Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010: Chapter 9

SCREENING TIME!





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Wkk3Bf66s

Title : Her Story?
a work by Team: SINdie
Duration: 4mins 50s
Year:Nov 2010

We will end the chapters with a epilogue in our next post...

Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010: Chapter 8

As promised,
Here's a clip that what we are supposed to post up at 12pm today...
Raymond,our "POP CULTURE junkie" ,gives his take on our work..."HER STORY?"





Work will be uploaded REAL SOON!

Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010: Chapter 7

Time Check: 28 Nov, 2:10AM
Time Left:10 hours to go...
Location:Still in "Editing Suite"
Purpose:STILL IN POST PRODUCTION

Raymond comes into the suite to give us opinions!
Discussion in progress...what is the content about...Find out tomorrow at 12pm!
"Locked"

Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010: Chapter 6

Time Check: 28 Nov, 0:12AM
Time Left:12 hours to go...
Location:Still in "Editing Suite"
Purpose:STILL IN POST PRODUCTION

Jeremy taking a breather...
...And he's Back to work

Reviewing the sequence...

Picking the Song...(Headache)

Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010: Chapter 5

Time Check: 23:04 PM

Location:Editing Suite...

Purpose:Post Production!

Before I share about the post Productions,let's see what we did throughout the last 12 hours!

Who is she?You will Find OUT!

Mel does an act of frustration and Dare is crazily typing on this blog...

Jeremy's Starts to ponder...About WHAT?

Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010: Chapter 4

Time Check: 3pm
Location:Telok Blangah
Purpose:Out For Location Shoot

Off we go!
On our location...Setting Off...

Decided to try our luck at this place...But ARGH!

Jeremy:We are back...after a wild goose chase!
Getting everything on set...
And ACTION!

Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010: Chapter 3

Making it look like 'history'

Coffee anyone?

Housewife material

Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010: Chapter 2

Time Check: 11am
Location:Boon Keng
Purpose:Working on one of our character in the video...

There We Are...

There we have the Chatting in progress...
Getting into the heart of the matter


The very 1st thing we need to do...

Fly By NIght Video Challenge 2010 - Chapter 1

The time was 2330 hrs, we had not decided on the 'big idea' yet, but glad to have air-con.

Fly By NIght Survival Kit - instructions, camera, tote bag and coffee

Melody brings on her Production Assistant skills from Ho Tzu Nyen's 'Endless Day' on to the SINdie production set

Darren has an idea!

Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010: Prologue

6:33pm Here I am...in KAMPONG GLAM!

Welcoming guest to the "World" of Malay Culture at the Malay Heritage Centre

WE ARE TEAM Number 2!

Let's Play a game:Guess who are these 2 "Mak-ciks"?

Introducing the Judging Panel...Sanif and Jacen

7:30pm: And the Theme for this Year...

HISTORY!

Signing off!

Viewpoint from a filmmaker - Martyn See

We continue with a series of responses from local filmmakers on the current regulation and/or censorship system in Singapore. This is an ongoing project initiated by a group of students from LASALLE. Discussions and exchange of views are encouraged between members of the public and arts practitioners on the regulatory issue of films in Singapore. View our previous interviews here.

We find out what local filmmaker, Martyn See has to say:

1. During the process of making a film, have you ever felt restricted by any regulatory boundaries set by MDA? If yes, in what ways?
Yes, Section 33 of the Films Act prohibits political films. Section 14 requires all films to be submitted for censorship.

2. If for artistic purposes, would you make a film which you know might attract censors or cuts but still continue to do it anyway? Why?
Yes, it is not the job of artists/filmmakers to self censor.

3. In the Arts Community Position Paper, it is suggested that regulation should be implemented in place of censorship, as the former involves objective classification that is not politically-motivated. What is your view?
Agree. No work should be censored, or cut, or altered. But we can regulate the kind of audience, by way of age group, to access these works.

4. Two of MDA’s guiding principles behind its regulatory work are to uphold community values and to safeguard national and public interest. What is your view?
These are vague terms. The individual's right of expression should come first.

5. Have you participated in any discussion programmes or feedback consultations with regards to content regulation initiated by MDA? Would you participate in future? Why?
No, I have never been invited or requested or summoned by MDA for anything.

6. What do you have to say about the censoring/banning of content in films screened in local theatres which are still obtainable on the Internet?
Makes censorship of films ridiculous.


