voice talent

...Recording..

Thanks to my cousin "Ah Wei" (nickname)...

for the first time I experienced narrating for a corporate video!! (serious business, not just any practical recording)

it all started when Ah Wei asked me if i have any voice talent to recommend for narrating. without hesitation, what i did was... in turn i asked "may i recommend myself instead?" After recorded a short demo, i sent over to him and waited for the news.. on the next day, he told me i got the "green light" to narrate for this corporate video. i was thrilled! i was told to wait for the script before proceed to recording. approximately a week later, the script was received and it was fully 4 pages! i practiced along the way and was excited and nervous for the recording. on the day before the recording, i was told that the script was cut short because it was way too long for the video. it was great because 4 pages needs more than 8 hours to record! (in the end we used about 4 hours to record the 1 and a half page script)

it was not my first time entering a studio but this studio has one control room and one recording room, so it's more clearly divided than the familiar studio in New Era College (NEC). but i am not complaining, City on Air in NEC is good enough. trust me, you will love it as we all did. xD (we, as in the whole class of broadcasting major)

recording room= the next room, can see the recording process through the glass, on the table is a 32 track mixer, and with two speakers. my cousin did not use the mixer that day because it's all easier with digital mixer that comes along with Pro Tools software. those walls are no decorations, the patterns in the background on the wall are actually some sort of material which absorbs sound. (i forgot the exact term for it though)

complicated hardwares.. Oh, that's my feet. HAHA

the microphone that i used.. cost more than RM35 K! (it's a condenser mic, one of the best i guess)

it's not that I never feel this, but after the recording, it again reinforce the idea that I have so much more to learn! The variations in my tone is yet to be improved!! my confidence even faltered a bit after the recording.. however, i still like my voice. hehe

when i was in New Era College, i learned all the basic skills on radio broadcasting, planning and recording commercials, hosting, planning programmes, editing tracks and all, and i truly very treasure those moments. We did not have someone to guide us on the variations of tone though... however we were required to sound as natural and lively as possible.. and we did some improvement as we host various shows. but those are not enough..

So...

i decided...

I am going to work on my tone variations in these two months of holiday. This is my aim. More voice talent job to come please. HEHE

Chosen Quotes to Share with (FIFTEEN)

When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.

- Audre Lorde

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which type are you? which do you prefer?

i am an observer, most of the times i prefer to just sit around watching...

with my ideas merely forming within my mind, without uttering them.

but nowadays i found that voicing it out feels much, much better.

letting others know what you think is an important thing, don't underestimate your opinion, what you have to contribute might just trigger more interesting ideas.

and what is more, you can compare ideas too!

and so you'll learn more.. ^^

Chosen Quotes to Share with (FOURTEEN)

Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.

-Josh Billings

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people sometimes lose sight of why they are doing something. Ask yourself, is this important to me? Does it makes me happy? is this what i am looking for? is this taking me a step closer to my bigger goal/ ultimate goal?

sometimes we are too immersed in the struggle to get the good cards, or taking all too seriously about whether the good cards are in hand, that we overlook the more important part of getting to know yourself well enough to play your role well. the good cards here, meaning having everything blissfully good on your side, which helps you reach your goal taking the easier path.

having good cards in hand is a plus, but do you use them well? some people comes from rich and strong background, but how did they turn out to be? they did not play their cards well. On the other hand, some people from a background not as strong who develop his/her interests/talents well, is on their way to a successful/ meaningful life.

i see you in my dreams again...

for two nights i see you in my dreams.

we interacted in the first but not the last.

there seem to be things to be told in the first dream when i encountered you.

things that are untold because you held it back and instead you said something that did not make any sense to me.

it is all so clear even after i have awaken from my dream.

you held something back...your eyes showed and told me that.

it is as if i knew... when i waved goodbye at you from afar, that as you see me you will come.

and in my dream, you did.

you came back to talk to me.

but what were you trying to say? why can't you just come clean on me?

