HUH?
What the @#$!%@& is roomiesTV?!
roomiesTV is a music-related project of mine.
It all started when an elder whom I look up to, Wee Gor, asked me what I did after receiving the Singapore Blog Awards 2013 Best JBL Music/POP Blog Award. It was a random casual conversation some time last year.
"Hmmm… Nothing."
But this random conversation set me thinking about what I CAN do.
After years of being a tutor, I decided to take a plunge into the entertainment scene; I began singing and hosting for gigs and events as a freelancer.
A full-time freelance.
(Is there even such a term?)
Moving on.
It's only been 2 years but enough for me to experience how tough it is to sustain in this industry.
Some months, you earn decent income.
Other months, you'll find yourself jobless (and soon penniless) for the next (maybe a few more) months.
In this period of 2 years however, this question keeps popping up:
Clients (companies, wedding couples and talent agencies) kept asking me if I know any talents.
These talents, at the same time, kept asking me if I have clients & opportunities for them.
Friends who are not in this scene wonder where to find these talents and what they are doing.
Then this idea strikes me:
What if I can gather these awesome talents together, showcase their talents through an online show and perhaps people will start watching to find out more about them (even find them for performances/gigs)?
In January 2014, I came up with some powerpoint slides about this idea
(like a school project only siol),
showed it to Wee Gor and my secondary senior senior, Collin Chan.
Both of them were extremely supportive and we furthered worked out a plan for this show, naming it roomiesTV or 娱乐房 (Yu Le Fang) in mandarin.
I'm just going to 'piak' the standard introduction of roomiesTV here because it's the best description the team came up with so far. :p
About roomiesTV
roomiesTV (娱乐房) is a video network and together with a group of likeminded friends who are all very passionate about music, we are starting a new music-related project called roomiesTV Music Show（音乐心房).
roomiesTV Music Show is a show on roomiesTV network that focuses on the local music industry as
part of a social effort to showcase local music/unique talents from all over Singapore, using the Singaporean languages that we all know and love. roomiesTV Music Show also aims to introduce and showcase budding/reputable local musicians as well as unique local talents to the general public.
roomiesTV Music Show will also be a neutral sharing platform (www.roomiestv.com)
for the public to get to know these talents better.
roomiesTV Team Grows
The team started with 2 of us: Collin and me.
My first few meetings with Senior Collin were mostly discussions of the direction as well as work flow:
As it progressed, more awesome people (and likeminded) decided to join in the team and lend us a helping hand.
Colin Chang- roomiesTV IT Director
He is the 3rd member to join the team and none other than my OneFirst, MinuteManSG.
This humble man, Colin Chang, is our IT Director-cum-SaiKang warrior.
(but he doesn't claim credits from doing all the saikang work)
Firstly, Colin singlehandedly created and maintain the roomiesTV website.
All the chalk images and creative impressions you find there, yeah he drew them!
The write-ups on the website, yeah he wrote them too.
From the logo, the tabs, pages, layout, the writings, the tea cup and even the bicycle.
During weekends, Colin will be waking up as early as 7am and helped out with basically everything behind the scenes. From videography to tidying up the place after filming, you name it, he's done it.
Extremely supportive and taking that extra mile as a boyfriend.
Love this man to bits.
不怕吃苦。
Which boyfriend in this world will help his girlfriend execute her crazy ideas but him?
Shhh.. Our cameraman is seriously at work today:
Fif Phan - Coordinating-cum-Assistant Director
The very first friend I looped into the team was Fif Phan.
Our 4th member.
Capable and responsible she is, Fif soon took up and got the hang of her role - liaising everything.
Everything here refers to the production crew, artistes, invitations, dates, admin stuff and more…
She even took the initiative to organise the work flow & ensure smoothness during the filming, making sure everyone turns up, follow-up on filming matters and more.
Besides coordinating, we also gave her the role of the Assistant Director during our production days. She's the most suitable candidate! Having said that, this is her first production project but yet it feels like she's been doing this for a long time.
