Our picks for the 3rd Singapore Short Films Awards. Tonight!

The 3rd Singapore Short Film Awards returns with visibly less fanfare but a more diverse repertoire of genres that stretch from understated realism to bombastic fantasy, from bizzare (and sometimes awkward) experiments to simply family soap. The mixed basket is perhaps incidental but yet it heralds a new era of filmmakers who are confident in walking their own unbeaten paths.

Among the nominees, animation makes its presence felt this year with a handful of meticulously crafted gems that have a firm grasp of both storytelling on one hand and aesthetics on the other. Even Kan Lume, starts a new thread in his surrealistic experiments by using pencil drawing animation. In a way, it seems to remind me that the government’s attempt to earn another hub status, in this case animation and post-production, is paying off a little.

What’s also noticeable among the nominees is the band of films that are Singaporean takes on the foreign world. Anthony Chen does an ‘Ang Lee’ with his sensitively-crafted ‘LightHouse’. Kirsten Tan reprises surrealism with a dash of absurdity in ‘Thin Air’ set in an American city. Venice Film Festival – nominated Tan Shijie transposes the SDU anxiety of Singapore to a quiet Japanese surburban town.

Perhaps it is getting harder to define the Singapore psyche well enough to tell a good story., with people are moving and letting new ones come in at an alarming pace.. After all, filmmakers are just out there to make a good film. It does not matter if it is not ‘Singaporean’ enough.

With the diverse group of nominees, it makes the job of judging much more difficult. So here is our picks of the awards.

Best Script
Godzaizar
Sisters
Hentak Kaki
Bliss
The Hole
Lighthouse

Our Pick: Lighthouse for not showing us a real lighthouse but instead taking us on roadside to 'see the light'. The script's linear yet not-linear treatment of dealing with the loss of a loved one brings to life a family of characters who are each in their own world yet interacting in a very believable way.

Best Performance
First Breath After Coma
Love in Any Genre
Sisters
Hentak Kaki
Bliss

Our Pick: There is something about Bliss that is genuinely affecting. It's how the characters seem so vulnerable and free from the need to make their presence felt. Bliss has managed to fuse both its narrative and its characters into one seamlessly yet without robbing the actors of their 'moments'. Marc Gabriel Loh in First Breath After Coma presents a good alternative but somehow the character played seldom developed beyond a state of self-doubt and feeling urequited love.

Cinematography
Bliss
Cut Adrift
Existence
Lighthouse
The Hole

Our Pick: It is so difficult to pick when a category packs 3 genres into its nominees - documentary, experimental and narrative. It's a tough choice between Bliss and Lighthouse. Both films have thoughtfully weave deliberate camera angles and shots into part of the storytelling, whether it is in revealing an object or presenting characters in a certain tableau against their immediate backgrounds. Will the judges give it to a newbie or a circuit regular? It's hard to say.

Best Art Direction
Godzaizer
Love in Any Genre
Mandy’s 8 Theories of Sleep
Sanzaru

Our Pick: Godzaizer edges out Mandy’s 8 Theories of Sleep only by a tiny margin in this. There is a lot of thoughtful and meticulously crafted detail in Godzaizer. Not only are the robots well 'engineered', the authentic details of the old-school iron-grilled gate, the shop sign and the interior paraphernalia reflect a concerted effort to lend the film context through visual design. Mandy's 8 Theories however is also delightfully ingenious in the way its translates a child's imagination. Love the cardboard bus!

Best Sound
Bliss
Burger Burger
Sanzaru
The Hole

Our Pick: This is tough category where no one nominee stands out clearly from the rest. Will it be creative sound design in Burger Burger or sensitive sound-scaping or even 'mastering the art of silence' in The Hole? Or will it be the wistful touch of narration that reminisces bittersweet times? Our pick goes to Bliss for staying true to it aim to tell a simple honest story using the power of a genuine voice.

Best Editing
Sisters
Wild Dogs
Bliss
Existence
Sanzaru

Our Pick: Bliss, which interweaves the current with the past and cleverly uses the same actors in both enactments, allowing the audience to cross-reference and draw their own lessons about growing up and moving with the times. What the editing has done is to make this happen by blurring the lines where the past and present meet through interlaying narration about the past over the present day footages and vice versa, yet in a seamless fashion.