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in my second dream, i saw you this time.. from a distance away. you were in your high school outfit (how weird is that? i never see you in your high school uniform before).. i smiled and waved at you as i ran past ( i was rushing, for some strange reason)..

but this time, we did not talk. you were a distant from me and that was not what i had hoped for. not even in my dreams. i thought dreams ought to be perfect? but why can't i get closer to you even in my dreams? .....................................

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Mamma Mia movie outing

i have heard about Mamma Mia for a while now.. but i was too busy to catch it in cinema when it first came up. However, i did manage to catch it before this movie goes off the screen while letting others make their way on screen. And as always, i watched it with my clique~.. uhm.. a few members of the clique. it was a mini outing therefore just five of us went for movie today. xD

okay, GROUP photo..

there were five of us.. so we took turns to take the pics.

Okay, let's take a look into this movie..

i can't help to put this as the first few pics.. they are superb!! ^^ lively characters! even at their age! =D i LOVE them!!

and the beautiful "Sophie"

who is on her quest...

the "quest" to finally gets to know who her father is/ are..??

by focusing on the interactions (through singing) between these two elder lovebirds, it shows that "SAM" (Pierre Brosnan) is the one who hurt Donna the most.. and is also the one who Donna loved the most.

Donna wants the best for Sophie. Sophie meant the world for her.



all thanks to the three "middle-aged" women's groovy dance moves and all so hilarious acting did tickled our senses. i love them!

and not forget to mention this cutie.. haha

all in all, i love the story, and the characters! and above all, the SONGS! =) i can't help but moved to the tempo as i watched!! haha

GREAT movie. ^^

Chosen Quotes to Share with (THIRTEEN)

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.

-John Burroughs

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seriously, when i really take time to sit down and think about my life... god knows where all the time had gone to... time just whoops away, just like that!

it's a cliche, but still it's true, time is never enough.

introducing... WAWA! ^^

introducing... WAWA!
he's my one of best mate's lovely pet dog..

what is the best thing in the world?? unstopping love and care from everyone! ^^

yay! i enjoy tickle tickle moments~

Eh? why? no... not the cage... *sigh*

finally.. the cage is open~

Hmm.. what's that? someone is paying extra attention on me. I better becareful before i step out of this cage.

Grr... let you see me GRIND my teeth~

in the end...

Oh no.. not again. Let me out.. Duh...

(p/s: the sequence of these pictures is arranged based on fictional plot...)

Chosen Quotes to Share with (TWELVE)

It is not length of life, but depth of life.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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short and simple but the meaning is deeper than ever. the length of the linguistic size never determines and affects its meaning. how well do you live your live?

Gender Differences

Received this in forwarded email.. which totally reflects women's role in patriarchy society.. read on ^^

男女有別！--(辦公室)


看到男下屬的桌上擺放著全家福的照片,
老板心想:「嗯！他一定是個顧家，負責的好男人。」
看到女下屬的桌上擺放著全家福的照片,
老板心想:「事業對她來說不會是最重要的，看來不用寄望她會全心全意為公司打拼
了！」

看到男下屬雜亂的桌面,
老板心想:「他真的是很努力，很用功看，連收拾桌面的時間都沒有。」
看到女下屬雜亂的桌面,
老板心想:「原來她這麼亂,組織能力一定不行！」

看到男下屬在跟同事說話,
老板心想:「他一定是在討論最近的project，真是積極。」
看到女下屬在跟同事說話,
老板心想:「哼!又在說人是非道長短，女人就是長舌，唉！天性、天性！」