Want to add your 2 cents worth? Join us in an open discussion on facebook

Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010

We are IN for the CRAZE! So Will YOU!

And we will be REPORTING LIVE!
Specially for this weekend!

SINdie will be involved in the Fly By Night Video Challenge 2010 and we will report LIVE from 7:30PM onwards on 26 NOVEMBER 2010
Bookmark Us to follow us as we embark on a crazy Journey to do a 5 mins short in 1 WEEKEND!

'Taking it all off and out' for comedy - soundbites from the preview of 'When Hainan Meets Teochew'

What a treat it is to be invited to a cozy private screening of a new local film, yet to be seen by a significant number of others (evil laugh). Discounting the flight of stairs up to Sinema Old School, it was an unpretentious gathering of familiar faces, as unpretentious as 'boy-next-door' Yew Kwang himself. The film did conjure a few surprises which led to my eager fishing of quotes from the actors.



Chau Min, the lead actress shares about having to 'take it off' for a scene.



Lead actor Hong Chai shares about the challenge of doing the important kiss.



Blogger from A Nutshell Review Stefan Shih shares his thoughts about the film.



FM100.3 DJ Lin Weidong shares his thoughts about the film.

LUNCHBOX 6 - Anthony Chen

We simply went the distance for this LUNCHBOX. No prizes for guessing where we went to catch our subject.

Sunday 21 Nov, 10 pm

Changi Airport Terminal 3

Jeremy (J): So apart from the film I helped out in, what other things are you doing right now?

Anthony (A): Currently working on my first feature film. Hopefully we will go into the production in the middle of next year.

J: Are you in the scripting stage?

A: Yes, in the scripting stage and trying to complete financing on that film. Then, hopefully we could start pre-production in January.

J: Is this going to be done in London or Singapore?

A: Singapore. (pause) It’s very important that I make my first film in Singapore.

J: So how are you straddling between the two countries? I assume you are based in London?

A: I would say based between Singapore and London.

J: What do you do when you are back there?

A: Load of development meetings. I am developing a few different projects there. Meetings with production companies and producers…. Developing other features…but this is a long process and you’ve probably have heard of the term development hell. (pause) Hopefully I will be doing some commercials in London but it’s quite tough because I am not physically there all the time. So it’s hard to do the shorter projects there.

J: So what can the audience from your feature film?

A: It’s exploring the same themes that I have always been doing – family drama. Very much in the same genre as Ah Ma, Haze and even the latest short I made in the UK. It’s about growing up, coming-of-age, family. Subconsciously, it has become something that is recurring in my films. At the same time, I think it is also because of some of the directors that I really like… directors like Edward Yang, Hou Hsien Hsien, Kore-eda whom I love a lot. Erm… Ang Lee too.

J: Has the London experience had any influence on your films?

A: The reason why I desperately want to make the feature in Singapore is because it addresses what I am about and where I am from. At the same, I think there would be quite a few collaborations with Europe in terms of the crew and even post-production. I think is going to be some form of collaboration, be it in sound or cinematography. I think that probably is the nearest link to London. (pause) With Hotel 66, I really, which was shot in London, I really wanted to explore the stylistic part of myself, that’s why it was a little heavy on production design. (pause) For the film that I am doing in Singapore, hopefully it is simple and humble. Not trying to be anything. You might not have seen it but I actually made another short film after Hotel 66, which was very back to basic, very personal, very observational kind of storytelling.

J: This is probably something a lot of the younger filmmakers will be interested to know. After having the Cannes and Berlin exposure (and you know not everyone can get that) and with the media playing it up in tiny little Singapore, did things get a lot of easier for you? In terms of your career? And how about being an Asian in Europe pursuing your vision?

A: Probably not easier in Singapore, unless you really up-play certain things and you are hungry to do just anything and everything. But I am quite picky and selective about what I do… and I don’t think I have been doing ‘proper’ work for the past 6 years. I have always been doing pro-bono, non-profit work. I have never really made money. (pause) Interestingly, I observed things to be a little different in Europe. People, I mean, producers make the effort to understand the filmmaker before making any decisions. Also, they seem to value the film festival credentials of the film more in Europe than in Singapore. Things are a little more pragmatic here.

J: I guess I am coming from the point of view of a person who wants to know the ‘route’ or to put it a bit awkwardly, the ‘route to success’?

