先來個慣例的開場白:對不起,太久沒更新了!!! >.< 本人過去一個月處於“得閒死,唔得閒病”的狀態,也只是這幾天才嚐了睡到自然醒的美妙感覺。

到現在為止,已經完成了《富豪雪糕 · 啖啖回憶》以及《香港虎媽》兩個故事。有到過香港的朋友或許會記得在停泊在大街小巷的雪糕車。這篇報導我當編輯,等出版了才詳細分享。至於《香港虎媽》,由於我們的故事將放到美中今日網頁要把一堆東西發到美國給技術人員處理和編輯才行,所以同樣的,待文章上載了再聊聊其中的一些經驗。

《虎媽》是我上一科由美國客席教授(前CNN駐亞洲記者)監督的專題報導。上了那麼多新聞系的課,我終於讀到心儀的內容了。這科專教學生如何以全世界為讀者來做報導,從選題材、採訪、寫作都要做到黑人、白人、黃種人、印度人都看得懂也有興趣看。就好比為什麼大家都愛看《時代雜誌》,講的故事離自己很遠,但內容還是能讓你想跟著記者的文字追踪下去。這種程度的文采不知要經過多少磨練才能達到。小女無才(非德也!),自問文筆爛,會多加練習,希望出來工作時會有所進步,委屈讀者們了~ orz

說到工作,我這個暑假(5月-8月)將留在香港實習。猜哪家公司那麼慈悲請了我?

04032011311 TVB明珠台新聞部!~
(英語台)

我還是傾向有畫面或視覺元素吃重的行業,最初想:要嘛做電視新聞,不然就做雜誌社。我遞表格時就填了(一)TVB明珠台 (二)《亞洲周刊》。周刊那裡《亞》是唯一我能接受正規的時事雜誌,其餘的都是八卦雜誌=.=,即使這裡的老師再怎麼說壹周刊、東周刊有多厲害,不好意思,八卦就是八卦。我小時候對香港狗仔隊的認知,就是來自這些譁眾取寵、揭人私隱、道德底線很高的……消遣讀物。

選擇應徵英語台是策略之一,選擇中文台的同學超多的,競爭很大,連本地人的廣東話都被嫌棄,更何況是我,所以不用選也知道是敗仗。果然,我們大學就只有我一個應徵英文台。

星期三傍晚收到通知說星期五早上應徵,我連正裝都沒有,隔天趕快讓本地朋友帶我到相熟的店鋪去買一套。鞋子就和學姐借來應急。

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不知道為什麼,這裡大家都穿白色襯衫,害我還以為是有什麼規則,後來發現只是羊群效應。所以呢,我特地挑了件桃紅色,看起來比較精神。我個子已經很小了,再和大家一樣穿白色我會變透明的。應徵前一晚和媽媽聊天,她只說“自信就好,沒什麼好擔心的。”當時就因為這句話淡定了許多。那天應徵我的是個新聞主播,聲音果然洪亮而不刺耳,她的英式英語蠻好聽的。

Interview的形式完全在我意料之外,只聊了5分鐘,接下來要念一短新聞給她聽,再來將中文新聞稿譯成英文,還要將厚厚一疊的外電濃縮成300字,全要在一小時內完成。

讀稿和翻譯倒還好,要濃縮30頁的紐西蘭地震新聞成300字,我急死了。唯有速讀了,應該寫得很爛 >.< 但不管怎樣,在沒有競爭的情況下還是險險過關 *耶*,要好好學習咯!~

04032011312 電視城離大學一個半小時
(60分鐘火車+30分鐘公司巴士)
我接下來三個月要每天來回了
T________________T

新聞部應該離節目部很遠
我只在遠處看了一下“古裝街”,有保安盯著拍不了照
況且用手機也拍不出什麼


DSC_0417 剛好去應徵那天是新亞書院的畢業生photoday
宿舍就弄了個facebook photo booth給大家玩

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這位準會計師是我同房
逃稅有著落了
XD

27.11.10

回顧中國線

上一期《大學線》專題,題材大圍繞著大陸、澳門或台灣的故事,當時因為廣州亞運會是最矚目的。說真的,要不是我身在香港,我根本不會鳥這件事。馬來西亞也有想過舉辦,後來發現不划算就退出了。 *鼓掌!* 雖然九月尾已經截了稿,但由於印刷程序出問題,搞到上兩個星期才出版。我必須等到出版了才能把採訪資料作私人用途,免得惹上什麼亂七八糟的知識產權問題。以下是剪報,想閱讀的可以到這個網址,點擊37頁。網頁比較大,TM Net閃電般的網速可能會考驗大家的耐心,本人在此表深表遺憾: http://www.com.cuhk.edu.hk/ubeat/