Best Documentary
Peace Be Upon You
Wild Dogs
Existence
Unheard

Our Pick: Not an inspiring cohort of nominees but Existence packs in thoughtful content with the occasional clever play of soundbites. That's our pick.

Best Fiction
Sisters
Bliss
Thin Air
The Hole
Lighthouse

Our Pick: Lighthouse ticks all the boxes in terms of delivering a good story with credible acting and an immaculate and polished visual finishing to the film. It is difficult to point a finger at piece so well-conceived. But sometimes, its the imperfections in a film or an effortless and unintended transcendental moment that captures your heart that says this was not part of the filmmaker's plan but mimicks life in a undeniable way. This was what the largely silent and simple film The Hole gave us. So that's our pick.

Best Animation
Godzaizer
Libertas
A Cloudy Conundrum
Burger Burger
Tales of the Chugawagas

Our Pick: Godzaizer despite its resemblance to Steven Speilberg's Real Steel edges out the rest with its meticulous attempt to tell a story with a heart and lots of craft. While its storyline is predictable, the localisation of the sci-fi genre is novel.

Best Director
Godzaizer
Hentak Kaki
Bliss
The Hole
Lighthouse

Our Pick: A familiar theme done with a mature sensitivity is The Hole. Shijie, the director of The Hole masters the art of the unspoken reaction and, like his earlier film For Two, manages to ignite an organic kind interaction between his characters, who break into little moments of quiet spontaneity. And the camera lingers on enough for us not feel the director is 'getting on with the script'. Yet not long enough to make us feel deliberation. We love to see more works from Shijie!

3rd Singapore Short Film Awards Preview: Reviews of Kevin (2011) & Rags to Riches (2011)

What’s in a title? You wonder when a screener is first handed to you. Here, we have two short films so conveniently named, one can’t tell what the stories are about unless you read the provided synopses. Ding Xiao’s Kevin (2011) is presumably about Kevin, who’s a… boy? A tiger? A house? Meanwhile, Colin Tan’s Rags to Riches (2011), as one would assume, is a tale of how one becomes wealthy after dealing with garbage. These are just two of the 100-odd films screened at the 3^rd Short Film Awards. And how do they fare?

Ding’s three-minute film is, surprise surprise – about a dinosaur named Kevin. The graduate from the School of Art, Design and Media at NTU has come up with the adorable concept of what a prehistoric creature would do if he were to battle his primal needs on a deserted island.

While we aren’t sure whether there is a social commentary embedded somewhere in this brightly-coloured production, we love Kevin’s mischievously lovable expressions. The plot isn’t what you’d call revolutionary (maybe it’s Ding’s exact intentions to keep things short and sweet), but this digestible piece of work is one you’d find yourself smiling throughout.

If Ding’s film is a breeze to sit through, Tan’s sits nicely on the other end. His 25-minute documentary explores how a tradition in the National University of Singapore (NUS) has evolved over the years. Spearheaded by the university’s Student’s Union, the annual Rag and Flag is a charity project that is part of the campus’ Orientation Programme. The first portion sees undergraduates from the university asking for donations islandwide for various beneficiaries. In return, the school puts up a spectacular show - Rag, as a thanking gesture.

The film is a collection of interviews from various sources, and don’t blame us for initially thinking that this is a promotional video for the school event. Shot with what you can call “guerrilla style” (complete with unbalanced audio levels), Tan goes from source to source eliciting comments about how Rag and Flag’s objectives and outcomes have changed over the years.

It is not through the one-third mark of the film that we realise the filmmaker has a point to make. There is something almost insidious about the event, something dark and shady, which the organisers shouldn’t be proud of. The filmmaker’s intentions to expose the truth are commendable (who doesn’t want to be a Michael Moore or Morgan Spurlock?), but the product feels somewhat half-baked and half-hearted. The film would have worked better with tighter editing, that’s for sure. A redux version, maybe?

The 3rd Singapore Short Film Awards (SSFA) takes place at The Substation Theatre from 5-11 March. For more information, click here.

