Roppongi Hills at Night

After finishing dinner yesterday evening, I was gripped by a sudden urge to catch a film. I thought of seeing Ahn Hung Tran's I COME WITH THE RAIN, starring Josh Harnett, Lee Byung-hun, Takuya Kimura and Shawn Yue.

I rushed off to take the train to Roppongi, but despite my best efforts, the film had already started when I reached Roppongi Hills. Even though I told the lady that I didn't mind about missing the first 5 minutes of the film, she told me that only the first two rows of seats were available. I didn't want to subject myself to such exertion of effort when seeing a film, thus I decided not to bother in the end.

Left in Roppongi without anything to do, I decided to take some photos instead.

Street musicians of Shinjuku on Friday night

I went out to Shinjuku last Friday night because I thought it's depressing to stay at home on Friday nights. I had managed to shoot some inserts for my new short film, 3PM, and had an encouraging line-reading session with my new actress Yumiko (read more about the production here) Some self-celebration was a welcome.

So bringing my new and beloved camera, I ran off to Shinjuku to snap photos of its night scenery.

CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY airing on Astro Citra tonight

Was more than a little surprised when Nico of Fleishman-Hillard (organizer of BMW Shorties) told me yesterday that CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY will be airing on Astro Citra tonight at 8:30pm.

Abura Soba is a dangerous addiction

Hello. My name is Edmund Yeo and I think I'm addicted to Abura Soba.

Shooting another Japanese short film, "3PM"

No, it's unlikely that I'll pull off what Tan Chui Mui did last year by making 7 short films in 7 months, but I'm trying to shoot at least one short film every 2-3 months. January I shot KINGYO (which you should know by now, is a Japanese production), April I shot AFTERNOON RIVER (Malaysian), and now, in June, I shoot my newest short film called 3PM at Waseda University.

"Edmund Yeo: Hot young Malaysian filmmaker tackles classic Japanese literature" - Interview with Toronto J-Film Pow Wow

After returning from last Saturday's Fuyajo Cinema Festival in the morning, I had a quick nap before getting up for an interview with Chris Magee of Toronto J-Film Pow Wow.

You'll get to read about a childhood incident that might have started my filmmaking dream.

it was how his parents approached the films that set Yeo on the path he's on today. "There was a time when I went to watch "Tremors" with my parents in the cinema when I was really young," Yeo remembers, "I was freaking out. Mom thought the best way to calm me down was to totally deconstruct the illusion of films, like pointing out how some stuff was just props, how they were just acting, how the guy didn't really die, how the monster was just a construct. Perhaps that deconstruction led to the whole discussion about how films were made." Yeo's mother explained that the person in charge of the props, actors and the monster worms in "Tremors" was called a "director". The lightbulb went on for Yeo.

You can read the full article here.

Thanks, Chris.

(I assume the 'hot' in 'hot young Malaysian filmmaker' is a reference to my physical attractiveness, which had long been overlooked. Hah.)

The 4th Foreigner's Traditional Japanese Dance Exhibition

The 4th Annual Foreigner's Traditional Japanese Dance Exhibition (第四回外国人日本舞踊大会) was held in my university earlier this evening. I didn't know a thing about it until the night before when Niklas showed me a website.

I was curious, so I decided to tag along, immerse myself more into Japanese traditions! I will remain an ignorant foreigner no more!

Picnic in Yoyogi Park

After spending an entirely sleepless night at Shinjuku, I caught a few hours of sleep before Maiko's call woke me up. (read more about it on my previous blog post) After that I got ready and headed off to Yoyogi Park for a picnic with Niklas, Lia The Artist and her friends: Jennifer and Yuu The Installation Artist.

Not a fan of summer afternoons, as the weather had turned a little too hot for my liking. Yet being at Yoyogi Park, bathed in the glow of the glorious summer sunlight would have been great for me to test my new camera.

Happily I took out my new and very beloved Panasonic DMC-LX3 and wanted to see what sort of masterful photography I could conjure in such an environment.

... then I realized that I forgot to bring the batteries.

"Eeeeeyaaaaaaargh!" I eeyargh'd in shock.

I decided to go back to my roots and snap photos with my cellphone instead.