　看到男下屬加班,
老板心想:「現在已經很難請到這麼勤勞的員工了。」
看到女下屬加班,
老板心想:「女人就是能力有限，一點小事也要花這麼長的時間來做！」

看到男下屬很快地受到經理的賞識而升職,
老板心想:「這個人一定潛力十足。」
看到女下屬很快地受到經理的賞識而升職,
老板心想:「這個人一定是跟經理有一腿！」

看到男下屬請假,
老板心想:「好像很久沒看他請假，也應該去輕鬆一下了。
看到女下屬請假,
老板心想:「好像整天看她請假，是不是去應徵別的工作？」

看到男下屬發喜帖,
老板心想:「他從此就會更有責任感，給他個大紅包鼓勵一下吧！」
看到女下屬發喜帖,
老板心想:「她不久就會懷孕，就會經常去檢查身體，很快就要請產假 ,然後就會辭
職在家帶孩子。嘩！損失慘重，那紅包就不用包太大包了！」

indivisible

we are desire to be different. the desire to be an individual, to be distinct from others, though at the same time realising we are indivisible members of our society. we are interlinked, our relationship interchangeably affecting one another, however unnoticeable it is.

everything we do, no matter how big or small it seems.. a favour, a involuntarily action, or something well planned, it affects not only our own lives but also others. Have you watched the movie "Babel"?

well it is an example of how events unravels and goes on influencing one event to another. it may seem like an independent event, but there is actually invisible bond linking these events. the same happens in our lives. from the simplest example, you borrowed a library book, which, is the only resource book for a final project. other students who needed this book as well, will have a hard time getting this book in their hand, they might have to go all over to ask from the lecturer for any other reference books that can help with their final project. (just an example) and an even simpler example, how your upbringing (parents nurturing, relatives attitudes, etc) influence your attitude towards life. a more deadlier example.. you still insist on driving even you are drunk, and before you realised it, BAM... lady luck was on your side and you survived the car crash.. a pedestrian was not that lucky though, he lost a leg. and see? the rest of his life has changed, and so do the life of his family.

the examples i have given are typical.. there are many many many more major and minor incidents surrounding us everyday. sometimes we just never look at it as something that may influence the life of one another, because sometimes it seems unimportant to notice.

a short note on first love

it is difficult because every first love is the first touch of love.. something fresh and exciting that a couple may explore together. it is through first love that enables us to enter and introduced into the world of "love" between partners, and hence we will grow along with it as time goes on. with more experiences gained (after first love) we will know what kind of personality is compatible for us. good luck everyone in seeking the best one for you! ^^

analysing Ads.. (THREE) sexual fantasy

Ahem.. today we are going to look at this perfume for men. Tom Ford is famous for his bold moves in using sexually explicit images in his advertisements.

let’s take a look at this men’ fragrance Ad from Tom Ford for Men. (there is actually another Ad from this campaign.. however, that Ad is too explicit.. way over the limitations i set for my blog, therefore i decided not to post it here.. if you wanna see that other Ad, you may Google the images for "Tom Ford For Men perfume")

Clearly, female image is used and exploited to promote this product. The woman in this Ad is objectified and be gazed at, as a sexual toy, which pleases men for sexual pleasure.

This female model is portrayed as in an excited state, with the bottle of perfume placed “strategically” between her breasts. (remind you all of something?)

This Ad is suggesting sexual imagination- sexual fantasy. Moreover, if the bottle is signifying male’s sexual organ, this Ad is conveying a clear sexual message “use this brand and you will get an experience as this one- conquering women beneath you.” This woman in the Ad is not taken as a respected individual, but as a “sexual object”. So what are women to men?

Take a look at alcohol printed Ads; again, women are constantly seen as objects in fulfilling men’s sexual desires and fall victim to conquests that any man can have if he just consumes a certain drink.

