The Beginning of the Making of

someday. by avalonne hall is taking a new direction. When I first started my the girl from hk, ldn & sf blog, it was solely for the purpose of documenting my style. After I made the decision to abandon it, I started this blog and my blog became more writing oriented, which I absolutely love. I miss documenting my outfits, because I miss my photo sessions with Caro, but I just love writing and expressing my thoughts, opinions, hopes and dreams.

At the beginning of the year, my blog was going strong. I blogged religiously and frequently, it felt good to have a routine and write regularly. But I got "busier" towards the end of the semester, i.e. I was kind of busy, but mostly just lazy and felt slightly uninspired and unmotivated. Once I graduated, I was still in a demotivated mindset. Even when I moved to New York in June, I still didn't pick it back up and it felt so awful, but I just didn't feel the urge to document anything.

I started again at the beginning of November, because I told myself enough is enough! Granted, I started to get busy from mid July to end of October, so that's why I started blogging again in November, but only for three days. How pathetic is that? So my last week from December 6th to December 15th, I had the MOST STRESSFUL nine days of my life. No exaggeration. Now is the time for me to just let go and release that stress into my writing. I am completely physically, mentally and emotionally stressed out, burnt out and exhausted. I worked on this ultra low budget feature film as the second assistant director. It was one hell of a learning experience. I won't go into too much detail, but I'm glad that I was thrown into this situation and position (I volunteered) and I gained so much experience and I've grown up so much over these past days.

Now I am absolutely confident that I have the mentality, emotional stability and strength, competence, passion and motivation to MAKE MY VERY FIRST SHORT FILM. When I say make I mean write, direct and produce. I already have a first draft and I haven't touched it in three weeks, since I've been so busy, but after tomorrow, I want to do rewrites and work on it. I will lock down a pretty decent draft by the end of the year. My goal from that point is to campaign and raise money for this project. I have confidence in myself that I can sell my idea and raise awareness and peak people's interest. Then when I am raising money, I will be finding crew and I'll try to lock down an actor for the male lead. It's NOW OR NEVER at this point. On December 10th, I "celebrated" my sixth month in New York. I've been here for half a year now! It's shocking how fast time has gone by and I don't know if I've really achieve much since June 2011. What I have achieved:

1. Assistant to an independent producer (July 2011)
2. Art intern on Revenge for Jolly (August 2011)
3. Set intern on Sinister (September - October 2011)
4. Additional Set Production Assistant on The Dark Knight Rises (November 2011)
5. Office PA Intern, then Second Assistant Director on Me, You and Five Bucks (December 2011)

I don't know if that's a lot or not? But I know I have to bust my ass in order to make my film and hopefully work on this feature in February till April. Which means I'll be shooting my short in April, if all goes well. And I need to stop working on movies for free. Note to self: I really need to stop interning. I am so exhausted, but I love it. As tired I am, I have loved every minute of it, because I know I'm gaining the skill sets to be a reliable, efficient and business-minded filmmaker. I always thought I was 100% right brained, but after this second assistant director position experience, I've noticed that I'm pretty left brained too. Since the second assistant director job is completely administrative and not creative. It's good to know that I'm an artist who considers logistics when it comes to making a movie.

I want my blog to be a place where I document my journey of making my short film and making it a reality. I can talk and write about it, but the reality is that it's now or never and I better make it happen. I can't just sit on my ass and be all talk. I have to keep reminding myself that this has to happen, because my future is completely up in the air. I have no idea what's going to happen to me in June 2012 when my OPT expires. I am deathly afraid of not knowing, but all I can do is make a movie that I'm proud of. I want to build working relationships and work with hardworking, dedicated, talented people who love their craft. The reality is that no matter how big a movie is, there is corruption and/or lack of morale and low work ethic, but I want to create a working environment where people have fun and get shit done basically. It's okay to have fun, but work hard and fast. There has to be a balance or else it's not worth it.

How will my short film stand out? Well every film needs a niche right? What's my niche? Honesty. Let's skip all the bullshit and let's be real for once. Fuck Hollywood endings. The boy doesn't get the girl. They don't fall in love. Life goes on. What's our purpose here? What happens in the end?

I am ready to kick start my career. Who's with me?

Happy Anniversary

Happy Wedding Anniversary to my parents! They've been married for twenty six years! I would be so lucky if I could be with someone for that many years. I've always respected the idea of marriage, because I think it's rare to find whatever "love" is and feel the absolute urge to spend the rest of your life with that one person. A real marriage is with 100% faithfulness, fidelity, commitment and monogamy. Today, so many marriage end in divorce. We all know the statistic and yet people are getting married and getting divorced just as quickly.

