GraphixFocuz@TVB by tantsy

[Poster+Wallpaper] You're My Valentine :)

2012-02-13T18:35:00.000+08:00

Happy Valentines Day to all! <3

2 of L'Escargot's [缺宅男女] couples:
Ron Ng [吴卓羲] & Linda Chung [钟嘉欣]

Michael Miu [苗侨伟] & Sonija Kwok [郭羡妮]

[Note: The actual size is 1280px*800px but Flickr only allows up to 1024px*640px. & I know there are different dimensions for wallpapers. So do drop a comment if u want the actual size or resizing of the wallpapers! :D]

2 real-life couples:
Bosco Wong [黄宗泽] & Myolie Wu [胡杏儿] (Boscolie)

Ekin Cheng [郑伊健] & Yoyo Mung [蒙嘉慧]

Sidenote: Alert to all using Imageshack! There's a new limit of 500 images with effect from 1st March 2012. Anything above the limit will be DELETED! Haiz, this means that my photo stash will be removed too >.<

[Banner] Rojak (Always Ready, No Regrets & L'Escargot)

2012-02-10T23:15:00.000+08:00

PS: Besides being a type of popular food over here in SG, rojak is also Singlish for an untidy mixture. (FYI, it's a Malay word.) I didn't plan for a themed-post before Valentine's on Tuesday (Yep, I'm going to release some graphics for Vday!) but seeing that I haven't updated in a while, I decided to post this mix of graphics I did some time back.

Always Ready [隨時候命] with Ekin Cheng [郑伊健] + Bowie Lam [林保怡] - HAHA this was done a long way back in 2009 & has been previously posted on Bowie's forum (I think it's currently down).

No Regrets [巾幗梟雄之義海豪情] - Ngo Kanin [敖嘉年], Nancy Wu [胡定欣], Wayne Lai [黎耀祥], Raymond Wong [黃浩然] on a promotional trip to Malaysia (Dec 2011).

L'Escargot [缺宅男女] - Michael Miu [苗侨伟] as Kwan Ka On [关嘉安]

PS: Heheh this is my 50th post! WOOHOO! :D

[Avatar+Poster] CNY!

2012-01-21T16:55:00.001+08:00

There's only 2 graphics for this post cuz I've been rather busy. :( Hope u all like them! :D

Michael Miu [苗侨伟] (Click HERE if u want another version with transparency)

Kate Tsui [徐子珊]

Happy New Year! 新年快乐！

[Banner+Wallpaper+PSD] Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T19:38:00.000+08:00

*Alert! PSD file for Bowie Lam's graphic added on 31 Jan 2012*

It's going to be 2012 in just a few hours!
& THIS BLOG IS GOING TO CELEBRATE IT'S FIRST ANNIVERSARY! :D (For that, I'll probably be changing the header and layout tmr.)

As with other festive occasions, I've made graphics! This batch is slightly different though. Inspired by Jia at her new TVB-related tumblr, I've also thrown in an iPhone wallpaper! Hope u all like the new batch of graphics! Best Wishes & Happy 2012! :DDD

Bowie Lam [林保怡] (Wallpaper: original dimensions 1366px*768px)

PSD file: http://www.mediafire.com/?xfa9s7ayna1y6ha

Raymond Lam [林峰] (Wallpaper: original dimensions 1280px*800px)

Myolie Wu [胡杏儿] (The first one, with original dimensions, is bigger than iPhone wallpaper size. Not too sure if it will display well so I resized it, with dimensions 320px*480px for the second one.)

When Heaven Burns "Younger version" cast - Kelvin Leung [梁证嘉], Ronald Law [罗钧满], Stanley Cheung [张景淳], Yeung Chiu Hoi [杨潮凯]

Note: The actual size of wallpapers is 1280px*800px for Bowie's and 1366px*768px for Raymond's but Flickr only allows up to 1024px on the longer side. & I know there are different dimensions for wallpapers. So do drop a comment if u want the actual size or resizing of the wallpapers! :D

Sorry, I nearly forgot to add, THANK YOU everyone! Page views this month have reached an all-time high of 917 (as of now, SGT 9.59PM). :D

[Banner+Poster] When Heaven Burns [天与地]

2011-12-30T23:50:00.002+08:00

Bowie Lam [林保怡] + Moses Chan [陈豪] + Kenny Wong [黄德斌] ("那三个男人")

Bowie Lam [林保怡]

Moses Chan [陈豪]

Kenny Wong [黄德斌] with Angela Tong [汤盈盈] and the "kids" - Rachel Poon [潘晓彤] & Yeung Ka Shing [杨家盛]

This drama serial has been very controversial, with dismal ratings and censorship from Mainland China but also rave reviews online.
Personally, I feel that it has got a lot of depth. Unfortunately, due to my poor standard of Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), I think I've missed out on a lot of double meanings, comparisons and parallels with the real world etc. (I'm determined to rewatch it to fully understand the whole thing!) Nevertheless, it's a totally different genre from the usual TVB dramas. Each character's thought process is so complicated and deeply affected by that fateful incident that it takes real effort to truly understand the whole storyline. I dunno if it's because of all the rock/band stuff or because of Bowie or simply because of the plot but I enjoy watching it! It's ending really soon though, on 1st Jan 2012! Hope final ratings will be better and I really hope TVB makes more of such dramas! :)

[Poster+Wallpaper] Merry X'mas!

2011-12-25T18:08:00.001+08:00

I've managed to rush out 3 Christmas-themed graphics. Hope you like it! Merry Christmas! :D

Angela Tong [汤盈盈] - PS: I just heard news that she's now engaged to Chin Kar Lok & they will be getting married in May next year. Congrats! :D

[Note: This is a wallpaper. Actual size is 1366px*768px but Flickr only allows up to 1024px*576px. & I know there are different dimensions for wallpapers. So do drop a comment if u want the actual size or resizing of the wallpapers! :D]

Charmaine Sheh [佘诗曼]

Jessica Hsuan [宣萱]

More graphics (mainly When Heaven Burns [天与地]) will be made and/or posted soon. Do check back!

