Production Notes
The Inspiration
The idea for the movie KONG HONG: LOST IN LOVE came to the creator, GUY ORLEBAR, in an inspirational flash late April 2007. Coming from a non-film background but hugely interested in the movie medium and business, Guy was attending the world-renown Hollywood Film Institute offered by DOV S S SIMENS in Hong Kong, the same instructor who taught such iconic directors as QUENTIN TARANTINO (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill), GUY RITCHIE (Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch), and SPIKE LEE (Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X) to name but a few. Always harboring a secret desire to direct his own movie, halfway through this course Guy realized that, through contacts he had built up over the years, and the detailed industry knowledge Dov was imparting to his students, Guy now had all the know-how to make his movie happen. And he knew exactly what story he wanted to tell.
The Story
Guy had left his home country of England in 2000 to settle in Asia, first in Japan for several years and now in Hong Kong. Long a believer that love is the most important thing in life, it was during his travels in Asia that Guy discovered firsthand how differently other societies approach love and life. That initial discovery shocked Guy- how something he considered so fundamental and universal in actuality seemed to be greatly influenced by a society's history and culture. This began a period of self-reflection as Guy made a conscious effort to re-examine his many beliefs and assumptions that he had brought from the West, and to carefully check their validities against his new-found awareness. It is this shift from initial conviction in one's beliefs to gradual appreciation of differing perspectives that Guy wishes to share with others, and forms the essence of the movie KONG HONG: LOST IN LOVE.
Particular elements that feature in the story derive heavily from Guy's own (romantic and otherwise) encounters and experiences in Asia. Taxi drivers challenging passengers' religion, people in Japan submitting dropped wallets to the police without any untoward consideration to do otherwise, acquaintances who have no interest in the opposite sex until they wish to marry, former acquaintances refusing an audience following flights to see them, and abandonment of Guy's own religious upbringing in his attempt to better understand the true meaning to life are all actual events. Even the coma-inducing illness of the protagonist PAUL is inspired by a close friend of GuyԳ who tragically in her mid-twenties whilst out shopping suddenly collapsed and slipped into a coma to never wake again.
The Script - First Draft
With the idea for the story resolutely in Guy's mind, the first draft of the script seemed to write itself, and was completed within only a few weeks. At first, it only came to less than thirty pages, and Guy was fully aware of the scriptwriter's adage that one page of script is equivalent to one minute of screen time. To develop this script into a full ninety-minute feature-length movie, Guy knew he would be required to flesh out the story considerably whilst simultaneously keeping it as tight and intriguing as possible to guarantee the viewer's interest up to the movie's gripping climax. Armed with the other scriptwriter's adage that a great script isn't written; it's re-written, Guy knew that more work was required.
The Cast - New Talent
From inception, Guy had a clear mind who he wanted for playing most of the characters. Being his first, this movie would allow Guy to show his directing talent. On the same basis, Guy wished to also allow this movie to be a showcase for other fresh, young but highly professional talent. To achieve this, Guy would be requiring a little help from his friends.
For the protagonist PAUL, Guy wanted someone who would essentially be playing Guy himself (all be it a very fictionalized, sexed-up version). Guy's first choice of actor was someone with years of stage-acting experience in London and elsewhere in the UK, and who knew Guy better than almost anyone else: his own brother, BENE'T LYNTON. Bene't had recently finished starring in the lead role of the Stagecoach Production's London musical BAT BOY, and without a moment's hesitation committed himself fully to the project.
For the role of THE HOSTESS, Guy required an actress who exudes confidence and (particularly oriental) sex appeal. A close personal friend, whose acting experience began back in the late nineties starring alongside TAKESHI KANESHIRO in the Asia-wide TV drama series KAMI SAMA MOU SUKOSHI DAKE (God Please Give Me More Time), AYA SUYAMA was an obvious choice for Guy to ask, looking for her to bring a level of unrivalled realism to the role drawn from her own unique experiences in Japan. Initially Aya expressed reservations due to the quantity of English dialogue in her scenes, but Guy knew, and successfully convinced Aya, that with the right dialogue coaching, behind-the-scenes-technical wizardry, and appropriate post-editing she would be able to provide a very compelling performance in her first English language role.
