Summing up ‘Film + Music’ — A Talk Featuring Wee Li-Lin, Joe Ng and Nicholas Chee2 min read

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With a brief but solid start to the upcoming series of talks by local industry gurus and experts, the Film + Music talk on Saturday, 10 May, saw a cosy gathering of film and music enthusiasts coming together at Sinema Old School, where local film director, Wee Li-Lin and music guru, Joe Ng, together with Nicholas Chee, Sinema Old School’s Incubator Programme Director, gave an impassionated session.

The pair, who worked together on Li-lin’s debut feature film, Gone Shopping, divulged many production secrets and tips, sharing with the audience how music plays an important part in the filmmaking process.

Gone Shopping has since premiered at the 10th Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy in April this year, and has been officially selected for competition in both the 31st New York Asian American International Film Festival and the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival (“Asian New Talent” award)!

Music is an element of filmmaking many-a-times left to the last. For Gone Shopping, Li-lin had Joe involved very early in the process, with him reading the script and thereafter visualising and composing wonderful themes which have produced an unequally superb soundtrack. (The soundtrack can be heard on Gone Shopping‘s official website). As both Li-lin and Joe disclosed, keeping the lines of communication and dialogue very much open throughout the entire pre-production, production and post-production stages of the film did marvels.

Armed with both visual and audio aids from the movie, the speakers were more than willing to share precious behind-the-scenes examples of how layers of musical instruments, notes, sounds, echoes and reverbs are carefully considered to evoke emotions and create the appropriate atmosphere and mood for the scene. At the end of the talk, the audience came away much enriched and we were equally, if not more, inspired. Li-lin also disclosed how Gone Shopping has since given birth to 3 other film ideas that are now in the making.

Don’t worry if you’ve missed this talk, there will be more similar talks in the upcoming months, with the most immediate one namely music and audio production master classes conducted by Joe Ng, aimed to commence in July 2008.