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TEAM CHOW FA WINS MOST AWARDS AT 48 HOUR FILM FINALS
By Samy Yang
Published Thursday, June 30, 2005
The last issue of Hmong Today featured an article about Team Chow Fa entering the 48 Hour Film Contest, which is an internationally acclaimed and quick-paced competition where filmmakers have 48 hours to shoot, edit, and produce a seven minute film. It is our pleasure to give this update on Team Chow Fa’s winnings on Tuesday, June 21st, 2005 at the “Best of Minneapolis 2005� finals.
The team, headed by director Kang Vang, was awarded Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score, and Best Sound Design. Although Vang’s team didn’t win the coveted Best Picture award, they were the only team to win the most number of awards. The “Best Picture� award, which will go on to the international contest, went to Team Running with their superhero short film, “Hoverman.�
Says Kang Vang, “I was actually quite surprised that we won so many awards, especially [since they were more] on the technical side, like the cinematography award. I was ecstatic.� Vang plans on participating in the contest again next year.
By Samy Yang
Published Thursday, June 30, 2005
The last issue of Hmong Today featured an article about Team Chow Fa entering the 48 Hour Film Contest, which is an internationally acclaimed and quick-paced competition where filmmakers have 48 hours to shoot, edit, and produce a seven minute film. It is our pleasure to give this update on Team Chow Fa’s winnings on Tuesday, June 21st, 2005 at the “Best of Minneapolis 2005� finals.
The team, headed by director Kang Vang, was awarded Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score, and Best Sound Design. Although Vang’s team didn’t win the coveted Best Picture award, they were the only team to win the most number of awards. The “Best Picture� award, which will go on to the international contest, went to Team Running with their superhero short film, “Hoverman.�
Says Kang Vang, “I was actually quite surprised that we won so many awards, especially [since they were more] on the technical side, like the cinematography award. I was ecstatic.� Vang plans on participating in the contest again next year.
TEAM CHOW FA COMPETES IN 48 HOUR FILM CONTEST
By Samy Yang
Published Thursday, June 16, 2005
The rules are simple. Make a short movie using a pre-determined character, prop, and line of dialogue. Write the script, shoot the scenes, edit the film, and add a musical score.
The punchline? Do it all within 48 hours.
This is what filmmakers in the Twin Cities had to face during the weekend of June 3-5, 2005. The filmmakers, both amateur and professional, gathered 15 minutes before the official beginning of the contest to choose their genres from a top hat. Genres included action/adventure, comedy, detective/cop, fantasy, horror, mockumentary, musical/western, mystery, romance, science fiction, spy, and superhero. Together with their volunteer crews, filmmakers had to write, shoot, and produce their movie exactly within 48 hours. Filmmakers were also given a pre-determined character, prop, and line of dialogue that had to be included in the film in some form or fashion. This year the requirements were:
a character called D. Poe, runway model
a “Congratulations� balloon
the line “Do you have a breath mint?�
The 48 Hour Film Project is a fast-paced and vigorous contest that occurs throughout the world. Filmmaking teams have 48 hours to shoot and produce a movie within their chosen genre. All movies must be four to seven minutes long. Two days after the deadline, the movies are premiered at a local theater in front of an audience filled with the filmmakers, their crews, supportive friends, and film aficionados. The films compete for the “Best Film of the City� award. These awarded films then go on to compete in an international contest for “Best 48 Hour Film of the Year.� Panels of three judges decide on the best film. Judges’ criterions are based on:
the best overall film.
story and production values/technical aspects.
secondary judging considerations towards use of prop, character and line of dialogue
adherence to genre
All films, whether submitted on time or not, are eligible for the Audience Award, which is determined by audience ballots at the opening screenings in each city. Other awards include Best Directing, Best Script, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Acting, Best Use of Character, Best Use of Prop, Best Use of Word, Best Music, Best Sound Design, and Best Effects. Each crew that wins an award will receive a certificate. City winners and the grand prize winner will receive trophies. The grand prize winner will also receive a gift, which has not yet been decided this year. In past years grand prize winners have received an editing system.
