice makes perfect.

 

—

Lim Ting Li, Director of Sound

I believe that every story can be enhanced through sound. The potential is limitless and can change a scene tremendously.

Lim Ting Li, Director of Sound

A brief introduction of what you do

I create unique soundscapes for film and broadcast projects.

My day-to-day consists of editing dialogue to make everyone sound like they’re in the same space at the same time; performing foley for any kind of sound you can imagine – from heavy footsteps to squeamish sex sounds; sound designing to make that make-belief world a reality; and bringing all the elements together through audio mixing.

Your philosophy behind your work

I believe that every story can be enhanced through sound. The potential of off-screen sounds are limitless and can change a scene tremendously.

Take for example a scene of two people chatting in an office. While seemingly simple, there’s so much more I have to consider. How thin are the walls? Do we hear a chaotic or sterile office environment? Or one that’s relaxed with plenty of laughter? The sounds within its environment can add tension to a scene as easily as it can take the edge off it. It all depends on the intention of the scene.

Just as a director of photography would plan a list of shots for the scene, a sound designer should take into careful consideration every sound element and shape the scene sonically. That’s the approach to my work.

Your professional pet peeve

I need my cables to be out of sight; otherwise they’ve got to be arranged neatly. When I get busy, my desk starts to clutter up and I tend to be too focused to notice the mess. But once crunch time is over, I have to give the desk a good clean. It’s a little ritual I do between projects.

3 words to describe yourself

A filmmaking friend.

 

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