[Banner+Poster] JKL

2011-12-10T17:35:00.000+08:00

J - Joel Chan [陈山聪]

K - Ngo Kanin [敖嘉年]

L - Linda Chung [钟嘉欣]

This wasn't a planned post. Haha. It just happened that their names are in consecutive alphabetical order. :P You might have noticed that I had a flood of posts right before TVB Awards 2011. I was planning have a short but intense graphics-making spree before taking my current break to catch up on drama-watching, tumblr-surfing, etc. But I figured u all might like to see some new graphics so I've cleaned up some I did earlier before publishing. It's not a lot & I know Kanin's is really simple but hope u all like them. :)

[Banner+Poster] TVB Awards 2011 Actor/Actress Nominees 2

2011-12-03T17:45:00.000+08:00

Linda Chung [钟嘉欣] - "Best Actress" & "Favourite Female Character" (Yes Sir Sorry Sir for both)
Ruco Chan [陈展鹏] - "Best Actor" & "Favourite Male Character" (The Other Truth for both)

Note: This graphic was not made with the intention of releasing in conjunction with TVB Awards Nomination 2011.

Mandy Wong [黄智雯] - "Most Improved Actress" (The Scoop, Home Troopers, Ghetto Justice, Lives of Omission, An Uninvited Date)

MC Jin [欧阳靖] - "Favourite Male Character" (Super Snoops) & "Most Improved Actor" (Big Boys Club, Show Me the Happy, Stairway to Dragon, Yes Sir Sorry Sir, Lives of Omission, Top Eats)

Raymond Wong [黄浩然] - "Favourite Male Character" (The Other Truth)

Wayne Lai [黎耀祥] - "Best Actor" & "Favourite Male Character" (Forensic Heroes 3)

All the best to the nominees! :)

[Banner+Poster] TVB Awards 2011 Actor/Actress Nominees 1

2011-12-02T08:30:00.000+08:00

Ben Wong [黄智贤] - "Best Supporting Actor" (Lives of Omission)

Elena Kong [江美仪] - "Best Actress" (River of Wine) & "Best Supporting Actress" (Lives of Omission)

Alex/Jazz Lam (I use the name "Jazz Lam" for labelling purposes.) [林子善] - "Best Supporting Actor" (Ghetto Justice) & "Most Improved Actor" (My Sister of Eternal Flower, Ghetto Justice, River of Wine, Ghetto a la Spice, Neighborhood Gourmet)

Kate Tsui [徐子珊] - "Best Actress" & "Favourite Female Character" (Lives of Omission for both)

Kevin Cheng [郑嘉颖] - "Best Actor" & "Favourite Male Character" (Ghetto Justice for both)

Note: I'm away & will only be back on Monday. This (& another upcoming post) are scheduled posts. Enjoy! :)

[Avatar+Banner+Poster] TVB Awards 2011 - "Best Series" Nominees

2011-11-30T23:30:00.000+08:00

Forensic Heroes 3 [法政先锋III] - "Best Series"
Maggie Cheung [张可颐] - "Best Actress" & "Favourite Female Character"

Ghetto Justice [怒火街头] - "Best Series"
Sharon Chan [陈敏之] - "Favourite Female Character" & "Best Supporting Actress"
Myolie Wu[胡杏儿] - "Favourite Female Character"

Lives of Omission [潜行狙击] - "Best Series"
Bosco Wong [黄宗泽] - "Best Actor" & "Favourite Male Character"
Michael Tse [谢天华] - "Best Actor" & "Favourite Male Character"

My Sister of Eternal Flower [花花世界花家姐] - "Best Series"
Charmaine Sheh [佘诗曼] - "Best Actress"

The Rippling Blossom [鱼跃在花见] - "Best Series"
Personal note: Heheh...I really wish to highlight Kanin's performance. Quite commendable! :)

Yes Sir Sorry Sir [点解阿Sir係阿Sir] - "Best Series"
(Previously released at Tavia's forum)

(As a bonus, I've included another with only Miss Ho!)

Note: I have commented on the TVB Awards 2011 Nominees (including "Best Series") here.

More graphics coming up! Stay tuned! :D
Btw, do note that due to the character restriction on labels, I have changed the tag from "My Sister of Eternal Flower" to "MSOEF". This applies to all posts, past and future.

Side note: I can't decide if Charmaine (as 花家姐 in My Sister of Eternal Flower) or Kanin (as 鱼至宝 in The Rippling Blossom) was better acting as a mentally-disabled person. Comments?

[Article] TVB Awards Nomination List 2011 (& my comments)

2011-11-28T00:18:00.000+08:00

Do take note, I'm only commenting based on series I have watched: Twilight Investigation, Links to Temptation (Partial), A Great Way to Care (Minimal), 7 Days in Life, The Rippling Blossom, Yes Sir Sorry Sir, My Sister of Eternal Flower, Ghetto Justice, The Other Truth, Lives of Omission, River of Wine.

Should Win
Bias (Like actor/performance but may not be good enough to win)
Will Win

Best Actor:
Julian Cheung Chilam (The Rippling Blosssom)
Stephen Au (Be Home for Dinner)
Moses Chan (Yes Sir Sorry Sir) - Dramatic style of acting's not my cup of tea. :(
Kevin Cheng (Ghetto Justice) - Rather different from his usual laang zai (spelling?) roles. Not bad!
Roger Kwok (Wax and Wane)
Ron Ng (Wax and Wane)
Ruco Chan (The Other Truth) - Ruco was again outstanding (I'm referring to his previous role in Every Move You Make). But I dun really think it's time for him to get an award yet. (Unless TVB is pushing for him to be heavily promoted.)
Steven Ma (The Life and Times of a Sentinel)
Kenneth Ma (The Life and Times of a Sentinel)
Michael Tse (Lives of Omission) - Simple reason: Laughing Gor's popularity shoots thru the roof!
Bosco Wong (Lives of Omission)
Bobby Au Yeung (Men With No Shadows)
Raymond Lam (Men With No Shadows)
Wayne Lai (Forensic Heroes 3)
Sunny Chan (Curse of the Royal Harem)

Glaring omission of Bowie & Joe here. TVB politics are at play! :(
Actually Law Ba is also really popular but it probably hasn't had enough time to gain as much support as Laughing Gor simply because Laughing is an "older" character. (I mean, Laughing first surfaced in E.U. so Laughing/Michael would have had more time build his fan base.)

