It had been raining the last few days, all traces of cherry blossoms are gone, aside from some petals scattered on the ground.
Ever since I came back to Tokyo, I had been working around the clock to finalize the editing of my new film, LAST FRAGMENTS OF WINTER. Professor Ando (executive producer!) had hired the services of professional (and legendary) sound mixers and sound effects companies for the post-production, I'm very blessed.
Two nights ago, I was made aware by a former schoolmate of mine that the Malaysian Chinese paper China Press' interview with me (and my mom), which I did just a day before I left Malaysia, was available online (Chinese only).
It was a nice article that mentioned briefly about me picking up the Azusa Ono Memorial Award from Waseda University (being the first foreigner and all), my foray to Japan since 2008, the influences my parents had on me regarding my passion for films etc.
Of course, most interestingly, my mother was interviewed too.
(Although I don't mention it much, but some of you might know that my mom was a pop singer before her marriage, retired after that, kept a low-profile since then. Growing up, those who were aware of who my mom was wrongly assumed that I inherited her singing talents. They were disappointed. Alas, I never became a superstar singer.)
I'm flattered by the recent media coverage, it's good to shed some light upon Waseda University, Professor Ando, and the films that my cast and crew had poured their heart and soul into. I'm here today because of them anyway.
I would like to point out though that not everything is that glamourous, and it's really not about the glamour. Look at it this way, while a nice newspaper article about me had just came out in Malaysia, I am here in Tokyo, thousands of kilometers away, undergoing a solitary confinement of sorts in the editing room, with minimal face-to-face human interaction, with my eyes fixed upon the computer the whole time as I adjust my shots, doing colour correction, waiting for the rendering, the exporting etc. Editing, as much as I love it, can sometimes be a rather arduous task. And lonely too, when you don't have anyone anymore (like, say, a producer) to come and check your progress.
Nope, I can assure you, my dear readers, being a filmmaker is really not just about sitting there and yelling "action!" and "cut!".
Now I switch to Chinese.
大家好，昨天上『中国报』了。 荣幸， 但也只可以带这平常心。 我回了东京后都不停地为新作品『冬天， 最后的碎片』赶后期制作。 单独的待在剪接房， 对着电脑， 也很少机会跟任何人沟通， 真的变成宅男了。 拍片并不是一件简单的事， 这几天的辛苦也算是成功的代价， 当然， 也不敢说自己是成功的， 只是坚持走自己的路， 希望可以再次拍一部好作品， 不辜负班底还有演员们对我的信任， 这就是我身为一个小导演的责任。 好， 继续剪接。
以下的就是那文章。 （ 原文在此。)
Ever since I came back to Tokyo, I had been working around the clock to finalize the editing of my new film, LAST FRAGMENTS OF WINTER. Professor Ando (executive producer!) had hired the services of professional (and legendary) sound mixers and sound effects companies for the post-production, I'm very blessed.
Two nights ago, I was made aware by a former schoolmate of mine that the Malaysian Chinese paper China Press' interview with me (and my mom), which I did just a day before I left Malaysia, was available online (Chinese only).
It was a nice article that mentioned briefly about me picking up the Azusa Ono Memorial Award from Waseda University (being the first foreigner and all), my foray to Japan since 2008, the influences my parents had on me regarding my passion for films etc.
Of course, most interestingly, my mother was interviewed too.
(Although I don't mention it much, but some of you might know that my mom was a pop singer before her marriage, retired after that, kept a low-profile since then. Growing up, those who were aware of who my mom was wrongly assumed that I inherited her singing talents. They were disappointed. Alas, I never became a superstar singer.)
I'm flattered by the recent media coverage, it's good to shed some light upon Waseda University, Professor Ando, and the films that my cast and crew had poured their heart and soul into. I'm here today because of them anyway.
I would like to point out though that not everything is that glamourous, and it's really not about the glamour. Look at it this way, while a nice newspaper article about me had just came out in Malaysia, I am here in Tokyo, thousands of kilometers away, undergoing a solitary confinement of sorts in the editing room, with minimal face-to-face human interaction, with my eyes fixed upon the computer the whole time as I adjust my shots, doing colour correction, waiting for the rendering, the exporting etc. Editing, as much as I love it, can sometimes be a rather arduous task. And lonely too, when you don't have anyone anymore (like, say, a producer) to come and check your progress.