Another personal friend of his Guy felt would be perfect for the quintessential Japanese role of THE TOURIST. Since the early nineties YUMI KANNO has made numerous television and public appearances in Japan, including the live-action Nippon TV drama adaptation of the anime classic KENDAIICHI SHONEN NO JIKENBO (Kendaiichi Case Files) and as a regular on the popular Nippon TV television show MAJIKARU ZUNOU PAWAA (Magical Brain Power). Her unswerving energetic enthusiasm and eternal optimism matches precisely the apparent superficiality of her movie's character (i.e. a Japanese person's outer, public self, referred to as tatemae), and beneath that fun, youthful exterior, Yumi would through her abilities and experience be able to allude to that certain maturity and sadness lurking inside her character's soul (i.e. one's inner, private self, known in Japanese as honne). Yumi readily offered herself to the project.
The Script - Final Draft
Armed with the first draft and key actors on board and through his newly created company AGOG FILMS PRODUCTIONS, Guy began pitching the project to film production companies in Hong Kong: a new independent feature film; an English language love story set in Hong Kong; starring young, sexy actors from around the world. So far so good. Written, produced, directed and edited by a first-time movie maker. Some hesitation. Micro-budget. Very difficult. To be shot within one week. Impossible. That was the response from most of the production companies.
But what Guy did receive from some of them was feedback on how to improve the script. After several re-writes of the sequence of events and locations, Guy now had a more gripping and enticing story, and a fully fleshed-out script worthy of being developed for the big screen, one which could now be shot in less than two weeks.
The Crew
There was one film production company, CINE-CENTURY ENTERTAINMENT, with a long history in Hong Kong cinema and a specialization in pan-Asian low budget movies, which did show interest in this project right from the start. Its CEO, RICKY WONG, knowing the importance of encouraging and nurturing new talent in the movie industry and enthusiastically sharing Guy's vision of what he was trying to achieve through this project, introduced Guy to KANT LEUNG a veteran director of Hong Kong police action films, featuring movie stars such as MICHAEL WONG. After initial, yet understandable, skepticism and a compromise to shoot over nine days beginning Saturday to the following Sunday (effectively shooting almost two weeksӠworth within only one week), Kant and his film crew wholeheartedly came on board, even offering additional story elements to include in this East-meets-West love story.
The Cast - Veterans
SUKIE YIP, one of Kant Leung's crew members, was Chief Wardrobe for this movie. Upon learning that she was the sister to a former band member of BEYOND, one of Asia's most loved rock bands in the late eighties and earlier nineties, and one of the few Cantonese music bands that director Guy Orlebar enjoys listening to, Guy did everything he could to convince her to ask her brother, rock musician YIP SAI WING, to take a cameo role in this film, even re-writing a character's dialogue to make it more poignant and relevant to Beyond's and Sai Wing's own life-tragedies, which would resonate with everyone who knows Beyond's ill-fated history. Not only did Sai Wing generously accept the role, but he went above and beyond the call of duty in offering music from one of the contemporary rock bands he currently manages for use within the film. This manifested itself in the thumping guitar rock track KU WU CHANG from Hong Kong's popular music duo, PURPLE NINE, which is featured during the dialogue-free bar scene in the latter part of the film.
CEO Ricky Wong, of the local Hong Kong production company Guy was working with for this project, is a veteran of the Hong Kong film industry. Ricky mentioned to Guy his connection with kung-fu action star Gordon Liu who, besides starring alongside Uma Thurman in both volumes of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies, has starred, and continues to star, in close to a hundred Hong Kong movies. The role of the BANKER had not yet been cast (at one point Guy was even considering it for himself), and upon hearing that Master Liu would be willing to consider the role, Guy rewrote the character from being a stereotypically arrogant, aggressive investment banker (also based on Guy's own past encounters) to someone more human. Yes, the character is still someone who thinks money is important (because money is important!), but now there is a more natural, and instinctively paternal, reason why the banker lashes out at Paul in the penultimate scene of the movie. The fact that the banker character is now considerably older than the ANGEL character only provides further references within the movie of certain Eastern societies' consideration of normality versus what the West might consider peculiar or even perverse.