Best Actress:
Liza Wang (Home Troopers)
Tavia Yeung (The Rippling Blossom)
Louise Lee (Only You)
Yoyo Mung (Only You)
Crystal Tin (Be Home for Dinner)
Linda Chung (Yes Sir Sorry Sir) - She was really great as Miss Koo!
Charmaine Sheh (My Sister of Eternal Flower) - That's if TVB wants to tempt her back with an award. Unlikely though.
Selena Li (The Life and Times of a Sentinel)
Fala Chen (Lives of Omission)
Kate Tsui (Lives of Omission)
Nancy Sit (River of Wine) - She better not get it! Totally over-the-top acting.
Elena Kong (River of Wine) - She was simply exceptional. Loved her crying scenes & her dialogues with Bowie. But I dun think she has the status to win. Her role is also more of "Supporting rather than "Lead". :(
Maggie Cheung (Forensic Heroes 3)
Jessica Hsuan (Curse of the Royal Harem)
Myolie Wu (Curse of the Royal Harem)

Actually I'm thinking if Kate or Tavia will win too. To me, this race isn't so clear-cut. But the one TVB chooses will probably indicate who it is supporting as top Fadan to "replace" Charmaine. Or perhaps they'll choose Maggie. I have no idea since I haven't watched FH3. *Blames exams*

Favorite Male Character:
Julian Cheung Chilam (The Rippling Blosssom) - I've always liked Chilam's characters. Funny yet serious. Chi Ying's no different! :P
Stephen Au (Be Home for Dinner)
Jason Chan (Be Home for Dinner)
Moses Chan (Yes Sir Sorry Sir)
Kevin Cheng (Ghetto Justice) - Law Ba was really well-received. Though there should be a tough fight with the ever-popular Laughing Gor in the run.
Ruco Chan (The Other Truth)
Raymond Wong (The Other Truth)
Steven Ma (The Life and Times of a Sentinel)
Michael Tse (Lives of Omission) - Laughing Gor is such a perennial favourite!
Bosco Wong (Lives of Omission)
MC Jin (Super Snoops)
Wong Cho Lam (Super Snoops)
Louis Yuen (Super Snoops)
Johnson Li (Super Snoops)
Wayne Lai (Forensic Heroes 3)

No male character was really as well-crafted as classic characters like Lau Sing & Chai Gau. They din really have enough personality. Hmm...perhaps only Law Ba comes close.

Favorite Female Character:
Sonija Kwok (7 Days in Life)
Yoyo Mung (Only You)
Louise Lee (Only You)
Liu Xuan (Grace Under Fire)
Crystal Tin (Be Home for Dinner)
Linda Chung (Yes Sir Sorry Sir) - COOL Miss Koo!
Myolie Wu (Ghetto Justice) - It was notable but *no offense* I'm a little biased against Myolie so yeah...
Sharon Chan (Ghetto Justice) - Loved how her character had so much 骨气!
Toby Leung (Wax and Wane)
Tavia Yeung (The Other Truth)
Fala Chen (Lives of Omission)
Kate Tsui (Lives of Omission)
Liza Wang (Super Snoops)
Maggie Cheung (Forensic Heroes 3)
Aimee Chan (Forensic Heroes 3)

No idea who will win. Maybe FH3 characters? I haven't watched so I've got no idea at all.

Best Supporting Actor:
Kenny Wong (Links to Temptation)
Cheung Chi Kong (A Great Way to Care)
Patrick Tang (7 Days in Life)
Elliot Ngoc (Grace Under Fire)
Matt Yeung (Be Home for Dinner)
Law Lok Lam (Yes Sir Sorry Sir)
Sam Lee (Ghetto Justice)
Jazz Lam (Ghetto Justice) - Great performance. He was really cute & hilarious. :) But he still can't beat Ben's awesome performance!
Lee Sing Cheung (The Other Truth)
Cheung Kwok Keung (The Life and Times of a Sentinel)
Derek Kwok (The Life and Times of a Sentinel)
Ben Wong (Lives of Omission) - I believe TVB will follow audiences' wishes here. He was exceptional as 辣酱!
Ngo Kanin (River of Wine) - Being my favourite actor, of course he will appear on my list. But I felt that his performance was missing that spark that I saw in his other roles. Actually I preferred his role in My Sisters of Eternal Flower (His chemistry with Toby was better than with Sire) or The Rippling Blossom (His intellectually-disabled character was refreshing) over this.
Power Chan (An Uninvited Date)
Lee Kwok Lun (Forensic Heroes 3)

If Ben isn't gonna win, I really have no idea who will.
Personal note: Even though I'm Kanin's fan, I dun really hope that he wins (Sorry Kanin!) though I still fully support him. Cuz it would not be an "Accepted" win. I dun think it would be good if he has to deal with the kind of backlash that hit Kevin when he got his 2006 Best Actor Award.

Best Supporting Actress:
Vivien Yeo (A Great Way to Care)
Lam Yi Kei (Be Home for Dinner)
Queenie Chu (Yes Sir Sorry Sir)
Sharon Chan (Ghetto Justice) - She was really not bad. Just not exceptional.
Joyce Tang (Ghetto Justice)
Mannor Chan (Wax and Wane)
Florence Kwok (Wax and Wane)
Aimee Chan (The Other Truth)
Natalie Tong (The Other Truth)
Helen Ma (The Other Truth)
Ching Hor Wai (The Life and Times of a Sentinel)
Elena Kong (Lives of Omission) - Not a bad performance either. She might get this, though it's also really a slim chance. :(
Sire Ma (River of Wine)
Nancy Wu (Forensic Heroes 3)
Gigi Wong (Curse of the Royal Harem)

Totally no idea who will get this cuz I usually pay more attention to actors than actresses. HAHA. Maybe Nancy. As I said, I haven't watched FH3 so I can't comment.

