Singapore is a small place for location shooting. Often, we do not have the luxury to block the entire place for ourselves, as many of the locations are live amid the daily hussle and bustle of the community. So inevitably, the location has to be shared with the public.
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Most people are very accepting of the presence of camera crew, equipment, lights and actors occupying their common spaces, however there are always one or two who would be the exception. These rare few would make a big issue of the slightest inconvenience.
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Here are some amusing incidents I encountered during my shoot:
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1. In one of the scenes the camera was doing a close-up of me on the running tracks crouched in excruciating pain of a collapsed knee. As I laid down on the inner side of the tracks, there came a jogger who had 6 other outer lanes to run, but instead chose to run just inches behind me, in front of the camera! "Cut!!!"
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2. In a simulation of an earthquake scene, we blocked off one lane of a minor road. Most of the cars would pass us oblivious of our activities and some would wave and smile, but there was one school bus driver who stopped and complained of the inconvenience and that he had to ferry the school kids in time. I tried to marshal him through the narrow lane, but he chose to stop his bus and continue to scold me, wasting more time than he would have if he had just passed us by. He then called the police. The police came, but they didn't stop us filming!
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3. In a scene at a lively hawker centre, one old 'uncle' came and scolded us for using the place for our location. He insisted to sit at the table where we were shooting.
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4. I was playing the role of the father and was with his little four year old daughter getting out of the car, walking across the car park and towards her kindergarten, when we were visited by three police patrol cars, after the take. The police said that they had received reports from members of the public that there were young men fighting with parangs (machetes) where we were. *LOL*
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5. In one of my taxi driver scene, I had to hurriedly drive out of the covered car park when the town council staff chased us away because we were using their electricity. I had to find alternative routes for the shoot. The camera was still rolling live and I had to pretend to act cool and continue with the dialogue.
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As said earlier, most people are considerate and would share public spaces generously. However, being in a tiny and densely populated city like Singapore, we need all the cooperation we can get, without which, the show cannot go on.
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There are also problems of noise, change of ambient light and the weather, but those issues are enough to warrant another article altogether.
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