Lomo this, Lomo that

Yesterday was the first time I'd set foot inside the newly opened Lomography store near Chinatown, to attend a Lomokino workshop. The store's definitely a haven for those who love analogue cameras and all things retro (and they're very much fashionable too!).  The cameras on display came in all sorts of sizes and bright colours. There was even a big wall decorated with photos taken with various analogue cameras.

Grabbed via lomography.sg

Grabbed via lomography.sg

Did I mention that the staff here are super friendly?

Grabbed via lomography.sg

The workshop was pretty interesting. They had a local filmmaker, Michael Tay, come onboard to give a little talk about short films and what they're all about. He showed us one of his shorts, "Wet Season", a stop-motion film tribute to his father. After the usual Q and A, the staff took turns to introduce the Lomokino camera to all of us, and how it's possible to create short films with using a Lomokino and a few rolls of film. There were about 18 participants (myself included) in the workshop, and we all got split up into groups to go out and make a short film using only a Lomokino camera and we had to incorporate our hand-tattoo cartoons. 

(There wasn't really a choice, everyone had to wear one of those. I'd forgot to wash it off long after the workshop was over and it took awhile to come off). 

Here's what I got (some kind of a witch creature):

That whole thing was just spontaneous, and supposedly they'd actually develop and send us the movie we took via email! I wonder how that'll turn out like...   :)

Plus, since I took part in this, I could have the Lomokino for about a week to use before sending it back to them to have the film developed! 

If only these cameras and their film rolls weren't that expensive! (but maybe that's just me complaining again.)

To those interested, here's a link to their online store!

All in!

Guess I've actually been busy these past few weeks. Hanging out with the group of film people and helping out with their fyp film was a real treat. I think I finally have a rough idea of what goes on in a film production. Besides, I'm guessing this is about as close I can get right now to an actual film set with the works. Got a peek inside their store room too, and it was actually much bigger than I thought. So many equipments, cameras, big metal boxes all crammed inside and hidden away behind the closed glass doors. Ah, good stuff!

And just like that, 2011 is already coming to an end. Here's to a better year ahead!

Breather

Last exam paper of the semester is over and done with. Stayed around with a handful of peeps in the "dungeon" and played through a few rounds of Tekken with the rest. It's been so terribly long since I last remembered mindlessly button mashing the controller and playing games.

The reappearance of the hot toasted sandwich vending machine was a neat surprise, ever since it grew legs and disappeared into exile for over a semester and a half. Got myself a bite since the only thing I had since morning was a cup of Milo. That was much needed :)

Headed off to Jurong Point with the gang to grab dinner at New York New York, spent an hour listening to and talking with the others about the awesomeness of Japan, and went around NTUC to see if there's any snacks to buy before finally calling it a day.

Hmm.. time to get re-acquaintainted with gaming once more.

DOTA 2!

Got a lovely surprise in the email inbox a couple of days ago.

After the mandatory Steam client update, running the survey and filling out a simple questionaire, it was done! All that's left now, is to wait for the email to drop by so that I can get my hands on a beta of DOTA 2 along with 2 extra copies to pass to others.

Haven't tried getting into any game betas before, so this will be a first! (fingers crossed)

When Man and Machine collide

People enjoy watching robots fighting. If the total domination of the summer box office by Michael Bay's robot fight fiesta Tranasformers 3: Dark of The Moon (along with it's predecessors parts 1 and 2) is any indication, yes, robots + fights = money making moolah.

Somone at Hollywood must have thought, "Ok, so now that Transformers has ended (sort of), what to do now to cash in on the whole robots-fighting-robots shtick?" And thus the following formula was conceived:

Robots + Boxers = Real Steel.

Yeah. Move over Rocky, looks like we've got a new contender in town- a robot boxer.

Here's a one line synopsis of the Hugh Jackman robot vehicle Real Steel:

"A boxing drama set in the near-future where 2,000-pound humanoid robots do battle."

Early reviews of the movie have been surprisingly positive, alleging that there's possibly more heart than metal bashing in the storyline. I'm a sucker for robots, and I'll gladly take that leap of faith once more with Real Steel. Also...Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman is in this!

If I had a robot, I'd rather have it be a handheld robot..which shoots portals, so that I can zip from one place to another without running late.  Ever. Again. 

Or of course to get the lunch from the kitchen if I'm that lazy.

See what I'm getting at? :)

Catch Real Steel in cinemas this 6 October 2011 and like the Official Real Steel Singapore Facebook Page!

Break

Ok, so it's only a week's break before classes resume again. But a break's a break.
Decided to try out Flash to do some idea sketching for storyboards, but I ended up diverting my energy to creating a troll-slug wearing deer antlers. Did I mention the part about it having arm extensions?

Yeah, I don't know what to make of this either.

This is nothing compared to all the crazy scribbles left on the board by the others in class. I'm sensing that they're going to make a comeback pretty soon.

The Voting Trend

Stayed up last night till the wee hours of the early morning to find out the results of the Presidential Election. This was what I saw:

Screengrab from the live broadcast of the PE 2011.

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                           Guess our penchant for "Rejected Votes" hasn't changed.