I Am Anwari Ashraf

Review Kiamu!!!

2010-08-13T13:09:00.001-07:00

Berikut merupakan apa yang orang lain perkatakan tentang Kiamu pasca Maskara Shorties tempoh hari. Ada yang akademik ada yang santai sebagai penonton (dua-dua penting).

Dengan kebolehan yang sama seperti Azizulhakim, cuma Anwari lebih kemas bermain dengan tempo yang lebih perlahan. Ia tahu bagaimana untuk sustain minat audien. Kesimpulannya ia mengiyakan keganasan yang berlaku di sekolah itu yang lebih nyata sifat kereptiliaannya - survival of the fittest! - JHBT, Binfilem.

Aku dah lama tunggu nak tengok filem ni, memang best, cerita pasal budak kena buli di sekolah kluster, macam pembongkaran la jugak, cara penyampaian gempak, kemas, tersusun, shot cantik, editing cun.
Memang layak pengarahnya dihantar belajar ke oversea. - Azizulhakim Salleh, Pengarah Filem Pendek

Director ni dengar2 bukan calang2. Jalan cerita, voice over, grafik, lagu latar bergerak begitu harmoni. Terasa kelancaran pergerakan. Emosi bisa turun naik. Cerita biasa isu ragging budak sekolah tetapi menjadi luar biasa dengan adanya kombinasi jalan cerita, voice over, grafik, lagu latar dapat bergerak dengan harmoni.- Rizal Gunx, Pengarah Filem Pendek, Aktivis Sol-Jah

Isu klise buli disekolah, pelajar senior membuli pelajar junior. Dari sudut editing memang sangat kemas, sampaikan ada satu babak seolah-olah babak mencari benda tersembunyi(babak cari kesalahan si junior-rupa-rupanya tak tutup lampu). Apabila sampai bab berkaitan isu kematian(pelajar dipukul hingga mati), ia seolah mengundang emosi penonton, untuk berasa sebak bersama. - M Yusof, Blog Review Filem

Terbaik!!! Harap sangat masa tengok cerita ni Brother Bear ada kat sebelah. Terkenang zaman dulu Asrama Pusat Segamat dulu. Bahagian tiup lampu sampai padam adalah denda kegemaran. Cuma yang tak ada adalah, tiup kipas sampai berpusing. Tapi benda semua ni terjadi pada budak lelaki ja. Budak perempuan paling- paling dahsyat pun kena pegang batang mop, berdiri dekat koridor menghadap Aspura dan nyanyi lagu Negaraku. Aku? Tak pernah kena. - Ay Yusof, Di Blog Peribadinya

Aku suka filem ini sebab ia mencuit kenangan sewaktu aku bersekolah asrama dulu. Memang sebijik. Senior memang suka cari pasal kalau nak pukul orang. Kalau dalam filem ini, kes tak tutup lampu dorm. Kalau time aku sekolah dulu, tak bagi salam pada senior. Malam tu, kena bantai. Cara penceritaan juga aku suka. Macam style Afdlin Shauki dalam filem BULI. - Fikri Kacak, Di Blog Peribadinya

Wow. Filem pendek paling boleh buat aku bergelak tawa santai dalam masa serius untuk kita mengetahui apa yang cuba disampaikan sesuai dengan kes dan isu semasa yang berlaku iaitu isu buli disekolah asrama penuh. RMC misalnya yang banyak. Mungkin dia mengambil pengalaman peribadinya namun adunan cerita sangat fresh dengan kepandaian dialog narator mengambil peranan ditambah dengan animasi meletop ! Wajib tengok. - Gua Layan Je, blog gualayanje.blogspot.com

Rupanya ada yang menganggap isu yang diketengahkan dalam Kiamu klise, mungkin sebab Afdlin Shauki dah introduce unsur-unsurnya dalam Buli. So macamana nak buat feature ni bai? Tapi bagi aku dalam Buli, ada beza dari aspek tona buli yang digambarkan Kiamu. Bak kata Binfilem - Kiamu lebih REPTILIA der!!

Maskara Shorties 2010

2010-08-11T10:40:00.001-07:00

Gua tau dah lambat, orang laen pakat post pasal maskara 2-3 hari lpas. Tapi gua belum sebab 2 benda. Gua bukan blogger kental dan gua sibuk naik turun KL-Kulim.

