The trailer for my film How Do You Know Trailer (2010) which I am acting in is now released.

How Do You Know is directed and written by Oscar winner James L. Brooks (he’s also co-written 463 episodes of The Simpsons). I must admit, I’m not a big fan of most romantic comedies but this film does look pretty good. There’re also rumors in the film industry that it is a major contender for an Oscar. The cast on board is excellent in Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and of course Jack Nicholson, who previously worked with Brooks on “Terms of Endearment” and “As Good As It Gets” – for which he was awarded Best Actor Oscars both times. How Do You Know is set for release December 17th.

How Do You Know is a new romantic comedy about a love triangle between professional softball player Lisa Jorgenson (Reese Witherspoon), a failed corporate exec (Paul Rudd), and a major-league baseball pitcher (Owen Wilson).

Please note: There is a history of this film name being changed quite often. Originally, it was titled “How Do You Know”, then it was titled “Untitled James L Brooks” film on set. The studio then forced the director to pick a name to which he chose “Everything You’ve Got”. So it looks like now it is finally officially titled back to “How Do You Know”. How do we know the title for this film will not change again? We don’t. I guess we have to just give it everything we’ve got.

See you at the movies!

Quang.

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Everything You've Got - Jack Nicholson, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, and Owen Wilson

The film is about on a love triangle between Paul Rudd (George), a white collar exec and Owen Wilson (Manny), a professional baseball player who both find themselves smitten with Reese Witherspoon (Lisa Jorgenson), a woman suffering from a major break-up who comes from a sports crazy family. I played the computer tech guy in a scene with Paul Rudd and Shelly Conn’s character Terry. Brooks is known for making his actors do a lot of takes and I have to say that was true in my experience. I think we must have done up to 50 takes for our scene in an office room at the University of Penn which coincidentally is where I am currently attending graduate school.

Brooks spent five years working on the Everything You’ve Got to come up with a story “rooted in an encounter between two people who meet on the worst night of their respective lives.” The story also presents conflict between a person’s sports career and romantic life.

Brooks researched extensively and interviewed hundreds of women who play sports as well as many different people who run companies in order to figure out which elements will work best in the film. He also became fascinated by the dilemmas of contemporary business executives, who are sometimes held accountable by the law for corporate behavior of which they may not even be aware. This sounds like a film to watch out for around awards time, like several of Brooks’ former endeavors, and I’m definitely excited to see how it turns out.

Brooks’ five previous directorial efforts are “Terms of Endearment” (which won Brooks three Oscars — for best director, best adapted screenplay and best picture), “Broadcast News” (Oscar-nominated for best picture), “I’ll Do Anything,” “As Good As It Gets” (Oscar-nominated for best picture) and “Spanglish.”

You can also read my previous post on Everything You’ve Got that I worked on here.

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Robert De Niro and Hunt Bradley Cooper In Dark Fields

Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper are shooting the suspense thriller Dark Fields directed by Neil Burger (’The Illusionist’) with a screenplay by Leslie Dixon (’The Thomas Crown Affair’). The production has been shooting in Philadelphia and yes I am a part of this film! De Niro plays a financial mogul, Gennady, hot on the tail of Cooper’s character, Eddie Spinola, who discovers a designer drug that makes him smarter and basically better than the rest of us.

The film will also feature a phenomenon called “trip-switching” where time moves with a stop-motion quality which will be interesting to see on the big screen.

De Niro has several films being released this year, including ‘Little Fockers,’ the indie drama ‘Stone’ and Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Machete.’ Bradley Cooper will next be seen as Lt. Templeton ‘Faceman’ Peck in ‘The A-Team,’ opening June 11th.

The Dark Fields will be released March 18, 2011.

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I’m very excited to see this because it looks very good. I’m hoping Shyamalan didn’t edit my scenes out. He’s very easy to work with. Shoot most scenes in just a few takes and moves very fast. There are rumors about The Last Airbender being a trilogy depending on the success of this film. So make sure you go and watch it so I can be in the sequel!

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THE STORY BEHIND THE SOUNDS
I have been asked before if I write music visually or emotionally. The creative process starts off visually and then emotionally. It is important for me to tell some kind of story with movement. The story doesn’t necessarily have to be dictated by words but also sounds. The song also needs to have some kind of conflicting emotional tension. The mood of a lot of my songs tend to be melancholic but will always have an uplifting ending to them. That is very important to me to have light at the end of the dark tunnel.

When I Close My Eyes overall has piano, strings, pads, music box, effects and a steady beat. There is a subtle harp and fluge horn during the verses. The harp represents the lighthouse guiding the ship while the fluge horn is the fog that dampens the light. I felt that the ending of the song had to have an uplifting crescendo to take the ship out of the storm. I was in the zone while recording the synth lead heard at the end. It was recorded in one take. Its purpose was to add a lot of tension in otherwise a very harmonic arrangement. Who wants to hear an ultra clean song anyway? The tension is then climaxed by the reintroduction of the string arrangements, arpeggiators, LFO effects, and reversed drums. I tend to love reverse sounds because they add a lot of psychedelic movement that doesn’t exist in the real world.