Selfie with Fif in between work:
Fif is so dedicated at work, ensuring things will work out smoothly:
Tidying up for the next scene:
Evan Liao - roomiesTV Sound Director
I feel many Youtube videos posted do not justify a talent's real skills during LIVE! performances.
Low resolution clips, cropped heads, blur videos, muffled sounds, noise, audience talking etc.
If I were to record the audio via my digital camera, I know the audio recorded will sound really 'raw' and also will not justify the real music talents of my music-friends like the rest of these videos.
But I'm a total sound idiot.
I don't know a single thing about mixing or editing an audio file.
I can't even tell a difference between a studio sound and a natural sound.
To me, a person's vocal when I watch a video is just 'nice' or 'not nice'.
It's my greatest worry.
One day after a gig at All About Eve Bar,
I met and told Evan Liao about my greatest worry.
Without hesitation,
he immediately offered his sound equipments (at NO COST) and to set them up for me during all our shoots. Even though he keeps telling me that these equipments and his skills are the basics, I honestly feel they are NOT basics at all.
*Anyhow click one button also better than what I can produce can*
I just want Evan to know that in this world, there's one more thing that matters to me more than skills;
Evan Liao has a big heart.
He has come forward and solved my greatest worry in this project by offering to help produce better audio quality videos. This means so much to me because it also means that I can focus on the other equally important matters. He has just done something which I can never accomplished on my own.
He helped.
Evan is our audio equipment sponsor and appointed sound director of roomiesTV.
Along the way, he also helps to organise our google drive into the most organised system I've ever seen: draws up templates for us to use, do write ups because his english is so pro, keep our thoughts organised, looks after our welfare like buying drinks and snacks for us during shoots, offering free rides and the list goes on….
That's him still doing post-production with me at 2AM.
*YAWNS*
He's been burning tins of midnight oil for roomiesTV.
For that I'm thankful and guilty at the same time.
SUPER ORGANISED GOOGLE DRIVE.
Evan Organising skills FTW~
Look at the folders and sample templates!
So proper and neatly categorised.
Wee - roomiesTV Advisor and Mentor
Of course, there's Wee Gor - the advisor and mentor of roomiesTV.
He's a great listening ear and supportive team player, the one who even got me motivated to start roomiesTV in the first place.
Evan and Wee Gor setting up the scene at one of our artistes' place:
The chinese write ups are mostly done/edited by him.
At his point, he even learns how to use the roomiesTV Instagram and Twitter to help ease our work load.
He'll always be down at the filming set with new gadgets and snacks for us.
The selfie pole and H6 audio recorder are some of the gadgets from him.
He'll be there at all our group meetings, listening attentively, attend to our needs and give advice. He's solved some of the major problems we encounter especially mine
(As a start up, we are constantly solving problems: people, admin, ideas, work flow and more).
This pretty much sums up everyone in the main team - roomiesTV Founding Committee (FC).
Made up of Evan Liao, Wee Gor, Fif Phan, Colin bf and I.
Our first outing together to Punggol Riverside Park.
We were attempting to write a roomiesTV song:
Soon Gim Goh, Jaime Chia and Evan Tiang came on board to help us out too!
Gim Goh - Our roomiesTV Co-host
Gim Goh is our whacky co-host who brings out the liveliness and cosy nature of the show.
With him around, the show has became so much more light-hearted and funny to watch!
This vainpot is camwhoring while waiting for his turn to film:
More seflies!
#LastWarning
A selfie (me) taking a selfie(Gim) taking his own selfie.
I think he's posted them all up on his instagram.
A behind-the-scene photo with Lin Si Tong and what on earth is Gim doing while we were discussing for our next segment? Doing Dancing Queen?!
Awwww come on Gim Bro, focus!
Gim drives everyone crazy and I guess I'm the one who can really handle him in a cool manner.
They say if you cannot beat them, join them.
Soon, I think I'll start driving everyone else crazy too.
I kinda like that thought. :)
That makes us compatible hosts, heh-heh.
Captions Please!
Mint torturing Gim with make up?
Evan Tiang, Jaime Chia - Videographers
Evan Tiang(I call him Nave) and Jaime is helping out with the videography.