Hari dimulakan dengan penye-muggle-an 2 ekor budak SAS kuar, Che Ku & Haikal. Elly & Fatin yang menumpang kereta satria gua turut thrill dengan kehadiran 'star' Kiamu!!! - Che Ku (PosterBoy). Pastu shoot gi Sunway amik Amin. Mamat tu ketika ditemui kat meet up point (Caltex Sunway) memang muka high xcukup tido. Mana taknya, malam sebelum itu, lepak ngan kitorang sampai pukul 3pagi, lepas tu straight gi daki gunung mulai 4pagi (kejar sunrise katanya).

Kitorang tak sesat cam most orang yang carik rumah Pena. Sebab gua pernah pergi situ beberapa kali dan adanya GPS tomtom gua. (Tapi kitorang set destination as restoran Tupai Tupai, last-last kena halau sebab tak boleh parking kat situ. Kedekut.)

Sesampainya di Rumah Pena, gua disambut brother Sinaganaga yang sempoi. Cukup time gua minta diri nak solat maghrib.

Kitorang blah awal, sebab budak-budak sekolah tu susah kang kalau lambat-lambat sangat. Dahla tengah trial exam. Dan most member-member aku tak bole nak appreciate certain-certain filem dan mula rasa migrain.

Memandangkan Maskara mnerupakan event yang tiada diskriminasi dalam pemilihan filem, maka pelbagai la jenis filem yang tayang malam tu. Yang mana yang gua tak review, anggap jela 'no komen' sebagai komen gua. Tendency aku untuk mengamalkan Snark-ism probably takfair untuk penganjur Maskara - Sindiket Sol-Jah yang baik-baik orangnya.

(Tiada makna ye susunan yang mana direview dulu dan kemudian, ikut mana yang gua ingat la. Yang tak direview, sama ada gua tak sempat tengok, or simply - no comment)

PERTAMA - Halimi Hassan

Serius aku respect sedara Halimi punya capability in DoP-ing. Dengan kenaikan practise DSLRvideography hari ini, Mamat ni boleh buat serious damage kat independent filmmaking scene Malaysia. Gua yang selama ni self-aware kat skill DoP gua yang slightly under-average ni jadik gatal nak ajak brother ni collaborate. In terms of penceritaan, bagi gua memang nothing new la, sedikit klise pun. Skrip non-diegetic narration dia cheesy, tak generic, story pun sikit cheesy. Sound design terabur dan awkward. Evidentla yang sedara Halimi ni more of a technical person- cameraworks and post-production mantap. Story-telling slightly under average. Tapi sebab gua ternganga ngan camera work dia, semua tu gua dah tak kisah masa menonton.

LAWAN - Azizulhakim Salleh

Skrip dan premise mantap, siap sindir-sindir lagi peel piawai kaum ku dalam berniaga.Execution kurang umph, sebab dengan execution yang lebih baik filem ni boleh bagi impak yang lebih hebat. Contoh execution yang gua tengah sentuh sekarang ialah camerawork, penetapan tone dalam editing. Pacing editing dah mantap, aku suka repitition shot a-la trackingkaki character-character yang interframe dalam cerita ni sorang demi sorang. Masalah castingpun ada jugak - Yakni brother kutip hutang/duit perlindungan - Tak Garang langsung la der!Probably masalah terbesar film ni sama dengan Kiamu!!! - DoP. Lepas ni sedara Azizulhakim, mari kita ajak sedara Halimi jadik DoP kita! haha.

Fighting Fit - Sulaiman Salomon

Skrip almost perfect! Again, masalah execution.

6 Lorong - Syed Syahrul Zarizi

Gua rasa filem ni berpunca dari personal documentation event bunga api yang mahu dijadikan filem narratif. Maka diemploy lah seorang 'fotographer' yang tak convincing langsung sebagai 'watak utama' dan jalan cerita yang bagai tiada.

Colours of Ideas - Low Wei Yan

First thing yang come through my mind masa tengok cerita ni - RAJIN SIAL! Aku peminat stop motion gak. Tapi series, aku tak setekad brother ni. Kalau tengok filem ni banyak kali, boleh nampak yang pengarah bukan nak kutuk satu pihak politik negara kita. Tapi dua-dua belah! Stop motion yang bukan sahaja berjaya dalam animasinya, tapi jugak berjaya dalam aspek isi dan delivery.