Watch this space for other short films reviews from the SSFA!

Review: The Wedding Diary

At times heart-wrenchingly terrible and in others simply dull, The Wedding Diary is an attempt to marry lightweight comedy with a fairytale romance, something it fails so badly to do that it ends up neither howlingly funny nor swooningly romantic. The film, directed by Malaysian Adrian Teh, is an entirely toothless affair: a romantic comedy so devoid of passion and humour (two qualities you naturally expect from such a genre), that I wondered what the purpose of its existence was.

The Wedding Diary follows the adventures of Wei Jie (singer-songwriter-actor Aniu) and Zhi Xin (Elanne Kwong), and the film opens with their fortuitous love-at-first-sight meeting and subsequent courtship. Before you can roll your eyes, they have decided to get engaged. However, her father (Choo Houren) and mother (Kara Hui) are fiercely opposed to her getting married to Wei Jie, deeming his unremarkable achievements and modest financial state an assault to their family's reputation; Zhi Xin lies to her parents that she is pregnant to force them to accept her decision to get married. In order to win them over, Wei Jie decides to show his sincerity in marriage by agreeing to fork out extravagant sums of money for various wedding expenses. This, of course, lands him in a mountain of debt, and is the start of his problems.

His gesture of love might have been intended to come across as noble, but it's hard not to construe it simply as sheer idiocy, judging from the number of stupid acts he commits in the film (such as using a bag full of fake money to pay off a creditor; he doesn't even bother checking the notes); most of the problems he face are self-imposed. His persistent lapses in common sense are not goofy or charming, as the director and screenwriter probably thought, but rather come across as lazy writing and wan affectations, especially once the verve starts flagging midway through and ridiculous events start invading the plot (a champagne cork causes a chandelier to drop down, a bag of money appears suddenly in front of Wei Jie, etc.).

The film, being released just prior to Valentine's Day, was probably intended to be a sweet, harmless date flick, what with it having two main characters who are giddily in love and both embracing a "love conquers all" mantra, and both jumping headlong into marriage. And yet, ironically, the film winds up being an insult to anyone who values the institution of marriage. Wei Jie and Zhi Xin show little consideration for their circumstances and in diving recklessly into marriage, actually trivializes it. It is one thing to sombrely acknowledge and assess the difficulties to be encountered in a marriage and to still proceed with it; that is usually rooted in a deep, mature love. It is another to be so enamored with getting wed such that one throws all caution into the wind, and then only start to worry about the circumstances later on. That, dear readers, is infatuation, puerility and idiocy, but NOT love. When Wei Jie starts to worry about his financial state later, it is difficult to feel anything for him, even though Aniu's goofy underdog posturing begs for your sympathy.

The film aims to be a critique on the wedding industry; it strives to show how weddings have devolved from being ceremonies to affirm love, to being nothing more than its nauseating commodification. And yet, The Wedding Diary's flagrant product placement - there's an entirely unimportant subplot involving Wei Jie's father (Marcus Chin) and the watch he wears, which is less for dramatic effect than for the sake of plugging the film's main sponsor, the watch chain Solvil et Titus - not just invalidates the point it was trying make, but also proves the film to be purely hypocritical.

Don’t even get me started on the acting. Aniu and Elanne Kwong both act in the most repellent, faux-cutesy way, though to be fair it is probably the fault of director Adrian Teh for coaxing such performances out of them. Their characters don’t behave in a remotely believable or age-appropriate manner. Wei Jie whimpers around, head permanently downcast, as if he were a neutered puppy. Elanne Kwong speaks as though she has just ingested helium. I’m all for romantic comedies being sweet, but the wannabe-ingratiating vibe on display here just too much for me to take. This couple is so far removed from reality that their struggles wind up feeling absolutely inconsequential.

In the end, The Wedding Diary purports to celebrate love, but all it does is offer an anesthetized, Disney-esque version of it, stripped of weight and significance. A few laughs along the way might have helped, but the humour in the film revolves around such implausible and outlandish events that it is hard not to feel overwhelmed by its ludicrousness.

shoutOUT! : Take part in the Asia-Europe Short Films Contest

Today is the beginning of tomorrow. With the world becoming the smaller place, people and cultures are mixing more than ever, finding futures intertwined. Regardless, cultural differences are still present. Diversity makes interactions interesting, fun and sometimes challenging.

