I’ve just received news that DARK ALLEY II will be competing in the Best Radio Drama Category of the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union Prizes 2008.

Although I won’t be attending the ceremony in Bali next month, I’m extremely excited and deeply honoured as this is the only Singapore nomination in this year’s list , and sole ASEAN entry in the Radio category.

I’m up against regional titans such as Japan’s NHK and China National Radio (中央人民广播电台），so I’m not harbouring any winning ambitions. Getting such a regional nomination is already a huge pat on my back… Though the US$2,000 cash prize sounds rather enticing.

这是一首简单的小情歌
唱著我们心头的白鸽
我想我很适合 当一个歌颂者
青春在风中飘著

“总有一天，你一定会有报应的！”
“四年的时间，应该足够忘记一个人吧。。。”
“对不起。看来你不用等我了。我这次赶不回来了。。。”

I thought I would be disqualified. They stated clearly that each entry was to be accompanied with a full transcript translated in English. I thought it was too much of a hassle, and decided to write a couple of lines and submit a printout of this blog entry together with an audio extract instead.

And I won! Woohoo!

In a recent internal judging, DARK ALLEY II was given the Most Creative Programme Award.

“…a radio drama with a fresh plot, good narration/acting and interesting cliffhanger. Interactive with listeners guessing the finale and generated a high number of comments online…”

谢谢评审团。这是我第一次得到专业奖项。还有奖金! 谢谢。都说我不是偶像派了。那些人气奖项都是美丽的误会。:p

谢谢三大主角陈丽仪、 黄镇涛、 Jean Danker， 以及众多配角与路人全情演出、 王德明的精彩旁述、 以及在关键时刻提供大结局灵感的朋友们。 感谢大家喜欢暗巷2。 谢谢！！！

几个星期的准备造就了六十分钟的[暗巷2]。

在非常有限的时间内，完成对白的拟写、召集二十多人录音、并在天寒地冻的录音室完成所有的剪辑与配乐。因为在同一时候也在进行（很多）其他的工作，全国最文静DJ在那几个星期成为了全台情绪最紧绷DJ。被我骂的人远远超过参与这次录暗巷2的人数。唯一的藉口就是：搞创意的人， 脾气比一般人更难以捉摸。

[暗巷2.1]播完，我是开心的。像是跑完了一场马拉松。排名已经不是关键，最重要是完成之后那种身在其中才能体会的满足感。也真的觉得[暗巷2]做的比[暗巷1]出色。当时没有任何经验，像是身陷迷宫自找出路。推出自己第一部制作的广播剧虽是诚意满分，但针对[暗巷1]的专业评语应该就是“有待进步”。

[暗巷2.1]庄静活着；伟伦死了。

她是必须活下来的。她一开始就是悲剧人物。父母的离异让天长地久这四个字变成了遥不可及的口号。

他是必须死的。他的离开粉粹了她想要得到幸福的任何企图。

有人提出阴谋论： 伟伦其实没有死。他只是流落荒岛，有一天可能断手/断脚/失忆，并在第三辑出现。

作为此剧的编剧兼制作人兼第一男主角，我在这里斩钉截铁地告诉大家： 虽然没有听到飞机爆炸，也没有听到临终前的惨叫声，陈伟伦以后的的确确只能“永在怀念中”。

故事到这里就好。不会再有[暗巷2.1.1] 或 [暗巷3]。

下一次，可能不会再自导自演。[2.1] 陈伟伦打电话的那一场戏非常重要。成与败就靠那段了。真的是花了三天三夜思考：应该“紧张万分”，或是“平淡面对”。只闻有人拍电影入戏太深，没听说过做广播剧也会如此这般。

谢谢你听了[暗巷2]。谢谢你喜欢[暗巷2]。

Haiyohz.

There will be three major scenes in DARK ALLEY 2.1 tomorrow night. All the question marks that were planted in Episode 5 will then turn into fullstops and/or exclamation marks.

I’ve completed the mixing of the first two scenes, and was completely lost while trying to do the final portion. It’s easy for the director to tell people, “No good. Too over the top. Do another take, with more emotions.” It’s very difficult to direct myself lah.

The guru of radio dramas, Li Xie was consulted this evening. She was like the beacon in a stormy sea. LOL. Thanks!

Helen:
Eh, this hotel ok boh? I very scared of you.
*inserts URL

Cruz:
Hahahhaha!

Helen:
Haiyah, should have brought you to recce the last time we were there.

Cruz:
Did you stay at that famous motel where I walked out on Andrew?

Helen:
Yes!
I didn’t dare to move the whole night!
The place looks so old!

Cruz:
LOL. At least you stayed…

Last year, Andrew brought me to this budget motel in Taipei. Although it was right beside 台北车站, the room rates were amazingly low. The catch was that it was amazingly dilapidated.

I tried my best… I really did!

I didn’t give a second glance at the rickety chair in the room, and persuaded myself into ignoring the suspicious stains on the bed linen. But I finally freaked out when I stepped into the loo. Apart from holes in the ceiling, the tiny bar of complimentary soap gave off an awful smell. The shower hose was also extremely icky. And I think I was shivering terribly because the heater was not working well. The temperature outside was 10 degrees celcius, by the way.

I had faced similar scenarios in the army. But I wasn’t about to put up with that while on a holiday. Heh. Leo answered my call at midnight and googled for the number to United Hotel.

I was very apologetic towards Andrew. He was having supper with his Taiwanese friends during my moving out. Because he was not contactable by phone, I had to slip a note under his door. Besides giving him a rude shock, I was explicitly doubting his choice of accommodation. And he had to get my refund from the equally shocked receptionists.

Because of this, my travelling partners this Oct have been searching extensively for a hotel decent enough so that I don’t go running to United in the middle of the night. Hahah!

P/S: The bit about Chen Weilun abandoning his travel mates in Episode 4 of DARK ALLEY II was inspired by this incident.

I have finally completed all five episodes of DARK ALLEY 2.

For the last couple of weeks, I was living and breathing DARK ALLEY. Because it was a sequel, I had to constantly refer to the previous script.

“No, that’s not what something she would say/ do…”

“But ok lah, it’s been six months already! People change!”

As I had previously mentioned, DARK ALLEY 1 was adapted from 在暗巷的尽头相逢, a short story written by 吴淡如. The events in DARK ALLEY 2 happened six months after Zhuang Jing’s (failed) attempt at seeking revenge. Because the original story had ended in DARK ALLEY 1, I had inputs from various people before finalising the script for the second season. Trying to be a scriptwriter… That was the first step to hell. Muahahahaha.

Step number two of the self sabotage was minimising narration in this season. As a result, there was a huge increase in the number of characters in the drama. And in Episode 4, where the four leads arrive in Hong Kong, transition between the various scenes depended heavily on sound effects and timing. That single episode took five hours to complete.

Although it was my first radio drama production, the making of DARK ALLEY 1 had a more structured process: Scripting -> Recording -> Production.

The time line was extremely tight this season, because of other work commitments. To match the schedules of more than 20 characters in the show, recording began even before the script was complete. As the headliners of this drama, Liyi, Zhentao and Jean, had to record over a number of days. And the supporting cast of Dasmond and Weibin were mobilised at short notice because of a last minute change in the finale.

Chen Weilun inherits some of my traits in this episode. Hahaha! Refusing to stay in budget accommodations, and having an unexplained liking for 杨汁甘露… That said, Cruz Teng does not invite random strangers to his hotel room…