The Music
Guy right from the initial conception of the script had certain musicians in mind to approach for the music score. Continuing his desire to use this movie project to showcase rising talent, Guy approached two very distinct groups of musicians.
The first was UK actress/model-turned-musician, and lifetime friend, TUAN MAC. Guy knew Tuan was beginning to write and record a number of tracks for her debut album and offered this movie as a platform for her to showcase her songs, convinced that her unique eclectic musical blend of inspiring and heart-moving compositions would match the sensitivity and intimacy of the movie. Thanks to their long-standing friendship, Tuan was able to generously offer Guy the tracks he needed, including opening and closing credit song tracks and the four compositions we hear being played live in the hostess cabaret club scene, the singer in the scene being played by none other than Tuan herself.
For the movie's penultimate scene set in a discotheque nightclub, Guy wanted something with a bit more of a dance beat. A childhood friend, Guy knew of an individual named BEN GEEVES who excelled in composing electronic dance music. Re-establishing contact with Ben, Guy learned that several years earlier he had teamed up with vocalist KATIE CHAPLIN to form ROLLERMECCA, a group which had already released a number of dance tracks. Upon learning of this movie project, Ben immediately offered Guy full access to the Rollermecca library and, after being inspired by the script, proffered an entire collection of new tracks for use as the film's musical score, which Guy readily accepted, allowing the tone of the movie to be pinned down right from the start.
Thus, unusually for most movies where music is added after editing, for certain scenes of this movie project (namely the dialogue-free bar scene and the emotionally-charged disco scenes), based on the order of events in the script, the exact musical track was chosen first, then the scenes were shot and edited to match precisely the music, resulting in a far stronger and appealing narrative.
The Investors
For financing this project, Guy turned first to the most likely candidates, namely family, friends, doctors, dentists, lawyers, and bankers, and managed to secure sufficient funding before shooting began. With the remainder of his time taken up with preparing for the shoot itself, Guy was unable to secure delivery of payment from the investors until after the shoot finished (thus being required to finance the whole project initially by himself), after which time certain investors were no longer able to deliver the promised investment (the large-scale bush-fires in Athens being cited as only one of the reasons for this). Fortunately Guy was able to find alternative investors relatively quickly; not only that but also the movie itself ended up a full twenty percent below budget, thereby requiring fewer total investors and providing those who had believed in investing in the film with a larger share of all future profits.
Since Hong Kong's 1997 return to China, there is frequent mention and criticism in the local Hong Kong press of self-censorship. This seemed to be something that even this movie could not escape from. The dialogue-free bar scene of the movie where the protagonist PAUL meets a new potential love interest, in the original script has a full dialogue written for it. This dialogue between the two characters touched on sensitive topics including the pollution of Hong Kong and the pace of democracy in Taiwan. One of the stalwart investors requested for this to be removed to allow the movie to be shown in mainland China, the dialogue was hence never recorded, and now in the final version of the film we see the two characters meeting and talking, but we don't hear what they say. Whether this cut was ultimately more a case of artistic decision by the director, or genuinely a form of self-censorship, Guy refuses to be drawn into debate.
The Shoot (Or "Why The English Always Talk About The Weather")
Most low budget movies are shot over two to three weeks. KONG HONG: LOST IN LOVE was shot over almost nine days back-to-back, in other words in just over one week. Although the schedule was grueling, this was far from director Guy Orlebar's primary concern. Along with showcasing upcoming talent, Guy wanted the movie to showcase also the beauty of the city of Hong Kong, its vibrancy, and its picturesque surrounding island countrysides and seascapes, through also several daytime and nighttime aerial shots, for which good weather would be essential. For the three months prior to shooting in Hong Kong, the weather had been glorious, with golden sunshine and vivid blue sky consistently, day in, day out.