Nope, I can assure you, my dear readers, being a filmmaker is really not just about sitting there and yelling "action!" and "cut!".
Now I switch to Chinese.
大家好，昨天上『中国报』了。 荣幸， 但也只可以带这平常心。 我回了东京后都不停地为新作品『冬天， 最后的碎片』赶后期制作。 单独的待在剪接房， 对着电脑， 也很少机会跟任何人沟通， 真的变成宅男了。 拍片并不是一件简单的事， 这几天的辛苦也算是成功的代价， 当然， 也不敢说自己是成功的， 只是坚持走自己的路， 希望可以再次拍一部好作品， 不辜负班底还有演员们对我的信任， 这就是我身为一个小导演的责任。 好， 继续剪接。
以下的就是那文章。 （ 原文在此。)
楊毅恆：電影是家人共同語言
報導：李毓康
攝影：陳梓健
立志當導演，一直是楊毅恆從小的夢想。當兒時玩伴都在玩“家家酒”時，他卻找三五個朋友來演戲，自己當起導演。當然，小孩子的童玩遊戲，誰也不曾認真過，可他自此與“電影”結下難以割捨的情意結……
當年五歲的楊毅恆一句“我長大要當導演”被視為戲言，誰也沒料到他日后真的憑自己的努力圓夢，得獎無數。今年三月，楊毅恆更獲得日本早稻田大學頒發《小野梓紀念藝術賞》，是早稻田有史以來第一位外國華裔留學生獲得這個殊榮。
“得到這個獎，心裡有說不出的激動。它是由早稻田大學創辦人小野梓在1959年設立，分別表揚在運動、學術及藝術三個領域，有傑出表現或成就的學生。一直以來，多由一些在世界級舞台有非凡成績的日本人‘佔有’，自己能成為第一位得獎的外國華裔，當然意義非凡……”
楊毅恆笑言，從小到大很愛日本漫畫，也因此對于日本存有很大的好奇心，在瞭解這個國家的過程中，深受其文化影響。
“2008年獲得獎學金，有機會在東京的早稻田大學讀電影碩士。那時候有點依依不捨，因為從澳洲回到老家馬來西亞，剛認識了我現在的拍檔胡明進，進入他的一人公司（通行電影GREENLIGHT PICTURES），當了他的製片。一年不到，就要去日本，必須拋開自己的事業，重新開始學生生活。”
不停拍電影學習
到了日本，楊毅恆對電影又有了另一番體會。“我的教授安籐礦平老師跟我說，學習電影最好的辦法，就是不停拍電影、不停摸索。安籐老師本身也是導演，所以他瞭解我之前的想法，只要我寫了一個劇本，他給的只是意見，並非教導我。”
“教授也會想辦法資助我的作品。在這樣的環境下創作拍電影，我覺得自己是幸運的。結果，他們資助的第一部作品《金魚》，入圍2009年威尼斯影展。”
接著，楊毅恆經常返回大馬，更與導演胡明進合拍了《虎廠》，入圍康城電影節的“導演雙周”單元，更在東京電影節的“亞洲之風”單元，獲得評審特別推薦獎。
現在，楊毅恆才體會到自己能在兩國之間“活動”，是一種難求的幸福，也是珍貴無比的學習經驗。
沒有最好，只有做得更好
楊毅恆喜歡幻想、愛創作，也喜歡看小說，中學時代就開始寫作，所以很多時候活在自己想像的世界。“因此，我一直認為拍戲是表達自己世界最好的方法，希望可以尋找到一些與自己有共同點的人，與他們分享。觀眾不喜歡我的作品無所謂，我會繼續磨練、摸索，希望下一次能進步。
