After my hard drive crashed and the quotation from Greenenergy totaling up to SGD1,350, I was stumped. I needed money and this came at a time when I was already saving up for a Samsung T240 as a Christmas/New Year present for myself. Yeah, I'm THAT much of a loser... I have to buy presents for myself.
Uncle Jimmy, my boss/shifu/mentor from The Stunt Production called me while I was doing duty and gave me heads up that he needed a stuntman around to teach "some actors" on stunt fighting and safety. He never really was good at giving me details of a job but I always drop by anyways because I love this profession. I agreed and he sent my name in to Mediacorp for registration. I came by right after camp.
I used to work in Mediacorp for a while and got around quite easily but that's the thing... I WAS working here. Now I'm just a visitor and I did get a few stares and a lady questioned me on my intentions when they noticed I couldn't get a fucking door open. I didn't have the proper security clearance. Long story short, I got through after straightening some things out.
It's been a long time since I met Uncle Jimmy. This was the guy who brought me into this line, professionally, and we've built quite a trust over the coming couple years, scouring the region, for me to allow him to set me on fire.
The first thing I had to do after meeting him was... set up his laptop.
There was a cameraman around trailed by a very serious-looking producer that directed him on the shots. It felt like serious business and I had to piece together the evidence to get a feel on what's happening. I found out that Singapore Media Academy was running a class on Stunts and Safety in lieu with their acting classes. Cool.
Uncle Jimmy went about to teach and showed them his library of videos and photos that we created and spoke of his experience over the years. You could always trust him to be a good speaker, I can tell you that. When asked by the student actors if anything happened after my fire torch stunt, Uncle Jimmy said in Chinese,"Nope, nothing. Only he's much darker now."
Oh, haha, make fun of my 'tan', will you?
Another of his assistant was with him, and we knew each other. He brought in paddings and small pyrotechnics to the class. Included was a dummy rifle that Uncle Jimmy built himself by hand. I was asked to fix it up with the explosives to simulate a gunfire effect. We couldn't bring in the real guns since the cost of just taking it out of the armory doesn't justify it.
Soon enough, my real job started and I was a demonstrator for the class as he set me up in padding and pummeled me with styrofoam sticks. We played out a fight sequence that included blocking and double-action which ended with me flipping over onto the mattress. But things changed soon enough and we got the girls to do the sequence. The room was then hyped with activity as bodies went spinning and tumbling on the mattress.
Uncle Jimmy then got around to teaching them how to throw a punch and how to react. I went around and gave directions and spoke to them on my whatever minute number of experiences I had doing stunts. I realized I was back to 'Student Director Mode' which I hated unlike the new personality I had in Stagmont. I have to work on that.
More pushing, more tumbling, Uncle Jimmy then showed how much he still had left in him at the age of 54 by demonstrating a front flip and landing flat on his back on the hard floor below. Right, no mattresses. After that, he had the guys and the girls do a forceful clothesline on his back... a few times. If you had ever had your balls rip apart with raw testosterone...
The class came to an end when they learned how to hold a revolver and I went around taking pictures. The final firearm demonstration was Uncle Jimmy detonating the pyro planted in the rifle barrel. That one always draws the most Oohs and Aahs from the crowd.
The producer came up to me and asked me to sign some papers and that was usual paperwork. I almost forgot. In the Army every paper that required you to sign never really meant anything but surveys and questionnaires.
I got back home and was up the next morning for work. A few days later, my father came running into my room saying,"It's you! You're on TV!"
Apparently they showed a few clips of the class on Channel News Asia that weekend. Great, I thought, I'm on TV wearing vest and slacks with a funky US Marine haircut. I didn't catch the segment but received a couple of calls and one from Uncle Jimmy that also had another task for me. It's fun, really. I love this job.
Singapore Media Academy has been getting some airplay on the radio for some courses. During the class break I got to peek into a class that was teaching Mandarin. Thing is, they were full of Chinese people! A quick hop to their site and I was intrigued on their vocal classes. I've been singing a lot lately while on duty and I've been meaning to improve on this skill for years. Acting is another trait I would like to improve and I think taking up one of this courses would be a good starting point. The very least, you would have a rough gauge on where you are on the talent leaderboards.