Unfortunately on the first day of the week of the shoot, a typhoon, which is always accompanied with strong winds and heavy rain, approached the region, something which in itself is not so uncommon in Hong Kong. What was less common was that the center of the typhoon passed directly over the city of Hong Kong itself, increasing the heaviness of the rain and prolonging the foul weather further. But even this would not last usually more than a few days. Unfortunately and defying almost all the odds, once this typhoon passed directly over Hong Kong, it did a full 180-degree turn, and the center passed right back over Hong Kong again. Thus, throughout almost the entire week of the shoot heavy rain fell, and certain cast and crew commitments elsewhere prevented the shoot being postponed to any other week.
Therefore indoor scenes were shot first to give the typhoon time to pass and the weather time to clear up. Once all indoor shots were done and the rain continued, the tight shooting schedule did not allow the luxury of any further waiting time and the outdoor shots had to be taken come rain or shine. And rain it was, forcing the crew with no choice but to film opportunistically during any lulls of the showers. One scene in particular has the protagonist PAUL meeting the Japanese TOURIST character on the beach. Guy wanted to show the golden sands of Hong Kong, but at the last moment (literally during the lunchtime break before the afternoon shoot) the script was re-written to shift the action to a Chinese-style vantage-point shelter next to the beach (providing dry cover for the camera to avoid any further water-induced malfunctioning as had occurred on the first day of outdoor shooting) and the dialogue modified to emphasize the loneliness of the characters. (The TOURIST character in this scene now even makes the poignant comment that it is normally very beautiful here. But not today.)
Fortunately, in retrospect the bad weather turned out to be a blessing in disguise. For the various outdoor scenes the rain and fog ultimately enhance the overall atmosphere and sullen mood of the movie, making these scenes all the more emotively powerful than the director had originally envisioned. And for those bedazzling, techni-colored night-time cityscape shots we see from the helicopter and the top of Victoria Peak that didn't require any actors present, time was finally on Guy's side, as he waited for several weeks for the first day without typhoons, without clouds and without pollution haze to shoot them.
The Final Role
By the start of the week of the shoot, Gordon Liu had already confirmed his participation in this movie. One of his scenes, which is also one of the pivotal confrontational scenes between the major characters, takes place in a famous Hong Kong discotheque. Attempting to juggle the schedule of the discotheque with Gordon Liu's availability meant that the role of the protagonist's love interest ANGEL could not be cast until literally the day before the last day of shooting, with the role going to either one of two fine and glamorous Hong Kong actresses depending on the final schedule. Both actresses offered unique takes on the ANGEL character, and once Gordon Liu's and the discotheque's schedules were finalized, the ANGEL role went ultimately to SARIKA CHOY, who met Guy for the first time on set when shooting her first scene, and who gave a tremendous performance in bringing her character to life and creating instant sexual chemistry between herself and lead actor Bene't Lynton as required by the role.
Post-Production
In a production such as this, where much of the location decisions were made last-minute and director Guy Orlebar was not able to see the locations until immediately before shooting began, advance story-boarding would have been a futile exercise. Fortunately as also both writer of the script and editor of the whole project, Guy already had a distinct vision of how he wanted this story to play out, and therefore during the shooting itself he was able to immediately deduce which shots he wanted given the ongoing time pressure and how he would weave them all together in post-production.
However, no storyboards meant there was always the possibility that a key shot had been overlooked and hadn't been taken, which wouldn't be known until Guy had all the takes on the cutting room floor. This was Guy's second biggest concern after the weather throughout shooting. Upon finishing the final cut, Guy's concerns proved groundless and the movie he had envisioned eight months earlier had been shot in full and was either as good as, or had far exceed, his initial expectations, something which could not have been possible without the unwavering support of Ricky Wong at Cine-Century Entertainment and the professionalism and experience of Kant Leung and his Hong Kong film crew.
And without a little help from his friends.
