Featuring the film work of David Liu

Today, I wanna write more about the film work of DAVID LIU... I've shared his video clips twice before here in my blog at Alive Not Dead, 'cos I really enjoy what he does with the video cam... DAVID is a guy I've known for a number of years now, ever since he was still in school, and our friendship continued even as he served the nation, doing his National Service in the Army... and it carries on till today, as he continues to pursue his dream of making great films.

I swear, this guy is really passionate about movies and film-making, and whenever I talk to him about his films, all he ever tells me is that he wants to make a good film. That's it.

Once, when we were talking at a friend's party, I tried to dig further, 'cos I wanted to know what drives him and what he really wants out of all this film-making that he's doing... and he only repeats exactly what he's said to me before... all he wants is to make a good film... and no matter how I tried to dig further, that's all he would say over and over again.

So DAVID is an artist first, and nothing matters more to him than to just make a good film. It's really as simple as that... he's not after fame or fortune or public attention or anything like that... his topmost priority is the quality of his film work and how he can continue to improve with each film... DAVID is a self-critical perfectionist (my words, not his)... and it is precisely his down-to-earth self-critical attitude and his constant striving for perfection that really impresses me!

DAVID's "partner in crime" these days is LINUS CHEN... and whenever these guys are together, it's like a non-stop conversation about their latest film project... to the point where even when there are other people around, the 2 of them continue to discuss their latest project with each other as though they are in their own little world... but if you bother to listen in sometimes, you start to realise that these 2 have an amazing rapport with each other, which makes for a pretty incredible working relationship... they're almost like Siamese twins!

Needless to say, I'm a big fan of their work, and I love what they do!

If you missed it, here are the 2 video clips I posted in my blog before, showing off DAVID's incredible work...

1) Darth Maul vs Jedis vs Supergirl

The footage for this video clip was shot during CosFest 2006 at Downtown East in Singapore. The guys in the clip are all my friends... Faiz as Darth Maul, Azmi and Mike (he's the one twirling 2 lightsabers at one go) as the Jedis, and Kelly Latimer as Supergirl... the costumes and props are courtesy of Movie Mania, a company owned by another pal of mine. Apparently, it took 2 weeks for the guys to come up with the staged fight... not bad, bearing in mind that these guys have day jobs and such. CosFest is an annual cosplay event that takes place in Singapore every July. I've been to a few CosFest events myself... it's pretty interesting! :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gr2yJijDJg

2) Aliens vs Predator vs Star Wars

DAVID made this fan film trailer-type clip earlier this year, and once again, the guys appearing in the clip are all our friends, with costumes and props by Movie Mania. As I had mentioned before, I can't reveal which of my friends are in this particular clip, as some of them might not want their identities to be revealed over the internet. In any case, it was Movie Mania that gave DAVID the opportunity to hone his skills and to start making his dreams a reality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdeApQHrkzc

If you think the work above is just being done by some amateur film-maker wannabe and is nothing to shout about, then check out DAVID's accomplishments so far...

** 2005 Mediacorp Project Pilot Finalist **

DAVID's entry was entitled "Vendetta" and here's the 35-second trailer he made for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2GeEjPMGIw

** 2006 Canon DV Fest Finalist **

DAVID's entry was entitled "Blinded" and here's the 35-second trailer he made for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XS0334TIeg

** ST701.com Winning Entry **

I like this winning entry that DAVID made, but what impresses me more is what DAVID did with his prize money... it was used to finance his next short film, "Toll"... I thought that it was pretty enterprising of him to use his prize money in that manner... I mean, somebody else might have splurged it on some electronic entertainment gadget... but no, not DAVID :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2iuEuevnCY

I wish I could have posted a clip for "Toll" as well, but I can't... anyways, I had first watched "Toll" during a private get-together at a friend's home... DAVID had just finished making it, and he had brought it along with him that day, so he showed it to all present.

Personally, I think DAVID LIU is a Singaporean talent to look out for... I hope that some years down the road, I can turn around and say, "I told you so".

If DAVID gets to make his film-making dreams come true some time in the future, it is only because he has put in a lot of blood, sweat, tears and passion into what he does, and I believe that he would have truly deserved all that he could possibly receive.

Jia you, DAVID!!!

I'm gonna leave you with this demo reel that DAVID made, showcasing exerpts of some of his works... ENJOY!! :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op4vvdV87r0

** (All the video clips shown in this blog entry were made by DAVID LIU) **