Rising Star

Good afternoon, my friends. I deeply apologize for my silence. It has been very quiet here, and I've found myself without much to say. A large majority of that is my own fault; I decided not to travel for the Easter holiday for a variety of reasons. Still, there's much I could be seeking out, and I will do my best to acquire more experiences that might merit an update.

Yesterday night, I performed in a short film and two music videos. I'm not sure if I mentioned previously that I've been cast as the male lead for a student film. It's a part I gained through a local friend of mine in my Brand Management class. As many of you know, I'm at my best when I'm helping someone, so I was more than delighted to take the role. The young student director apparently regards my acting ability highly, as she recommended me to a classmate who needed actors for his film projects. 

Through this game of networking, I found myself wearing a doctor costume and putting things into a McDonald's bag on film yesterday. While that might sound like something out of the Craigslist personals section, I found the role pretty interesting, and remained for the full six hours it took to film that scene, as well as two other videos (a fairly shot-for-shot redo of the ABBA song "Money Money Money", and a one-scene video of "Dancing Queen" by the same, in which I danced with a guitar). 

I've never really "done" any theatre work prior. A little sketch comedy in my teenage years (primarily writing, but a few turns on stage), and a brief time at my school's short-lived improv comedy club, but no real acting experience. Despite this shortcoming, I've apparently satisfied the standards of the local students on the film track.

I'd like to take a moment to mention how very advanced the facilities on campus appear to be, in comparison to what I've seen. I don't claim to know how well-equipped the recording facilities are at my home university, but HKBU's equipment seems to be excellent. A full recording studio, adjustable lighting, camera equipment, the works. I remember hearing that this university is considered highly for film students, but it's always nice to see a school that invests heavily in its students above all else.

I suppose the lessons I learned from this experience are two-fold. One, Hong Kong doesn't sleep. We were in the studio from 7:45PM- 1:45 AM, and there still people actively hustling and bustling around the facilities when we departed. Second, I don't ever intend to become an actor, but I've found that the skills needed to be an actor are not entirely dissimilar from those needed to succeed in business. Confidence is key, as it so often is, and being able to accept criticism is a skill I'm glad I've learned over the years. While I might have preferred a nice beach in Taiwan or to have seen the elephants in Thailand (which, as Facebook is so keen to inform me, many of my friends are doing), I'm glad I stuck around to be part of this experience.