“或許你會問：最滿意的是哪一部作品？我會告訴你：是接下來的一部！哈！我如此說，是因為每一部作品，我都付出100%的心血製作。完成后，又有新的構思點子，期望在下部新片會用上。只有不斷精益求精，電影路上才會走得更遠。”
“在我的人生裡，電影和生活的關係密不可分。人生如戲嘛，我的作品都來自自己生活上經歷的見聞。當中不一定是發生在自己身上的，可能是對某人某事一瞬間的一種感情、情意結，都可伸延伸成故事，放在作品內。”
“靈感嘛？可能來自所發的夢、所看的電影、所閱讀的小說，或所遇見的人的故事。我自己是工作狂，最愛的也可能是拍戲，所以我寧願不停在周圍尋找靈感，大學每年都會贊助機票，讓自己有機會到處見識，這才是我最享受的。”
學會融會貫通，與人分享
楊毅恆笑言，每年都回到大馬拍短片。把跟日本教授學到的好東西，接觸到的不同文化及不同人物帶來的衝擊，帶回來大馬；或把本地的東西帶去日本，蠻有趣的。
“畫面有趣，但是抽象不夠具體，或拍得太過文藝，這是我最初拍片獲得的評價。當時許多人都問我：為何不拍一些可以跟更多人分享的電影？這算是一個小教訓，也是很重要的經驗。經過多年摸索，我也認清世界上不能只有藝術片而沒有商業片。當然，也不能儘是商業元素，這兩者要互依共存。”
有了無數次的短片拍攝經驗后，楊毅恆深深體會到不能一廂情願以為自己喜歡的，觀眾也會喜歡，或自己明白的，觀眾也一定會明白！
電影原本就是一種創作，一種分享。“我想拍一些多年后仍會被人記住的電影。如果電影只拍給自己看，會很寂寞。”
戚舜琴：看電影造就了他…
自從淡出娛樂圈，昔日的歌后戚舜琴生活得怡然自得，除了忙碌事業，把更多時間放在家庭上，享受天倫樂。
對于兒子楊毅恆的成就，戚舜琴掩不住喜悅笑說，“這是毅恆的努力，也幸運一路走來，遇到不少貴人扶持。他真的好愛拍攝，走到哪，拍到哪，無時無刻都在拍。導演夢和一架數碼攝錄機，一直是他隨身攜帶的‘必需品’。我的許多生活照，都是他在‘背后’拍下的，很多時候，上到他的Facebook才看到。哈哈！”
戚舜琴透露，從小到大，楊毅恆受了父母影響，非常熱愛電影。“我和丈夫常帶小時候的他到處去看電影，當時他很好奇，電影是怎樣來的？有一次，他和我們一起看恐怖片，覺得很可怕，不敢看，我就對他說‘不用怕，這些都是假的，都是導演製造出來的一些效果。怪獸是假的。’聽了之后，他就開始覺得導演太帥了，根本像神一樣。那時他只有五六歲，就開始發導演夢，之后不停朝這夢想前進。”
“有時我會想，我懷孕時，常和丈夫到處看電影，嗯，曾試過兩天內看了五部電影，不知是否胎教的關係，毅恆才會對電影如此著迷，哈哈！”
父母愛看電影，影響楊毅恆至深，他們常偕伴看電影、討論電影。電影是培養和維繫他們的一條非常重要的感情線，也成了他們的共同語言。
相信就是最好的支持
“對于當導演，毅恆從沒有抱玩票心態面對。他給我看到的是，始終堅持創作的誠意，與永不間斷地自我突破。
“就在兒子下定決心當導演時，戚舜琴曾善意提醒他，這個娛樂圈子充滿許多現實阻礙。他卻對我說，想要成功就不能想會有什么挫折。我在想，這兒子應該多少算是屬于不停去撞板的人吧！”
戚舜琴坦言，兒子自小懂得自律，從不需要她擔心，或許對于他的選擇，應該相信和尊重。或許目前為止看似一帆風順的人生，“撞板”或“撞墻”對他來說，不見得是壞事。“我覺得他目前希望獲得我們精神上的支持，還有對他的瞭解。相信他，讓他可以安心去創作，去拍電影，這就是我和丈夫能為他做，及應做的事了。”