Most Improved Actor:
Jazz Lam (My Sister of Eternal Flower, Ghetto Justice, River of Wine, Ghetto a la Spice, Neighborhood Gourmet) - He's really stood out in many of his roles this year. This award should be his if TVB doesn't do funny things again.
King Kong (Gourmet Neighborhood, Super Snoops)
Jason Chan (Only You, Home, Home for Dinner, Dropping by Cloud Nine )
Matt Yeung (Only You, My Sister of Eternal Flower, The Other Truth, Home for Dinner)
MC Jin (Big Boys Club, Show Me the Happy, Stairway to Dragon, Yes Sir Sorry Sir, Lives of Omission, Top Eats) - He put in good performances in Yes Sir No Sir and Lives of Omission. But he seems too new to get this award. Plus, isn't he a singer?

Jazz's Lam year, definitely.

Most Improved Actress:
Samantha Ko (Eat This Way, After Hours, Admirals Feast, Forensic Heroes 3)
Sire Ma (Eat This Way, Relic of an Emissary, River of Wine, An Uninvited Date, Curse of the Royal Harem)
Mandy Wong (The Scoop, Home Troopers, Ghetto Justice, Lives of Omission, An Uninvited Date)
Cilla Lok (Yes Sir Sorry Sir, River of Wine, Forensic Heroes 3)
Katy Kung (7 Days in Life, Ghetto Justice, Home for Dinner, The Life and Times of a Sentinel)

Perhaps Mandy? Her performance in Lives of Omission was commendable. :) But I dun really think I should comment on actresses for the reason I stated above. HAHA

Best Series:
Show Me the Happy
Twilight Investigation
Links to Temptation
Home Troopers
A Great Way to Care
7 Days in Life - It was ok until the end. Disappointed with how it all wrapped up.
The Rippling Blossom - Nice scenery & theme (SUSHI!). Ok (recycled) storyline. Ok overall acting (Kanin, Julian & Myolie were not bad. *No offense* Tavia wasn't up to par though & Michael's expression reminded me too much of Laughing.) Nothing really exceptional though it wasn't that bad.
Only You
Grace Under Fire
Relic of an Emissary
Home for Dinner
Yes Sir Sorry Sir - Interesting theme but the dramatic storytelling tactic is not my cup of tea.
My Sister of Eternal Flower - Love Kanin & Toby in here! But *no offence* Charmaine & Raymond didn't really go down well with me. Jazz added a welcome comic dimension though. :)
Ghetto Justice - Refreshing take on the lawyer genre with Law Ba. But I dunno if it's *no offense* Myolie or what, I just dun really like it. Immensely popular, so much so that there's Ghetto Justice 2 so I think it stands a good chance.
Wax and Wane
The Other Truth - The telling of one of the sub-plots from the jury's perspective was really fresh. But apart from that? It was quite a typical series IMO.
The Life and Times of a Sentinel
Lives of Omission - Sorry to fans of LoO but if it's meant to be a sequel to The Academy, it's the worst. On it's own, it's just average. Cinematic feel due to the blue lighting but that's about it. The acting was just so-so & the main story line was poor compared to the other The Academy shows though the romantic story lines of Laughing & Jodie, Cripple Co & Paris and even Dog Head and Lemon were not bad.
River of Wine - How can I not be biased when there's both Bowie & Kanin? But I admit, this series was veering very close to boring.
An Uninvited Date
Super Snoops
Admirals Feast
Till Love Do Us Lie
Forensic Heroes 3

Nothing I watched this year fully lived up to expectations. (Pinning my hopes on FH3!)
The standards of this year's TVB series have dropped (To be fair, Ghetto Justice was a good effort.) Characters aren't as well thought out. Story lines may have certain fresh aspects but they're essentially the same in the end. Supporting actors are doing quite a good job though. But it will be some time before they can fill the shoes left behind by the likes of Bowie, Charmaine, Steven and Wong He.

This my first time writing an article on TVB. Hope it's alright & do comment! :)

[Note: I will not tag this post with artiste/series names cuz there's simply too many.]

[Banner+Chat] Made with PowerPoint

2011-11-01T01:17:00.001+08:00

Wong He [王喜]

Wonder why the dimensions are rather weird? & why it's so simple? It was a challenge I posed to myself - to use only Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 to create this graphic! Do check out the tools in the Format ribbon! They are quite useful! :) Anw, how's it compared to the rest of my graphics? :P

PS: Do you want me make more graphics using other programs besides PS & perhaps share some tips with you all? (this includes GIMP!) Or shld focus on PS?

[Banner+Poster] Lines

2011-10-30T14:37:00.000+08:00

Wong Cho Lam [王祖蓝]

Maggie Cheung [张可颐]

Eddie Kwan [关礼杰]

[Banner+Poster] HAPPY!

2011-10-25T23:01:00.000+08:00

Steven Ma [马浚伟] - It's gonna be his birthday (& mine too^^) in an hour! Happy birthday!

Bowie Lam [林保怡] - My favourite first-line actor! :P

[Pierre] Ngo Kanin - My other favourite actor! I really hope he can become a first-line actor soon! ^^

BH (Be Happy) :D

& Happy Deepavali (Diwali) to all Hindus! :)

[Banner+Poster] River of Wine [九江十二坊]

2011-10-02T20:42:00.000+08:00

*Alert! Newer version of the first banner (Ching Yiu's) added on 11 Oct 2011*

Leung/Sung Ching Yiu [梁/宋正尧]
Older version:

Newer version:

PS: Actually the "newer version" was edited long ago but I uploaded the wrong version when posting.
If you observe carefully, the styling of “苦衷” has been changed. Do tell me which is better! (Personally I prefer the newer one.)