Mr & Mrs BBM - CST Production

Ok, aku tau korang cekap videography DSLR, ramai orang upah korang buat video kahwin, dan korang dah kaya. Tapi please come up dengan cerita yang worthwhile, or aku dan Fatin terpaksa tulis skrip sendiri masa kitorang nak upah korang nanti.

Low Budget Love - Bainun Waheeda

Gua memang bukan peminat cerita cinta. Tapi kalau PERTAMA dan ada rom-com yang gua boleh blah. Kenapa yang ni gua tak boleh belah? Gua pun tak tau.

Petra Bond - Chin Yew

Filem opening event yang bagi gua, sangat berjaya (sebagai opening event). Tapi bila diletakkan out of place macam Maskara, rasa awkward dan off-key. Pasti lebih lawak dan masyuk ketika ditonton masa dinner company tu.

Sroq - Indra Syabani

Slapstik. Gua pergi beli maggi dan ambil air lepas 30 saat pertama.

Why am I still Fucking here?

2010-04-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

I'm seriously considering deleting this blog. I mean seriously what was I thinking? I do not update, I don't even visit it myself so seriously? Why fucking bother? Some people use it as a form of 'memoir' placeholder and often come back to read their previous entries, but even that I don't do. So seriously, why fucking bother?

Anyways, the ones that actually gives a shit about what I'm up to. I'm in the middle of completing a 7000 word essay combined. Yes, 7-fucking-thousand, and oh yeah - a portfolio is to come with it!

Can i say fuck more? Please?

Trash, Utterly Trash

2010-02-24T15:53:00.001-08:00

I really should be doing some editing now but.. pfft~~ I might try to launch myself to it right after.

Anyway here's something new, and this one actually means something - dissect it!

Pfft!! Still pfft-ing!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Cowper Rd,Barnet,United Kingdom

When this blog gets personal.

2010-02-20T08:52:00.001-08:00

I used to be a lot tougher than this. It took a lot to bring my spirit down. I used to be more confident than this, I trusted myself more than anything else. Or was I? The word Introspective should have been better off unknown to me, as the understanding of the word itself implicates more of it within me. Behind the emotionally indifferent self I portray most of the time, I'm actually ridiculously frail. Maybe that fragility made me work hard on creating this much tougher persona that I'd like myself to be. People close to me had always left me alone when my shit is not together. I hated that, I thought I deserved some empathy, some guidance, some thing. Now I know that these are the people that believe that I'm better than that. That I'm stronger than I think, and that whatever I'm going through, I'll find the answers within myself. These are the people who truly respect me as a human being. I'm always careful when I give advice, most of the time I refuse to give any at all, unless I truly know that person. I always think that I'm a good character reader but I'm not. I'll try my best to refrain from assuming that I know people from now on. As social commentaries, especially when untrue can inflict a lot of damage to a person.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Hampden Way,Barnet,United Kingdom

Video for 3FOUR50

2009-12-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

So I did this Video for a website called 3four50, a "Think Health" website. It's self explanatory really. Enjoy!!

Tengah Bulan, Hujung Tahun

2009-12-14T04:33:00.001-08:00

It's the time of the year again, where any male blogreader of mine would probably vomit and regret ever following my blogs. It is a day I'd find myself hating being in London (among hundreds of other days). The date of the post might not say it cause I want this to be published as soon in the day as possible, Malaysian time.

It's 15th December 2009, The day Miss Fatin Humaizah turns 20 :)

Below is a little something that I have been holding off to do for quite a while,

The song illustrates perfectly how i feel - here without her. Sorry the chorus isn't written on screen like the verses. I tried having it on screen, but it seems to distract viewers from the "Humaizah Experience", how her smile is soo contagious!

Anyways this is what the chorus says:

When she's sear

The new year's here

And there is not a resolution

That I can't do

I see things clearly

When she's near me

When she's near me all the world is new.

And I do feel exactly that! That's why we need our 12 hours of Skype each day! :P

So on your birthday Sayang, I wish that everyone around you would spoil you for the day (you know I'd do that). Have a good one!