One team that gained a good deal of exposure through this contest was Team Chow Fa (Cob Fab), headed by director/editor Kang Vang. Team Chow Fa produced a short horror film called “Into the Dark.� Group members included Pete Wong (assistant director), Wa Yang (main actor), Ka Katie Vang (main actress), Doua Moua (supporting actor), Kathy Mouacheupao (supporting actress/script prompter), Zakk Bergraf (production assistant/makeup), Thao Vang (production assistant), Kou Yang (production assistant), Tengo Lor (production assistant/secretary/waterboy), and Kenny Lee (musical producer).
Below is an exclusive interview with Kang Vang:
Hmong Today: Can you summarize the storyline?
Kang Vang: In the film, D. Poe (Wa Yang) and Jenny (Ka Katie Vang) wake up in a dingy, rundown bathroom. The light flicks on and they wake up. D. Poe sees a guy lying there with his head split open with blood everywhere. He starts screaming and the guy, Leng, (Doua Moua) wakes up. After they wake up, they make their escape. Basically, they’re trying to figure out who this guy is, why his head is split open, why they’re there and who’s doing this to them . . . Throughout the film [the characters are] trying to discover what’s going on. What I was trying to say was that D. Poe is actually the perpetrator of everything…
Hmong Today: Why did you choose Wa Yang and Katie Vang as your main actors?
Kang Vang: I wanted Wa to star in whatever 48 hour I would make because he’s really talented. It would be a huge challenge for him. I could trust him with anything I throw out at him. Katie’s willing to give 110 %. I haven’t had much experience with her acting-wise but I know she’s an actress and she’s capable.
Hmong Today: What were some challenges you faced in the 48 hours of making the film?
Kang Vang: Everything. Everything we had to do was a challenge. Coming up with a story. Getting actors to come on time. Filming. Finding equipment. Editing took forever because the computer kept freezing on us. The paperwork. Everything. Everything was a huge challenge because we had to rush it all. At the end there were still mistakes. [But] I’m really proud of what we accomplished.
Hmong Today: How did your team come up with a concept?
Kang Vang: We all wanted to do different types of subgenres within the horror. I wanted to do a zombie hunting kind of horror, someone wanted a psychological thriller, and someone wanted demons and ghosts. So I thought, why not throw them all together. [The film is] only 7 minutes long. It’s an avant garde type movie so we might as all throw them all together and that’s what we did.
I got back [from picking out the genre] and we started meeting at 8 o’clock and it went on until 12:30 just to come up with a concept. Then we started filming. We filmed until 2:30 am and then everybody had to go home. Then Pete and I stayed behind to write all night. We wrote and wrote and everybody got back together at noon and we filmed the rest of it. Filmed all day Saturday and stayed up all night. Filmed a little Sunday morning and then edited it.
[We] finished 15 minutes before the deadline. Our movie guy submitted six minutes before it was actually due because we had to drive uptown to drop it off. Mr. Tengo Lor had to run it in, literally run in.
Hmong Today: What would you improve or change in the whole process if you could?
Kang Vang: I think that I would take more charge in the writing of it. We had a lot of great ideas but we had so many that I didn’t know which ones to choose. I think it would’ve been stronger if we’d just focused on one idea. We would’ve saved ourselves a few hours. I really wish we had the equipment all ready, like the editing equipment and the lighting.
Hmong Today: In retrospect, do you think that the seven minute requirement limited your creativity or actually gave the film more focus?
Kang Vang: I think it gave it a lot more focus because we just had to say exactly what we had to say. We didn’t have time to set up beautiful shots or set up moods. We did the best we could but we didn’t have time to waste it on nonsense.
Hmong Today: What were your first thoughts as soon as you saw that the genre you picked was horror?
Kang Vang: Part of me was very relieved. Right away I was like, Ok we got locations we can use. I knew we had to get Twin Cities Caskets and then we had the stairway of CHAT. Those were some pretty creepy places in themselves. Horror is one of the toughest things. I’ve always wanted to do a horror so it was my chance to dip my feet into the waters.
Hmong Today: What was your team’s name and why did you choose that name?
Kang Vang: I called our team Chow Fa (Cob Fab) because what we’re doing is guerilla style filmmaking and the Chow Fa are resistance groups in the jungle. It’s a way to raise more awareness about what’s going on in Laos and represent what we’re doing here.
