Karl von Moller » Tall Ships

A short film: “Batavia – a modern tale”!

Karl von Moller — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:47:46 +0000

While on a business trip to Jakarta Indonesia recently, I had a few hours to go and visit the old Dutch Port of Batavia again. This time I wanted to capture images on HD Video, using the 5DMKII. I find that when I concentrate on shooting Stills, my brain doesn’t allow me to switch easily to shooting Video. It’s a strange thing really and one I’m trying to fix. Last time I was here, I captured hundreds of amazing images but virtually no HD video. With only a couple of hours on a Sunday, I ran around like a madman filming the workers as they unloaded/ loaded the Tall ships birthed at the Port. It is still amazing to me that a place like this could exist! After all, it’s the beginning of yet another decade and the scene before me looked more like from Robert Louis Stevens era?! The image above is a link to the video (hosted by vimeo). Enjoy!

To read my article on taking photos at the old Dutch Port of Batavia see here

To read my blog entry on this business trip see here

A quick trip to Jakarta Indonesia

Karl von Moller — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:38:00 +0000

On the 22nd of January, I flew to Jakarta via Denpasar Bali! My Garuda flight from Melbourne terminated there and from there in, I had to clear customs and collect my luggage. Next a one and a half hour wait ensued, before my domestic flight to Jakarta. Slightly bored by this stage I jumped onto Twitter & asked the Community what I should do! A quick Bintang beer later and five minutes later, some one tweeted that I should take a cab ride to Kuta Beach! So I did!

Finally I arrived in Jakarta & caught up with Producer David Hewitt from Kemistry. It’s always a pleasure catching up with both David & his wife, Producer Rini Susanti. After a few drinks and an awesome Indonesian meal at a restaurant in Kemang called Payon, I finally hit the sack!

Next day was a huge day spent at the Office at Kemistry, performing hair and make-up tests on our Cast. They are all “real” people who have won a competition through our Client, a beauty product manufacturer! My make-up artist is a Malaysian named Fendi, and he’s really good! He was able to design several looks for each winner. I shot over 22Gig of photos which is not normal for me. However the girls looked amazing, transformed into models, and I took advantage of the moment to breakdown their apprehension towards the camera! By doing this we got to know each other, and I think that when I come back in March to shoot the commercial, we will be in a great shape.

Sunday was spent with good friend & Driver at Kemistry, Fais. He drove me out to the “Old Dutch Port” in Jakarta again. I wanted to shoot video this time, and the weather was sunny! I can’t express strongly enough how incredible this place is for any photographer. We then drove to Mangga Dua, an electronics mega centre in Jakarta’s CBD.

After some shopping, I asked Fais to drive me to see the Railway Station. It’s old and rundown which I’ve already photographed once before. This time I was more interested in the rear, closed off section. We finally found a way in, and I think both of us were amazed at the size of the community that lived along the tracks! We played with kids on a home made trolley that ran on bearings along the tracks! A marvel of invention, it was so smooth that I used it as a Camera Dolly for a shot along the tracks!

Note the bent over nails holding the bearings onto the timber axle!

I’m going to post a video of the days adventures when I get the opportunity to edit the footage. To see images I shot of the Old Dutch Port in Jakarta from my last trip, here is the link.

Today is my last full day in Jakarta and for the most part it will be filled with meetings & presentations for both Agency and Client. I’m sitting here in the Kemistry Office drawing storyboards with an Artist, finalising everything with our team, so they can work on their own for the next few weeks.

For now though, this will be it, until I return in March. More preparations will take pace between then and now but I will be jumping to another project for 22 days straight in the mean time. More to come on that soon!

Here is a photo Gallery of yesterdays pics! Enjoy

Indonesia

Karl von Moller — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:27:16 +0000

Over the years that I have been working throughout Asia, for some reason there are places I seem to skirt or overfly, not because I don’t want to go there, just simply because the opportunities had never eventuated. Recently, I had an occasion to work in Indonesia. Amazingly, Indonesia was one of those places that somehow stayed off my radar. So I was pretty keen to go visit.

I arrived in Jakarta, after a flight from Melbourne, through Singapore, late on the 20th of October 2009. The job (which is incomplete at this stage so I won’t mention it just yet) started straight away with preproduction meetings in the foyer of the hotel the same evening.

The next day, we hit the ground running by firstly checking out equipment at the local Camera Rental Facility CineRed. There I met an expat from Australia, creative consultant Peter Aquilina, who took us through a guided tour of his facility, which included the Camera Rental department, Post Production Facilities including Offline, Online and Grading using Scratch. Several days of Casting, Props and Wardrobe tests etc followed and my days were spent mostly on my laptop ensuring that all our post requirements were met. After about a week of hard work, we were ready to shoot in a small studio in Jakarta. I will write a full article later when the job has been cleared, about the process, which I think will be interesting to people. Overall, the Indonesian crews were excellent and the result of our efforts look awesome.

It wasn’t all hard work though. The local production Company, Kemistry, run by expat Aussie David Hewitt and his partner Rinni, sent me on a journey through West Java, with the help of their driver. I took my 5DMKII Canon stills camera and went berserk shooting the amazing landscape and people. Here are some of the images from that trip. The slide show below has many more.

I also visited some of the historical places within Jakarta itself. A former Dutch Colony, Jakarta still has many building around the old Port area, which mark their rule many years ago. They lie mostly as wrecked shells of their former glory but still possess some amazing beauty. The old dutch port area is still in use today. I travelled down to the Port and was amazed at the large, tall ships being loaded with cargo, as if from a scene from a Robert Louis Stevenson book! They were real tall ships, built with Masts, and planks of timber!! You have to see and feel this place to believe the image below. Simply amazing!

I can’t speak more highly about my experience in Indonesia. It baffles me why I haven’t been there before, even as a tourist. I think Australians in general have been conditioned to think “not favourably” about Indonesia as a holiday destination. That’s a huge shame but at the same time, Indonesia is one of Asia’s best kept secrets as a result. It’s still cheap, unspoilt from foreign development and hugely diverse. On the negative side, it’s infrastructure is quite poor in some cases. Many sidewalks for instance have huge holes in them, and you generally share the pavement with other Cars and Motorbikes. Speaking of Cars and Bikes, the crush of traffic in Jakarta was quite possibly the worst I have ever seen! So if you are disadvantaged physically or need to push a Pram, then maybe think differently when moving around Indonesia. The internet was dreadfully slow everywhere I went, with the best speeds approaching dialup rates. So yes there are a few things to consider, however generally I have to say, Indonesians are amazingly friendly, willing to welcome you where ever you go and help you at a drop of a hat. The visual spectacle of Indonesia is also unbelievable exciting. I visited so many interesting places in a short time, including the Pulaubuhan Ratu area of West Java, where I walked on amazing volcanic beaches, Hot Springs with Geysers, Markets in small towns and villages plus drove through countryside that was nothing short of spectacular – Rubber, Cocoanut Oil and Tea plantations lined the steep mountain roads for miles.

In summing up, I loved my experience in Indonesia. I hope I have inspired you to go and experience it for yourself. Enjoy!