After 3 months, one release a month, here is the final short off our One Days: HK DVD. It’s called “See Through” and it was written and directed by Philip and features Wes as the main character and his brother in a supporting role. The synopsis goes, “Sometimes the most personal advice can be found in complete strangers. Listening to the experiences of another can help us apply what they’ve learned into our own lives. Two travelers on different ends of a similar situation find peace and understanding through each others words and presence.”
Ready for some behind the scenes commentary?
1. This short was shot on our last day in Hong Kong. There was no chance for reshoots. Everything had to be done that day. Of course, as I was editing, and looking back, there were a few things I woulda wanted to fix or do differently. oh wellz
2. This was my first “One Days” project and I definitely felt the pressure. It was also my first time in Hong Kong.
3. Originally I wanted to shoot a “One Day” in Taipei, Taiwan, which was where we were before arriving in HK. Since I wasn’t able to deliver while we were there, I decided to shoot in HK.
4. Yes, that is Wes’ actual brother. He was traveling with us. By the time we shot this short, we had used up all our resources and friends. Since there were no other people available to act…Wes and Ted stepped up and did a great job.
4a. Wes’ brother is a genius. Literally. haha. And he’s incredibly talented artistically. He can paint, sculpt, forge his own swords, carve out an er-hu on a whim and is also world renowned for his origami. Check it out, you will be amazed. The following piece is folded from a single piece of uncut/untorn paper.
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5. Robynn, the girl who plays Lily is a friend that we met on tour in 2007. We’ve kept in touch and she just so happened to be back in HK for the summer. She’s also a great singer! Also, unlike her character in the story she does speak Cantonese, fluently.
6. We were stopped once by a security guard while shooting near the Avenue of the Stars (where the short opens) He just told us to go a bit further down out of the way. The rest of the day, in other locations we didn’t run into any more problems.
7. I wrote the script the night before. As all the other One Days shorts were made, the translation was done as we were shooting. However, we had the hardest time translating “psychic” and some other weird lines I had written into normal and proper mandarin. We ended up having to call various aunties and moms to get help.
8. The main idea. Lily’s words and the way she speaks about her soon to be ex-boyfriend is a reflection of Tracy and how she broke up with David. David hears Lily’s closing words and realizes these are probably the same things Tracy feels about leaving him. “He will be happy again, I’m not the only person in this world for him.”
So we released the DVD in Dec 2008, but thought that for this summer, it’d be nice to release the 3 new shorts, previously only viewable on the DVD, to the public. Hope you’ve enjoyed all the new shorts over the last few months. Hopefully we’ll be able to make more while we’re on future trips, and in other countries!! =D
Here are some photos I took during another day we were just hanging out. Imagine these are from earlier in the night when Lily and David met up. Or maybe if/when they saw each other in Taiwan again!
January 18, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Loved it a lot especially since I just came back from Hong Kong.
KFC is really good there vs at home (California)
September 21, 2009 at 3:51 pm
one word: awesome.
September 15, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Hi !
This is my first time watching your short movie.
So NATURAL ~~~`
you’ve got me!!!
KEEP IT UP !
i’ll be supporting~~
(^_^)
MALAYSIAN
September 4, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I love this video
you guys are great!!! Keep doing the great work 
August 20, 2009 at 3:14 pm
can you make the next video in fujianese. just in case if you at last shoot the next part in taiwan.
chinese language has many dialects, not just cantonese and mandarin
August 16, 2009 at 9:54 am
i am a 51 year old white male who just caught your spot on HLN. i was caught right away and had to check your site out. wow good stuff. you have a new fan. see through was geat. hope to see more. robynn needs to be in more of your future work. shes a dream. thanks
August 13, 2009 at 12:27 am
I loved this short! Loved the artistry, but even more the fact that people recognize that just because you love someone with all your heart, it doesn’t mean the two of you will be good for one another. So many people stay together for the worst of reasons. It’s good to see a representation of the fact that we do all heal and something better really is waiting for us.
August 9, 2009 at 1:27 am
wut camera did you use for this short?
August 8, 2009 at 3:49 pm
The language concept was brilliant even if a bit surreal.
Loved it lots.
From Malaysia =)
August 6, 2009 at 2:28 am
I loved the short…it was so clever and real. I love all your shorts from this series. I think this is my favorite.
Not to overshadow the short, but I am EXTREMELY amazed that Brain Chan is Wes’s brother. I’ve seen his video before – the one where he folds the people in the MIT symbol. It didn’t sink in until you mentioned his oragami skills. Wow…that’s all I can say!
