What happens when we want good food and beachfront at the same time?

We go to Penang (from which we can shuttle to Langkawi).

Last year, we went to Redang and made this.

Wonder what will we end up with this year?

We had a bit of fun with alcohol in the middle of this year when we did a advertising photoshoot for Clan Gold, a premium whisky brand that has just been brought into the Asian market. In fact, it has just been voted “Best New Scotch 2012″ by esteemed whisky expert and best-selling author Jim Murray. For a studio like us that doesn’t really have hardcore drinkers in the midst, this accolade sounds like a very big deal.

The concept was loosely based on the tagline “Like all good friendships, whisky gets better over time.” The photographs captured the essence of brotherhood across the pivotal moments in a man’s life: wedding day, house-ownership and the arrival of his first-born. The images from this will most likely be used across the SE Asian market in print collaterals and billboard ads.

Addison, managing director of Lloyd Northover’s Singapore office and shown prominently (that’s your 10 seconds worth of stardom there mate!) in this behind the scenes video, is probably one of the easiest creative directors to work with, and one of the funniest as well. In fact, he volunteered himself as one of the talents at a very early stage of the project but pulled out because the talents we casted turned out too ideal.

Anyway, much thanks to his team (especially Valerie!) for making this such an enjoyable experience.

Enjoy!

It’s times like this that you go “wah! take photo leh!”

Things have gotten kind of busy in recent times.

Over the past month, we have cooped ourselves up in stables, climbed hills, sailed out to sea, flew to Nanjing, reared a goldfish and photographed a Singaporean artiste.

But just like her, we are still in all smiles.

More updates coming soon!

We are eagerly anticipating the release of The Tree of Life this week in our theatres. Since quite a few months back, we have been bowled over by the cinematography of this film directed by Terence Malick. Emanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, who also worked on the films Children of Men and Y Tu Mamá También, shares his approach here, here and here.

Just some extracts from the articles we’ve linked on this blog:

“So the actors are performing the dialogue, but Terry isn’t interested in dialogue. So they’re talking, and we’re shooting a reflection or we’re shooting the wind or we’re shooting the frame of the window, and then we finally pan to them when they finish the dialogue,” Chivo recalled.

“Photography is not used to illustrate dialogue or a performance…[w]e’re using it to capture emotion so that the movie is very experiential. It’s meant to trigger tons of memories, like a scent or a perfume.”

“The most important rule for me is to not underexpose,” he continues. “We want the blacks; we don’t like milky images. Article E does not apply to underexposure!” The cinematographer concedes that there is a single underexposed shot in Tree, an amazing accomplishment for a film shot in such free form.

“The concept was to change, to always vary things,” he continues. Malick would alternate between Steadicam and handheld, go from “an 18mm to a 27mm,” from low mode to high mode, putting the actors in different positions, and sometimes he would redo the scene in another way the next day, perhaps with a different child or in a different setting.

It’s near the end of the year again.. As we enter the last quarter, there are some major housekeeping to be done.. Rather than incur the wrath of our accountant, we shall keep things tidy this year? So the question beckons: what do we do with one year’s worth of receipts?

PODz Youth mentoring is a community project for youths completing their rehabilitation programme with the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports (MCYS). Paired with a mentor, these youths receive support and friendship, which enables them to be more resilient against negative influences when they are discharged from the rehabilitation programme. Over the course of a shoot, we had a very meaningful and fulfilling session with one such pair – Yong Zhi (a dance instructor) and his mentee, a photography enthusiast who could not get his hands off Kang Li’s camera! These are some of his pictures taken over a period of two hours during our shoot. Talented!

We are trying to help him source for an unused DSLR so that he could continue to practise this craft, and hopefully, be confident enough to take on photography jobs in the future. Drop us a mail or call us if you have any leads! Appreciate this a lot…

We will take on the responsibility to make sure that he takes proper care of the equipment and that he will continue to be disciplined in this pursuit, as long as his passion for photography doesn’t extinguish.

For the past fortnight, we traversed more than twelve parks and felt their quiet influence in Singapore.

These green spots are truly special in our concrete city.

Busy urbanites seek refuge in them after a mad day at work. Nature lovers admire the local flora and fauna. Active elders practice qigong, as though mimicking the movements of the swaying trees. Parents watch lovingly at their kids, who are playing on the grass patch. Joggers and cyclists race flying birds along park connectors as wildlife photographers try their best to catch them in flight. Elsewhere, fellow photographers capture the best shots for wedding couples.

Welcome to a city in a garden.

Behind the Scenes Video // for Ministry of Education Scholars Recruitment Video 2011 from little red ants on Vimeo.

Here it is……

A short preview of what we have been busy with in the month of June! This is a short preview video about the processes behind our shoot for the Ministry of Education’s Scholars Recruitment Video (2011).

Director Sam Kang Li and producer/scriptwriter Alex Teh for some of their thoughts and challenges faced during this shoot.

The full series of this Recruitment Video, made up of seven short profile stories, will be launched in mid-July. Stay tuned!

The reactions of Kevin watching “I saw the Devil” captured on camera. Keyuan didn’t fare too badly too. We were taking a break while waiting for footage to render. It was a scene before the girl was killed. You got to love how the girl’s reactions mirror Kevin’s.

All imagery is real. There is no over-reaction involved.