And the odd typhoon or two.
The idea for the movie KONG HONG: LOST IN LOVE came to the creator, GUY ORLEBAR, in an inspirational flash late April 2007. Coming from a non-film background but hugely interested in the movie medium and business, Guy was attending the world-renown Hollywood Film Institute offered by DOV S S SIMENS in Hong Kong, the same instructor who taught such iconic directors as QUENTIN TARANTINO (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill), GUY RITCHIE (Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch), and SPIKE LEE (Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X) to name but a few. Always harboring a secret desire to direct his own movie, halfway through this course Guy realized that, through contacts he had built up over the years, and the detailed industry knowledge Dov was imparting to his students, Guy now had all the know-how to make his movie happen. And he knew exactly what story he wanted to tell.
The Story
Guy had left his home country of England in 2000 to settle in Asia, first in Japan for several years and now in Hong Kong. Long a believer that love is the most important thing in life, it was during his travels in Asia that Guy discovered firsthand how differently other societies approach love and life. That initial discovery shocked Guy- how something he considered so fundamental and universal in actuality seemed to be greatly influenced by a society's history and culture. This began a period of self-reflection as Guy made a conscious effort to re-examine his many beliefs and assumptions that he had brought from the West, and to carefully check their validities against his new-found awareness. It is this shift from initial conviction in one's beliefs to gradual appreciation of differing perspectives that Guy wishes to share with others, and forms the essence of the movie KONG HONG: LOST IN LOVE.
Particular elements that feature in the story derive heavily from Guy's own (romantic and otherwise) encounters and experiences in Asia. Taxi drivers challenging passengers' religion, people in Japan submitting dropped wallets to the police without any untoward consideration to do otherwise, acquaintances who have no interest in the opposite sex until they wish to marry, former acquaintances refusing an audience following flights to see them, and abandonment of Guy's own religious upbringing in his attempt to better understand the true meaning to life are all actual events. Even the coma-inducing illness of the protagonist PAUL is inspired by a close friend of GuyԳ who tragically in her mid-twenties whilst out shopping suddenly collapsed and slipped into a coma to never wake again.
The Script - First Draft
With the idea for the story resolutely in Guy's mind, the first draft of the script seemed to write itself, and was completed within only a few weeks. At first, it only came to less than thirty pages, and Guy was fully aware of the scriptwriter's adage that one page of script is equivalent to one minute of screen time. To develop this script into a full ninety-minute feature-length movie, Guy knew he would be required to flesh out the story considerably whilst simultaneously keeping it as tight and intriguing as possible to guarantee the viewer's interest up to the movie's gripping climax. Armed with the other scriptwriter's adage that a great script isn't written; it's re-written, Guy knew that more work was required.
The Cast - New Talent
From inception, Guy had a clear mind who he wanted for playing most of the characters. Being his first, this movie would allow Guy to show his directing talent. On the same basis, Guy wished to also allow this movie to be a showcase for other fresh, young but highly professional talent. To achieve this, Guy would be requiring a little help from his friends.
For the protagonist PAUL, Guy wanted someone who would essentially be playing Guy himself (all be it a very fictionalized, sexed-up version). Guy's first choice of actor was someone with years of stage-acting experience in London and elsewhere in the UK, and who knew Guy better than almost anyone else: his own brother, BENE'T LYNTON. Bene't had recently finished starring in the lead role of the Stagecoach Production's London musical BAT BOY, and without a moment's hesitation committed himself fully to the project.
For the role of THE HOSTESS, Guy required an actress who exudes confidence and (particularly oriental) sex appeal. A close personal friend, whose acting experience began back in the late nineties starring alongside TAKESHI KANESHIRO in the Asia-wide TV drama series KAMI SAMA MOU SUKOSHI DAKE (God Please Give Me More Time), AYA SUYAMA was an obvious choice for Guy to ask, looking for her to bring a level of unrivalled realism to the role drawn from her own unique experiences in Japan. Initially Aya expressed reservations due to the quantity of English dialogue in her scenes, but Guy knew, and successfully convinced Aya, that with the right dialogue coaching, behind-the-scenes-technical wizardry, and appropriate post-editing she would be able to provide a very compelling performance in her first English language role.