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這次北上主要是為了了解廣州亞運會對歷史建築的破壞,看看在這盛事前夕,人們的生活起居如何被興建、復修、美化等等的工程所影響。這次的跨境採訪經驗讓我有所體驗,也從中認清了一些事實。這次沒能拍很多,一手錄音筆,一手筆錄快忙死了,這些多數是相機掛在胸前時或單手隨便按快門的。邊看邊說吧!

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我們四個女生(兩名記者,編輯和總編)一大早就在羅湖地鐵站回合。當天我凌晨四點半就起床,背著相機抹黑從山頂的宿舍滾到山腳的火車站,過關後再搭“和諧號”到廣州去,大概一個半小時的車程,單程57塊港幣。我沒去過廣州,興奮得像個遊客,雖然精神恍惚,但還是 一直盯著在窗外迅速閃過的景色,有點忘了我是出差的 XD。出發前還緊張兮兮的,檢查電話、相機、錄音筆的電池,準備名片和護照,兌換人民幣,把所有受訪者的電話地址搞清楚後,還打印了一份廣州地鐵地鐵,迷路了至少有個概念自己在哪。不在自己的base做採訪麻煩死了,N多種瑣碎事要處理。

DSC_0042.JPG_effected 這是杏怡
我們是中國線記者

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第一站:沙面
我們約了受訪者邊走邊聊,聽他說說這個地方的歷史

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DSC_0083 沙面曾經是英法租界地,現在還保留著歐式建築
早上這裡很恬靜,一路上還看到有時尚雜誌在這裡取景

DSC_0056DSC_0047我們到了一間年久失修的老房子
這裡的一磚一木承載了多少人的記憶。
可惜礙於政府保育政策,不准業主改變房子的面貌或改建,業主只好讓房子自己坍塌後再重建
這...…還能叫保育哦?
=.="

DSC_0048DSC_0055這地磚好像上次在港大看到的復古風
好後悔穿了長的牛仔褲去,夏天啊,焗死了!~DSC_0085

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為了將迎亞運,一堆“面子工程”正如火如荼地進行
搞到整個廣州烏煙瘴氣,沙層滾滾
那麼危險還讓小朋友在附近玩耍DSC_0093 沙面教堂穿了一層綠沙龍
裝修裝修裝修DSC_0129 恩寧路
沿著這條街是延綿的騎樓,充滿老廣州的韻味
騎樓後面的住宅因為亞運會而遭清拆,後來文化人和政府吵了幾個月
計劃被擱置,騎樓保留下來,但已經造成破壞
挖得坑坑巴巴的,本來很旺的地段都變那麼冷清了

DSC_0156 我本來以為“騎樓”是什麼稀奇東西,原來和吉隆坡那種舊建築是一樣的。我不知道大馬在歷史保育工作上處理得如何,但我從來沒有聽過有人敢碰那些老建築;去吉隆坡、檳城、馬六甲轉一圈到處都有。最令我感到不解的是,當和內地及香港人談關於保育這個議題,開口閉口又是政治,又是利益的。我心想:有必要鬧得那麼複雜咩?這裡的新聞風氣就是什麼鬼東西都吵一番,吵到天翻地覆,每天示威遊行,隔空喊話,到最後大家沒有從事件中了解了什麼,然後就不了了之。

我們還去了一趟廣州的中山大學,和一位地理科學與城市規劃系的袁奇峰教授做訪問。這個專題很heavy,太多跟城市計劃與經濟歷史的關係要理清, 幸好是用普通話進行訪問,不然一堆術語用廣東話說會更難過的。中山大學超漂亮的!!內地大學很大很大,可以像歐美那種,在校園裡踏腳車,在一片大草原中野餐、攤在樹下看書睡午覺。可惜我無暇拍照,好想再回去好好逛一趟啊~ T_______T

——————————————————————————————————————————————
後記:
呃,這裡麻煩各位轉台一下,英文比較順手。

Honestly, there was so SO SO MUCH FRUSTRATION in the making of this feature story. Right from preparation, process to finishing. Out of the 5 features I’ve done, there was nothing as terrible as this one. First, I’ve never been to Guang Zhou and I barely understood what the hell, why the hell or how the hell the issue unfold. So it took me a lot of effort to make sense out of a pile of information. Mind you, it wasn’t anything pleasant to read. They were all boring news about policies, academic publication and worse, interviewee opinions which were completely different from what we though should have been.