A: Mm…. I may not be the best person to answer this! (laughs) However, and I can only say it in my case, I have had an easier time in Europe than in Singapore. (pause) Just digressing a little, the ways things work over there is quite different. You walk into a meeting with producers and you realized that they have done their due diligence on you. And I am also able to get feedback from these producers through my agent. In a way, the environment is very nurturing and it does not only apply to filmmakers but writers and people in other creative capacities as well.

J: Actually what you said is not very new. We all know too well how things work here. There are ‘KPI’s to be met – you know what’s a KPI?

A: Yes. I know that very well (laughs).

J: Sadly, this is true not only in film, but also in many other professions that also involve creativity. Perhaps society needs to change before you even talk about a sector like film. (pause) Actually I would like to link this to my next question. Erm, it is something you brought up when we met at the National Museum last month. You mentioned that you observed that many Singaporean filmmakers are churning out a lot of films, causing a dilution of the quality of films here or what a film may be truly defined as. But you know, some people will tell you that this is the age in which anyone with mobile phone can also make a film, who are you to tell…

A: Yeah, I mean it’s true and it’s about this whole purist dilemma. But I don’t think it is about the budget. In fact, one of the first films I am going to make after my feature is going to be really low-budget, like no-lighting, small crew, non-actors. I believe the story can be told that way but I feel it is very important that there is a certain form of discipline in the filmmaking. I am not into the whole ‘to be a filmmaker, you need to go to film school’ saying because there brilliant filmmakers who did not have formal education. Perhaps because in the past, it was so difficult to make films, so there was a lot of thinking before launching into something. (pause)

So I just think people need to think further than just to go ‘You know I am free this weekend, let’s make a film’ or ‘I am going to shoot a feature in one day’. You know it’s realty interesting,. I just came back from Taiwan and had a very interesting discussion with a filmmaker friend of mine there. He said you can’t dictate what film is because film means something different to everyone. I tend to agree because some people see film as art, some people see film as a tool to make money. Some people see film as a political device. Some people see film as something that can be put on YouTube.

I think we, in Singapore, are in a very awkward position because we are not in a homogeneous society. We’re not Korea, China, Taiwan. We do not have a product that just caters to our local population. So it makes it very important that the product can travel overseas. So in a way, you need some form of branding. Among my Taiwanese and Hong Kong friends, it is slightly easier because of their history or heritage of films. But for us, it is more difficult. We have to fight so hard to convince people.

I just came back from a film financing forum and learnt a few things. I looked at the box office numbers of Singaporean films for the past twenty year. 8 to 9 out of 10 films lost a lot of money and you are looking at films with stars in it. The only films that constantly make money is films by Jack Neo. We don’t even need to look at the figures to know they make money. In fact, every single film, clocks a minimum of one million. One the other hand, there are films that make only 3000 in Singapore when it cost half a million to make. So in a way, we need to sell our product. Unless we can recover that costs, there is no way to get investors interested. Or they will say they will give you 10,000 to make it. But with 10,000, you can’t do very much that is fit enough to be picked up by the distributors. So, we don’t want to be trapped in this vicious cycle.

One top of this, film branding is not just influenced by the people working in that particular film itself. It can also be influenced by the general perception of films from that country by the rest of the world. You can be an award-winning filmmaker or an amateur filmmaker, all of us make up the general picture that is being judged by others. As a matter of fact, Singapore does indeed send 300 – 400 short films out to film competition overseas every year but the general tide of opinion towards them have not always been positive. Sometimes that can become a vicious cycle because our credibility is affected.

It also does not help that the films that are doing well in the film festival circuit are really arthouse, making it difficult for investors to be convinced about financing our films. So the moral of the story seems to be that we either make really bad films or we make arthouse films that are good but hard to sell.

J: Do you think the loophole in this is the ‘excessive submission’, so in fact we should continue to encourage filmmaking but to let the filmmakers know the difference between a film fit for a competition and a film good enough as a classroom project or for self-amusement.

A: I think it is interesting but I won’t name the person. I know the previous head of film school in Singapore who actually stopped his students from submitting certain films to festivals because he felt they were not good enough to go out. So I feel in a way, we need to contain…..

J: Opportunistic behaviour?