Advertisers are trying to make media audiences believing that they are going to experience the fantasy as portrayed. From analyzing semiotics in alcoholic Ads, we can see that advertisers often use sexual symbol implicitly to convey sexual messages. capturing female model using sexually suggestive facial expressions and their body to advertise, leading false impressions of getting drunk equals to conquering women.

but then... media audiences don't really care about all that right.. haha coz people gets excited when we see sexually explicit images. haha

Problems

when we talk about problems, we always say "oh my god... i am facing so many troubles lately".. "i hate it when problems finds me".. "why problems always tend to land i front of me.".. well, the thing is, when we thought we are the only person facing problems, and mind you, we do think this way whenever trouble comes.. "why does it have to be me?".. in reality, we are not alone.

everyday of our lives, "problems" or "issues" or "situations" confronts us.. it is something we all have to go through and therefore we should not feel discouraged easily. Do not let your mind set up a barrier before you try to tackle the problem. whatever problem there is, there is always solutions. do not neglect your own feelings and not to try to run away from problems. running away is the lamiest option one can ever decided on. Only the deads (lying in cemetry) and the soul-less people do not need to face problems. problems and issues, remind us we are alive. when you are soul-less, that will be a bigger problem isn't it? xD

so.. relax.. when problem comes, let them. because you know you are going to look at it with a smiley face and say "hey, i am not afraid of problems! they make me grow stronger"

analysing Ads.. (TWO)

capturing look... inviting gaze.

Advertising involves complicated visual culture in viewing female image. From the viewing behaviour, male is the dominant viewer (subject) and female is the object being viewed. It has become a trend in advertising to exploit female sexual appearance.

One will never fail to realise that female models in printed advertisements are usually related to suggesting notions of “wild”, “sexy”, “mysterious”, “elegant”, or else “pure” or “innocent”. When they are portrayed as “innocent and pure”, they emit a feeling of gentle femininity, which fulfils the stereotyping idea of women. They hold the looks that invite gazing from both female and male audiences. To the media audiences, the female models are reinforcing the patriarchal idea of femininity, sexuality and sensuality. In other words, female audience are also looking at women depicted in media through the lens of patriarchy social culture.

As the examples shown above, most of the time, female in advertisements has this same look of sexual ecstasy. This is because sexual desire has been commodified in printed advertisements. They are sending the message that by using the product, female beauty will be enhanced, with added elements of “wild”, “sexy”, “mysterious”, and so on.

Therefore, an object of desire is born, along with the consumption on the advertised product. The female models in the Ads are all wearing costly glamourous clothes and posing in front of the camera with the look that scream “Look at me, I feel fabulous, I am fabulous”. which, reinforces partriachal views of femininity.

there will be more of this type of posts to come ^^

Quest

today supposed to have a so called "fellowship" hang out time with Just Joe. he named it "fellowship", and the quest for our fellowship is "storm". how lame was that? =P we did nothing that sort this morning, no storm, nothing. needless to say there was hardly any quest. and we hardly got any style of the "fellowship" haha.. but we had a good time "bonding" and "talking".

that's just a side story.

the main topic is "QUEST". so what am i going to write about this?

talking about quest, the thing that pop right into my mind is the kind of quest just like in the movies. with lots of blood pumping moments. who does not like to feel like a hero? haha..

i used to have lots of day dreaming about quests and spies and missions. i day dreamed about space conquests, spy missions, and sword clashing warrior quests.. ^^ (one of my warrior day dreaming quests, is based on Xena's adventurous quests. i was in primary or secondary school i think)

as i have heard not many girls have this kinda day dreaming? oh well.. never mind that.

movies aside, we all have lots of quests in life and they appear in either big or small packages. some are well planned quests, some are sudden quests, whatever it is, we need to tackle them none the less.

whenever i take a task as if it is a quest, instead of dreadful task or boring routine task, i feel more motivated. i feel challenged. race against myself, my abilities, persistence, will, and time and of course, potential competitors, to accomplish the objectives of the tasks. there are always competitors, we cannot be too naive believing that everyone is happy with whatever they have and no one will get envy or green eyed over other's accomplishment. reality shown otherwise, it is human nature.

to name our daily tasks as quest makes it sound more adventurous isn't it? haha... it's like giving it more meaning and giving ourselves more sense of purpose. therefore, at the end of this post, i would love to reemphasize this "your state of mind determines your thoughts and emotions." never let yourself set a mind barrier before starting on anything. ^^ Oh.. I really LOVE this quote. ^^

一个人的故事 （小品）

在雨中漫步，不可自拔。。

打从心底发疯似的呐喊.