Leung/Sung Ching Yiu [梁/宋正尧] + Leung Dai Ma/Kwan Wai Lan [梁大妈/关蕙兰]

Sung Chi Tsun [宋子骏]

(Note: This was originally a birthday banner for Kanin. I removed my birthday message for him before releasing the banner on my blog.)

Sung Chi Ching [宋子澄]

[Banner+Poster] Smooth & Rough

2011-08-24T21:09:00.002+08:00

I actually completed 7/8 of them before that hiatus post. But I decided to keep them till now cuz I knew I wun have much time/energy/creative juices to make graphics once uni starts. Btw I completed Michael Miu's one just ytd. Hope u like all 8!

Selena Li [李诗韵]

Him Law [罗仲谦]

Michael Tse [谢天华]

Aimee Chan [陈茵媺]

Lai Lok Yi [黎诺懿]

Astrid Chan [陈芷菁]

Nancy Wu [胡定欣]

Michael Miu [苗侨伟]

[Announcement] Partial-hiatus

2011-08-08T00:52:00.000+08:00

Hi all! Thanks for ur support over the past few months. Uni's starting really soon for me so I might not have as much time to make & post graphics until end-Nov, depending on how things turn out. So just in case you dun see any more updates for quite a while, this is the reason!
I'm not sure how it'll be but here's just a rough guideline:

Postings of around 4 graphics (not posts) per month, 1 for each wk
The format of my posts might change to per-graphic release rather than batch release
Requests will still be open but I might take a longer time to fulfil the request.
I might not check my cbox/comments much so if there's anything impt/urgent, please email me (tantsy@hotmail.com)

Once again, thanks for ur support! My blog will still be open, just that the frequency of my updates may be reduced.

[Chat] Shout-out to all TVB graphics designers!

2011-08-02T11:37:00.003+08:00

Hey hey!
Besides Molly (MDG Creations) & tvbobsessions (TVB Graphics), who are both not really active now, do you all know of other TVB fan sites which focus solely on graphics (like mine)? Heheh I'm just curious! :)
& do u all make TVB graphics? Do leave ur name & link! I would like to know u! :D

Edit (related to Tumblr stuff): I follow Jia at both lyricalstars and her personal blog. I really admire her fantastic works! Quoting from her About page on lyricalstars, "This is a combination of Lyrics and Images site, in short Lyrical Images. Lyrics are added on to Images and presented in this tumblr site. They are mainly C-pop lyrics.", you can see that she does mostly song-related stuff. But she also has some TVB-related graphics (under the tag "TVB") at both lyricalstars and her personal blog. Do check them out! :D

[Chat] Fun fact on Kanin and Becky

2011-08-01T00:46:00.004+08:00

Some time back, Kanin (or as some people call him, "Pierre") & Becky actually set up a company, Freebase Media, an advertising and film company which is separate from their TVB work. Visit http://www.freebasemedia.com/about_us.php for more information. :)

But that’s the old site. The new “About Us” page only shows Becky’s name. I believe that Kanin is not really involved in this any more due to his far busier TVB schedule now.

Note:
1) I only put this up because I made this comment in response to a Tumblr post & felt that it would be nice to share it here too. :)
2) As a long-time Kanin fan, I would like to take this chance to clarify that he has said before that he would prefer that people refer to him as "Kanin" instead of "Pierre" as "Pierre" is not is real name. It was given to him by his teacher.

Sidenote:

I feel that my previous post was not really well-structured & rather poorly written. Sorry! Will do a better job in the future, when I'm not rushing for time.

In any case, THANK YOU for all your support! :D

[Article+PSD] Curves & Layer Styles

2011-07-30T22:35:00.001+08:00

Each & every time I make a graphic, the effects I add are unique. You will not find exactly the same ones between any two of them.

For CURVES, high-contrast & high-saturation ones usually have Curves that are S-shaped (The left side of the histogram, which controls the shadows, are pulled low while the right side of the histogram, which controls highlights, are pushed up.) "Ligher" ones have usually have points above the original line. There are many other combinations. Experiment!

As for LAYER STYLES, I usually use them for vignetting (the dark rim you see around Linda in the first "After" graphic below). However you can also use them to add noise/gradient/textures/glow to the whole layer. What I've done (for both graphics) is to add a subtle inner glow (radiating from the centre) so that Linda's face is brightened up & thus contrasts better against the (dark) background.

There are endless things you can do with Curves, Layer Styles (& many other tools in various image editing software). Take these 2 graphics & their PSD files only as a reference. The most important part is to "get your hands dirty" & try them all out!

Tip for Photoshop users: If you do not have a layer mask, change the layer to a SMART OBJECT before applying filters. This will allow you to make non-destructive changes to the layer, adjust your filter settings endlessly, mask parts of your filter(s) & much more!

PSD file 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?4m3vas8vjb5w646

PSD file 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?8mv0muwkahjl9k9

Sidenote: Hey do tell me which "Before & After" you like more! :)

[Banner+Poster] Gals in da house!

2011-07-27T23:23:00.001+08:00

Toby Leung [梁靖琪]

Kate Tsui [徐子珊]

Natalie Tong [唐诗咏]

Selena Li [李诗韵]

Sharon Chan [陈敏之]

[Avatar+Banner] The Other Truth cast!

2011-07-24T16:30:00.000+08:00

Louis Yuen [阮兆祥] @ The Other Truth [真相] Costume Fitting

Tavia Yeung [杨怡] + Natalie Tong [唐诗咏] @ The Other Truth [真相] Costume Fitting

Sam Chan [陈宇琛] @ The Other Truth [真相] Episode 2+3

Ruco Chan [陈展鹏] (Non-TOT pics)

[Chat] FCW crew!

2011-07-18T23:56:00.000+08:00

U might know it or u might not but anw, I'm helping out with the graphics for Fala Chen World! So u will see my graphics appearing there from time to time. Do check it out for the extensive news on Fala too! :D

[Chat] Polaroids!