After an intense weekend of filming and editing, Team Chow Fa managed to submit their film “Into the Dark� six minutes before the deadline. The first initial screening has already passed and now all are eagerly awaiting the announcement for the “Best Film of the City� award on Tuesday, June 21st at Riverview Theater. In reply to his personal thoughts about the contest, Vang says, “It made me realize how important the crew is. You definitely have to have the right crew and the right cast in order to pull off the movie that you want to do. I just want to say that I’m really, really proud of the cast and crew. I’m proud to have worked with them and I’d really like to work with them more in the future. Next year I’m going to shoot for it again. It was a really fun and challenging event. We learned quite a bit from it.�
By Samy Yang
Published Thursday, June 16, 2005
The rules are simple. Make a short movie using a pre-determined character, prop, and line of dialogue. Write the script, shoot the scenes, edit the film, and add a musical score.
The punchline? Do it all within 48 hours.
This is what filmmakers in the Twin Cities had to face during the weekend of June 3-5, 2005. The filmmakers, both amateur and professional, gathered 15 minutes before the official beginning of the contest to choose their genres from a top hat. Genres included action/adventure, comedy, detective/cop, fantasy, horror, mockumentary, musical/western, mystery, romance, science fiction, spy, and superhero. Together with their volunteer crews, filmmakers had to write, shoot, and produce their movie exactly within 48 hours. Filmmakers were also given a pre-determined character, prop, and line of dialogue that had to be included in the film in some form or fashion. This year the requirements were:
a character called D. Poe, runway model
a “Congratulations� balloon
the line “Do you have a breath mint?�
The 48 Hour Film Project is a fast-paced and vigorous contest that occurs throughout the world. Filmmaking teams have 48 hours to shoot and produce a movie within their chosen genre. All movies must be four to seven minutes long. Two days after the deadline, the movies are premiered at a local theater in front of an audience filled with the filmmakers, their crews, supportive friends, and film aficionados. The films compete for the “Best Film of the City� award. These awarded films then go on to compete in an international contest for “Best 48 Hour Film of the Year.� Panels of three judges decide on the best film. Judges’ criterions are based on:
the best overall film.
story and production values/technical aspects.
secondary judging considerations towards use of prop, character and line of dialogue
adherence to genre
All films, whether submitted on time or not, are eligible for the Audience Award, which is determined by audience ballots at the opening screenings in each city. Other awards include Best Directing, Best Script, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Acting, Best Use of Character, Best Use of Prop, Best Use of Word, Best Music, Best Sound Design, and Best Effects. Each crew that wins an award will receive a certificate. City winners and the grand prize winner will receive trophies. The grand prize winner will also receive a gift, which has not yet been decided this year. In past years grand prize winners have received an editing system.
One team that gained a good deal of exposure through this contest was Team Chow Fa (Cob Fab), headed by director/editor Kang Vang. Team Chow Fa produced a short horror film called “Into the Dark.� Group members included Pete Wong (assistant director), Wa Yang (main actor), Ka Katie Vang (main actress), Doua Moua (supporting actor), Kathy Mouacheupao (supporting actress/script prompter), Zakk Bergraf (production assistant/makeup), Thao Vang (production assistant), Kou Yang (production assistant), Tengo Lor (production assistant/secretary/waterboy), and Kenny Lee (musical producer).
Below is an exclusive interview with Kang Vang:
Hmong Today: Can you summarize the storyline?
Kang Vang: In the film, D. Poe (Wa Yang) and Jenny (Ka Katie Vang) wake up in a dingy, rundown bathroom. The light flicks on and they wake up. D. Poe sees a guy lying there with his head split open with blood everywhere. He starts screaming and the guy, Leng, (Doua Moua) wakes up. After they wake up, they make their escape. Basically, they’re trying to figure out who this guy is, why his head is split open, why they’re there and who’s doing this to them . . . Throughout the film [the characters are] trying to discover what’s going on. What I was trying to say was that D. Poe is actually the perpetrator of everything…
Hmong Today: Why did you choose Wa Yang and Katie Vang as your main actors?
Kang Vang: I wanted Wa to star in whatever 48 hour I would make because he’s really talented. It would be a huge challenge for him. I could trust him with anything I throw out at him. Katie’s willing to give 110 %. I haven’t had much experience with her acting-wise but I know she’s an actress and she’s capable.
Hmong Today: What were some challenges you faced in the 48 hours of making the film?