We invite you to give your view of Asia and Europe’s connections of the future, the diversity of the now and the interesting challenges of a small world with big populations. Imagine the connection between Asia and Europe. What does it mean for you? How do you see the two regions relate with each other?

Express your views in a short, up to 3 minute film of any type (animation, documentary, fiction, mobile phone video) be it related to cultures, arts, environment, education, economy or individual relationships, and take part in the first Asia-Europe Short Film Contest.

5 winners selected by the Jury and special online public voting will receive SGD 5000 and a 2-day filmmaking workshop in Singapore.

How to take part:

• Make a short, up to 3 min film of any type ­– animation, documentary, fiction, mobile phone video – to express your view of Asia-Europe relations.
• Upload it online (http://www.asef.org/index.php/shorts) before the 9th April.
• Vote for the short films on the Asia-Europe Foundation website and encourage your friends to vote for yours.
• Win and fly to Singapore to receive your award.

For more information, please go the Asia-Europe Foundation website.

Start making your films now!

3rd Singapore Short Film Awards Preview: Review of Edmund (2011) & Mandy’s 8 Theories of Sleep (2010)

You must have seen one of these people walking in your midst. Those who, well, what do we call them – weirdos? In this confusing day and age, it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine what constitutes normal behaviour. What about filmmakers who tell stories about people who do not fit in snugly into the crowd? Are they, err, normal? Through Viknesh Kobinathan’s Edmund (2011) and Wendy Chee’s Mandy’s 8 Theories of Sleep (2010), we get an insight on what goes on in the minds of two, hmm, weird individuals, and are left to interpret whether the filmmakers are as odd as their subjects.  

Kobinathan, a self-proclaimed full time bum, has chosen a lanky and rather likeable lad as the protagonist of his film. Edmund (we can’t decipher his nationality though) likes walking around with his Longman dictionary, and everything in his life can be described word for word, thanks to the definitions in his non-living companion. The six-minute film shows how this peculiar behaviour can actually lead to the discovery of true love.

It is evident from the production values of this film that Kobinathan is a student filmmaker. While it doesn’t help that this reviewer was from the same school he studies at (all the locations in the film are familiar spots this reviewer used to shoot his productions), the film could have benefited from stronger performances from the cast members. The protagonist’s delivery of an awkward character is acceptably average, but the same can’t be said about the supporting roles.

There is a potentially affecting story in here. Who isn’t a fan of an underdog overcoming all odds and living happily ever after with his true love? Kobinathan has managed to paint a personality which is quirkily adorable [Marc Webb’s romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer comes to mind], and with better production values (read: higher budget), we are sure his next piece of work will be one worth looking forward to.

And if there is one thing that will never go wrong in film production, it is the use of cute kids. Chee knows this rule well, and has chosen two very endearing children to star in her film. As the title suggests, the protagonist Mandy is a girl who enjoys sleeping. She has the task of convincing her friend (a boy, of course) that sleeping is the best thing that can happen to him.

The 18-minute production is a delight to watch, not just because of the natural performances of its lead characters, but also its charming art direction. The story allows the filmmaker to stretch her imagination and conjure sets which will leave its viewers smiling. The dream-like sequences will remind you of the wondrous adventures you had (in your mind) when you were a kid. Watch out for a hilarious scene where the kids encounter Z monsters.

Chee’s film is proof that with the right amount of creativity and storytelling skills, anything is possible. Trust us, even the end credits are a joy to watch.

The 3rd Singapore Short Film Awards (SSFA) takes place at The Substation Theatre from 5-11 March. For more information, click here

Watch this space for other short films reviews from the SSFA!

Review: Dance Dance Dragon

I went into the screening of Dance Dance Dragon right after having watched We Not Naughty, so you could say that my mood upon entering the cinema was more than a little foul, annoyed at forking out money to catch the latter (to write my review), which was the cinematic equivalent of being bludgeoned to death by a club. So it came as a surprise that I actually quite enjoyed Dance Dance Dragon. It had occasional clever touches, though it was also sporadically annoying – especially at the parts when Aunty Lucy (Dennis Chew) does his spasmodic head movements.