What do you see when you close your eyes?

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TRUE STORY
I was in Toronto, Canada visiting friends and family on the weekend I got the call to be in the film. I “smoked” for the first time thinking that it would make me a better actor by expanding my creative muscles. While we were watching I Love You Man starring Paul Rudd, I get a call from the casting director that James L Brooks wants me to be in his new film starring, ironically, with Paul Rudd as well. I thought to myself, this must be some really good weed. Maybe I should try crack next?!?! My call time was the upcoming Monday at 7:15 am. My flight back was at 9:45pm on Sunday anyway so it would have worked out perfectly. When I got to the airport at Sunday 7:40pm, the receptionist told me I almost missed final check in by 5 minutes! I would have had to rent a car and drive down 8 hours from Toronto to Philadelphia just in time to be on set Monday.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY
I almost missed my first big gig by 5 minutes by being away on vacation. It is a very difficult lifestyle having to choose between spending time with family and friends over acting. Fortunately for me, I have been very lucky so far. Mostly because I choose projects and time commitments very carefully. I always put family and (close) friends first. You have to prioritize people who prioritize you. It is difficult never the less.

The release date for the James L Brooks film is set for December 17, 2010

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This film looks pretty good. We shot on a very cold day in January at City Hall in Philadelphia. Law Abiding Citizen, written by Kurt Wimmer, is about a brilliant sociopath (Gerard Butler) who orchestrates a series of high-profile murders that grip the city of Philadelphia – all from inside his jail cell – and the prosecutor (Jamie Foxx) assigned to his case who realizes he is the only one who can end the reign of terror.

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Coming summer 2010!

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan.
Cinematography by: Andrew Lesnie.
Music by: James Newton Howard.
Produced by: Frank Marshall and Sam Mercer.

and of course, you’ll see me in it!

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Noah Ringer As Aang, The Last Airbender

Noah Ringer plays the lead character Aang, the “Last Airbender.” Working with him was great. He is a very mature 12-year-old regional karate star was who discovered in a Texas when his instructor sent in a video tape audition. Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire plays Prince Zuko, leader of the Fire Nation.

Aang - The Last Airbender

The Fire Nation is  an oppressive race with powers to control flame. They are waging a war against the other three nations. The film’s hero, the reluctant young Aang, is the “Last Airbender”. Aang is the Avatar who, according to prophecy, has the ability to manipulate all of the elements and bring all the nations together. Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bull-headed brother Sokka, Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world.

Dev Patel of The Fire Nation

Here are a couple of interesting facts about the film’s two main stars:

• Noah Ringer’s nickname at school was “Avatar” because many people thought he looked like the character that he now plays in the movie. Life is very funny in that way isn’t it?
• Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel, who plays Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation; earned his black belt in tae kwon do before getting into acting, and started watching the animated television series while filming Slumdog.

Dev Patel As Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation

I wish I could write more about behind the scenes but I just can’t because of the non-disclosure agreement. I can say that it was a joy waking up at 3am to catch a 5am tour bus for an hour long drive to the elaborate custom made set for the Earth Benders. All the actors and crew were great to work with. It has been several weeks since I wrapped up shooting my scenes and still have these funny tan lines on my feet due to the costume.

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However, I’m not sure how I would react to someone cutting my face open though. Well, that’s exactly what happened in the film Daniel written and directed by Manuel Neves that I composed for staring Robert Seelinger. It is a story about a man named Daniel who is seeking revenge on the guys that severely hurt him and left him a massive scar on his face. Daniel is confronted with the emotional burden, which tests his relationships with his girlfriend and close friends Bray, Steven, and Rafi.

Daniel -- Part 1

THE PROCESS
Daniel was the first film project that I was asked to composed for while I was in college. My cousin Damian Chen (founder of Colorshadow Communications) recommended me as a composer for Manuel Neves since he had a hard time finding one. Manni and I talked on the phone and I sent him a CD of my work. He liked it and then drove down to Philadelphia from Toronto with a VHS tape with Time-Code burn. This was before the days of affordable software integration of music sequencing and video editing.

I approached each scene by simply writing down words that described emotions that I felt would suit for. Then it was a matter of finding the right sounds and experimenting to see if it matched that words while providing a sense of momentum in the scene. When Daniel is leaving the hospital, the camera doesn’t shoot the scar on his face and his girlfriend is there helping him to forget. The music in this scene is quite uplifting to match the sense of joy he is feeling. However, that will quickly change.