Uncle Jimmy, my boss/shifu/mentor from The Stunt Production called me while I was doing duty and gave me heads up that he needed a stuntman around to teach "some actors" on stunt fighting and safety. He never really was good at giving me details of a job but I always drop by anyways because I love this profession. I agreed and he sent my name in to Mediacorp for registration. I came by right after camp.
I used to work in Mediacorp for a while and got around quite easily but that's the thing... I WAS working here. Now I'm just a visitor and I did get a few stares and a lady questioned me on my intentions when they noticed I couldn't get a fucking door open. I didn't have the proper security clearance. Long story short, I got through after straightening some things out.
It's been a long time since I met Uncle Jimmy. This was the guy who brought me into this line, professionally, and we've built quite a trust over the coming couple years, scouring the region, for me to allow him to set me on fire.
The first thing I had to do after meeting him was... set up his laptop.
There was a cameraman around trailed by a very serious-looking producer that directed him on the shots. It felt like serious business and I had to piece together the evidence to get a feel on what's happening. I found out that Singapore Media Academy was running a class on Stunts and Safety in lieu with their acting classes. Cool.
Uncle Jimmy went about to teach and showed them his library of videos and photos that we created and spoke of his experience over the years. You could always trust him to be a good speaker, I can tell you that. When asked by the student actors if anything happened after my fire torch stunt, Uncle Jimmy said in Chinese,"Nope, nothing. Only he's much darker now."
Oh, haha, make fun of my 'tan', will you?
Another of his assistant was with him, and we knew each other. He brought in paddings and small pyrotechnics to the class. Included was a dummy rifle that Uncle Jimmy built himself by hand. I was asked to fix it up with the explosives to simulate a gunfire effect. We couldn't bring in the real guns since the cost of just taking it out of the armory doesn't justify it.
Soon enough, my real job started and I was a demonstrator for the class as he set me up in padding and pummeled me with styrofoam sticks. We played out a fight sequence that included blocking and double-action which ended with me flipping over onto the mattress. But things changed soon enough and we got the girls to do the sequence. The room was then hyped with activity as bodies went spinning and tumbling on the mattress.
Uncle Jimmy then got around to teaching them how to throw a punch and how to react. I went around and gave directions and spoke to them on my whatever minute number of experiences I had doing stunts. I realized I was back to 'Student Director Mode' which I hated unlike the new personality I had in Stagmont. I have to work on that.
More pushing, more tumbling, Uncle Jimmy then showed how much he still had left in him at the age of 54 by demonstrating a front flip and landing flat on his back on the hard floor below. Right, no mattresses. After that, he had the guys and the girls do a forceful clothesline on his back... a few times. If you had ever had your balls rip apart with raw testosterone...The class came to an end when they learned how to hold a revolver and I went around taking pictures. The final firearm demonstration was Uncle Jimmy detonating the pyro planted in the rifle barrel. That one always draws the most Oohs and Aahs from the crowd.
The producer came up to me and asked me to sign some papers and that was usual paperwork. I almost forgot. In the Army every paper that required you to sign never really meant anything but surveys and questionnaires.
I got back home and was up the next morning for work. A few days later, my father came running into my room saying,"It's you! You're on TV!"
Apparently they showed a few clips of the class on Channel News Asia that weekend. Great, I thought, I'm on TV wearing vest and slacks with a funky US Marine haircut. I didn't catch the segment but received a couple of calls and one from Uncle Jimmy that also had another task for me. It's fun, really. I love this job.
Singapore Media Academy has been getting some airplay on the radio for some courses. During the class break I got to peek into a class that was teaching Mandarin. Thing is, they were full of Chinese people! A quick hop to their site and I was intrigued on their vocal classes. I've been singing a lot lately while on duty and I've been meaning to improve on this skill for years. Acting is another trait I would like to improve and I think taking up one of this courses would be a good starting point. The very least, you would have a rough gauge on where you are on the talent leaderboards.
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Audi
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My Life
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