A: No not really… what I mean is everyone has a part to play to uphold a certain standard of filmmaking quality. And I am not talking about the medium. It could be really low quality, shot on DV, but what I saying is the quality of the story. I am sure there will be people who will argue against that because it is very hard to decide what is a good or bad film. It is subjective. But generally, everyone needs to come together to uphold the standards so that we are not known as people who are churning out quantity. In some years, we can get as many as 30 feature films, I think that year was the year when Lucky 7 and 881 were out. It is really huge for a country like Singapore.

(pause) You know, I am also noticing that people are thinking that it is very easy to be a filmmaker, in Singapore especially. Particularly in Singapore, everyone only wants to be the director, they forget that there are many other interesting roles to fill as well. Also, the media seems to be propagating that it is easy to be a Royston Tan or Boo Junfeng and that suddenly, so many local films are making it to Cannes, Berlin and Venice. But what many people may fail to see is that filmmakers could be working 20 hours a day, not earning much, no bread, no butter. It’s really tough. I think peple need to understand that there is something called ‘madness’ when it comes to filmmaking and you really need to …

J: Be a little mad.

A: And you really need to be risking a lot. It’s not really that glitzy. There is no ‘Light Camera Action’ red carpet whatever. It is so easy to think that that’s filmmaking but it really is not. I have been making films for a couple years and the day before my shoot, I am still sourcing for last-minute props, trying to solve production problems and all that. It’s not comfy at all. It’s really tough. People need to realize that it is not easy. It’s a tough route.

Some people are stirred up by the illusion that it is cool to be part of the film industry and the great number of film schools around here seems to support this buzz. But they don’t know that the money isn’t there. Jobs are tough. There is a lot of crap you have to go through. That is not being told. I am fine with the media encouraging people to go into filmmaking but people need to know the pitfalls. People need to be mentally prepared for that.

J: I guess what then happens subsequently is the drop out. True enough people want to get into it but at the same time, there is high drop out. So by the ecological balancing forces of it, people get eliminated and then realize that they might have a better future in TV or advertising. So in fact, people do see the reality after a while.

A: I don’t doubt that but I am just wondering if it is worth their time to go through 4 year of film school and only realize this is not for them after that. I mean even I am starting to feel that it is really tough./ You know in Taiwan they have this saying that you must be either dumb or crazy if you want to be a filmmaker (如果要拍片， 你不是傻子就是疯子。)

J: You kinda answered the last question I have for you – ‘Would you starve for the sake of art?’

A: (laughs) I have been starving so much you have no idea what I have been through. There are times when I so enjoy going to production so much, even my own because there is always catered food or 杂菜饭 (mixed rice) or whatever. Or if the shoot starts too early, you get to claim the taxi. So on $20 you can use it to take taxi again and there if free food……. You just feel so blessed to be on the production!

'Calling all passengers on flight SQ.................' and off he runs into the departure gates. I shouted across to say I wanted to see the finished product of his recent shoot.

Check the time on the clock!

Quick Stop with Brian Gothong Tan, The Republic Cultural Centre

A rather 'invisible' token from Brian's film, 'Invisible Children'

In conjunction of Reflections 2010-Republic Polytechnic Community Arts Festival,Brian was being invited to share with us about his experience in filmmaking and also showcased his past works.

The highlight of the sharing is Brian shares about his brush with 'Singapore's biggest national air carrier'...where he shares that during his character study for his feature film "Invisible Children", the clip actually somehow landed into the eyes of the corporate comms of this company and there,the drama started.

They threatened to sue Brian if he insist on shooting the film...and Brian stepped back by changing his script and clothings?

Well...if companies start suing filmmakers, we would have been vanished in a flash... where got money to pay!?

Signing off!

Production Talk - "Sisters" by Lincoln Chia & Michael Tay

It is customary that during a traditional chinese wedding, the bride usually hires a group of close friends to be her 姐妹, internationally known as bridesmaids, to come and tease the groom. In this short film, the role of 姐妹 is portrayed in multiple ways, such as the sisterly love between mother and daughter, brother and sister, nephew and auntie, niece and auntie etc.

On the wedding day, Sam, the homosexual brother of the bride, is roped in by his cheeky auntie to become one of the 姐妹, which forces Sam to confront his one-sided feelings for the groom.

The subject matter you have chosen is pretty fresh! Why the take on homosexuality and wedding in this film?