We went all they way there, prepared for 4 interviews. Only 2 was successful, the other one didn’t show up without prior notice, explanation or apology (go screw yourself,bastard! Rejection in the first place is better than no show). The other one completed the interview and regretted later at that day, freaking out about being spied on if he appear in media (dude, you’re there and it publishes HERE. And plus, its bloody uni magazine, you think govt. gives a crap?)Another round of time and energy wasting. Even then, I accepted the fact that it’s out of our control, people are not obligated to see us anyway. We’ll just have to try harder and look for another person to put the story together.

In the process, there was no clear angle to tackle the question. Beating around the bushes, the focus of the story kept changing. First, the editor wanted Asia Games to be the main highlight, then it changed to become just a subtitle because the reconstruction has been going on even before that decided to hold the event, Asia Games only accelerated the process. Then she wanted to not only highlight comments from residents but also the super complicated stuff like policies, economics and political issues behind the demolition of historical sites. In short, I had no idea what the fuck she wants. I’ve been trying so hard to catch up with her ever changing direction for the story. They way she spits out Cantonese like a bullet train along with her syok sendiri superiority attitude often made me thought “maybe I’m not getting things right, I better buck up”. Things were not looking optimistic and we were pressed to look for more respondent. I’ve done 3 interviews with Guang Zhou Chinese residing in HK on my own and I felt that the story should take a softer approach to mainly address emotions and helplessness of the residents under China’s iron fist of authority, rather than bombarding readers with crazy mind-screwing heavy subjects with 2.5k word limit. It takes skills to present complicated shit in 2.5k words and I’m no Times or Newsweek journalist.(Heck, even the serious stuff they write has some humor in it)

There’s this stupid mentality my journalism school instill in students, Hard News = Smart. Hard news here doesn’t refer to serious issue, it means “complicated issue further complicated by journalist”(My apology for using the general term "journalist”, that’s what they like to call themselves) What’s the point of writing when nobody knows what you’re writing? Does confusing and belittling readers feed your narcissism? So what if you know the word GDP? (Heck,GDP doesn’t even translate to 國民生產總值, it’s 國生產總值. I refuse to take blame for not proof-reading, I never use this in my writing nor have I ever used it in Chinese) I’m not opposing against the importance of learning how to produce hard news, but I am definitely against prioritizing it. Soft or hard, especially features story with thousands of words devoted to address one issue, should be judged based on impact it brings about. If people learn something from your article, means they were able to assimilate the content,else, they’re merely black squiggles on white paper. We were taught: the function of media is to inform and educate the public. I’d say overrated, if this is how future journalists are trained.

Anyhow, I appreciate the experience, it’s been an eye opener. If not for all the frustration, I wouldn’t have know why am I always so pissed. All along I’ve been taking it personally and try so damn hard to get on the bandwagon. Sound like sour grapes? Lol, alright then, whatever makes you happy. You wouldn’t have listened anyway. (Wait, do I even get to talk when I “talk” to you?) I don’t agree with how you make of it, but I give you my respect for being a responsible editor, and that’s all I can offer.

21.5.10

reviews

I am hanging out with non-Cantonese speakers for almost a week and now my brain is starting to think in English, which means its time for….an ENGGERISH BLOG POST! \’O’/ I’m getting myself comfortable in my own room, enjoying Malaysian rain. (Yes, it does rain in Hong Kong too,but not quite the same). Sorry for slacking, I just didn’t have anything to blog about, mostly because I was rushing projects during the whole of April and half of May. And I meant BIG projects, which needed the 6 of us to work non-stop for weeks! Anyway, I’m over with 1/3 of my university life. I’ll tell you about some behind the scene stories this time. Of mine and my classmates.