风纳闷。。你为了什么而抓狂？

雨心疼。。振作啊！

逆风而行。。寒风轻触表肌渗入心肺。

坚韧的防线慢慢的出现裂痕。

感觉上稍微的碰触就会将他的防线全面瓦解。

他的坚持到了哪里去？他到底在坚持什么？他要证明什么？还可以证明什么？

不安腐蚀了他的思绪。。也逐渐夺走了他的自信。

但他还没崩溃。。还没。。。

继续在雨中蹒跚不去。。

他知道，接受雨的洗礼，可以让他看得更清楚。他坚信。

他知道，他必须离开了。

勇于面对失败。

没有后退，没有退缩的余地.

他必须扛起失败的责任。

她的背叛让他失去了好多。

松懈。。放下。决定重新开始。

这场雨见证了他的决心。

他迎风而去，脸上慢慢绽放出笑容。

他知道，明天的他，将会与众不同。

Chosen Quotes to Share with (ELEVEN)

"Illusion is the first of all pleasures. "

-Oscar Wilde

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you know why? coz illusion is something we can't stand right there and just say "hey, this is an illusion, it is not REAL". it distorts reality.

Illusion can makes us see things we would LOVE to see, feel things the way we HOPE for.

but of coz, it can also makes us see BAD things as well.

but here we talk about "feel good" illusion.

Illusion works, for those believing in it.

It will never work, however, to those who do not prefer to savour even one moment in illusion.

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END

::...:: ButterFly aWarD ::..::

This is my SECOND award after the Kretiv Blogger Award.

First I would like to say Thanks to the supportive and kind-hearted (yes you are, don't deny that you are soft at heart)

Nath for choosing my personal blog as one of your Top 10 Coolest BLogs... ^^

and secondly, also thanks to the ever so supportive and sweet Ting-tinkerbell for nominating me as well!! ^^

Wheeee... =P

Okay, so here is what you need to do when you got this from me:-


1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate 10 other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.


And the nominees goes to...

1. Cyren (he has the coolest thing to share) ^^

2. Betsy- Taiwan (she is a girl with an attitude!)

3. Andrew- a cool blogger ^^

4. Wick Peng- one of my blogger buddy ^^

5. Mei Wah- one of my blogger buddy ^^

6. Kendrick (he's talented ^^ in graphic ^^)

7. Crazywrazy (get a lil bit of his craziness! lol nah.. he has some cool prespectives on what he sees and he captured them through lens ^^)

8. Lisa- a cool blogger buddy ^^

9. Coollounge- i like the handdrawing comic strips.. ^^ interesting and cool ^^

10. no.10 is quite interesting because i would love to nominate Ms. Nath and Ting again! ^^ can't help it. ^^

yay! so there you go, my TEN nominees ^^

analysing Ads.. (ONE)

analysing Ads is always fun. i like to analyse Ads whenever i set eyes on Ads.

this is just a normal alcohol Ad.. (normal in the sense that there are no sexually explicit images) and well, i guess it dated a while back..

let's look at this text and see what is in the discourse.

main participants of this text: Man, Skyy Vodka, glasses.

invisible participants: women. (do u see any women in this Ad?)

Some Ads used signifier and signified to represent male and female sex symbol.

This is a good example which used the signifier (alcohol bottle and glass) to represent the signified (male/male sexual organ and female/female sexual organ respectively). don't understand? well, think about the physical characteristics of general alcohol bottle and the glasses. this is the common characteristics in alcohol Ads to represent male and female.

This Ad connotes: with Skyy Vodka in hand, this man conquers all women (represented by glasses).

or you can also say, this man can buy drinks for all women in the club.

