Post by idolfan on Sept 30, 2012 22:30:32 GMT 7
"Once Upon A Time" Site Visit @ Ipoh (28/9/12)
Once upon a time in Ipoh (28th September to be exact), two bus loads of media members were ferried to an exclusive and highly anticipated location site visit, to catch the behind the scenes production of an upcoming Chinese movie. As we reached the site, we saw from afar, a peculiar looking bamboo building perched on top of a cleared hill. Since the buses we arrived in, were unable to make it up the steep slope, vans were used to take all of us all the way up. As we reached our destination, what greeted us was a very large but strange looking ancient building that was shaped like a ship, giving us the feeling that we were transported back 6000 years into the past, pretty much back nearing the end of the stone age.
We had just arrived at the RM1 million set, which was specially built for film producer Jack Lim’s upcoming lunar new year movie “Once Upon A Time”. Jack Lim explained “Why in Ipoh? Well I have filmed in a few places before, like Perlis and Kuantan and now I feel it’s time to give back to my own hometown, Ipoh. We found a good developer who sponsored a very nice and quiet development site on a cleared hill, which was suitable for us to build the set we required to film a period genre which is set 6000 years ago. The most important factor was noise. We cannot afford to have traffic noises, so this place was perfect as it was in a new secluded area which was on higher ground”
Jack Lim shared that for this movie, a lot of painstaking hard work has been put in from the story board, costumes, props to getting the best artiste available. “Initially our budget was around RM 3 million and now we have filmed about 50% and we have exceeded RM4 million already. Once we have decided to do something we will give our best”. For the record, Jack Lim has 20 years of experience behind him and the total box office, for 8 movies, achieved by him is about RM 32 million todate.
The radio skit “Wong Gung Can Lan” which we listen to on MYFM should be from a certain Chinese Dynasty era but for this movie, they went back to 6000 years ago. To this Jack explained “If we want to do something from the Qin Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty, we will have to be very detailed in every aspect and we do not want to copy or ridicule anyone in particular. Therefore we decided to take our audience back to 6000 years ago, back to the stone age and create something from our imagination, everything is created from scratch as the story is fictional. And of course there will be CG involved but all will be 100% from Malaysia”.
The Director, Silver said that he is very happy to be involved in this movie. “The budget for this movie is very much bigger than the other movies which I have done before and therefore the challenge is much greater”. The director said that the main concept is to make a really good movie which will not disappoint Malaysian’s expectation. Silver also shared that the most difficult part is the arrangement of schedule for the cast as all of those involved are very busy with their own schedules. The Director has high praises for the cast that comprised of DJs and TV/radio host as they are not professional actors and actresses but they know how to act and bring out their characters very well.
Jack Lim revealed that they discovered a 7 year old star by the name of Tan Zheng Kang, who stood out from the rest at the auditions. His happy go lucky and very active personality caught the attention of both him and the Director, who casted him on the spot. This young boy has the natural ability to bring out his character, “Katt Chai” to life. Katt Chai’s character is vital to the storyline of this movie. He is raised by his grandfather as an orphan and a beggar and he is highly intelligent and self-sufficient to take care of not just himself but also his grandfather too. Jack believes that this young boy will rise to fame and may just take the spotlight in the movie when it is released next year.
Scenes from the press conference:
The casts and director together with the Honourable Guest, Encik Mohd Naguib Razak, Ketua Pengarah Finas.
Synopsis:
Jack Lim plays a playful, lazy, selfish, good for nothing glutton Emperor who has many wives, concubines and so many children that he cannot recognise many of them. But he is extremely afraid of death and therefore is continuosly seeking for ways to have eternal life.
Jeff Chin plays the role of Prime Mininster known as Lord Turtle, an important person to the Emperor who is intelligent and cunning and practically runs the kingdom on behalf of the Emperor.
Vivian Tok assumes the role of Eunuch Tok whom the Emperor loves to hang out with. Eunuch Tok always comes out with new ideas and games for the Emperor and plays with him.
Gan Mei Yan takes on the role as the Imperial Servant, Yu Fa, who keeps the surroundings of the palace clean and tidy, making the Emperor very fond of her.
Going back to 6000 years agon, in a land where the Emperor is the sole ruler of a kingdom called “A-Very-Very-Harmonious-and-Peaceful-Land”, lived many unhappy poor people who were always bullied by the rich. In the Imperial Palace, lies a forbidden room, in which a concubine of a previous Emperor vanished many years ago. Nobody ever found the the truth behind her dissapearance.
One day, a rebellious group attacks the palace the tries to overthrow the Emperor. Lord Turtle being the devoted Prime Minister protects the Emperor, Eunuch and Yu Fa by pushing them into the forbidden room. Lord Turtle stayed behind and sacrificed himself to guard the doors. In this room, the trio vanishes into the future ..... year 2013.
It is in this present era that the Emperor and his 2 companions create many humorous scenes such as their encounters with modern technology. The trio also discovers their new gift after going through time ... supernatural powers and immortality .... Will the Emperor and his 2 companions survive in the new era ... will they ever be able to return home ....
"Once Upon A Time", produced by The Film Engine and distributed by RAM Entertainment will be blazing to Malaysia cinemas on 7 February 2013.