Had my first feature story published, never mind the layout, I was devastated too. Mah baby ruin! NUOOOOH!!~

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Okay.
Maybe the cover page isn’t that bad.
But hey, I paid a price for this cover pic.
One of the bitches from the editors board said they mistaken this for a cafe :

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Have you ever seen cafes leaving combs all over the place?!
"Eh, you ada otak tak?”
That’s more or less how I sounded like except in Cantonese when my editor and I talked about this.
Girl, I hope it wasn’t your idea using this lame excuse
(I prolly wouldn’t have felt so tulan if you told me the photo just sucks.)
I understand that you were in a tight spot between me and the freakin bitches up there.
So yea, I made an EXTRA trip down to CENTRAL(中环) on SUNDAY
while I was down with COUGH + FLU package
just to take ONE bloody picture.

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I’m not saying I should be receiving an award for this
(heck, its too stupid a task to even get nominated)
but hello?
What happen to something called “common sense”?

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I did enjoyed myself in producing this story, people were generally nice, tolerant(thank god they were)and helpful.The text is a combination of Fong Fong and my report. Details which I like very much were lost during editing process, the final story was “mechanical” and sadly, without its soul. I have an interviewee who’s an ABC. I did mention that in the text. Later on I got a call from my editor asking for details about him leaving USA and living in HK. Does it matter?! Hey, I’m doing a story about hair salons, not to poke into his personal details and life journey. I was afraid that I wasn’t being focus enough on the right point, then I realized it wasn’t me =.=

For photos, I wondered why the hell they pick some of it, those which I considered inferior. Suppose I shouldn’t have included them, the favourites might have chance. As for layout, ugh, never mind me, you judge. (Even the magazine cover is horrid by general standard, you hear groans and scream when the pile of freshly published reaches fellow students) About the finished product, "sigh” is how I put it.

For another issue, I photographed for Susan’s and Bowie’s story on Mid Night Yum Cha culture in Hong Kong. It gets a thumbs up for layout! Decent yet creative.

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and Oh my god, look at those glorious food the taukeh was offering us *ahem* There’s a reason why I volunteered myself XD After a week of dim sum dinner, the three of us refuse to have it for the whole of the following month. The fun part photographing food is that nobody gets to touch it until I’m done. Sometimes I take too long and I hear “now can we eat?”. Its fun cz I didn’t had to worry about the writing, who said what, interviewees’ details.

The problems they had with this story was that the editors wanted them to get interviewees’ Chinese names in full, age and occupation, AFTER they have finished the story. Well, you B’s up there could have said so earlier. Besides, who would give out details info about themselves while they’re simply having dim sum supper, minding their own business. So Susan and Bowie had to do the street interviews all over again cz you can never catch those from the previous session. Which means : effort put in 80% ; progress : 0%. Imagine the frustration! >.< They felt the same disappointment regarding the text. Sound bites which they thought were special didn’t made it to the final version, inferior ones were given too much exposure. You get the idea.

“This girl complains too much.”

Hell yea I’m complaining. My brain would be out for recycling purposes if I’m not. We put our hearts into it and I do think we earned the right to comment about how good or bad our works were meddled with. Its nothing personal. We’re all first timers, its not normal if things comes out perfect. So cheers, we’ll do it better next time!

here’s the link if you’re interested : www.com.cuhk.edu.hk/ubeat
(96期悠闲生活:特色髮廊;95期悠闲生活:深宵茶未冷)
Be patient, it takes a while to load with Malaysia’s internet speed XD
_____________________________________________________________________

Some photos towards the end of my second semester:

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Softball class.
Had waaaaaay much fun compare to last term’s lousy basketball class. Mainly cz this bunch were nicer and easier to get along with. We were noisy all the time and the only male species (PE trainer) was good at shutting us up with his cool moves. He had to demonstrate the correct posture, this girl would go “break dance! break dance!”.

P1010163.JPG_effected Team 2!
Just love being with them.
I think we called ourselves 恭喜发财 during Chinese New Year XD

Before I tear everything down and pack, I thought it’d be nice to remember the first place I lived in away from home :

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One of the dorm activity during CNY, caligraphy. "
“People can tell that a foreigner and a China girl lives in this room.”- Tina
NUOOOOOOH!~ Mah caligraphy sux T________T
There’s another piece saying “玉洁冰清" that fell off, you can tell from the little red strip.
My room mate thought so hard for a 成语 that has the word 方
Awesome lah this girl~

DSC_0560.JPG_effected No, its not a mess. Everything has it’s place.
I like to stick magazine cutouts all over, I’ll make myself a photo wall next semester =D


DSC_0538.JPG_effectedRemember I said the 6 of us worked non-stop on a project? It was an all girls team. The best part of it is that girls bring fruits to munch on as snack rather than chips. So even if I went to the lab without breakfast, they would have a few apples ready for the hungry ones. That night was mangoesteen. That shark was a toy from a Bueno chocolate. It hid in my pocket and accidentally followed me to HK. I’m gonna miss the seaview room. Though it’s freezing cold during winter.