Daniel -- Part 2

At the beginning of Part 2, Daniel and his friends are in a meeting planning a revenge. This is one of my favorite parts of the film since you really don’t notice the music building up with the conflict between Daniel and his friends, however, you do feel something subtle. It is a very slow dark build until the scene is resolved. I also “borrowed” the Twin Peaks theme and Moby’s song Go playing the same chords. LOL. Everyone loved the shot of Daniel’s dog Jake. Who’s real name is Rocky and he is deaf. I guess dog whistles can really hurt them. Notice, that Daniel and Meghan have their own theme music.

Daniel -- Part 3

The drums are not sampled from Nine Inch Nail’s Closer. I actually did that myself with a simple beat but also running it through a delay which gives the snare a fatter sound and a heartbeat like kick. The drum and bass beats during the chase scene were from my song Passport. Actually, I used quite a few themes from the Dream In Stereo album. It took the sound engineer 2 weeks to create that gun shot sample.

WRAP UP PARTY
This was a 20 minute independent film costing $20,000. I was over joyed for being asked to compose for a film which was something new and very exciting for me early. I met the cast and crew at the screening and after party in Toronto. I joked with Robert Seeliger saying that his scar healed up pretty fast. But in fact, he replied saying that the make up actually left impressions on his face for a week after they took it out.

Melissa Michaels, Ellen Kay, Robert Seeliger, Manuel Neves

Quang Ly (film composer) and Manuel Neves (Director)

Robert Seelinger recently starred in Gracie’s Choice with Kristen Bell based on a true story.

To find out more on Robert Seeliger visit http://www.robertseeliger.com

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Jennifer Love Hewitt in Cafe

Hollywood’s latest couple Jamie Kennedy (Jamie Kennedy Experiment) and Jennifer Love Hewitt (The Ghost Whisperer) star in the independent film called Cafe which is about the interesting people and their lives in a coffee shop. Marc Erlbaum who is local to the area wrote the screenplay at West Philly’s Green Line Cafe (which is used for external shots). Daniel Eric Gold (Matt in Ugly Betty) and Alexa Vega (Carmen Cortez in Spy Kids) are also casts in the film. Sean Covel and Doc Wyatt, producers of Napoleon Dynamite, are producing with J. Andrew Greenblatt.

I played an Asian business man in the scene. Yeah I know. What a stretch right? I had to mimic the words “peas and carrots” but not actually say it otherwise it would bleed into the main dialogue. Afterwards, during lunch break, we had the choice of egg salad or tuna wrap. I chose the tuna wrap.

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SYNOPOSIS

The puppet Lil Ronnie has to find another job because kids are not going to puppet shows. Ronnie has to reinvent himself though he faces discrimination because he is not human and because of his disability. This production is a spoof on American life if you have yet to get the picture.

[View with PicLens]

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PLOT
Star Trek brings Kirk and Spock center stage and tracks the origins of their friendship and how they became officers aboard the Enterprise. Other crew includes McCoy (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoë Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin). Their adventure goes from Earth to Vulcan. It also features Leonard Nimoy appearing in scenes with his younger self through a time travel subplot. The storytelling is newbie-friendly, but it slyly assimilates a wide range of Trek arcana, from doomed Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to Sulu’s swordsmanship to classic lines like, ”I have been, and always shall be, your friend.” More ambitiously, the movie subversively plays with Trek lore — and those who know it.

The new Star Trek (Release 5/8/2009) is a reboot directed by JJ Abrams (LOST, Cloverfield, Mission Impossible 3).

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Twitter Micro-Blogging

Essentially, Twitter is like a GIANT chat room where everyone is talking asynchronously. But the chat room is very organized you see. You can follow people without commitment. They do not have to be “friends” with you like on MySpace or Facebook for you to see their syndication or news feeds on what they are doing.

THE TRUE POWER OF TWITTER
One of the most powerful features of Twitter that has acquisition interest from Google, Apple, Facebook (Twitter declined Facebook’s offer. So Facebook rearranged their feeds to look like Twitter), is Twitter’s Search feature. You can search what people are chatting about and follow that topic, offer your help, or “cyberstalk” your favorite celebrities.

The other great power of Twitter is you can read and write (known as tweets) using mobile devices like the iPhone or just a cellphone. This is really the emerging Web 3.0 which takes Web 2.0 (widgets and content management) to mobile devices. So when I make a tweet on my iPhone, it shows up on my Twitter feeds to my followers. But it also shows up on this website in the right sidebar in the form of a widget appearing seamlessly integrated. This is Web 3.0: the integration of Internet, mobile devices, and cloud computing. Essentially, write once, publish to many different channels.

Yes. Twitter does seem a lot of hype. It is not for everyone. More for people with Attention Deficit Disorder. Now what was I saying? Oh yeah, it’s also fun to kill boring activities like waiting in line at the DMV for a half hour. It can be very addicting. I do have my habit under control though. I can stop whenever I want to.

TWITTER APPS
There are many different Twitter apps for both the computer desktop and mobile devices.  Which Twitter apps do you use?

Follow me on Twitter @ Quang Ly.

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