2011-07-16T20:34:00.000+08:00

I'm helping a friend out. Who's living in Singapore & wants a polaroid? Do email me (tantsy@hotmail.com)! Thx! :)

[Banner] Drama series - NEW & not-so-new

2011-07-11T23:20:00.002+08:00

The Rippling Blossom [鱼跃在花见]

Myolie Wu [胡杏儿] & Julian Cheung [张智霖]

Myolie Wu [胡杏儿] & Julian Cheung [张智霖] + 迷你孖姜

Myolie Wu [胡杏儿]

My Sister of Eternal Flower [花花世界花家姐] - Raymond Lam [林峰] & Charmaine Sheh [佘诗曼]

Wax & Wane [团圆] - Function pictures: Ron Ng [吴卓羲], Toby Leung [梁靖琪], Sunny Chan [陈锦鸿], Roger Kwok [郭晋安], Him Law [罗仲谦] & Oscar Leung [梁烈唯]

36 Hours On Call [On Call 36小时] - Kenneth Ma [马国明] & Tavia Yeung [杨怡]

[Banner+Poster] Breakup

2011-07-08T00:19:00.000+08:00

Niki Chow [周丽淇]

Kevin Cheng [郑嘉颖]

Moses Chan [陈豪]

Bernice Liu [廖碧儿]

[Article] How I design my graphics!

2011-07-07T17:44:00.000+08:00

Do you wonder how I do most of my colour adjustments?
Read the article "How To Give Your Photos a Cool Retro Analog Effect" HERE!

This tutorial is one of the first I read after getting PS & it really helped to improve my skills. I really suggest that you take some tips from it! :)

While it's written for achieving retro-like effects, I took the gist of it & dabbled with the curves (especially the S-shaped bend that increases contrast), selective blurring (to draw attention away from background objects), vignette, noise, blending modes & (at times) light leaks.

I have no fixed way of designing my graphics but these are some techniques I use really often. Hope this helps! :)

[Avatar+Banner] Dabbles

2011-06-27T22:33:00.001+08:00

There's no specific theme for this batch of graphics. I'm just refining old techniques & experimenting with new ones in here. :)

Bernice Liu [廖碧儿]

Charmaine Sheh [佘诗曼]

Ronald Law [罗钧满]

Raymond Lam [林峰]

Myolie Wu [胡杏儿] & Kevin Cheng [郑嘉颖] - Ghetto Justice [怒火街头]

Charmaine Sheh [佘诗曼] + Linda Chung [钟嘉欣]

[Chat] PSD/XCF.gz files?

2011-06-18T21:25:00.000+08:00

Would anyone like me to share the PSD (Photoshop)/XCF.gz (GIMP) files of graphics I've made?
I'm not going to make tutorials due to the amount of time it will take but I'm fine with putting up working files of graphics to share with everyone. What do u all think? If there's enough interest garnered, I will consider! :)

[Banner+Poster+Wallpaper] GrungeRAWR!

2011-06-16T15:59:00.001+08:00

BANNERS of Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir! [点解阿Sir系阿Sir] Class 5C actors:

Dickson Wong [黄得生]

Angel Chiang [蔣家旻] + Yeung Chiu Hoi [杨潮凯] + Cilla Kung [乐瞳]

Cilla Kung [乐瞳]

WALLPAPERS & Square POSTER:

Bosco Wong [黄宗泽] + Raymond Lam [林峰]

Ron Ng [吴卓羲]

Bosco Wong [黄宗泽]

Note: The actual size of wallpapers is 1366px*768px but Flickr only allows up to 1024px*576px. & I know there are different dimensions for wallpapers. So do drop a comment if u want the actual size or resizing of the wallpapers! :D

[Banner] My Sister of Eternal Flower: Mike [陸浩昌] & Jenny/Jennifer [花丽萍]

2011-05-31T17:49:00.000+08:00

(Strictly speaking, the banners are of Kanin & Toby when they did an interview, not of the drama serial.)

Sidenote:
With 2 popular actors, Charmaine & Raymond, the ratings for My Sister of Eternal Flower [花花世界花家姐] are considered rather low (peaked at 30 pts for the 1st week). IMO, the plot thus far is quite weak (no offence meant!). I hope it picks up soon!

I haven't done graphics for the actual drama. I might do 1-2 for the part where Mike throws Hugo out of Xenus. But the bulk of the graphics will only be done for later episodes when the plot gets more interesting.

[Banner] Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir! [点解阿Sir系阿Sir] + Moses Chan [陈豪]

2011-05-30T12:39:00.000+08:00

Sorry! I've not been in the mood to make graphics recently. So just 2 graphics to post today.

Moses Chan [陈豪] (Yes Sir.) & Tavia Yeung [杨怡] (Sorry, Sir!)

Moses Chan [陈豪]

Actually I've completed 5-10 more graphics but I want to wait till I'm done with the whole set before posting them together. Look forward to "Your Favourite Male Leads Live in Singapore" banners, "My Sister of Eternal Flower" graphics & much more later this week!

& THANKS for the support! I've finally hit 1000 page views! :D (It's 1105 page views now!)

[Banner] Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir! [点解阿Sir系阿Sir] - Episode 1

2011-04-30T23:49:00.000+08:00

The drama serial starts off with a police operation. Lo Sir, who was in the surrounding area, spotted a student buying illegal cigarettes and helped the police capture him. It turns out that Lo "Sir" is called as such not because he's a policeman but a teacher!

The school Lo Sir teaches in, Lam Tin Gwong [林天光], is infamous for having students who are the hardest to handle and is thus described as "Band 3 中的 Band 3".

A misunderstanding with Lo Sir results in K4 wanting revenge. This forced Lo Sir to resign. At the same time, his mum passed away after a long illness. He is down in the dumps.

Lo Sir then decides to apply for the police force, which he has aspired to join since young, partly because his mum's last wish was for him to chase his dreams. Will he be recuited?