DSC_0515 Dinner. Fried mushroom + carrots + onion.
炒木耳 was a bonus cz I bumped into a china floormate in the pantry.
She couldn’t finish it so I get free food.
Rice from yesterday.
Cooking makes me happy. =)

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Mah yellow egg boiler.
The floor aunty goes all curious about how it works, I bought her one from Penang instead.
She wouldn’t believe its only 12 bucks.

DSC_0528.JPG_effected Mom’s watch and the crazy to-do list

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Tuna can + pretty plastic bag strip + thumbnail = earphone holder.
Who says you need to spend to get good stuff?

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erm, this may look dumb but yea….that’s my frying pan, spatula, the white one is for the rice cooker, pinned on the wall. It save space and makes it easier to dry. Hair dryer is also on the wall XD

我念的其中一科-Introduction to Broadcasting的course requirement就是要付出4個小時的Production Hour給TV Production的同學,幫他們打雜:搬搬道具,拍拍活動照片、剪剪打燈的顏色紙等等。至于我負責做甚麼就不用廢話解釋了。

Belle是這場的導演(唯一和我身份比較像的就是她:菲律賓人),拍的是Pretty Women的MTV。整個過程就是不停地NG,不停地重復拍同樣的東西,那首歌在3小時里聽了N遍。我看對嘴的演員發夢都會背歌詞了。

我從來沒拍過這種劇照,一開始真的不知道怎么拍。White Balance掉的話又會把攝影棚那種燈光制造出來的Feel浪費了,所以我由得它黃黃的:
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這是我們新聞系的攝影棚
還沒打燈
那個Channel標志...
是兩張白紙剪出來的而已XD
(手抖了,派塞^^”)
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打燈了!
先彩排走位
就透過那個小視頻來看錄影機拍到的效果
肉眼看到的燈光進來視頻是有差別的
學院的打燈師還得花一點時間爬樓梯調整
確保演員的連不會over-exposed
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Control Room的情況
那是教授Prof.Louis
導演、制作就看著好多好多的視頻來取決哪個鏡頭可以用
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女主角:樂善
上次拍Talk Show的Lady Gaga也是她出演XD
這場是要拍Pretty Women和姐妹在血拚
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換成街景了
補妝、看稿、走位
這個環節Floor Manager皮要繃緊了
做什么、怎么做、什么時候做全看她吩咐
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男主角一號:Herman
Belle在控制室里的麥克風喊:“Herman! You’re the midnight cowboy, be SEXY!"”
然后她就跑下去攝影棚幫他解鈕扣 XD
Herman過后就自己嘀嘀咕咕說:“可以要回一顆嗎?”
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準備開拍

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飾演攝影師

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飾演“咸濕”地盤工人
他的演出讓大家很無語
卻又想鬼魂不停地“搶Fo” (搶鏡頭/Focus)
無論從什么角度拍都看到他的影
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控制室拍下來的攝影棚
那些燈啊,1000瓦特
老師說以前有學生爬上去調整燈光時忘了戴手套
一碰到鐵片皮馬上粘在上面煎熟了
好恐怖!
他還抱怨說“很難鏟掉的呀!所以要記得帶手套咯 ~”

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男士們獻殷勤
這個時代的女人還要你們的臭玫瑰嗎?!.....
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...當然是要鉆石啦!
這是用來調整畫面曝光度和鏡頭光圈的控制臺
左邊那兩塊綠色的顯示是音量(應該是吧?O.o)
DSC_0469 控制室
超冷的!
攝影棚也一樣
冷氣要開得很大,怕機器過熱
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DSC_0483 收工看重播!

DSC_0499 團體照是一定要的啦~

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趁同學走開一下,來一張假的 XD
這次拍得很開心,看他們不停NG,演員從扭扭捏捏到豁出去的過程更好看。等剪接好了再放上來這里啦~