August 2, 2009 at 6:20 pm
hmm….I liked it…but Wes and Brian weren’t speaking clearly enough…well, it’s more like Wes didn’t speak clearly enough in cantonese. Even though I don’t understand cantonese, I had to rewind the video again and again to hear him.
August 2, 2009 at 1:02 am
I enjoyed this short very much
The story was good
keep the awesome work up guys
hope to see you guys in NZ one day
July 30, 2009 at 5:05 am
Great short! I love how parts of the story reflected reality. I also love the great cinematography!
You should share the video on Viddler and other video sites. I know Viddler’s community would love it!
July 25, 2009 at 1:53 am
i also liked this clip a lot. the synopsis was great, that they would find understanding through each other; only thing though was that i must have missed where she found understanding through him. he just left her there drinking by herself.
i mean, he asked her why would she and wished her reasons to come back to visit but i felt no closure with her. just him. made me feel unbalanced. meh. lol
July 24, 2009 at 8:36 pm
if this was shot in taipei, same story, same lines, but might have a different feeling? I’d love to see a short shot in taipei!
great job!
July 24, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Love the shorts… even more because it’s filmed in my hometown: HK!!
It was nice to see more ‘sweet’ and thoughtful stuff in Chinese. I like that there’s both Canto and Mandarin… really hoping you guys do more in the languages!
July 24, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Is the other male actor the real brother? He looks very familiar. Is his name Brian also?
July 24, 2009 at 3:47 am
i love this new short.
in general, i like how you guys touch hearts by the stories of your shorts. i really enjoy watching your works, because they bring out so many emotions. i laugh, i cry, i start to think, and get to realize certain things in my life.
i thank you that you make me feel happy and excited, every time you release something new from you or about you
too bad i live in Germany and so can’t take part of your events over there, but i reeeeeally hope that i can meet you guys sometime!!!
if you come to germany, tell me x)
July 22, 2009 at 10:57 pm
holy crap. i just saw brian’s origami work. my mind was officially blown.
keep up the good work guys!
July 22, 2009 at 10:20 pm
It was a really good short and loved the video and editing of HK
although what really got me the most was the song around the ending.
Does any1 know what that song is! i must know! >.<
overall good job!!!
July 22, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Her explanation as to why she was breaking up with her boyfriend was eloquent in it’s simplicity. I have been her before and worried about how long an ex would hurt after a breakup because he could not see the same future I did. This was very true to life story for me to watch.
July 22, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I don’t believe the bit about exhausting your resources and friends. I’m sure if you just gave a shout out, tens or more would be at your disposal…seriously!
July 22, 2009 at 10:45 am
Awesome short guys! This was my favorite vid in the One Days HK series. Maybe because I could relate to it better and that my name is David too~ It may also be because it was longer so more time to develop characters/plot. Overall great job and keep up the good work =)
July 22, 2009 at 10:20 am
This was my favorite short of the dvd. Maybe I’m biased because Wes is in it? Haha..but srlsy, wonderful concept
July 22, 2009 at 9:46 am
Just like another shorts you’ve got for The One Days: HK, mood was set great, characters were right on, story IS AMAZING!! I’ve been staying up and reviewing you guys’ old shorts lately, it’s all worth it!! I’m so glad you guys stick around for so long and continue on, and I hope this will last forever to always give us a chance to smile after every short. THANKS LOTS!!
July 22, 2009 at 9:00 am
With no time to do any reshooting, this turned out to be a great short. I love how it was filmed in HK and in my language. In fact, I’m going there in a few weeks ^^V. Props to everybody. Keep up the awesome work :]
July 22, 2009 at 4:20 am
awww greatjob! but you should should have shot it in taipei! it’s a beautiful city! hope to see some shorts from taipei. great job again..
July 22, 2009 at 12:36 am
I thought it was cute
Thought it was pretty cool that Brian was in it lol
July 22, 2009 at 12:24 am
This video made me realize something. I had been hating my first ex-gf for a while because she moved on much faster than me. (Because she had to go away we were forced to break up) It felt like she really didn’t care about what we had. But I think now that, she probably didn’t want to hurt me at all but knew that it was unavoidable anyway, so if she continued haggling over me like I was sorta doing to her, it would only delay the pain and thoughts longer…
This was rather recent…
but now i sort of feel at peace with it. I learned from your video….thx
July 21, 2009 at 11:39 pm
i like the new short. wes and brian were really good actors. robynn also. Wes looks a little different in the video though. One thing I kept noticing that I didn’t know before is that wes has a mole on his right cheek that is really noticable. XP