Growing up, my family never really spoke Chinese (Mandarin to be exact, they are fluent in their respective dialects) in the household. We were more accustomed to English, as both my parents were English educated from Malaysia. Chinese lessons back then were pretty much just storytelling or teacher addressing the class in Mandarin. Nothing too formal with exams or tests like we have today. Hence, that minute Chinese vocabulary was then passed down to my brother and I who struggled, a lot, in our primary school days where Mandarin, or in broader terms, our Mother Tongue language was compulsory for all students to study, and pass.

Having a group mate who’s from mainland China has some consideration, worth exploring. During our shoot, I suggested to Helen speaking in Mandarin (her first language) or in Cantonese (her dialect that she was raised with), and I’ll add subtitles on screen with both English and Chinese characters. I figured it’ll be more natural for her to speak in her native language, and it would translate (no pun intended) into her acting. Something that she would be more familiar and comfortable with. Although it’s just a small role, or even line, where she’s on the phone with a friend, before she bumps into the zombie, I could imagine it playing in my head if she’s speaking in English, it just doesn’t seem natural, like eating a banana with a pair of chopsticks.

Also, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to brush up on my Chinese as well, while I’m doing the subtitling, I tried as much not to refer to google translate. With technology literally right at our finger tips, it’s always so easy to revert to some sort of translation back to a language you’re more familiar with. Mind you, my speaking and listening is slightly better than my writing and reading, in other words, I had no problem understand what Helen said, it’s just putting it into the subtitles and finding the right Chinese characters.

Having moved to Melbourne for more than a year now, I finally found an identity and have learned to appreciate my background. I’ve learned to view things at the bigger picture and understand things with a slightly different perspective. Also, learning to appreciate the little things back home such as having fresh laundry done everyday, or home cooked meals on the table (done by someone who’s actually experienced in frying with a wok) and not just microwave food for students on a tight budget. And it’s all these little things that helps you get by day to day, and overall, in life.

This post might seem a little far fetched from filmmaking, but again, it’s such experiences and lessons that inspires filmmaking. Only when we’re pushed to our boundaries do we see results that we wouldn’t even dream of.

At the beginning of the semester, Paul introduced us to this quote saying, “Filmmaking isn’t about making film, it’s learning about filmmaking.”. And there’s a Chinese proverb that goes, “活到老，学到老。” which translates to, one is never too old to learn. Like my basic conversational level in the Chinese Language, which I would one day hope to re-connect and bring it up to certain standards to be proud of, I’d like to see my filmmaking techniques and ideas not just improve, but evolve with the times, as no one can predict what’s in the future for such an ever-changing landscape like the media industry.