Our newest short, “POSER!”, was released yesterday. It’s a mockumentary about the history and evolution of the “peace sign”. I was pretty nervous about putting it up, questioning myself if it was funny enough, or entertaining enough because it’s a solid 14 min. I chose not to split it into separate parts because I really wanted to encourage people to watch it all the way through. Usually ppl online have a attention span of about 30 sec, so I was afraid ppl were gonna get bored really fast. Thankfully, and surprisingly, it’s actually doing incredibly well out there, hitting a record for us as the most views in a single day, and our highest placement on the “youtube charts” lol. “youtube charts”. Thank you everyone for watching and hopefully enjoying, and passing it along. Click on to read some commentary and where the idea came from…
~As you may know, we go on tour and do events quite often. Usually we’re taking lots and lots of pictures with various fans at meet&greets. Some time around March, probably at ISA, I noticed that lots and lots of young people always requested that we take one “normal” picture and one “fobby” or “goofy” picture. This usually by default meant, “hold up the peace signs”. I wondered…at what point did the “Peace sign” become known as the “FOB sign” (to Asians at least). So in my weird little head I started thinking up all these different fictional reasons in history that this might’ve happened, and around April, I put it down on computer paper so that I could start shooting this.
~Shooting spanned about 3 months, even though it was really only a total of 5 days. That’s how difficult it was to schedule everyone. It was a pretty large “cast”, most of which were all friends. We shot the interior of the Research Dept. at Cal Poly Pomona (Thanks to Philip Tran) and the exterior is actually CSU LA.
~I was pretty concerned that people would think the content was racist, especially the “Classification” section. I’ll admit I did play on stereotypes…and I don’t really remember why we chose to say “black ppl” and “white ppl” instead of “African American” and “Caucasian”. I ask the actors and they said they were fine w/ it. In terms of the possibly “offensive” generalizations, I guess I felt that overall I was teasing Asians the most, so that made it ok. And ultimately, it’s not really teasing or making fun, it’s about recognizing difference and “celebrating” and “sharing”…which is why I chose to end the short with everyone teaching each other. I think people who take it too seriously, are beyond reasoning with. heh. If I’ve offended anyone, I apologize.
~The actor who plays 3rd doctor is “Evan” from UP IN DA CLUB and the actor who plays the first doctor is “Arthur” from our movie A MOMENT WITH YOU.
~The “archive footage” from Shanghai in 1941 and stuff was actually just shot in a very “asian” look corner of a friend’s living room. And then in editing I made it look old.
~My favorite “PPA” is Unicorn and Baby Unicorn. I’m very proud of those. While I’m under the impression that those are totally original poses that I made up, I could be wrong. Which was your favorite? I know I probably missed a lot of others, but I didn’t wanna make a 30 min doc. haha
~Wes designed some tshirts to go along with this short… they’ll be available soon.
~It was so much fun to shoot with everyone! Thank you for participating, hope you had fun too!
Ok, that’s all for now. I’m gonna be out of town for a couple weeks…in case you notice my absence from this blog. I should go get ready. Happy Friday. =) PEACE OUTSYDE!
July 9, 2010 at 4:48 pm
It is really great short film, very funny. Thank you for all you good work.
November 13, 2009 at 5:26 pm
so is it weird if a white person is taking a picture with multiple asians and does the peace sign?? just curious.
November 4, 2009 at 2:35 am
awesome job!!
September 22, 2009 at 2:30 am
I use your poses for my dailybooth! Love you guys<3!
September 20, 2009 at 3:57 am
you are very inspirational! 8D im glad i got to learn something from your short films as alwayssss. keep up the beauty!! 8D
September 20, 2009 at 12:01 am
I thought this was great and well put together.
I am Chinese and I don’t do any of the asian poses lol. But after watching this, i may do some. I liked the starfish one. I usually make faces instead when taking pics
Keep up the good work!
September 19, 2009 at 6:37 pm
OMG i love this “documentary” LOL Wes looked really cute too!!!!
i am totally a poser and happy about it !!!!!
i love how you guys did the pout, frame, and tear then name it like hella long
hope to see another “documentary” of this!>.<
September 19, 2009 at 5:14 pm
LOVED IT!!!
i like the Medium shot pose ^^
a thoroughly done short
*PEACE
September 15, 2009 at 11:37 am
super cute! you should check out http://asianposes.com/ for more fun poses to try on for size. =) happy posing!
September 13, 2009 at 4:41 pm
haha this was cute and funny
where are you going?
September 13, 2009 at 12:39 pm
PHILIP,
You deserve 5 thumbs up. I think you did incredible with this short. Not only is it extremely creative, it actually does sound professional, too! hahah
have a safe flight… well, back.
I loved the vid, and I did recommend it to other(s)
September 13, 2009 at 3:22 am
I loved this video. It was very funny and interesting to watch! I especially liked the ending where the different races are trying to teach each other’s poses. LOL. I think it’s one of the best video you’ve made so far!
Good job! Keep up the good work!! =)
September 12, 2009 at 11:45 pm
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 WONG FUU!!! FTW!!!
I remember when I took a pic with ya'll I put up my fobby peace sign!!! lol UT AUSTIN woot woot!!
