Commemorating Barbara: 'Who Can Change' - a Michael/Barbara MV

Today, this morning, 32 years ago, Barbara Yung left us.... I have written quite a lot about her passing; notably my analysis that she had a depression. I have also written a timeline of her and Michael Miu here.

Since the last few days, I've been watching Fearless Duo at night, one of the reasons was because it was a funny series... yet at the same time, it rings true the most to Michael's and Barbara's story. Because of that, I also use Fearless Duo's famous OST for this latest MV. Performed by the ever charming Alan Tam, 'Who Can Change' is without doubt the closest song I can think of that tells the story of Michael and Barbara... their friendship, and their (possibly restrained) affections. Granted, it's a sad MV... but it also gives me some bitter-sweet MB moments. I hope you like the MV despite its sad tone.

The Vimeo version is below the break. For this MV, I have also revised the translation of 'Who Can Change' provided by Wehaiyo, for I feel that translation is not prosaic enough for the MV (thanks a lot, though for the translation!). My version of the translation is also below the break.

So... yes, once again... we love you and we miss you, Barbara. This time though, people will be laying flowers on your grave next to your mother's...You're not alone now...

Take care, my dear girl... always shine like the brightest star up there...

'The Manslayer' - Huang Yaoshi LOCH 2017 MV

Today is Barbara's 58th birthday! Happy birthday, my darling girl! I miss you so much...

So, I plan to make something for her... but I had to finish a Huang Yaoshi MV first... the 4th one I made (the 3rd one with the real action scenes, not just the stills). Music is from Rurouni Kenshin Samurai X movie (2012), Track #7 (Hitokiri Battousai). Hope you like it!



The Vimeo version is after the break.

'The Heavenly Jade Flute' - new HYS MV ft. Naoki Sato's Hiten

Anyone like Naoki Sato's 'Hiten' from Rurouni Kenshin 2012 movie? I'm using that music for my new Huang Yaoshi action MV above. The title of this video is 'The Heavenly Jade Flute', a combination of one of Huang Yaoshi's signature moves (Jade Flute Swordplay) and Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (飛天御剣流, Flying Heaven-governing Sword Style).

I've always loved Naoki Sato's 'Hiten', and I totally heart the Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy (Takeru Sato is Kenshin-reincarnated!), so I am happy that Hiten fits this Huang Yaoshi MV. 

Hope you like it! The Dailymotion and Vimeo versions are after the break.

Making MV subtitles with iMovie (Mac OS El-Capitan)

Huang Yaoshi is always charming, even on raw iMovie...

Since I bought a Macbook 2016 (rose gold!!!) last November, I had been on the edge about using its iMovie to make Michael/Barbara MVs. I’m not that fast a learner for techs like this. But then, my six years old Dell is already so slow that making MVs causing me stress instead of happiness…

So last December, after staring at my laptop for a while, I decided to just bite the dust and make an MB MV with the Mac iMovie. The first one I produced was UWS’ ‘A Thousand Dreams of You’ (ft. Leslie Cheung!). I was quite pleased with the result, hence I kept on using iMovie. FYI, the last MV I made with Windows Live Movie Maker was ‘Eyes on Me’ (CLH, ft. Tanya Chua). 

I feel the need of writing this post, mostly to remind myself of my own tricks to make MVs with iMovie, and who knows, some people might benefit from it too. The most important tips I’m going to make are how to make subtitles in iMovie, cos iMovie Titles suits are surprisingly not superior to Windows Live Movie Maker. And the WLMM that I used was the one for Windows 7; i.e. not the most advanced version…

'You're the Best in the World' Huang Yaoshi MV part 2 (LOCH 2017)

Finally I have time to make another MV of our charming Michael Miu as Huang Yaoshi from the LOCH 2017. I hope YouTube and Huace don't take the MV down... cos I'll be so down... (update 24.04.2017: YouTube so far allows my MV... but Dailymotion blocks it. Go figure...).

This is the second time I used 'You're the Best in the World', the iconic 3rd OST of LOCH 1983, sung by the ever-present Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng. I made the first MV in July 2016. It was a still MV, consisting of still images from the LOCH 2017. Since LOCH 2017 has ended now (yessshhh I haven't finished recapping the episodes...sorry...), we have all the scenes from the series. Huang Yaoshi had very limited fight scenes, and the first few ones were drop dead disappointing because of the excessive use of 'internal strength' (read: CGI-ed wind etc) instead of hand-to-hand combat. But after he encountered the Quanzhen, we finally enjoyed some good fights between them. I also include the Mt. Hua contest between HYS and Guo Jing.

Enjoy! The Vimeo version, the Dailymotion version (blocked by DM),  the translation of the Cantonese lyrics and the Yale romanisation are below the break. Oh, and the Cantonese version of LOCH 2017 will be aired on TVB on 8 May 2017 (thanks Wkeej and CBWarm for the info). I hope we can hear Michael and Ray Lui in their own voices...