[Banner] Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir! [点解阿Sir系阿Sir]

2011-04-24T17:23:00.001+08:00

The first 5 episodes of YSSS has set up a intriguing storyline! I can't wait to continue watching Monday's episode! Hmmm...The main cast is being introduced rather slowly. So far, we've only seen Moses, Tavia & Ron. I wonder if we'll see Linda in episode 6? Or will we have to wait further? Anw, just some graphics I made for YSSS (but not based on the storyline - that will come later.)

Lo Sir [罗耀华/罗Sir] + Nick/Ching Sir [程文力/程Sir]

Lo Sir [罗耀华/罗Sir] & Miss Ho [何妙雪]

Nick/Ching Sir [程文力/程Sir]

Miss Koo [古嘉岚]

[Avatar+Banner] JK2M

2011-04-16T17:39:00.003+08:00

J-Joe Ma [马德钟]

K-Kenneth Ma [马国明] + Kevin Cheng [郑嘉颖]

M-Moses Chan [陈豪]

Sorry to all for the lack of updates! I've been feeling rather tired these two weeks & I've been having other things on my mind too. Yeah so I've not been in the mood for graphics-making. (Only Joe's graphic is made recently. The rest were made in early March.)

[Banner] Kanin!

2011-03-20T16:23:00.000+08:00

This photo is probably special exclusively to me (as explained by the previous post). It's a photo of KANIN posted on WeiBo by BOWIE! :P To celebrate, I've made a banner!

Ngo Kanin [敖嘉年]

(Just to share with u, I WeiBo-ed this HERE too!)

[Chat] Bowie & Kanin :D

2011-03-19T23:20:00.001+08:00

http://t.sina.com.cn/1350537007/wr4kqfjHbv

The first Weibo photo taken during a filming break with both Kanin & Bowie (as far as I know)! :D Ok, there's 2 other cast members, Elena Kong & Sunny Chan. But nevertheless, I can't tell you how pleased I am! It's the thing I've been anticipating most ever since I knew that they're in the same drama serial again after WAB & AR (as in Always Ready)! Finally my fav actors are friends? I do hope so! Even if it isn't so, they are at least on friendly terms! :D

HAPPY!!! :D

[Banner] Bromance!

2011-03-06T21:15:00.001+08:00

I'm just celebrating their great friendship, not suggesting that they're gay. LOL! :P

Bosco Wong [黄宗泽] + Kevin Cheng [郑嘉颖]

Raymond Lam [林峰] + Ron Ng [吴卓羲]

Ron Ng [吴卓曦] + Sammul Chan [陈键锋]

[Avatar] No Regrets: Leung Fei Fan [梁非凡]

2011-03-03T23:28:00.001+08:00

Evergreen Mak [麦长青] won "Best Supporting Actor" for his outstanding performance as 梁非凡 AKA 非凡哥. Really deserving especially since he's been acting (very well) for years! A little late but here's a small tribute to that great performance!

[PS: I might make banners of Fei Fan Gor later!]

If like me u're taking ur A-Level results tmr, good luck & all the best! :)

[Avatar+Banner] The Rippling Blossom: Julian Cheung & Myolie Wu

2011-02-27T15:25:00.003+08:00

Julian (ChiLam) as 鱼至嬴 & Myolie as 羌姜

Last week, episode 14 ended with 羌姜 admitting her feelings for 鱼至嬴. Will he accept her? ~~Or has he never forgotten 小茏女 after all?~~ I would like them to be together! What about you?

Frankly speaking, I dun really like Myolie (Sorry, no offence meant!). However I find that her performance in TRB is less exaggerated than in her previous drama serials. :)

Julian is one actor who really makes me feel at ease & happy every time! & it's no different in TRB! :)

Sorry, I haven't had much time to trawl the net/tvb.com for TRB photos nor to make screen caps so I'm just using photos from interviews. There will be 'proper' TRB graphics once I get my hand on photos from the series! Do check back!

[PS: Fei Fan Gor's graphics are coming up too! Stay tuned!]

[Banner] No Regrets: Colonel Mukaiyama Tetsuya [向山鐵也]

2011-02-19T16:43:00.002+08:00

I dun think he was actually evil. He just loved his country too much.
Though King Kong's role is small, I think his performance was impactful! Good job!

(Btw, I think King Kong does have the look of a 'baddie'! HAHA!)

[Banner] Valentines!

2011-02-14T00:53:00.002+08:00

Happy Valentines! <3
I've got banners to celebrate the occasion!

Actors:

Moses Chan [陈豪]

Bosco Wong [黄宗泽]

(Two of my favourite actors!)

On-screen couples:

Tavia Yeung [杨怡] & Ron Ng [吴卓曦] (TaRo)

(They're currently my favourite couple!)

Flora Chan [陈慧珊] & Bowie Lam [林保怡] (FloBo)

(They were once great friends & yet now they've lost contact. Will we ever see them collaborating again? I really hope so!)

Tavia Yeung [杨怡] & Moses Chan [陈豪]

(I just had to make this! They're both known to be really playful & it's really evident in here! :D)

[Banner] TVB is Love! :)

2011-02-11T01:25:00.000+08:00

Haha, just a public display of my love for TVB's drama serials! LOL! :D Reblog if u're a fan!

[Banner] Happy CNY!

2011-02-07T23:25:00.001+08:00

I know it's already 初五 but still, here's wishing all of you HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!
I've made 2 banners to celebrate the occasion! :)

Wayne Lai [黎耀祥] & Sheren Tang [邓萃雯] (Sherayne)

[Pierre] Ngo Kanin [敖嘉年] + Bowie Lam [林保怡]

(If u were wondering, the photos I used for this banner are really old. I think it's around 2006.)

[Banner] No Regrets: Pai Guat Zai [排骨仔]

2011-01-23T23:28:00.001+08:00

I feel that Pai Guat was the one who went through the greatest character development in No Regrets. At the start of the drama, we witness him getting frightened by gun sounds & crying pitifully when he was threatened at gun-point at the start. However as the story developed, we see that he grew to have enough courage to shoot the apple on Fei Fan's head & also the Japanese Commander, Colonel Mukaiyama Tetsuya. There are many other scenes that are meaningful for Pai Guat, can you still remember the all of these I've depicted in my graphics?