I always thought marriage was sacred and for life. I never had a religious upbringing, my view on marriage is solely from a moral standpoint. In the last week, we've already seen two celebrity couples filing for divorce and I hate to say that one of them is one of my favorite actresses Zooey Deschanel. Everyone has their reasons for divorce, but seriously what does irreconcilable differences mean? I personally feel like I couldn't get married and see myself as a divorcee in the future. I would hope to whatever higher power there is that I would to married for life to this one person. That's just how I feel, but I might just be jinxing it as of this moment. Knock on wood, I meet this person to begin with and then I could continue discussing the potential of marriage.

It's easy for me to say that if I get married, it will be for life, but I absolutely am aware that it is really hard to keep a marriage together. There are so many factors to breaking up a marriage. Time and the possibility of love fading. Love is not enough to keep a marriage afloat. You need willpower and mental strength to fight for the person you married. We are surrounded by temptation and jealousy. Time changes people, sometimes for the better and a lot of the times for the worse. It inspires me to know that my parents have been together for twenty six years. It inspires me to see elderly couples on the street, at the theatre, leaning on each others' shoulders, going to the US Open together. I really hope one day my path will lead me to a long and loving relationship and marriage. But as of now, I am as far as can be from the thought of any of that business, but I'm really happy to be single. And when I say single, I mean no relationships and no dating whatsoever.

Congratulations to my amazing parents! To another 24 years of marriage!

Someday. by Avalonne Hall

the reinvention of avalonne hall

Reinvention. To reinvent is to bring back something into existence. This year has been a year of reinvention and bringing back something into my life. Since I moved to New York City, I've felt overwhelmed by the pressure of finding a job and earning money. Rapidly, my blog became less and less of a priority. My thoughts were sitting in a corner collecting dust, as well as my camera. After four months in New York, I am slowly becoming acquainted with the city. Physically, I know where all the neighborhoods are, but I still haven't found my niche yet.

Niche: a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted. It is so important to have a niche, when you're living in a huge city with another eight million people and you feel so small and insignificant? I love New York. I have dreamed of living in New York for such a long time and I am finally living my dream, but as Carrie Bradshaw once said her loneliness is palpable. A small part of me feels this void within me that cannot be fulfilled unless I am really working and earning and spending my own money and being a full fledged adult. I am not fully independent until I can support myself. Meanwhile, I'm trying to find my niche in the city, in terms of neighborhood, habitat, people, activities. Thankfully, I do feel most at home when I'm writing here. This is my home.

This is a place where I can be honest and genuine. I try to be honest and genuine in life also, but this is where I come and be creative. Since I moved to New York, I have been fortunate enough to embark on a few adventures in the world of filmmaking. I was fortunate enough to intern on two feature films. From these two experience, I learned so much about the protocols and politics of the industry. I also met some really great people and I hope we can be friends for a very long time.

Friendships in life can be so transitory, especially New York friendships. You can meet a lot of people and have a lot of friends, but I would personally prefer a small group of close friends and be each others' support systems. Everyone has their different groups of friends from their childhood, high school, college years and then work. It doesn't help that I've lived in four different cities. Nevertheless, I am hoping to build the kind of friendships here in New York that will last and persevere, which will make my time in New York that much more enjoyable and fulfilling.

I still have not decided where I fit in. My biggest issue is that I don't drink. This may come as a shock to a lot of people (because I have caused lots of jaws to drop with that revelation), but I really don't drink. I've gotten into copious debates about why I don't drink and at the end, we always agreed to disagree. I can't say that everyone drinks, but everyone drinks. Please note: I am not against drinking as such, it's just not my activity. It's your choice, not mine. If someone here doesn't drink, I'd like to know that I'm not alone. I'll dedicate an entire post about this sometime in the near future, so I can clear up my reasons once and for all. Drinking is such a huge part of the New York lifestyle or any lifestyle in general, but I personally can have fun without drinking. When I've revealed to people that I don't drink, the immediate response would be "what do you do for fun then?"

I can have fun. I can have so much fun without a drop of alcohol. It is my goal to document all the fun I can have without alcohol. And the honest truth is that I have the alcoholic tolerance of a child. Alcohol kills the fun for me. I can list out all the fun activities and adventures that I've had since I moved to New York! At the beginning of this year, I said that 2010 was the best year of my life, well now 2011 has been the best year of my life. 2010 was a roller coaster ride of emotions with quite a few downs and now I can safely say that 2011 has been a year of lots of ups and hopefully more ups to come.

On another note, I was told that New York is going to fuck me up. Big city, crazy people, fucked up morals. Well, I'd like to say this in response to that, I love New York and I love my life. I think I'm levelheaded enough to know that I have that kind of self control and discipline that will allow me to remain the same person I am, work hard, achieve my goals and have a fucking awesome time. I HEART YOU, NEW YORK and I hope you heart me back.