Another personal friend of his Guy felt would be perfect for the quintessential Japanese role of THE TOURIST. Since the early nineties YUMI KANNO has made numerous television and public appearances in Japan, including the live-action Nippon TV drama adaptation of the anime classic KENDAIICHI SHONEN NO JIKENBO (Kendaiichi Case Files) and as a regular on the popular Nippon TV television show MAJIKARU ZUNOU PAWAA (Magical Brain Power). Her unswerving energetic enthusiasm and eternal optimism matches precisely the apparent superficiality of her movie's character (i.e. a Japanese person's outer, public self, referred to as tatemae), and beneath that fun, youthful exterior, Yumi would through her abilities and experience be able to allude to that certain maturity and sadness lurking inside her character's soul (i.e. one's inner, private self, known in Japanese as honne). Yumi readily offered herself to the project.
The Script - Final Draft
Armed with the first draft and key actors on board and through his newly created company AGOG FILMS PRODUCTIONS, Guy began pitching the project to film production companies in Hong Kong: a new independent feature film; an English language love story set in Hong Kong; starring young, sexy actors from around the world. So far so good. Written, produced, directed and edited by a first-time movie maker. Some hesitation. Micro-budget. Very difficult. To be shot within one week. Impossible. That was the response from most of the production companies.
But what Guy did receive from some of them was feedback on how to improve the script. After several re-writes of the sequence of events and locations, Guy now had a more gripping and enticing story, and a fully fleshed-out script worthy of being developed for the big screen, one which could now be shot in less than two weeks.
The Crew
There was one film production company, CINE-CENTURY ENTERTAINMENT, with a long history in Hong Kong cinema and a specialization in pan-Asian low budget movies, which did show interest in this project right from the start. Its CEO, RICKY WONG, knowing the importance of encouraging and nurturing new talent in the movie industry and enthusiastically sharing Guy's vision of what he was trying to achieve through this project, introduced Guy to KANT LEUNG a veteran director of Hong Kong police action films, featuring movie stars such as MICHAEL WONG. After initial, yet understandable, skepticism and a compromise to shoot over nine days beginning Saturday to the following Sunday (effectively shooting almost two weeksӠworth within only one week), Kant and his film crew wholeheartedly came on board, even offering additional story elements to include in this East-meets-West love story.
The Cast - Veterans
SUKIE YIP, one of Kant Leung's crew members, was Chief Wardrobe for this movie. Upon learning that she was the sister to a former band member of BEYOND, one of Asia's most loved rock bands in the late eighties and earlier nineties, and one of the few Cantonese music bands that director Guy Orlebar enjoys listening to, Guy did everything he could to convince her to ask her brother, rock musician YIP SAI WING, to take a cameo role in this film, even re-writing a character's dialogue to make it more poignant and relevant to Beyond's and Sai Wing's own life-tragedies, which would resonate with everyone who knows Beyond's ill-fated history. Not only did Sai Wing generously accept the role, but he went above and beyond the call of duty in offering music from one of the contemporary rock bands he currently manages for use within the film. This manifested itself in the thumping guitar rock track KU WU CHANG from Hong Kong's popular music duo, PURPLE NINE, which is featured during the dialogue-free bar scene in the latter part of the film.
CEO Ricky Wong, of the local Hong Kong production company Guy was working with for this project, is a veteran of the Hong Kong film industry. Ricky mentioned to Guy his connection with kung-fu action star Gordon Liu who, besides starring alongside Uma Thurman in both volumes of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies, has starred, and continues to star, in close to a hundred Hong Kong movies. The role of the BANKER had not yet been cast (at one point Guy was even considering it for himself), and upon hearing that Master Liu would be willing to consider the role, Guy rewrote the character from being a stereotypically arrogant, aggressive investment banker (also based on Guy's own past encounters) to someone more human. Yes, the character is still someone who thinks money is important (because money is important!), but now there is a more natural, and instinctively paternal, reason why the banker lashes out at Paul in the penultimate scene of the movie. The fact that the banker character is now considerably older than the ANGEL character only provides further references within the movie of certain Eastern societies' consideration of normality versus what the West might consider peculiar or even perverse.