Kang Vang: Everything. Everything we had to do was a challenge. Coming up with a story. Getting actors to come on time. Filming. Finding equipment. Editing took forever because the computer kept freezing on us. The paperwork. Everything. Everything was a huge challenge because we had to rush it all. At the end there were still mistakes. [But] I’m really proud of what we accomplished.
Hmong Today: How did your team come up with a concept?
Kang Vang: We all wanted to do different types of subgenres within the horror. I wanted to do a zombie hunting kind of horror, someone wanted a psychological thriller, and someone wanted demons and ghosts. So I thought, why not throw them all together. [The film is] only 7 minutes long. It’s an avant garde type movie so we might as all throw them all together and that’s what we did.
I got back [from picking out the genre] and we started meeting at 8 o’clock and it went on until 12:30 just to come up with a concept. Then we started filming. We filmed until 2:30 am and then everybody had to go home. Then Pete and I stayed behind to write all night. We wrote and wrote and everybody got back together at noon and we filmed the rest of it. Filmed all day Saturday and stayed up all night. Filmed a little Sunday morning and then edited it.
[We] finished 15 minutes before the deadline. Our movie guy submitted six minutes before it was actually due because we had to drive uptown to drop it off. Mr. Tengo Lor had to run it in, literally run in.
Hmong Today: What would you improve or change in the whole process if you could?
Kang Vang: I think that I would take more charge in the writing of it. We had a lot of great ideas but we had so many that I didn’t know which ones to choose. I think it would’ve been stronger if we’d just focused on one idea. We would’ve saved ourselves a few hours. I really wish we had the equipment all ready, like the editing equipment and the lighting.
Hmong Today: In retrospect, do you think that the seven minute requirement limited your creativity or actually gave the film more focus?
Kang Vang: I think it gave it a lot more focus because we just had to say exactly what we had to say. We didn’t have time to set up beautiful shots or set up moods. We did the best we could but we didn’t have time to waste it on nonsense.
Hmong Today: What were your first thoughts as soon as you saw that the genre you picked was horror?
Kang Vang: Part of me was very relieved. Right away I was like, Ok we got locations we can use. I knew we had to get Twin Cities Caskets and then we had the stairway of CHAT. Those were some pretty creepy places in themselves. Horror is one of the toughest things. I’ve always wanted to do a horror so it was my chance to dip my feet into the waters.
Hmong Today: What was your team’s name and why did you choose that name?
Kang Vang: I called our team Chow Fa (Cob Fab) because what we’re doing is guerilla style filmmaking and the Chow Fa are resistance groups in the jungle. It’s a way to raise more awareness about what’s going on in Laos and represent what we’re doing here.
After an intense weekend of filming and editing, Team Chow Fa managed to submit their film “Into the Dark� six minutes before the deadline. The first initial screening has already passed and now all are eagerly awaiting the announcement for the “Best Film of the City� award on Tuesday, June 21st at Riverview Theater. In reply to his personal thoughts about the contest, Vang says, “It made me realize how important the crew is. You definitely have to have the right crew and the right cast in order to pull off the movie that you want to do. I just want to say that I’m really, really proud of the cast and crew. I’m proud to have worked with them and I’d really like to work with them more in the future. Next year I’m going to shoot for it again. It was a really fun and challenging event. We learned quite a bit from it.�
Main photograph: Houa Lee (main actress) is part of the hip-hop duo P.H.oice which has been part of the H Project Album.
Small images (left to right): Kenny Lee (main actor) is a sound producer and bass player for The Rice Channel band. Diana Xiong does administrative work and modeling. Tong Thao is training to be a dentist. Doua Vang is a hip-hop rap artist. He does more freeflow battles and won the R.A.R.E. battle challenge at the Minnesota July 4th.
When the movie comes out, further information will be provided about purchase and so on.
Small images (left to right): Kenny Lee (main actor) is a sound producer and bass player for The Rice Channel band. Diana Xiong does administrative work and modeling. Tong Thao is training to be a dentist. Doua Vang is a hip-hop rap artist. He does more freeflow battles and won the R.A.R.E. battle challenge at the Minnesota July 4th.
When the movie comes out, further information will be provided about purchase and so on.
TEAM CHOW FA
Hello, my name is Tengo Lor, Artistic Director of Team Chow Fa. In this category you will find information about Team Chow Fa, our projects, and current opportunities that you can be part of.