Two Thousand and Eleven!

February: Started my new blog http://www.avalonnehall.com/
May: Graduated! Goodbye Academy of Art University. It will be the last time I mention you on my blog ever!
May/June: Went to L.A. with my parents as a graduation trip. L.A. is exactly what I envisioned and it didn't change my previous opinion on it. It was a fun trip, but I couldn't live there.
June 10th, 2011: Moved to New York, New York!!!
July 2nd and 9th: Saw The Normal Heart at the John Golden Theatre and met the lovely Jim Parsons and Simon Helberg!
July: Met up with JT and Dyanna of The SF Style. Had lunch on St. Marks Place, did a mini shoot and went to Trader Joes!
July-August: I'm not at liberty to reveal the name of this movie, but I got to be an art intern on a feature film, which stars one of my favorite actors of all time. Best experience ever! Met some truly amazing people! I will flip out when it comes out and we should all go watch it together!
September: Getting my first ever IMDb credit! Or maybe I can reveal the name of the movie since I am on IMDb now?September: Fashion Week and Fashion's Night Out at Prada. Discovered Holy Ghost! at Prada's Fashion's Night Out Party. Met up with the lovely Erin of Calivintage, Rebecca of The Clothes Horse, Ashley of Fancy Fine. Sadly, I couldn't make it to the Stylish Picnic, because I was at home walking the Semi Finals match between Roger and Novak and Roger lost :(
September 12th: As an early birthday present from my parents, I got to see the US Open Finals Match, Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal. Four grueling sets with a victorious Novak at the end! I was in absolutely awe walking into the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
September 14th: Saw Bryan Greenberg and Julia Sinclair at the Canal Room. Kind of been in love with Bryan Greenberg since Prime (2005) and started to watch How To Make It In America.
September: Discovered an amazing band Jump into the Gospel and seeing them live four times already. Seen some other awesome bands: CHAPPO, People Get Ready, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Spacecamp, Computer Magic, U.S. Royalty, Datarock. Missed going to live shows!
September: Getting snapped by Kadeem for The Fader in SoHo. Seriously charming description: The first thing that caught our eye was her courageous combination of bright red pants and yellow socks. After pulling that off, everything else just fell into place—the Katherine Hepburn fit of her trousers, some classic tasseled black and white loafers and an amazing black fedora makes her a modern age Dick Tracy.
September-October: Worked as a set intern on another feature film, starring an actor that is in one of my favorite romance films ever. Met more awesome people! Played poker with the electrics on my last day on set with sugar packs, because obviously we didn't have chips. It was hilarious! Hopefully, I'll be getting paid work in the near future.
September: New shows like New Girl and 2 Broke Girls came into my life. Seriously, stories of my life. Jessica Day and Max Black are my soul mates!
October: Jenn, one half of the stylish dynamic duo of Clothes Encounters posted up the Style Profile of me. Thanks again Jenn for interviewing me and giving me a chance to be part of Clothes Encounters. It got quite a few views, thanks for watching it. I am so awkward in that video, I've only watched it once and I won't watch it again.
October 24th: Best birthday week ever with Caro, Marissa, Jay, Inez, Sasha! Received birthday macarons from Vicky! Thank you guys for everything!
October: So I did something pretty liberating and spontaneous and I'm pretty proud of myself. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... You will someday. (Hint: where is that quote from??? Ahhhhh think!)
October 31st: Didn't dress up. I had the idea of dressing up as Dolores Haze (Lolita) and then Caro suggested Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Didn't go to the parade. But the funniest thing happened, when I was walking in SoHo and this guy screams, "are you that lady from The Incredibles?" For a second, I had to think Violet? OH EDNA! Haha! I responded, "No this is how I dress normally! You made my day!" You gotta admit that's pretty hilarious. Next year, I have every intention of dressing up as a slutty artichoke (not slutty pumpkin, because artichokes have a special meaning to me). Thanks for the inspiration, How I Met Your Mother!
November 1st: Same blog, reinvented: someday. by avalonne hall
November 1st: Although, I was going through an unproductive phase, I did manage to start a few new Tumblr blogs to keep me entertained. I had this fun idea that today I would officially start a new Tumblr dedicated to showing the way I dress on set: http://howidressonset.tumblr.com/ I managed to take a few snapshots during the first film I worked on. On the second, I somewhat documented a few days on Twitter, but that's it. This time, I will document every single outfit with the iPhone, fun, fast, simple! 
November: Going to learn to drive and get my license!

Two more months till the end of the year and then hello 2012! Can you believe it? I can't believe that I took another unintentional half year hiatus, but I'm back and I am ready to dedicate myself to my writing again. My goal for the end of the year is to write a feature length screenplay and then make the short film version in the spring. I have so many goals and I have time to make my dreams come true, but now I have to buckle down and make sure I can be the artist and writer I deserve to be. Now is the time.

