Periscope
Amateur filmmaker unleashes creativity
by Ruby Wu
Video-sharing websites provide the latest ground for amateur and underground filmmakers.
Mark Law Ka-yeung, a 27-year-old graphic designer, is among those who produce their own videos and upload them on YouTube a popular video-sharing platform. His works include experimental films and animations and sometimes a creative mix of the two.
¡§I like to film short videos and make animations because I can create my own world, in which everybody and everything is controlled by me,¡¨ Mr Law said. Making films and animations is now his greatest challenge and enjoyment, he said.
The designer started making experimental films in 2001. He has made four short films and some animations so far, and he is planning to produce a new video next year.
His latest humorous video about bidding on the internet features a man falls asleep during an online auction and an animated character appears and makes the bid for him, beating all other bidders at an unreasonably high price. Mr Law said he spent about one week on the production.
He has also filmed a ghost story to test out how one could create horror in a low cost production. There are only two characters in the film. He tried to create suspense by filming a staircase and using creepy music. Mr Law and two of his friends did the acting and production.
The amateur video producer has spent no more than $400 on each of his videos. He did the editing with Adobe Premier software and drew animations with Flash.
Mr Law regards YouTube a platform for filmmakers to promote their works and its advantage lies in its large audience. However, the site has encouraged people to come up with just more videos but not necessarily works with originality and creativity, he said.
¡§For me, YouTube is just a database where people can upload their videos freely¡KYouTube can encourage more people to film videos, but most of them are just recordings of daily life,¡¨ he said.
He said YouTube should categorise its videos and organize competitions for its users to encourage high-quality productions.
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