Jack Lim as the Emperor
Yu Fa, the imperial servant (Gan Mei Yan) and Eunuch Tok (Vivian tok)
The Prime Minister (Jeff Chin) and Minister (Chen Keat Yoke)
Once upon a time in Ipoh (28th September to be exact), two bus loads of media members were ferried to an exclusive and highly anticipated location site visit, to catch the behind the scenes production of an upcoming Chinese movie. As we reached the site, we saw from afar, a peculiar looking bamboo building perched on top of a cleared hill. Since the buses we arrived in, were unable to make it up the steep slope, vans were used to take all of us all the way up. As we reached our destination, what greeted us was a very large but strange looking ancient building that was shaped like a ship, giving us the feeling that we were transported back 6000 years into the past, pretty much back nearing the end of the stone age.
We had just arrived at the RM1 million set, which was specially built for film producer Jack Lim’s upcoming lunar new year movie “Once Upon A Time”. Jack Lim explained “Why in Ipoh? Well I have filmed in a few places before, like Perlis and Kuantan and now I feel it’s time to give back to my own hometown, Ipoh. We found a good developer who sponsored a very nice and quiet development site on a cleared hill, which was suitable for us to build the set we required to film a period genre which is set 6000 years ago. The most important factor was noise. We cannot afford to have traffic noises, so this place was perfect as it was in a new secluded area which was on higher ground”
Jack Lim shared that for this movie, a lot of painstaking hard work has been put in from the story board, costumes, props to getting the best artiste available. “Initially our budget was around RM 3 million and now we have filmed about 50% and we have exceeded RM4 million already. Once we have decided to do something we will give our best”. For the record, Jack Lim has 20 years of experience behind him and the total box office, for 8 movies, achieved by him is about RM 32 million todate.
The radio skit “Wong Gung Can Lan” which we listen to on MYFM should be from a certain Chinese Dynasty era but for this movie, they went back to 6000 years ago. To this Jack explained “If we want to do something from the Qin Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty, we will have to be very detailed in every aspect and we do not want to copy or ridicule anyone in particular. Therefore we decided to take our audience back to 6000 years ago, back to the stone age and create something from our imagination, everything is created from scratch as the story is fictional. And of course there will be CG involved but all will be 100% from Malaysia”.
The Director, Silver said that he is very happy to be involved in this movie. “The budget for this movie is very much bigger than the other movies which I have done before and therefore the challenge is much greater”. The director said that the main concept is to make a really good movie which will not disappoint Malaysian’s expectation. Silver also shared that the most difficult part is the arrangement of schedule for the cast as all of those involved are very busy with their own schedules. The Director has high praises for the cast that comprised of DJs and TV/radio host as they are not professional actors and actresses but they know how to act and bring out their characters very well.
Jack Lim revealed that they discovered a 7 year old star by the name of Tan Zheng Kang, who stood out from the rest at the auditions. His happy go lucky and very active personality caught the attention of both him and the Director, who casted him on the spot. This young boy has the natural ability to bring out his character, “Katt Chai” to life. Katt Chai’s character is vital to the storyline of this movie. He is raised by his grandfather as an orphan and a beggar and he is highly intelligent and self-sufficient to take care of not just himself but also his grandfather too. Jack believes that this young boy will rise to fame and may just take the spotlight in the movie when it is released next year.
Scenes from the press conference:
The casts and director together with the Honourable Guest, Encik Mohd Naguib Razak, Ketua Pengarah Finas.
Synopsis:
Jack Lim plays a playful, lazy, selfish, good for nothing glutton Emperor who has many wives, concubines and so many children that he cannot recognise many of them. But he is extremely afraid of death and therefore is continuosly seeking for ways to have eternal life.
Jeff Chin plays the role of Prime Mininster known as Lord Turtle, an important person to the Emperor who is intelligent and cunning and practically runs the kingdom on behalf of the Emperor.
Vivian Tok assumes the role of Eunuch Tok whom the Emperor loves to hang out with. Eunuch Tok always comes out with new ideas and games for the Emperor and plays with him.
Gan Mei Yan takes on the role as the Imperial Servant, Yu Fa, who keeps the surroundings of the palace clean and tidy, making the Emperor very fond of her.
Going back to 6000 years agon, in a land where the Emperor is the sole ruler of a kingdom called “A-Very-Very-Harmonious-and-Peaceful-Land”, lived many unhappy poor people who were always bullied by the rich. In the Imperial Palace, lies a forbidden room, in which a concubine of a previous Emperor vanished many years ago. Nobody ever found the the truth behind her dissapearance.
One day, a rebellious group attacks the palace the tries to overthrow the Emperor. Lord Turtle being the devoted Prime Minister protects the Emperor, Eunuch and Yu Fa by pushing them into the forbidden room. Lord Turtle stayed behind and sacrificed himself to guard the doors. In this room, the trio vanishes into the future ..... year 2013.
It is in this present era that the Emperor and his 2 companions create many humorous scenes such as their encounters with modern technology. The trio also discovers their new gift after going through time ... supernatural powers and immortality .... Will the Emperor and his 2 companions survive in the new era ... will they ever be able to return home ....
"Once Upon A Time", produced by The Film Engine and distributed by RAM Entertainment will be blazing to Malaysia cinemas on 7 February 2013.
Jack Lim as the Emperor
Yu Fa, the imperial servant (Gan Mei Yan) and Eunuch Tok (Vivian tok)
The Prime Minister (Jeff Chin) and Minister (Chen Keat Yoke)