Like We Not Naughty, Dance Dance Dragon is also a Chinese New Year offering, which, in the local context, seems to necessitate a rigidly formulaic approach to filmmaking. In this genre, characters always go through some sort of pseudo conflict before inevitably receiving an unauthentic epiphany about the Great, Unquestionable, Importance of Family. Family members inevitably receive reconciliation at the end; and in the Chinese New Year subgenre of movies, the family is god – no obstacle can stop members of the protagonists’ family from coming together and living happily ever after. Fun, laughter, and happy endings – all these revolving around relationships within families - are the name of the game in such a genre.

If such mawkishness is totally objectionable to you, then watching a Chinese New Year offering (also called a ‘He Sui Pian’) will almost always be a painful affair. I am myself not the biggest fan of such puerile sentimentality and persistent simple-mindedness, but I’ve come to accept the limitations of a Chinese New Year film - if Chinese New Year is a time for relatives to come together, then isn’t it only expected for a Chinese New Year film to exalt and celebrate the family? Having such a singular sensibility is the constraint of the Chinese New Year film, and if you are willing to make peace with it, then you may actually wind up liking Dance Dance Dragon. The key is in the execution, not the plot; if you already know what’s going to happen in the end (i.e. the family reconciles, all obstacles are overcome), the journey towards it better be one helluva ride. And at parts, Dance Dance Dragon does show genuine imagination and spunk.

Since it’s the year of the Dragon, the most auspicious year in the Chinese Zodiac, it makes perfect commercial sense to cash in on Chinese superstition by revolving the film’s plot around a dragon baby. A flashback opens the film, with Mother Loong (Lai Ming) - the matriarch of a family who owns a lion dance troupe - in labour, giving birth to her third child, and only son, whom she was intending to deliver during the dragon year , but alas, misses the mark by a couple of hours. (Children born during the year of the Dragon are supposed to be blessed, according to Chinese superstition.) Never losing the desire for a dragon baby to take over the family’s lion dance business, she pins her hopes on her three children to bear her one. Her optimism flags as the years go by, with her two daughters, Lucy (Dennis Chew in drag, reprising his popular TV character) and Ah Bee (Kym Ng) having little luck in their romantic lives. Lucy got dumped by her Indian boyfriend for her frumpiness; Ah Bee can’t score a date because of her intimidating and hard-edged demeanour.



Her youngest son, Ah Long (Melvin Sia), seems to be her only ray of hope, seeing as he is married, and while on the way back from Malaysia (where he is residing) to visit his family, he buys a basket of fruit. Unbeknownst to him, cosmic intervention has taken place, and the Powers that Be have magically placed a dragon baby in the basket he was carrying. Lucy, Ah Bee and Ah Long were all stunned upon the discovery of the baby, but decide to dupe their mom into thinking that is Ah Long’s real son – their family’s long awaited dragon baby – for the sake of appeasing her.

You’re not going to get anything new by way of character here. Every character is but a caricature; none of them are fully-formed or go through any worthwhile struggle or self discovery. Aunty Lucy is particularly grating, and including him in the film likely stems from a mercenary impulse – being a popular and familiar household figure, he would boost the film’s box office prospects. The gags are mostly hit-and-miss; some delight, while some are downright banal and uninspired. The film also veers into racist territory by including a stock Indian character as Lucy’s ex-boyfriend (an implausible pairing, considering how different both of them are), who appears in one scene just to play up every single Indian stereotype in the book.

The actors put in decent performances to their one-dimensional characters, and the comic chemistry between the cast buoys the film a little. Adrian Pang in particular is the right balance of hammy and serious as a Westernized chef with a gambling problem. The cast’s comedic background is evident as they deliver the occasionally snappy dialogue with much punch. A pity then, that the screenplay gives them little work with.