Consume Skyy Vodka then there will be women waiting in line for him.

So what idea is this Ad suggesting?

Even though women are absent from this Ad, they are part of the discourse, backgrounded as “victims” for men to conquer.

consume Skyy Vodka, you can have sexual experience the way you fantasize it- conquer women's body.

no sexually explicit images, but the meaning is present.

so wow, look at that. the power of alcohol, as advertised. No? you think about this.

(p/s: this Ad is analysed based on its semiotic symbols used, and yeah, this Ad is analysed by me ^^)

World Without Strangers..

i remember in 2006, there was an event by I-Do Music in New Era College, and i helped out as one of the committees.. we all bought a shirt from Giordano which has "World Without Strangers" embleded on it. it is a cool shirt, and it showed the determination of I-Do Music to reach out to all audiences, because "there is no boundaries" in music. the shirt was a "white" one, and here is an example of the shirt.. which is modeled by a few reknown Korean artists. ^^

it is true eh? there's no boundaries in music. everywhere we go, everyone understands music. i believe every living thing knows music as well. it is just how you enjoy the music that is different. when we talk abt music, there comes rhythm.. how can one imagine a world without rhythm? whenever it's raining, there are rhythm everywhere the rain falls on. whenever you get near a construction site, there are rhythm too.. the rhythm of the workers doing their job. it's an internal rhythm, but it exist. everyone has their own internal rhythm. fast or slow.. there is rhythm when we talk.. okay, back to talking about music. i am not someone who can tell you about music history, theory or whatever, but i know one simple theory- music bring us all together.

walking in shopping malls, with the background track playing, people starts to walk in rhythm, some even start dancing a little (i do that all the time).. music moves us. whereever we go. it is so magical isn't it? we all share the same "instinct", sensitive to rhythm and sound. the moment where music ties all crowd together is the most amazing thing. sharing that one moment, and when the music stops, the crowd dispersed back to their own lives. that's why sometimes we call it "the magical moment", when a couple met under the circumstances of enjoying the same song and tapping to the same rhythm, and at that moment they "clicked". such magical moment music can bring. ^^ *lost in thought*

建立人脉 social networking (FIRST)

赢得朋友，建立好生活中的人脉。。

no, we are not just talking about your BEST buddies. now we are also talking about social networking.

若你的电话老是不响，是时候该打出去。 很多时候，打个电话会给你意想不到的收获。交了新朋友，别忘了联络老朋友。（很多时候我们没办法兼顾）可是那只是借口。每隔几周挪出几分钟时间甚至是上个小时来联络老朋友也是值得的。朋友越多越好，不是吗？交际的一大诀窍？ 主动。initiative. 老是等待怎么可能带来想要的结果？老是被动怎么会吸引想要的人际关系？

别坐在那儿愣住了。察觉想要认识的朋友了吗？那就主动跟他/她微笑吧！是个很好的开始。真的。本人尝试很多次了。^^

More Creative Ads

after hours and hours of brainstorming, to make a statement and stand out among the other common Ads, here are some other Ads which really captured our attention.

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first up, "impossibe is nothing" Nike Ad..

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this is pretty smart... "use only what you need", A Denver Water Ad.

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This is creative but ain't funny.. "come a little closer" Funeral Services Ad in a railway station.

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3M security glass Ad.. they want to convince you that their glass is unbreakable. ^^

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okay, this ain't funny but it does make a statement. "Reserved for drunk drivers Ad"

hello drinkers.. don't drive after consuming alcohol..

or else...

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Dettol Instant Hand Sanitizer Ad

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Sharpie Permanent Markers Ad- using marker to sketch fingerprint? that's... so high tech. haha

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Radient Gym Running Ad.. "Obesity finds it hardest to catch up with those who are running"

hey, this is so true... wanna lose that extra kilos? get that butt off that couch right now! and start work it! =P

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-ENd-