La Vie en Rose (United We Stand 1984 MV)

I love 'La Vie en Rose' both in French (Edith Piaf) and English (mostly Louis Armstrong) versions. Somehow I wanted to use this song for a "United We Stand" MV, and I wanted to use the French version. I've never used a French song for any Michael/Barbara song... but whyever not, actually?

Then, when I found the version sang by Ye Bei Lei (叶蓓蕾) earlier this month, I realised that I do want to have Bei Lei's version for "United We Stand". So here it is. I hope YouTube does not delete it, for I'm sort of done with guessing which song is okay or not in YouTube. Louis Armstrong and Edith Piaf should be fine for they had passed away a good while ago. Ye Bei Lei's version was sung during the Tianjin TV Spring Festival 2012, so that should be okay?

The lyrics and translation are below the break, as well as the embedded Vimeo of this MV and the YouTube video of Bei Lei singing 'La Vie en Rose'. She really sang this French song superbly well!

"In the Rain" (Zài Yǔzhōng), a Michael/Barbara MV

Sandy sent me some songs sung by Barbara Yung last December. I knew that Barbara sang during some of her shows, but I never really listened to those songs. TBH, I think she wasn't a great singer, though she was definitely a great actress and a passionate dancer. Barbara was an alto singer, hence she struggled with higher soprano notes. But when I realised that Barbara actually sang one song with Michael Miu during their concert/tour in Malaysia, I became excited. I listened to a song titled "In the Rain" several times, and the tune entered my brain easily. It was a lovely tune, and quite merry on its own. Michael was definitely a good singer; his baritone voice could produce vibrations several times when he hit some lower notes. Barbara, as I said, wasn't a good singer, but her singing voice was actually sweet for alto tones. She struggled with higher notes, but when singing the lower and medium tones, it was nice to hear her and Michael doing the duet. 

(lyrics and translation under the break)

Hannah's beautiful sketch of Barbara Yung

Beautiful teenage Yung Mei Ling, imagined and created by Hannah

I am giddy with excitement! I have been in love with the piece of art above... but I never knew who drew the beautiful piece. I love it so much that I featured it as the first image in one Barbara Yung MV (see after the break too).

Then, today, as I chat with my new friend Hannah, she just sent me a beautiful piece. I knew she was a good (well, great!) artist, for she sent me an example of her artwork last week. Then when I saw the artwork she just sent today, I was like, "Oh my God! OMG OMG OMG!"

For it was the above artwork that she sent me. She said she imagined Barbara as a teenager, and this is the beautiful result.

'He's a Man' - a United We Stand 1984 MV

He's a Man ('United We Stand' 1984 MV) from Icha74 on Vimeo.

The first post after New Year is again United We Stand, for Tung Pang-fei managed to make me squeeze in an MV for UWS while I should be working on another thing (namely, Chapter 6 of Runaway Dragon...). Anyway, he's a bit disappointed because the chosen song (Madonna's 'He's a Man' from Dick Tracy movie) was banned from YouTube, hence the YouTube video has no volume. But hey, I at least have tried!

The mute YouTube video and the lyrics are below the break. The Dailymotion MV has been banned, I think because of the Madonna music, not because of the TVB content. Sad face.

I still love this MV because, like the suspense 'The Detective' Chor Lau Heung MV, it provides a different nuance to the usual romantic MVs that I've produced so far.

Hope you like it!

'A Thousand Dreams of You' - an UWS 1984 MV

Well, Tung Pang-fei must be happy now, for I have actually become a night-owl just to work on this United We Stand MV! Since I watched UWS last Oct-Nov, I have always wanted to make a noir MV, or at least an MV with the 1930s feelings. I love the fact that Michael and Barbara starred in a series set in a transition period like the 30s, where it's not wuxia anymore but certainly it is not a modern drama yet. Thus, for UWS, it has to be a 1930-1940 jazzy song as well. I sleuthed iTunes and YouTube for days until I came across Leslie Cheung's beautiful 'A Thousand Dreams of You'. Then, as I listened to that song, I realised that this is the perfect song for Michael and Barbara in UWS. And TBH, who can resist Leslie's deep beautiful voice?!

Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone! Let's hope for a more peaceful, healthier and happier 2017 for all... Blessings for you, and thank you so much for being with me throughout the year!

The song was written in 1937 by Fats Waller, but I daresay that Leslie Cheung definitely made this song popular. The Vimeo, Dailymotion and the second YouTube version (the total noir version) links are now here below.

"Eyes on Me" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

"Eyes on Me" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.