XXIII

It was kind of my birthday last week, yes, that means I'm another year older. Does that mean I'm a year wiser? I would hope so, because if my looks will end up fading away, I better get a hell of a lot smarter. I can confidently say that I've really come to like the person I am. Admittedly, growing up I wasn't very confident and didn't have much self esteem, especially when I was in elementary school. I was so shy and introverted. But I'm not going to make this post into a sob story, I'm just glad that I'm growing up to be the woman I've always hoped to become. I have so many life goals for myself and if I have an ounce of realism in me, I would know that the chances of me achieving everything on my goal list is nearly impossible. Nevertheless, I am still optimistic that I can be a writer/director and I will be making my own movies in the (near) future. Someday.

I just re-read my birthday post from last year on my old blog. I can't believe a year has come and gone and so much has happened since. I'm actually in New York and sometimes it still baffles me. Sometimes I would be walking in Greenwich Village and I would have to stop and think "where the hell am I?" Yes, yes, I'm in NEW YORK! It's crazy!

This is what I said on 10/24/10: This year has been full of surprises, more so than the previous years I've lived. I think if anything this will just continue to escalate and I'll say that about every year. So this is the last day of my twenty first year of my life. You've brought me a great deal of happiness, sorrow and exasperation and I hope you will continue to surprise me with more unexpected adventures and opportunities. Thank you for everything.

Yes indeed, 2011 has been a year of more surprises and unexpected adventures, I cannot begin to explain. Now that I've been in New York for four months, I am starting to feel more fear than ever. My future seems so uncertain at this point, BUT I do have some plans and ideas on how I will continue to stay in the U.S. I make it sound like I'm from some awful country, but the truth is that Hong Kong is just NOT FOR ME. (Hey! It's worth the visit, don't get me wrong) Without trying to generalize everyone in Hong Kong, but a lot of people in Hong Kong just lack creativity. What drives (most of) them is money and consumerism. If I live and work there, I will become a zombie and an unhappy zombie at that. I know that if I plan the last two months of 2011, I know that I will be able to figure out a plan to stay in New York.

My birthday was spent with one of my dearest friends Caro, who coincidentally was visiting from San Francisco. The timing was perfect, because she was in town for a photo expo and other photo related endeavors. She arrived on the 23rd, just in time for my birthday. We went to Central Park to see the trees, but they weren't red, orange and gold yet. We were met by another lovely friend and fellow RFJ! cohort Marissa! We were both sporting hats, looking all retro and awesome! Thank you so much for the birthday card, gifts from Alice's Tea Cup and birthday cookie! I am so grateful to have you as a friend and I look forward to our New York, tea related and film adventures!

I cannot believe Caro's timing! It was completely coincidental and serendipitous. We should have gone to Serendipity III. Caro, Marissa and I met up at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. I had seen that fountain in the movies and wanted to see it for myself. The Boathouse is also by the fountain, which reminds me of the scene in Sex and the City, when Carrie and Big fall into the lake (I love my SATC references). We parted ways with Marissa and said a sorrowful goodbye for now, because she is visiting Texas for a while. Can't wait for her to come back! Caro and I made our way to the Angelika Film Center to see Midnight in Paris, because Caro hadn't seen it yet.

I do love Midnight in Paris, because it's the type of fantasy that I've always had. I love the Twenties and I love Paris. Spoiler alert. I love F. Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso, Matisse, Dali. I hope I haven't spoiled too much for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. It's an enjoyable and lighthearted story, but it could be a challenging film if you don't understand the references. We also went to see Drive the next day. It is a very slow movie and it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but there were a great deal of Facebook statuses stating that Drive is the best movie of the year. Well in my opinion, I wouldn't necessarily agree, but I did enjoy the soundtrack, the visual style and credits (just like everyone else). That night, I went to Film #2's wrap party in the Meatpacking District. It was so nice to see everyone in a different environment, but admittedly, I think I prefer a work environment to a bar setting. Gosh, I'm weird. Now... next film please! I need to get moneyz! I think that would be the great present of all, if I can work on a film. Fingers crossed.

On Wednesday, we met up with my friend Jay and he surprised me with cupcakes at Spot on St. Mark's Place. Thank you so much for your kindness and friendship! Vicky also sent me birthday macarons! Thank you so much for the pretty and delicious macarons! I am so thankful to have such incredible friends and people in my life. Here we go, year 23 of my life, what surprises will you have in store for me this time?!

More photos to come (to be scanned).

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the heroic fathers in the world. And to my handsome, always stylish (if I were a guy, I'd dress like him) and ever patient father. I love you.