Second day of filming at Mediacorp for Calefare

Happy Birthday to Sharon and Clarence

Yesterday’s filming for "Calefare" was more grueling than the first one I’d been through on Tuesday, but still equally worthwhile. Mostly because yesterday was to be the last day for studio shoots, we had to finish most of the scenes by night time, going all the way till 0330 hrs. And this is the absolute truth… I went to sleep about 0430 hrs and woke up at about 0800 hrs.

Anyway, this was how it all started…

Firstly, I left the house at about 12 pm, having lunch at Ang Mo Kio. I was told by Khai to report to Toa Payoh marketplace along Lorong 5; although I reached Toa Payoh Interchange sometime before 2 pm, I got mixed up between the huge marketplace at Block 74 and the low-level marketplace at Block 64; how much better it would be if I had brought a directory, then I won’t need to wait so long at Block 74, and I would have been spared of a few minutes of sweat. (I don't blame the crew anyway)


I did, however, see a crazy Indian fellow (botak!!) telling an action paced story to his ‘imaginary friend’ (i.e. he was talking to himself!). Having seen that idiot before (at Ang Mo Kio no less), I flipped my special coin and it landed on the scarred side up; before I could lay a finger on that lunatic, he quickly left the place! I could have informed the police if I had the chance to. I feel that if that crazy Indian guy were to go for a story-telling stint at the National Library, many people sure throw litter at him or even beat him to a bloody pulp!!


1515 to 1730 hrs: Filming at block 64 started rather late at 3 plus… the only cast members involved were Benjamin and Fiona. I have to say that the crew chose the right place at the right time, simply ‘cause majority of the people at the marketplace were either middle-aged or elderly. So the filming sessions that lasted for slightly over an hour didn’t draw much attention. I played a regular customer drinking ice lemon tea, while Ben and Fiona were having a chat. After filming at Toa Payoh wrapped up at 5 plus, I took a taxi along with Gary, Sean (NOT who you think!!) and Natalie to Mediacorp, where we headed to Studio 5. It was there that we managed to catch Benjamin ‘red-handed’… he was ‘urinating’ in a metal basin. Nah, it’s only part of the show. :-p

1815 to 1915 hrs: The few of us decided to go to the canteen for dinner. Guess who I saw halfway there… Joanne??? :-O Turns out she was going for studio filming (at Studio 6, no less) for “The Little Nyonya”. So near yet so far, sigh. I did chat with her for a short while, telling her that I was involved in “Calefare”. So near yet so far. Anyway, once we reached the canteen, I saw 88, 90 and JS having their dinner there. I went up and told 88, “I told you so (that you would bump into me one of these days.)” For dinner, most of us bought Western cuisine from the Western food stall.


1915 to 2030 hrs: Since the main crew went for dinner, the few of us calefares slacked about in the studio. We saw a lovely girl named Jeslyn, a freelancer who acted with Primero Ang in an episode of “Incredible Tales” (shown last Sunday). I nearly mistook her for Felicia Chin due to her slender frame and fair complexion! I knew too well that it could not be Fel, given the fact that she’s busy with Love Blossoms Part 2. Nevertheless, I took picture with Jeslyn, as well as with the sound director Jenn.


2030 to 2130 hrs: A few more calefares came forth, one of them being a xiao mei mei named Shermaine, who looked 10 years younger than her actual age due to her petite size and baby face! After some hesitation, I mustered the courage to introduce myself to Tracy, telling her that I had seen her before on 2 different occasions: at the Leap Years premiere at Vivo City earlier this year, and serving her at Mos Burger Shaw House a few years back. I also told her that there was a groups site dedicated to her, but it had been inactive for quite some time. Okay lah, she’s actually a very nice girl, not as fierce or cool as I thought her to be. I got to take picture with Tracy and Benjamin… double happiness! :-D


2130 to 0030 hrs- I can’t remember much on what happened, for I was not required for those few scenes at the time. I had to dress up as a Kempeitai (again), this time with better fitting pants. However, the 'shin guards' I had to wrap tightly around my lower legs made me feel a bit like C-3PO or Darth Vader. A guy named Willie was a fellow Kempeitai, and Sean was the general. Chua Enlai came sometime between 2100 to 2200 hrs, Tracy left sometime after 2200 hrs, and the scenes around that time involved mostly the resistance force. The only cast member not involved in any of this was Vadi aka “Mr. India Curry House”.


0030 to 0245 hrs- Finally, scenes involving the Japanese soldiers, muahaha!! In the first scene involving the Kempeitai, we were practicing with bayonet attacks in the background, while Natalie and Shermaine were inspecting our uniforms. In the next scene, I found it quite ironic that I was assigned to ‘execute’ Fiona, one of my fave actresses (who was kneeling directly in front of me). Then again, this was only a show, so I did my role as instructed. Mastura and Benjamin were the other Prisoners of War who were about to be sacrificed. And something extremely funny happened at the very same scene… due to an agreement with the crew, nobody was allowed to leak out the info online till the episode has been aired (which is about… 3 months from now?). I can only say this… I now realized that it’s not easy to make a sitcom, and that it’s even harder to control one’s laughter during camera roll. My lips remain sealed on this one. :-X


0245 to 0345 hrs- After a last scene involving Enlai and Fiona (with only 2 retakes), wrapping ended at last. I managed to take picture with Enlai and Fiona before getting out of the Kempeitai uniform. Man, I never thought that my one-night reservist duty could be so tiring! Before we packed up, all of us calefares and crew members posed for a group photo. And thank god that 2 of the calefares, Willie and Amin, lived at the Northeast region… thus we 3 shared a cab back to our respective homes. I was so grateful for all that had happened, I couldn’t help but to do… the Shawn Michaels entrance pose again!! :-p