I have loved "Eyes on Me" from Final Fantasy VIII since I found it in 2014. Then I stopped listening to it until recently, when I thought the theme would suit Song Siu Ching's feelings for Chor Lau Heung. I think I was right. "Eyes on Me" by Faye Wong, music composed by Nobuo Uematsu, English lyrics by Kako Someya. The English lyrics are below the break. I also included the original MV of "Eyes on Me" for FF VIII here. 

Enjoy!


Update 15 Aug'16: The Dailymotion version has been deleted by Dailymotion; I guess because of the song (Final Fantasy copyright?), not because of TVB. Dang... This is not a problem for those with access to Vimeo, but readers in Indonesia will have a problem with that, because Vimeo is banned in Indonesia (palm/face). Perhaps I need to make a Tudou account to upload this video? YouTube is out of question cos this is a video, not a collection of stills. Dang...

“You’re the best in this world” MV (Michael Miu as HYS 2017) & LOCH 1983 OST 3 translation

I just made this MV since we have now enough photos to make just one MV of Michael as Huang Yaoshi 2017. Since Michael played as the very memorable villain Yang Kang (Yeung Hong) in the 1983 ver of LOCH, I think it's apt to have the LOCH 1983 OST used for this piece. The OST is titled "You're the best in this world" 世間始終你好 sung by Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng. I have the YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion versions for Michael as Huang Yaoshi here. 

Since I'm also doing the translation of the LOCH 1983 OST, this post is also for that. Hence, the translation of "You’re the best in the world" (世間始終你好) is after the break. The MV of LOCH 1983 OST part 3 with Barbara Yung as Wong Yung and Felix Wong as Kwok Ching is after the translation. Romanisation is Cantonese Yale (converted from Jyutping using this site), translated into English and Indonesian.

I love this song so much, I think it's just slightly below the iconic part 1 (Iron Blood, Loyal Heart) theme song, so I enjoyed making the MV. I hope you like it too. Translation of 2nd LOCH 1983 OST will be done next week or so...

"L-O-V-E" - Michael Miu & Barbara Yung wuxia MV

I love Olivia Ong's rendition of Nat King Cole's L-O-V-E, hence I thought this song would fit a still Michael/Barbara wuxia MV that I want to make. It apparently does. The cheerful tone prompts me to mostly select images of Michael and Barbara smiling or laughing in their three wuxia series, i.e. the Foundation 1984, Fearless Duo 1984, and Chor Lau Heung 1984. God knows when I'll be able to watch the sub version of United We Stand, so until we find it, I'll just have to recycle the materials from the three series. I hope you like the MV. I upload it into YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion.

Have a nice week ahead!

"Ripples" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

"Ripples" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

I was expecting myself to continue working on my first LOCH 1983 MV last night (on Yeung Hong vs Wong Yung!), but then my Spotify suddenly aired a song that I didn't even realise I had in my iPad. Upon having its romantic melodies filling my lounge, I was so hooked that I immediately searched for its meaning. Upon understanding what the song is about, I delayed my LOCH 1983 project and chose to work on the new song instead. Since the song fits Chor Lau Heung's love story with Song Siu Ching, here's the 18th CLH MV. The ballad is so beautiful, I can imagine Chor Lau Heung singing it to Song Siu Ching if he was a singer. In fact, this song feels like a love song from Chor tai-gor to Siu Ching...

The song is "Ripples" (Lin Yi, 漣漪) by the late Danny Chan. I felt a loss that I didn't even know his talent, and yet he passed away long ago in 1993. But this song truly makes me happy (I smiled almost all the time while making it), so this MV is dedicated to you, Danny Chan. The MV is of course also dedicated to our lovely Barbara and Michael, of course. May the song brings you happiness as it did, and still does, to me. Traditional characters, Yale romanisation, English and Indonesian translations after the break. I also include the still version for YouTube this time.

"Close To You" - an MV for Michael Miu's 58th birthday

Our darling Michael is 58 years old today (18 June 2016). Can't believe he's already 58 years old but still so young in my heart... 

To celebrate his birthday, I've made an MV above. The song is "Close to You" from the Carpenters (fell in love with the song when I watched Vicky Zhao's "So Close" years ago). The opening photo is from the Legend of Condor Heroes 2017 where Michael plays as Huang Yaoshi (Wong Yeuk See) the East Heretic. I'm so happy that Michael is playing as Huang Rong/Wong Yung's father... for we know how amazing Barbara was when she played WY back in 1982/3. I think she's very happy to know that her dear friend Michael is playing as the father of her famous character, weird as it sounds...

I'm also uploading the MV to Vimeo and Dailymotion. Hope DM isn't asking me to delete it, cos DM has been rather difficult these days. I also plan to write a piece on Huang Yaoshi for Michael's birthday, but not sure if I can post it before the weekend is over.

Meanwhile, enjoy the MV, and once again, happy birthday, Michael! We love you!