And yet, the film still remains a joyous and exuberant celebration of tradition, while simultaneously espousing the importance of newness and change. The dragon baby that was magically conferred by the gods (played by a bunch of kids, perhaps to increase the cutesy quotient) is the central metaphor in the movie. He represents the new (being a new life), and yet his worth is tied to superstition and traditional beliefs; he is valuable insofar as he is a symbol of good fortune, being born in the year of the Dragon. The film concerns itself with the tension between the contemporary and the traditional. The film acknowledges the importance of modernity and change, but stresses that such change must not come at the expense of heritage, and this theme runs throughout it.

One example of this is in the film’s ostensibly manga-inspired visual interludes, mostly during showdowns featuring the two rival lion dance troupes. They are spirited attempts by director Kat Goh to liven up the proceedings, and they tap into the popularity of the manga in what is Goh’s effort to create a more punkish aesthetic to appeal to younger people. At the same time, those images steep themselves in Chinese mythology and iconography; they are at once contemporary and reverent of tradition. But attempts to modernize by compromising on tradition are punished in the film. Teck’s (Bryan Wong) lion dance troupe, that has substituted standard Chinese musical instruments for sleek audio equipment, is made a mockery of at the end. Eric, who started off the film as a chef who could only serve up Western cuisine and not delicacies belonging to his own culture, is shown to be a washed-up, pathetic, gambling addict; as he progresses along in the film, he clears up his act, and by the end of the film he cooks up reunion dinner for a huge gathering. Aunty Lucy, who in her enduring ambition to be a dancer, joins a young dance group, and discards her traditional garments for a more in-the-times outfit for a dance competition; she gets humiliated as a result.

The film may not be a groundbreaking local work, but it is funny and enjoyable at times. It also articulates its points quite smartly, and unlike We Not Naughty, doesn’t browbeat you into buying into some lofty moral. Which, I think, is enough to make it a decent ‘He Sui Pian’ for the family to enjoy.

Singapore Lomokino pioneers take a lesson on Short Films

SINdie collaborated with Lomography on a contest to shoot Lomokino films on the latest Lomokino camera. Check out our previous post on what this contest was about. The shortlisted teams were then invited to a casual workshop conducted by local filmmaker Michael Tay. Michael took them on a journey through his filmmaking foray and shed some light on what short films are and should be. Here are the snapshots from the workshop on 8 Jan at the Singapore Lomography flagship store at South Bridge Road.

All good lessons begin with a good question, even if it's a simple question.

Michael's self-introduction to the young crowd

'Everything here is on sale, including me, if you can afford to pay'

'By the way, just in case you don't already know, you need to return the camera after use!'

'Loading the film is as easy as you make it to be.'

The workshop led to some tongue-wagging

Darren (who used to write for SINdie) can't help but notice the SINdie camera when he sees one

Ready girls? Let's show them colours.

Who's Shooting What in 2012? Series 2

We continue with the 'Who's Shooting What?' series with 5 feature films slated for production this year. It seems we can never lose our grip on horror, with a discernible branch of directors going into comic-horror. Cosmically, 2 directors are giving us their own takes on zombies in Singapore - Jacen Tan and Gary Ow. Both films will feature a nation plagued by a zombie virus. The coincidence is chilling. Read on below.....


Project Title: Singapore Girl (feature film)
Filmmaker: Kan Lume

Brief Description:

In paradise, miracles do happen. While vacationing in Koh Samui, an unlikely romance takes place between two Singaporean singles - a lonely chain-smoking drifter recouping after a divorce and an SIA Flight Attendant nursing a broken heart. The guy convinces the girl to spend the next few days together with him in the same room. What follows is a comedic study of people on the brink of desperation and breakthrough. 

Project Title: Zombiepura (feature film)

Filmmaker: Jacen Tan

Brief Description: 

What will you defend? A zombie virus breaks out in Singapore while NSmen Tan and Lee are on guard duty. They flee their camp to rescue their loved ones, only to find out what it means to be real soldiers.

Tagline: Five bullets. Five million zombies. What will you defend?