The name 'Nave' is 'Evan' spelt backwards.
So to speak, the first few videos we recorded have proven that the videography skills of the FC really needs serious practice. The angles are so… flat and unflattering.
We are so thankful to have both Nave and Jaime up on the team to advice on the camera shots and take care of our cameras.
Here are some of Nave's works: http://fluttersound.com
Clockwise from left: Me, Gim Goh, Evan Liao, Jaime, Fif
Videographer = always in the sun.
Poor Nave.
We're doing a teaser scene with Joey Wee here.
Thanks for your editing tutorial:
Stocking up 'rations' for our shoots because we overrun almost at every production.
The FC has set up a fund for this (from our own pockets).
roomiesTV is taking baby steps.
We are growing a little at a time from scratch.
The people, the work.
A basic foundation is slowly forming up and seeing it grow bit by bit everyday makes me happy - a dream come true with the help of so many kind souls.
It's not published on our website yet but this will be our brand new roomiesTV Logo:
Bear with us for this is our first time working together - both as friends and a production team.
For most of us, this is also our very first production project without no production background.
We are basically learning on the job.
I think what really brings us this far (despite the lack of experience) is our sincerity, dedication and belief that roomiesTV will work. Most importantly, we have helpful friends who are showing their greatest support and giving us a push whenever we are stuck.
This room (roomiesTV) is filled with love, passion and strongly-forged friendships.
Every single friend in this team has a special part to play.
We simply cannot do without the other.
Filming with Hanrey Low.
As for me, I"m taking up all the other roles which are not taken by anyone yet.
The paper work; piles and piles of paper work.
For every production, I'll have to come up with the chapter content, convert them into a film content sheet, set the filming time table (rundown sheet) and confirm our film venue.
After which, Fif and I will work on the game logistics and props together.
We'd research for music works produced by local musicians/ locally.
We hope to introduce more of these great local productions to friends who are actually watching our show!
The column headings are created by me based on the information I think we need.
(not the professional and usual rundown/film content format though)
Having said that, I'm constantly improving our processes and communication.
'
For instance, we didn't keep track of the good camera takes during the first few filming.
By right there should be a document to list them down but I forgot.
In the end, I had to watch all the videos once more to know which shots are the better ones I can use during editing and it's very frustrating - watching 4 hours of videos all over again!
Wee Gor pointed this out during the filming and I improvised by adding this new column into our film content sheet, film content + shot list combination, for Fif to keep track:
This makes our life so much easier.
*3 cheers for Wee Gor*
Apart from that, I'm also doing the post-production stage:
editing, uploading, planning and executing marketing plans, sponsorships, oversee our progress and more.
To tell the truth nuts on how to execute them.
Just 'Hantam'.
When I'm really stuck, I'd seek help
by bugging friends who are expertise in their fields.
OPS.
However, they are willing share.
Trial and error.
Keep learning.
Whenever a mistake is made,
reflect and prevent it from happening again.
Improvise.
Improve.
Keep going.
So expect mistakes to be spotted throughout this journey but please continue to support with a forgiving heart. Forgive me for I've really done my best in whatever I could do.
Of course, a forgivable mistake doesn't imply that it is an excuse to stop improving.
I will keep improving!
While editing the videos with iMovie, I'm already trying to pick up Premiere Pro Editing Skills from Nave and Final Cut editing skills from Jaime.
Let's hope I can eventually switch to using a better editing software.
The key here is to keep learning and improving right?
Our debut online chapter is set to air real soon so stay tuned on www.roomiesTV.com
roomiesTV Music Show ft. Lin Si Tong
Support Local Talents!
Watch roomiesTV Chapter 1 teaser by Si Tong:
Ending off with a sneak peek into roomiesTV Music Show Video.
Enjoy!
Keep Calm
And
Watch roomiesTV
Like roomiesTV on Facebook: www.facebook.com/roomiesTVsg
Chat with us on Twitter: @roomiesTVsg
Follow us on Instagram: @roomiesTVsg
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