"Love Is Not Easy" - a Michael Miu/Barbara Yung wuxia MV

"Love Is Not Easy" - a Michael Miu/Barbara Yung wuxia MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.


Featuring Jinny Ng's song with the same title from Line Walkers 2014, this MV combines love stories of Li Sai Man & Chun Sik Sik (The Foundation 1984), Chor Lau Heung & Song Siu Ching (The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung 1984), and Szeto Man Mo & Lam Chor Yin (Fearless Duo 1984). This song is for my dear friend Sandy Le at the MB Network.

The artist of the first artwork is anon (I use it for my banner). Cynthia (MB Network) made the gorgeous artworks/wallpapers for The Foundation 1984 and Chor Lau Heung 1984. The Fearless Duo artwork was taken from Tomoyo262's Fearless Duo YouTube MV.  I modified the English translation from here; the Yale romanisation was from here; they are below the break.

"Kindred Spirits" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

"Kindred Spirits" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

I first found Tanya Chua from her “Love is Beautiful” a few years ago when I was watching a Nicky Wu/Liu Shi Shi MV. I didn’t realise at that time that it was Tanya’s song that was used as the background music. Recently I used “Love is Beautiful” for an MV for Barbara Yung’s birthday. Ever since, I’ve been listening to Tanya’s songs via Spotify. That was when I found “異類的同類 (Yìlèi de tónglèi)”. The official title is “Strange Species” from her latest album Aphasia. Although the songs in Aphasia are different from Tanya’s previous offerings, I still like the album for its different concept (I’m not the only one, see this review, for instance). When I read one of Tanya’s interviews about 異類的同類 and Aphasia, I realised why the official title includes the word “species”.

Despite its modern terminology, I like the techno rhythm of “Strange Species”. For some reasons I thought it would make a fine Chor Lau Heung MV, but some tweaks needed to be done for the effects. After I translated the lyrics with Meenchee’s kind help, I realised that the song fit CLH/SSC perfectly. I still had to use some effects for this MV below, and I have very limited effects at my disposal with Windows Live Movie Maker. Nonetheless, I’m pretty pleased with the resulting MV. I hope you like it too. Lyrics and translations are below the break.

"Love is Beautiful" - an MV for Barbara Yung

A few minutes over midnight, but hey, better late than never! The third present for Barbara Yung and us her fans: an MV for Barbara's 57th birthday (7 May 1959-7 May 2016, if she was still with us). Song is "Love is Beautiful" by Tanya Chua, lyrics (pinyin and Chinese characters) are below the break. Will translate the song in due course.

Happy birthday, Barbara... thank you for your Wong Yung (Huang Rong), Song Siu Ching, Chun Sik Sik, Lam Chor Yin, and other characters you've brought to life because you were you. We miss you...

"The Wandering Life Before You" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

I've replaced the MV yesterday (30.04) due to mis-spelling in Ibuki Satsuki's name.


"The Wandering Life Before You" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.



"The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung" 1984 has been the only version of Chor Lau Heung that I've ever watched. However, a few weeks ago I came across the OST of the 1979 Chor Lau Heung, starring by Adam Cheng (and OST sung by the same actor). Now, as with many multi-version series, fans of CLH 1984 have their own opinions of CLH 1979 and vice versa. Just like fans of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice 1995 vs Pride and Prejudice 2005. Or Ben Affleck's Batman vs Christian Bale's Batman. Etc etc etc. Now, although I haven't watched CLH 1979, I do plan to buy the DVD hence I can have my own informed opinion about it. I do like the 1979 OST, and I think that should be enough to start watching the series. Lyrics, translation and the original OST MV are below the break.

“Love Makes a Fool of None” - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

"Love Makes a Fool of None" - A Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.



I was so excited to find the third OST of Chor Lau Heung 1984 a few days ago that I just had to make another CLH MV with that song. The song was titled 情到濃時休說痴 (Love Makes a Fool of None), performed by Liza Wang, composed by Zhao Wenhai and lyrics by WH Tang. This MV is the first MV using the OST of CLH 1984 that I've made, so it's very special to me. Please note that the song ended abruptly from the original source, hence I had to improvise with the last bit. I also refrained from using the usual ending scene of CLH examining the hairpin cos I've done that scene so many times. In lieu, I used the scene where CLH walked forlornly a good few meters ahead of his adopted sisters after SC took a French leave on Ep 5. Although that scene was so early in the CLH series, I can picture Chor tai-gor walking in that manner, if not worse, as he left SC in the Palace in Ep 40.

Lyrics in Jyutping and translation are below the break. Translation was a joint effort between my friends Meenchee, Li Qian and myself. I used the MDBG site to obtain the Jyutping. I dropped the numbers in the Jyutping, and I totally made a guess for the romanisation, hence as usual, please feel free to correct me. 

Hope you enjoy the MV as I do!