Project Title: Hsien of the Dead (feature film)

Filmmaker: Gary Ow

Brief Description: 

Zombies still carry out their daily routines, despite being zombified by a virus. It’s only when someone breaks the rules – for example littering or jaywalking – that they get really agitated and become flesh-eaters. The action horror-comedy’s titular protagonist Hsien is a cowardly national serviceman who realises that everyone in his army camp has been turned into flesh-eating zombies. He must then commandeer a vehicle and make its way out, linking up with other larger-than-life survivors that include s tomboyish ah lian sporting Sailor Moon outfits, a pompous civil servant and a receptionist with mean silat skills. Full scale shooting starts Feb 18 and ends in March.

Tagline: Small Island, Big Problem

Gary, still very much the entertainer, zombifies himself too

Project Title: Third Eye Open (feature film)

Filmmaker: Tony Kern

Brief Description: 

A collection of horror tales unfold when an anti-terrorist agent opens his third eye in order to solve a case involving the occult. The film will take at least a full year of shooting throughout all of 2012.  Post production will begin concurrently throughout 2012 and probably go into 2013.  We hope to release the film by late-2013.

Tagline: "This is for those who have closed their eyes, so as not to see the others in spite.  With a cold touch of terror, we will give all the sinful disbelievers true sight." - Figyur Pierce one of the characters from Third Eye Open

Project Title: Old Places (1.5 hr documentary, actual title to be revealed)

Filmmaker: Royston Tan

Brief Description: 
The sequel to 'Old Places' will be released in June. So make a date with your memories with one and half hour long documentary by Royston Tan.

Crossing Over: Gary Ow

Ever thought that Singapore is the perfect place to film a zombie movie? Well, too late - Gary Ow has beat you to it and will be making "Hsien of the Dead", a production touted to be Singapore's first English-language zombie feature film. The first-time filmmaker who is a computer programmer by day tells us how being funny can end you up in filmmaking business. We are just glad he doesn't turn into a zombie at night.

SINdie: How did you become a film producer being in the IT industry before this?

Gary: My entertainment career started in 2009 when my play (Vampire Monologues) won Best Runner-up in Theatre Idols 2009 contest. It was so funny that the judge, Pek Siok Lian, told me to go into standup comedy. At the time, a standup comedy open mike club was starting up and I discovered I wasn't funny on stage. It took at least three months to hone my material, timing and delivery to finally be able to "kill" (meaning, make an audience laugh with nonstop consistent strong laughter)... and kill consistently. One of my mentors suggested taping my own sets to study myself. When I did, I figured out how to frame a shot and use a camera.

SINdie: What inspired the switch over to explore filmmaking?

Gary: Well, from taping my own sets (while I was on stage), I learnt to trim and edit. I learnt how to use a greenscreen. I then started making short skit comedy videos and posting them on YouTube. But I wasn't always happy with the result. The camera was always low-res and the sound was usually weak or muffled. So I bought training material on DVDs and books on how to fix those problems. But it wasn't enough. I wanted my videos to look professional. I started taking professional short courses in editing, shooting and screenwriting.

Something happened in parallel at the time. My web programming clients started asking for videos to be uploaded to YouTube. I was a hobbyist at the time, but I was champing at the bit to put what I learnt into practice. So I started small and started making little ads and corporate videos for them. Nothing too adventurous at first, just small projects I could handle. 


A lot of things happened in that compressed period. Example: I discovered that the comedic timing I learnt on stage... applied to video editing as well. Most editors leave too much or too little lag time for that comedic pause. My cuts were right on the mark. In screenwriting classes, I learnt to "show not tell"... I learnt that "less is more" in film. In shooting, I learnt many techniques on framing, compositing, and even how to interview people.

SINdie: How did your colleagues/ family/ friends react to your decision?

Gary: They thought of me as a hobbyist filmmaker and I didn't correct them. I was still earning my keep as a web programmer and doing short films on the weekends. I was also shooting my own comedy act to watch for errors, mis-timings and places where jokes could be improved. I didn't start out as a Scorcese or Tarantino and by god, if I ever get there...

SINdie: Was there stigma knowing that you'd be seen as a "first-ime filmmaker" with your debut film? How did you deal with it?

Gary: To be honest, I have been snubbed by a lot of industry old-hats: they expect things to be done the "proper" way. See, in entertainment, I learnt comedy first, then editing, then screenwriting, then shooting and directing. I feel that the order in which I learnt it helps a lot more because very experienced editors tell me that directors tend to shoot too much coverage. I shoot usually just enough footage and coverage to tell the story and have a bit left over for the editor to save the shot.