The Music
Guy right from the initial conception of the script had certain musicians in mind to approach for the music score. Continuing his desire to use this movie project to showcase rising talent, Guy approached two very distinct groups of musicians.
The first was UK actress/model-turned-musician, and lifetime friend, TUAN MAC. Guy knew Tuan was beginning to write and record a number of tracks for her debut album and offered this movie as a platform for her to showcase her songs, convinced that her unique eclectic musical blend of inspiring and heart-moving compositions would match the sensitivity and intimacy of the movie. Thanks to their long-standing friendship, Tuan was able to generously offer Guy the tracks he needed, including opening and closing credit song tracks and the four compositions we hear being played live in the hostess cabaret club scene, the singer in the scene being played by none other than Tuan herself.
For the movie's penultimate scene set in a discotheque nightclub, Guy wanted something with a bit more of a dance beat. A childhood friend, Guy knew of an individual named BEN GEEVES who excelled in composing electronic dance music. Re-establishing contact with Ben, Guy learned that several years earlier he had teamed up with vocalist KATIE CHAPLIN to form ROLLERMECCA, a group which had already released a number of dance tracks. Upon learning of this movie project, Ben immediately offered Guy full access to the Rollermecca library and, after being inspired by the script, proffered an entire collection of new tracks for use as the film's musical score, which Guy readily accepted, allowing the tone of the movie to be pinned down right from the start.
Thus, unusually for most movies where music is added after editing, for certain scenes of this movie project (namely the dialogue-free bar scene and the emotionally-charged disco scenes), based on the order of events in the script, the exact musical track was chosen first, then the scenes were shot and edited to match precisely the music, resulting in a far stronger and appealing narrative.
The Investors
For financing this project, Guy turned first to the most likely candidates, namely family, friends, doctors, dentists, lawyers, and bankers, and managed to secure sufficient funding before shooting began. With the remainder of his time taken up with preparing for the shoot itself, Guy was unable to secure delivery of payment from the investors until after the shoot finished (thus being required to finance the whole project initially by himself), after which time certain investors were no longer able to deliver the promised investment (the large-scale bush-fires in Athens being cited as only one of the reasons for this). Fortunately Guy was able to find alternative investors relatively quickly; not only that but also the movie itself ended up a full twenty percent below budget, thereby requiring fewer total investors and providing those who had believed in investing in the film with a larger share of all future profits.
Since Hong Kong's 1997 return to China, there is frequent mention and criticism in the local Hong Kong press of self-censorship. This seemed to be something that even this movie could not escape from. The dialogue-free bar scene of the movie where the protagonist PAUL meets a new potential love interest, in the original script has a full dialogue written for it. This dialogue between the two characters touched on sensitive topics including the pollution of Hong Kong and the pace of democracy in Taiwan. One of the stalwart investors requested for this to be removed to allow the movie to be shown in mainland China, the dialogue was hence never recorded, and now in the final version of the film we see the two characters meeting and talking, but we don't hear what they say. Whether this cut was ultimately more a case of artistic decision by the director, or genuinely a form of self-censorship, Guy refuses to be drawn into debate.
The Shoot (Or "Why The English Always Talk About The Weather")
Most low budget movies are shot over two to three weeks. KONG HONG: LOST IN LOVE was shot over almost nine days back-to-back, in other words in just over one week. Although the schedule was grueling, this was far from director Guy Orlebar's primary concern. Along with showcasing upcoming talent, Guy wanted the movie to showcase also the beauty of the city of Hong Kong, its vibrancy, and its picturesque surrounding island countrysides and seascapes, through also several daytime and nighttime aerial shots, for which good weather would be essential. For the three months prior to shooting in Hong Kong, the weather had been glorious, with golden sunshine and vivid blue sky consistently, day in, day out.