Currently Team Chow Fa (lead by Director Kang Vang, Khangis_Khan) is working on a romantic comedy titled "Tou and Mai" which is slated for debut before July 2006. As the Artistic Director, I give overlook and approval of what the movie's feel and look will be.
ABOUT US
Team Chow Fa formed in June 2005 to compete in the 48 Hour Film Competition. With no previous work with one another, Kang Vang assembled a team to make a short movie within 2 days. Out of 30 other teams, Team Chow Fa won awards such as “Best Cinematography�, “Best Sound Design�, and “best Musical Score�.
Kang Vang has worked on films with Moua Lee such as “Kuv Leej Niam" and “Nkauj Hli Txoj Hmoo�. He has also done various music videos and independent films such as “Five Days� and “Puag Thaum Ub�.
Many of the Team Chow Fa members are Hmongartists.net members as well. Kang Vang (Khangis_Khan), Tengo Lor (Magus13), Nikki Yang (nikkiyang), Chang Vang (drunkenhmongkee), Thao Vang (Enumasam), and Kathy Mouacheupao (yhtak).
The name was chosen by Kang to represent our style of filming, "geurilla style". It is also to represent our Hmong still trapped in Southeast Asia by communist forces.
THE PRODUCTION
Auditions have gone and past and most of the characters have been set. The film and team has a zero budget, with money from their own pockets and materials from scrap. Currently everyone working on the film is voluntarily. The purpose of this movie is to have fun, support Hmong artists, and set more standards in “professional� filmmaking in the Hmong Film Business.
credit to hmongartist
Hello, my name is Tengo Lor, Artistic Director of Team Chow Fa. In this category you will find information about Team Chow Fa, our projects, and current opportunities that you can be part of.
Currently Team Chow Fa (lead by Director Kang Vang, Khangis_Khan) is working on a romantic comedy titled "Tou and Mai" which is slated for debut before July 2006. As the Artistic Director, I give overlook and approval of what the movie's feel and look will be.
ABOUT US
Team Chow Fa formed in June 2005 to compete in the 48 Hour Film Competition. With no previous work with one another, Kang Vang assembled a team to make a short movie within 2 days. Out of 30 other teams, Team Chow Fa won awards such as “Best Cinematography�, “Best Sound Design�, and “best Musical Score�.
Kang Vang has worked on films with Moua Lee such as “Kuv Leej Niam" and “Nkauj Hli Txoj Hmoo�. He has also done various music videos and independent films such as “Five Days� and “Puag Thaum Ub�.
Many of the Team Chow Fa members are Hmongartists.net members as well. Kang Vang (Khangis_Khan), Tengo Lor (Magus13), Nikki Yang (nikkiyang), Chang Vang (drunkenhmongkee), Thao Vang (Enumasam), and Kathy Mouacheupao (yhtak).
The name was chosen by Kang to represent our style of filming, "geurilla style". It is also to represent our Hmong still trapped in Southeast Asia by communist forces.
THE PRODUCTION
Auditions have gone and past and most of the characters have been set. The film and team has a zero budget, with money from their own pockets and materials from scrap. Currently everyone working on the film is voluntarily. The purpose of this movie is to have fun, support Hmong artists, and set more standards in “professional� filmmaking in the Hmong Film Business.
credit to hmongartist
Mae
sarNie Adult
Hmmm..when this movie comes out I'll give it a shot..but not too fond of Kang Vang movies...just not that good...I remember watching Puag Thaum Ub..whatever you spell it and it was..ahemm.....confusing and one of the female leads couldn't even speak Hmong right...and the storyline jumped from place to place...storyline wasn't all that great.....after that...ummm..yeah, i don't really like Kang Vang's videos..but i'll give this one a shot, maybe he's progressed....
^yep, that what it reminds me of...actually it reminds me of my tutoring friend when it says "let the tutoring begin" lol...looks like a nice modern movie..i'll give it a shot 
ahahaha! i just actually read what the little poster said..lol so im guessing she's just arrived here (FOB) and he's suppose to tutor her...lol..interesting...
ahahaha! i just actually read what the little poster said..lol so im guessing she's just arrived here (FOB) and he's suppose to tutor her...lol..interesting...
That's a different movie that they are talking about called "Into the Dark." The two main actors for the "Tou and Mai" movie are both Lee's...at least that's what I got out of reading the names from the movie poster above.Pepper_UHT said:they're not Lee's...They're Yang and Vang.....
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