In contrast, the old-hats expect one to sit down, finish the full script and rewrite it 6 or 7 times (or 27 times, if need be). If that method works for you, more power to you. While my scripts have an overall story structure, I prefer to write in bursts.


Lastly, the industry old-hats did cynically wish me "good luck" with a smirk and a sneer. They couldn't believe I raised "that kind of money" so quickly. But like I said, more power to them.



SINdie: Ever regretted the decision, or thought of going back?

Gary: No, I wished I started earlier and in some respects, I did. As a kid, I memorized entired movie scripts and just repeated them all day, throughout school. Whenever class was starting to get boring, I would recall an entire movie and replay it in my head. I guess that's where I learnt a movie's natural dialogue rhythm.

SINdie: Why the interest of zombies in Singapore?
 
Gary: Look, on the surface, zombies are the living undead. But they really represent the unthinking people around us, don't they? They represent the un-imaginative, the non-creative (arrrrrgh) people we deal with everyday. You must know who I mean. The rigid, anal-retentive, stickler-for-rules type of person. The type of person who can't think out of the box, or believes "It's my way or the highway". And Singapore largely, has been criticized for creating that sort of "unimaginative administrator" culture. Kiasu culture.
 
For instance, name one Singaporean who has made a global blockbuster movie (I don't mean "local blockbuster" nor do I mean "critically-acclaimed-won-something-at-Cannes"). See? Nothing. I mean sure, a Singaporean invented the Soundblaster and the Thumb-drive, but movies that a global audience can identify with and enjoy? Not happening yet. So zombies gives us a good genre fan base to appeal to.

 
SINdie: Could you share with us the progress of your film at this stage?
 
Gary: I've shot the trailer. Full scale shooting started on Feb 18, 2012 and ends in March.
 
SINdie: What do you want viewers to get out of your first piece of work?

Gary: "Now that was fucken funny!"

We at SINdie wish Gary all the best in his filmmaking adventures, and we look forward to be tickled by "Hsien of the Dead"!

If you know of any other individuals who have "crossed over" to the world of filmmaking, drop us an email at sindieonly@gmail.com - we'd like to feature these inspiring souls!

shoutOUT! : Close to 100 Singapore short films at the 3rd Singapore Short Film Awards

The Singapore Short Film Awards (SSFA) is back! Enjoy a selection of about 100 Singapore short films made within the past year or so. New and old talents included. There will also be discussions, masterclasses and even parties. All screenings are free to attend and no advanced booking is required.

The awards ceremony will be held on 10 March 2012 and is by invitation only. There are ten award categories, including Best Director, Best Fiction, Best Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best Performance and Best Sound. The Singapore Short Film Awards also presents an Honorary Award to an individual or team who has made a significant contribution to the industry.

3rd Singapore Short Film Awards

Monday 5 – Sunday 11 March 2012

The Substation Theatre

Admission: by donation (no minimum amount)

Here is a list of the films which have won nominations

A Cloudy Conundrum by Woo Ying Tong, Samantha Lee Suyi, Calvin Chua Tin Giap, Poh Siang Kee and Yvonne Ng Yuwen
Cut Adrift by Hakym Noh
Bliss by Liang Xuan
Existence by Jeanette Lim
Sisters by Lincoln Chia
The Hole by Tan Shijie
First Breath After Coma by Logavel Balakrishnan
Hentak Kaki by James Khoo
Burger Burger by Gavin Tan Jun Jie and Huang Shicong
Godaizer by Hillary Yeo
Peace Be Upon You by Muhamad Yazid
Libertas by Kan Lume
Lighthouse by Anthony Chen
Tales of the Chugawagas by Khoo Yi Hui
Love In Any Genre by Suffian Zain
Sanzaru by Roy Ng Wee Kiat
Wild Dogs by Saravanan Sambasivam
Unheard by Charmaine Yap
Mandy's 8 Theories Of Sleep by Chee WeiLing Wendy
Thin Air by Kirsten Tan

Snapshot from Singapore Short Film Awards 2011