Saturday, October 24, 2009

Cut the Fat - fight scenes/getting sick on set

(Ray, Grace, Ben)

Hey guys, I'm still recovering from the flu as I write this. I'm still so amazed that everything came together in the way it did. We had three overnight shoots from 10pm-6am and that second night I thought we were definitely going to go over. The sun was peaking into the horizon but we got our last shot in before 6:30am.

I'm so proud of the cast and crew for sticking it out. I know that half of them were sick, including myself. But, some amazing things were done in those three nights. My actors and actresses dedicated themselves to stunts practice 3 times or more a week for two weeks in order to do this fight scene. We had awesome stunts coordinators, one amazing double, and really awesome clothes, makeup and hair.

A lot of research went into the look of this film. I spent hours pouring over youtube videos, Asian pop star sensations, video games and cartoons. I was inspired a lot by Michelle Phan's videos as well. If you don't know her videos, they're addictive and fun to watch.

I had an awesome stylist, Mika, who helped me put the wardrobe together. She's a really talented designer who has her own line called Cuore. I buy a lot of stuff from her because she makes everything by hand, it's cute & unique AND they make great gifts. Check out her online store at cuore.etsy.com.

All the clothes were donated by Fashion Max, minus the dad's king costume & mom's ref shirt, which I rented from Universal's costume dept.

Here are a few of my favorite shots:



All photos by Alan Kwan.

Credits list:
Writer/Director: Jin Yoo-Kim
Producer: Joel Townsend
Cinematographer: Neil Williams
Production Sound: Joel Townsend
Editor: Joel Townsend
Sound Design: Jin Yoo-Kim
Composer: Taylor Hollyer
Sound Mixer: Valen Hernandez
Action Consultant: Ron Yuan
Action Design: Mike Wilson
Action Director: Sonny Sison
Stunt Coordinator: Kerry Wong
Stunts double: Marissa Labog
1st Assistant Director: David Ngo
Assistant Camera: Justin Madriaga
Set Photographer: Alan Kwan
Makeup Artist: Laura Monteleone
Hair Stylist: Max Lam
Stylist: Mika Yamamura
Production Assistant: Panida Rzonca, Mira Ahn, Scott Ackerlund, and Paul Rader

Cast:
Ray Chang...Dad
Clarissa Park...Mom
Aiko Tanaka...Esther
Junko Goda...Sarah
Grace Su...Grace
Ben Kim...Henry
Mike Moh...Theo
Clara Juhn...Mina

508 faculty:
Nina Sadowsky
Jeff Lengyel
Jeff Crum
Kenny Hall
Robert Miller

508 SA's:
Thenmozhi Soundararajan
Dennis Castello
Ali Mansuri
Katie Walker

Special Thanks:
The Yoo Family
Joseph Camerota
Fashion Max

Monday, October 19, 2009

Cut the Fat – house scenes


the house
Originally uploaded by jinyookim2004
Last weekend, we shot the “reality” house scenes. I was going for a Korean drama look and I’m pretty sure I succeeded through my grandmother’s house. Her family room is literally the perfect manifestation.

I also wanted to tie in the sister’s looks with strong dark eyebrows. Their wardrobe was to make them look pedigree. That is, all the sisters except Mina, the blacksheep of the family. The dad wears a bahama mama shirt to reflect that he is “celebrating” his birthday and to visually signify irony against his moody disposition. The mom wears the stereotypical polo with black pants. If only she had pink crocs!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Location Scouting

So we got our cast and location! Here's a few location scouting pictures I took:

The "warehouse" where the action sequence will be taking place. Imagine you are seeing each picture to the right of the previous picture.






This is pretty exciting. All the stunts are being worked out now and the costume and makeup are coming along nicely! We just need PA's to help us!