It was partly inspired by my an incident that took place at my cousin's wedding. The Justice of Peace (JP) who conducted the solemnization said "... marriage according to Singapore law is between a man and a woman... er.. are you a woman.. confirm ah.. must be real woman and man you know.. cannot be man and man... or woman and woman... (JP turns and looks at groom) ...you confirm a man?"

Honestly speaking, I had mixed feelings when I heard the crowd bursting out with laughter. I must admit I felt a little uneasy and offended. It was this experience that got me interested in directing a screenplay about a homosexual person's involvement in a heterosexual marriage.

What's the inspiration behind this film?

Michael Tay, writer and actor for the role of "Sam" in this short film, attended his sister's wedding in JB, Malaysia in June 2009. He was accidentally roped in by his auntie to be one of the "sisters" to help tease the groom. He was so intrigued by this experience that he decided to pen it into a short drama. During one of our weekly coffee meetings, Michael shared this experience with me and requested that I direct this screenplay. Hence, I took up the challenge and also asked him to take up the role of Sam. He agreed and that marked the birth of Sisters.

Hey, I realized that Michael Tay's in one of the production stills, which brings me to the next question: how did the casting go? Did you deliberately rope Michael Tay in?

Michael played the role of Sam, who is the brother of the bride and is homosexual. As Michael was equipped with real life experience of being a "sister", I casted him as Sam without hesitation. To me, nothing beats real life experiences. Having been my classmate and a close friend for 5 years, Michael and I connect very well, hence directing him was very easy. He is my most ideal choice for the role. I would like to thank Fly Entertainment for sponsoring the female lead of my choice, Adele Wong, who played the role of the bride. I casted Kelly Lim and Eric Gwee through AADB. I knew Molly Jan back when I was freelancing as a wardrobe stylist for a Courts TVC. Priscilla, my junior and casting assistant rendered her help to find the rest of the cast.

Since this is your first production after graduating NTU-ADM, how did you guys managed with the financing sector? Did you guys have financial support? How about your crew support?

The producer and I tried all ways we could think of to source for funding to make this short film possible. We applied for the Short Film Grant from Singapore Film Commision but was rejected. We also approached private companies, foundations and organisations for funding. We made many cold calls and sent our film proposal. Eventually, we managed to get positive replies from 3 sources which became the primary contributors for the production. They are:

NTU Alumni Office, Fridae and Mr Kelvin Ang

As for the shortfall in funds, Teck - my cinematographer and I ended up shouldering the burst in production budget. Often, we freelance in the film industry to pay off the debts incurred in our pursuit for indie filmmaking.

Crew support was very healthy. My tech crew is a very experienced team who is working for Mr Bert Tan. I had Dollei Seah and team for my hair and makeup support. Also, I am grateful to my ex-classmates and ADM juniors who assisted in the primary shoot. Every team involved in the entire production was made up of a mixture of experienced industry players and graduates/undergrads of ADM. I intentionally formed the teams this way to encourage industrial practices and exchange of ideas so that we can be better equipped with knowledge in our future endeavors.

How long did you take to make this film? What were the biggest challenges you've faced while making this film?

It took us almost a year to commence primary shooting. The delay was due to insufficient funds and therefore we only managed to shoot the film in May this year. Primary shooting was 2 days. All our product sponsors waited eagerly for the big day. This journey has been an emotional rollercoaster ride. We received many rejection letters from foundations and companies which we approached to fund this short film. Finally, we managed to get positive replies from the 3 sources as listed above.

Did the film turn out the way you've envisioned? Looking back, would you have done anything differently?

I tweaked the story, hence it's not the exactly the same as the initial script penned by Michael. Working with Michael has been blissful as he was receptive to the changes I made to the screenplay. I like the pacing of the film and the comical moments that were delivered through the performances.

Any future projects?

A week after we wrapped up primary shoot for Sisters, a screenplay that I wrote, titled Echoes, got selected for Film Expo Asia 2010 in Bangkok. Teck, Rachel and I packed our luggages and stayed in Bangkok for a month to make Echoes. Out of 99 international entries submitted for this film competition, we were shortlisted as one of the 30 finalist teams. After making Echoes in Bangkok, Rachel Lim (Music Director) and I developed a feature film outline about an obsessed female musician finding the meaning of her existence. We researched into the life of classical Russian composer, Scriabin, as we subscribe to his dark style of music and theory. We are looking for writers to help translate our dreams into frames in motion.