chai yee wei Archives - Mocha Chai Laboratories

蔡於位执导邵雨薇、曹佑宁亲密戏 尺度大到像拍“A片”!

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  • 发布:30/06/2022 15:30
  • 更新: 30/06/2022 19:42

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(图:CJ ENM HK提供)

由CJ ENM HK和新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局联手制作的科幻爱情喜剧《火星上的维纳斯》由本地导演蔡於位执导,女主角邵雨薇饰演火星上唯一一位女性,其中她和曹佑宁会有很精彩的亲密戏,这一幕更是导演执导生涯中尺度最大胆的一场戏!

蔡於位导演接受《8视界娱乐生活志》专访时透露,自己非常喜欢看科幻片,这部剧的故事也是受到经典电影“Planet of the Apes”的启发。

“在那部电影中,所有人类已经灭绝,只剩下猩猩和猿猴,我就在想如果这个世界上只有男生,突然出现一位女生,世界是否会天下大乱,故事就这样诞生了。”

蔡於位早前特别到台湾进行这部剧的拍摄,这也是他首次和韩国、香港及台湾的团队一起合作。“我从中学习了很多,特别是在叙述故事方面。韩国团队在我们写剧本的时候,他们给的意见都非常好。”

谈到与男女主角邵雨薇和曹佑宁的合作,蔡於位大赞两人的表现都非常的专业。“他们在戏还没开拍前就做了很多功课,他们也愿意让我给他们功课。在剧本初稿出来时,他们也会对于角色给予意见。”

其中邵雨薇和曹佑宁更会有很精彩的亲密戏,尺度大到需要清场。谈到这场戏,蔡於位传来一阵笑声后说道:“我敢说这是我拍过所有的戏当中,最大胆的一场戏。”

蔡於位坦言这场戏播出后,必定会引起许多争议,许多观众也一定会讨论这场戏。“我记得在拍的时候,两位演员都有点吃惊。拍了后,他们也要求坐在我旁边看这些画面,看了后还对我说‘导演你小心不要把它剪成A片’!”

除了这场亲密戏,蔡於位还曝邵雨薇有一场从泳池中冒出来的戏,女方也是几乎全裸拍摄。“单单那场戏我们就讨论了许多,他们才有信心和我一起配合,我很感动他们第一次和我合作,就愿意这样子付出,我真的非常感激。”

(图:CJ ENM HK提供)

许多演员一人分饰两角

这部剧中有不少演员都需要一人分饰两角,分别演绎一个在地球,一个在平行星球的人物。导演执导起来会错乱吗?蔡於位直言:“拍到很辛苦,演员多真的会乱,还有每个角色设定说话的方式都不同。”

至于这部剧想要表达的信息,蔡於位透露他想表达的核心是“家”,剧中会讲述如何找回回家的路及寻找真正的自己。

蔡於位也预告,他目前正在筹备自己的一部电影,原本预计今年底开拍,但目前的情况还未正式确定。

蔡於位透露电影的片名为《写给爸爸的信》,讲述关于一对父女的故事。演员阵容方面,他暂时还未能公布,但他预告会有本地演员参与演出。

《火星上的维纳斯》预计在2023年第一季播出。

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.

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 TombstonesJobsThe 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.

 

Curious to know more?

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