ABC Malaysia, viral video: John Gomez.

Yesterday, I shot a "viral video" for ABC Malaysia, the publication circulation assessor. It was a very enjoyable experience. I played the ghost of a publisher, John Gomez. The production house, Reservoir Productions, commissioned a beautiful suit for me, for the shoot. It was just the right touch for the character.

It was a green screen shoot. This means that there was a green backdrop behind me, onto which will be inserted images, in post production, to place my performance in a context. I am very curious as to what the Director Ismail Jamaluddin will put there. It is going to be an interesting surprise!

For me, the most rewarding part of the shoot, apart from the chance to work with the character, until the performance was just what Ismail wanted, was the Director's response to my work. For the second time in a week, a Director has been extremely positive about my work and has spoken of working with me again in future. I am heartened by this. It allows me to understand that I am right to devote the time and energy to acting that I have, in my life, for it very much seems, now, that I have a promising future in this arena. All I have to do, at this time, is keep on working and experimenting. The path ahead looks to be an enjoyable one.

Thank you to Casting Director Richard Goh for putting my name forward for this role. Thanks also to advertising agency Creative Juice, for approving of Ismail Jamaluddin's choice of me for the role.

The ABC Malaysia viral video is expected to be released in August this year. My performance, as John Gomez, should be visible on the ABC Malaysia website. I will let you know when it is out and shall link to it, if I can.

Posted by Valentine Cawley


(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

Mining Magnate, NTV7, a Mandarin TV drama.

This week, I shot a couple of episodes of Mining Magnate for Mediacorp, for NTV7. This is a Mandarin (with English), TV drama about, as you might guess, a mining magnate and family. It is one of those very complex family dramas filled with intricate relationships and much in the way of tension between people. It is expected to begin showing in December 2012. I appear in episodes 9 and 12, which will be out, most probably in February 2013.

I  played the role of Mr. Robinson. He is a British man involved in business dealings in Malaysia. He is not the nicest of guys and holds certain chauvinistic attitudes more common, perhaps, in the 1960s, in which my scenes are set. He is also not beyond taking bribes and being otherwise less than straightforward in his dealings. He was disagreeable, but fun to play nevertheless.

The shoot was one of the most complex I have ever been on - in fact, the main scene had the most different shots that I have ever been in. It was a scene of many characters. Each character was at least a supporting role. So, each character ended up getting their own close up. When this was added to all the wide shots, shots at odd angles and so on, the total was an incredible number of shots for each aspect of the scene. Given that it was also quite a long scene, with much conversation, it took much longer than any comparable length of scene, I have ever shot in my life.

I can see why the director did this, though. He wants to create an intimacy with the reactions and feelings of each character, with the audience. Each of us was shown in detail. Our every little response was captured. As a result, I think the scene will have a great deal of intensity, when it is finally cut together.

I enjoyed the shoot, but found it very demanding. I cannot recall another scene in my acting life that required so many different shots of the same lines. It was instructive, however. I think I learnt a new level of appreciation for the technical possibilities of a dramatic, conversational scene.

The Director, Ken Ng, told me afterwards how much he enjoyed my work. "Your acting is really good.", he said. To others, he called me "the best". He also went on to say that  he wished he had known me earlier because he had finished an English language film with a Hollywood star only last year - and remarked: "You should have done that film!". It was clear he meant for me to have taken the Hollywood star's role. That was a high compliment indeed.

He promised to work with me again. I hope we do. It was a good experience.

When Mining Magnate comes out on NTV7, please let me know what you make of my work in episodes 9 and 12, by commenting below.

Thank you.

Posted by Valentine Cawley



(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

The essence of fatherhood.

Today, The Star newspaper, of Malaysia, published an article they had commissioned from me, on fatherhood. In the article, I have tried to encapsulate our style of parenting in seven parenting principles. These principles form the basis of how we have raised our kids. They are also the principles which allowed our eldest child to develop into a child prodigy.

I am very curious as to what you think of the article. So, let me know what you like about it, below, if you will.

The article is to be found here:

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2012/6/13/lifeliving/11458603&sec=lifeliving

Please share it with your own readers by linking to it from whatever sites you have. I hope that my parenting principles get to be read by many people. I would like to think they helped some people, particularly children. Thank you.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)