Anyways I thought thiswas totally creative and different than the typical wong fu, I think yall have crossed into a new genre-esk goober…@x@?? yea… I can't wait for the t-shirts
My fave PPA was the STARFISH and the Combover lol that cute guy innovator was ADORKABLE~~~~
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
-Melody-
September 12, 2009 at 7:12 pm
great vid,,, reminds me of:
http://asianposes.com/
September 12, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I loved this “mockumentary”! Very clever xD
My favorite PPA was NOBODY! Wonder Girls, hehehe!
September 12, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Loved it, loved it, loved it.
Keep it up guys. Never fail to make me smile… Now just got to find a way to get you to England!!
September 12, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Hey guys thanks for letting a fanboy living out his dreams and working wiith you on this project. It was one of the best experienced either. I know Will is still blown away when you wanted to cast him. Much love from the Cal Poly crew
September 12, 2009 at 3:32 am
she’s so cute… your so lucky to be next to her ALL THAT TIME. (jealous)
September 12, 2009 at 3:05 am
At first when you said “white” and “black” people, I was like “woah, that’s a bit of a risque thing to do”. But it’s in good taste, and people on YouTube sure don’t seem to mind! Good work guys! Definitely a decent new short!
September 12, 2009 at 2:07 am
LOLS i love that video~!!!
September 12, 2009 at 2:02 am
luv the first pic
September 12, 2009 at 1:50 am
Great short Phil. You’re very observant. It was informative, captivating, artistic, and in classic “wong fu style” funny! This posing trend has been quite prominent and I kinda don’t get it, so it was awesome that you made a mockumentary out of it.
As for being racist- I personally did not take offense to it. You were just pointing out obvious different poses with different races. The “slanty eye” bit- on the heels of recent events- classic! It would have been funnier if you had said, “Slanty eyes….Racist. You know who you are.” I absolutely loved how you ended the short with the sharing of different cultural poses.
Thanks for putting it out there. Risky, but being an artist takes risk. Keep up the good work Wong Fu. You guys are going to be HUGE…you just gotta get through the “20s grind.”
September 12, 2009 at 1:05 am
DUDE. my favorite is the baby unicorn too hahahhaa! Actually i’ve done the Unicorn before, but never the baby unicorn, so it is pretty original
Next time with my friends i’m going to make them do PPA’s with me too! i’ll twitpic it =)
This is seriously i really funny video, just behind the video blogging one you showed at ISA! That one is my absolute favorite.
September 12, 2009 at 12:35 am
Haha, this was a nice short
I like your Unicorn ones =P I was wondering if you guys made it up since I’ve never seen it before.
Yea! When you mentioned the “Black” and “White” I was thinking “Wow, are some people going to thing that’s taboo =O?” But then I thought about it, and meh it’s not like people in every day language actually use “African-American” or “Causian” to point out a random person they see.
It was funny though
FOABE, excellent organization, I look forward to their progress.l
September 11, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Japanese Fun was funny! I actually did that for a media class homework! Haha… I thought the beginning was abit slow but it picked up really well! Great job guys! Keep it up!
September 11, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Was a great short, I enjoyed it!
Enjoy your well deserved holiday!
September 11, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I enjoyed the short. It be hard to believe anyone would actually be offended because it’s so playful.
Have fun being out of town.
September 11, 2009 at 10:33 pm
YOU’RE AAAAAAAAAAAWESOME!!!
GREAT WORK GUYS! ^.^\/
September 11, 2009 at 10:16 pm
haha i loved poser ! there’s even a post on the david choi forums someone started where people are posting up their poses [:
September 11, 2009 at 10:04 pm
A total hit! I loved every second of it.
September 11, 2009 at 10:01 pm
omg best mockumentary I have ever seen!
even if it’s the only mockumentary I’ve seen it’s still awesome!
omg the girl that did the “medium shot” is soooo pretty!
September 11, 2009 at 9:38 pm
was very funny great job
September 11, 2009 at 9:06 pm
haha for unicorn and baby unicorn, i’m pretty sure they both meant “bastard” and “idiot” respectively. No worries though, there’s no way you could’ve known lol. Growing up speaking sign language turned out to be pretty useful i guess
September 11, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Hahaa, another great video! Thank you!!
PEACE!! ^ – ~ v
Lol. xDD
September 11, 2009 at 8:32 pm
dude.. so that was inside cal poly?? nice. it was really funny.. any of u guys go to cpp?? someone looks very familiar. i don’t know if that’s just me or i’ve been watching too many wong FU production
September 11, 2009 at 8:21 pm
oh wait i’m not first lol….
black people are still cool.
September 11, 2009 at 8:20 pm
FIRST
xD i love when the black guy is being taught “cute girl” poses
I LOVE MY BLACK BESTIES x]<3 hah half-kidding
September 11, 2009 at 7:55 pm
I loved the video!
Are you guys coming to Raleigh anytime soon?
September 11, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I think you played the stereotypes well enough not to make a big fuss about it. I loved it
September 11, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Always love your videos. Hands down.
)
Keep it up! (and come to Columbia!
September 11, 2009 at 7:38 pm
I can understand why you were worried putting it up because of its length, but imo its your best video yet and easily my favourite. Great work, thanks!
September 11, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Loved the video.
No matter how long your videos are, they’re always funny (:
Hope you have fun out of town Phil, and good luck to everyone filming the recent video at Costco, haha.