Unfortunately on the first day of the week of the shoot, a typhoon, which is always accompanied with strong winds and heavy rain, approached the region, something which in itself is not so uncommon in Hong Kong. What was less common was that the center of the typhoon passed directly over the city of Hong Kong itself, increasing the heaviness of the rain and prolonging the foul weather further. But even this would not last usually more than a few days. Unfortunately and defying almost all the odds, once this typhoon passed directly over Hong Kong, it did a full 180-degree turn, and the center passed right back over Hong Kong again. Thus, throughout almost the entire week of the shoot heavy rain fell, and certain cast and crew commitments elsewhere prevented the shoot being postponed to any other week.
Therefore indoor scenes were shot first to give the typhoon time to pass and the weather time to clear up. Once all indoor shots were done and the rain continued, the tight shooting schedule did not allow the luxury of any further waiting time and the outdoor shots had to be taken come rain or shine. And rain it was, forcing the crew with no choice but to film opportunistically during any lulls of the showers. One scene in particular has the protagonist PAUL meeting the Japanese TOURIST character on the beach. Guy wanted to show the golden sands of Hong Kong, but at the last moment (literally during the lunchtime break before the afternoon shoot) the script was re-written to shift the action to a Chinese-style vantage-point shelter next to the beach (providing dry cover for the camera to avoid any further water-induced malfunctioning as had occurred on the first day of outdoor shooting) and the dialogue modified to emphasize the loneliness of the characters. (The TOURIST character in this scene now even makes the poignant comment that it is normally very beautiful here. But not today.)
Fortunately, in retrospect the bad weather turned out to be a blessing in disguise. For the various outdoor scenes the rain and fog ultimately enhance the overall atmosphere and sullen mood of the movie, making these scenes all the more emotively powerful than the director had originally envisioned. And for those bedazzling, techni-colored night-time cityscape shots we see from the helicopter and the top of Victoria Peak that didn't require any actors present, time was finally on Guy's side, as he waited for several weeks for the first day without typhoons, without clouds and without pollution haze to shoot them.
The Final Role
By the start of the week of the shoot, Gordon Liu had already confirmed his participation in this movie. One of his scenes, which is also one of the pivotal confrontational scenes between the major characters, takes place in a famous Hong Kong discotheque. Attempting to juggle the schedule of the discotheque with Gordon Liu's availability meant that the role of the protagonist's love interest ANGEL could not be cast until literally the day before the last day of shooting, with the role going to either one of two fine and glamorous Hong Kong actresses depending on the final schedule. Both actresses offered unique takes on the ANGEL character, and once Gordon Liu's and the discotheque's schedules were finalized, the ANGEL role went ultimately to SARIKA CHOY, who met Guy for the first time on set when shooting her first scene, and who gave a tremendous performance in bringing her character to life and creating instant sexual chemistry between herself and lead actor Bene't Lynton as required by the role.
Post-Production
In a production such as this, where much of the location decisions were made last-minute and director Guy Orlebar was not able to see the locations until immediately before shooting began, advance story-boarding would have been a futile exercise. Fortunately as also both writer of the script and editor of the whole project, Guy already had a distinct vision of how he wanted this story to play out, and therefore during the shooting itself he was able to immediately deduce which shots he wanted given the ongoing time pressure and how he would weave them all together in post-production.
However, no storyboards meant there was always the possibility that a key shot had been overlooked and hadn't been taken, which wouldn't be known until Guy had all the takes on the cutting room floor. This was Guy's second biggest concern after the weather throughout shooting. Upon finishing the final cut, Guy's concerns proved groundless and the movie he had envisioned eight months earlier had been shot in full and was either as good as, or had far exceed, his initial expectations, something which could not have been possible without the unwavering support of Ricky Wong at Cine-Century Entertainment and the professionalism and experience of Kant Leung and his Hong Kong film crew.
And without a little help from his friends.
And the odd typhoon or two.
