Kevin Wang
Film-Maker & Musician
Favourite song to play on repeat?
The Waters - Anderson .Paak
First thing's first - how did you get into making film-making and videography? What made it more interesting than other forms of art?
I feel I’ve always been interested in making movies in one way or another. When I was 6 I’d be more fascinated watching the BTS Disc on DVD’s than the actual movies themselves - regardless of whether or not I understood what was going on.
A lot of my interest came from YouTube and seeing people make like short action fight scenes or LEGO stop motion. Then when I started watching actual films my horizons broadened and I started considering storytelling in a more complex manner. I think filmmaking and videos in general is just the most universal and accessible mediums to express and communicate to one another by virtue of our experience all being sensory, which includes audio-visual experience.
There’s just so much you can do storytelling-wise with a camera, some editing software and an idea and when it’s done right, it’s a real experience.
With all that in mind, who or what are your biggest inspirations?
Oh my lord there’s too many to count. I’ll just hit you with random things that come to mind.
- Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance - just the whole movie really shaped the kinds of aesthetics I now gravitate towards
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - genius concept executed so heartbreakingly well
- Paul Thomas Anderson - everything
- Casey Neistat - everything
- Wong Kar-Wai and ChungKing Express - how well he manages to capture an atmosphere and vibe
- Donald Glover/Childish Gambino - I’m so bewildered by this man, how does one even do so many things at that level???
- City of God - I think this is waaaay up there as like, the Ultimate Movie, it’s just so damn well made in every regard, watch it, please
- 500 Days of Summer - guilty pleasure, one of the all time greatest rom-coms
- Anderson .Paak, Frank Ocean and Kanye West - music that just really hits the spot
Do you have anything you like shooting in particular? Events? Skits? What's been your favourite work so far?
Just as my own thing, I really enjoy shooting mundane or everyday activities and try making them aesthetic - I like to think of it as ambient video - like I just have this strong will to try and make shit look pretty, even if it doesn’t always turn out that way. There’s beauty everywhere, you just gotta look for it.
Other than that, I just like to shoot things with a strong idea/concept behind them, which means I’ll typically veer towards the side of skits and storytelling
That said, one of my favourite works I’ve worked on is our high school’s 2016 Keep The Ball Alive graduation video - it was an example of a time when you have a crazy idea in your head and somehow manage to successfully will it into reality.
What about projects you're looking forward to in the future? Anything cool coming up that we should know about?
Yes, I’m looking to dive in headfirst into creating more video content and experimenting more with different aspects of filmmaking, just for personal reasons mainly, but I’ll also be making videos for things such as Med Revue and Blitz - There are just a lot of ideas I have bubbling that I want to turn into something tangible and throw out into the world to be seen, so, be on the lookout for any new output from me!
If you could tell your first-year self one thing, what would it be?
Don’t be so sure of the things you think are so and open yourself up to the world around you. It’ll save me from having to do it 2 years from now.
Arc theme is coffee this week - what's your favourite way to drink your coffee?
Iced with one sugar, or a cappuccino with one sugar, just something caffeinated with one sugar, please.
And final question - do you have anything you want to share with the world? Could be random shower thoughts, something deep or just a quick ramble.
I’ll just leave you with two quotes that’ve been floating around in my mind recently. I hope they benefit you in some way.
“You can’t rip the skin off the snake. The snake must moult the skin. That’s the rate it happens.”
- Ram Dass
“God gave you what you can handle”
- Frank Ocean