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've just started work! I'm wondering if I should do more NR graphics. If so, it will certainly cover the fantastic chemistry between Wayne & Shereen and the love story of Raymond & Fala. If I have enough time, I'll cover other stuff like Fei Fan the villian, the war period & the great off-screen friendship the cast displays! Please leave comments if you want them! If not, it's back to my Favourite Artists series (that includes Bosco, Moses & Tavia). Thanks! :D

[Article] GIMP (what's that?) vs Photoshop

2011-01-13T16:37:00.002+08:00

What image editing software do you use to create graphics, edit photos, etc.? Photoshop seems to be the most popular software but do you know that there are other alternatives out there such as GIMP? Contrary to most people, I started out using GIMP instead of Photoshop because it's open-source and free.

However, since the start of 2009 when I bought the student edition of Photoshop (Adobe Creative Suite 4 @ S$99), I've switched over to PS for making TVB graphics. I'm still a fan of GIMP though because I've found features that are useful (I'll talk more about these later). But I still switched over because PS allows for more non-destructive editing & that's really useful!

Non-destructive editing means that no permanent change has been done to the layer. The original layer is kept intact & changes are added separately (like layer adjustments, layer masks & layer styles). GIMP offers layer masks but not layer adjustments nor layer styles. As such, it becomes more prudent for you to think through what you want to do with the layer before starting. If not, you could find yourself in a situation where you wish to undo a certain destructive change you made earlier (e.g. undo-ing the desaturation) but this change was made in the midst of other changes you wish to keep. What this means is that you will most likely have to re-import the original layer then try to redo ALL the other changes while leaving out that particular change. Sounds daunting right? But with PS, all you have to do is either to make invisible or trash that particular adjustment layer/layer style (e.g. Vibrance or Hue/Saturation adjustment layer). Thus, for someone fickle like me who wants to fiddle with everything before deciding what's best, PS would offer more flexibility and room for experimenting. However, if you are one who already has the final image in mind and knows exactly what to do, GIMP handles it just fine.

While it's superior in non-destructive editing features, PS just does not match up to GIMP in it's antialiasing for fonts. For small fonts, this is particularly acute. Look at the two images below:

Which one allows you to decipher "GraphixFocuz" more easily? The one at the top. That's created using GIMP. (I'm aware that there are 4 antialiasing options for PS & I've already selected the best one, crisp. Similarly for GIMP, I found that checking hinting, force auto-hinter and antialiasing works best.) As such, I regularly revert to GIMP when making smaller graphics like avatars & logos/links.

Unlike PS, GIMP has the the ability to change the stroking of a selection (I'm referring to Edit -> Stroke -> ...). Rather than a solid line, you can choose various types of dotted lines. I believe that you can produce the same results in PS with some tweaks in the brushes settings in PS but that's tedious compared to a few mouse clicks to get the exact spacing you want in GIMP. As such, when I was making graphics like Linda Chung's, the whole graphic was made in PS but for the dotted border, I created it in GIMP before saving it as a PNG file & importing it into PS as a layer. (I know this sounds quite tedious but it's really quick.)

These are but only a few areas where comparisons for the two can be done. However, I shall not go into the rest because my purpose here is just to highlight features that I find most useful in the two softwares. Overall, the non-destructive editing features of PS really wins me over because of flexibility it offers. However, I still go to GIMP for my dotted borders & for avatars (where the readability of small font sizes is critical) when I know that I will make few colour adjustments. Because of my foray into GIMP before PS, I'm exposed to a different editing software & thus a slightly different way of doing up these graphics. I hope that you will try GIMP & discover different ways of producing the same result! Please do share with me your experience in using PS, GIMP or any other image editing software! Thanks! :)

Post inspired by this article & partly also because of an email I sent to dreamlucky (owner of No Regrets fan blog).

[Avatar] Favourite Artistes: Ngo Kanin [敖嘉年]

2011-01-09T14:08:00.000+08:00

(In case u were wondering, that's a camera he's holding in his hand.)

(This is Kanin's first time on JSG!)

(Screenshot taken from MegaBox聖誕雪國之旅. Thanks to SIUPING at Kanin's forum for the screencap!)

Just a note on Kanin: I know many fans call him Pierre but he has said before that "Pierre,This name was given to me in Form 1 by my teacher, but I never used it." As such, I would prefer to call him "Kanin" instead of "Pierre". :)

[Avatar] Favourite Artistes: Bowie Lam [林保怡]

2011-01-05T14:49:00.001+08:00

At 第五届腾讯网星光大典 in Beijing, Bowie won 年度人气电视演员 (Most Popular Actor). Here are two avatars of him carrying the award, which is shaped like a diamond.

(BH=Be Happy. That's what Bowie always tells us fans. :D)

Bowie came to Singapore in 2010 for the 15th Asian Television Awards held at Pan Pacific Hotel, where he won "Best Drama Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role". He says that it's the most important award he got to date. After all, it's ASIAN TV King!

(The last avatar somehow reminds me of Bowie's role as Henry in the Healing Hands series. Anyone feels the same way? :P)

[Avatar] The 3 Raymonds

2011-01-02T09:34:00.001+08:00

Raymond Cho [曹永廉]

Raymond Wong [王浩然]

Raymond Lam [林峰]

[Banner] Feminine Charm

2010-12-31T17:42:00.001+08:00

Sheren Tang [邓萃雯]

Tavia Yeung [杨怡]

Yoyo Mung [蒙嘉慧]

Jessica Hsuan [宣萱]

Linda Chung [钟嘉欣]

[Banner] Masculine (& boyish) Charm

2010-12-25T23:10:00.007+08:00

Steven Ma [马浚伟]

Raymond Lam [林峰]

[Pierre] Ngo Kanin [敖嘉年]

Wayne Lai [黎耀祥]

Jacky Wong [王树喜]