P/s: You what I'm gonna say :P

Pulp Fiction: Dead Nigger Storage, by Wei Sheng Loh

2009-11-11T16:32:00.000-08:00

So Theo haven't got the chance to see this yet, so I guess I put this up here since he's following me

Eddie (the lecturer) told us to quit our day job and start looking for acting gigs already. I thought my acting was crap. Eddie didn't have any complaints about it, he thought it was technically competent; shots were well composed and lit, good editing.

P/S: Sorry for the 14 F**ks I said (yes, i counted), it was in the script!

Hello Hurricane

2009-11-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

This is simply too beautiful to not post here:

Latest by Switchfoot

Tolong Saya Capub Kiamu!!!

2009-10-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

Ya, pasti anda hairan, mengapakah saya berbahasa melayu dalam post kali ini. Ya, semestinya kerana saya tidak mahu matsalleh-matsalleh dikelas saya tahu yang saya sebenarnya telah selesai penggambaran Kiamu!!! cuti dahulu.

Walaupun saya tidak mahu mereka tahu (belum lagi), namun saya perlu mula menyebarkan hype! filem ini, terutamanya di Malaysia. Oleh itu, jika boleh, semua rakan-rakan (kecuali di United Kingdom) saya yang punyai blog / website atau apa-apa sahaja, yang ingin membantu saya mempromosikan filem ini - Sila maklumkan saya.

Saya akan membekalkan anda dengan kit promosi (so far hanya ada trailer 30saat, dan poster) untuk anda post kan di blog2 anda seperti mana saya post kan poster kiamu!!! yang outdated ini disebelah kanan blog ini.

Cakap Benar Tak Radikal Langsung!!

The Test that was a 100 years ago

2009-10-17T04:24:00.000-07:00

There was a time, a while ago. where i was blogging about making animations using flash instead of stopmotion powerpoint. Sorry to dissapoint anyone but i STOPPED.

Why? because one; it didnt worked out as well as i hope despite the immense labor required to finish a 30 second clip of it

Two: the "least" expected happened - I got lazy.

So here is one test clip done, amongst thousands:

Lifeless, i know. Hence me stopping.

They Love London and Paris

2009-09-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

So Fatin wanted this up on my blog, maybe she thought she looks cute in it.

So yeah, They like London and Paris. Aku x, aku malas bila pikir kna balik London, Paris plak bau hancing.

Budget for Kiamu!!!

2009-08-14T05:58:00.002-07:00

I have checked and confirmed on the equipments that I shall rent for my latest production:

Panasonic DVX102B 3CCD camera + tripod x1, 6days : RM150 x 4 = RM900
Arri 800W Tungsten Redheads x3, 4days : (RM40 x 3) x 4 =RM480
8' Panasonic Director's Screen RM50 x 4 = RM200

Manpower x 9 = RM50 X9 =RM450

Total: RM900 + RM480 + RM200 + RM450 = RM2030

Xtermasuk duit untuk makan minum crew lagi.. haih, sah aku pokai after production.

P/S: Kira DVX tu dapat murah gile tu, standard camera saja sehari RM300 beb.

Sasputra new image: Gritty!

2009-08-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Well I've been working myself around a new production label for my films, I've been using SASPUTRA for a while now, The name is close to my heart but the image of the 3D logo spinning to face the screen is too safe, conventional, and tame.

I wanted something rough, something alternative, something that rhymes with rugged. So I've played around with what I could and came to this new image of SASPUTRA films:

Just as much as how bored I am with slow tracking shots, clean cut photography, 3D CGI stuff, colorful color scheme. This new production label complements it swell! The scruffy and unclean edges and the massive presence of noise reflects my soul as a young, revolting one. This version of black over white is the main one.

The alternate inverted version is for use in cases where and when necessary: especially for opening sequences, which usually is cast over black.

Kiamu!!! would be the first to be produced under this label. Which is why i think it's about time.

Kiamu!!!: The Short

2009-08-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm doing it. The hell with what people say, I am still friggin doing it! "Kiamu!!!: The Short" is now at the level of pre-production, and I am pretty sure a lot people would be happy it is, but not as many as the people who frowns upon the idea that I am actually planning to go with it.

I've been silent for a while, have been quite the busy bee these days. Mornings I am an under-appreciated intern who says no to nothing and nights I am a Director trying to convert his stories into MPEG-4

They keep telling me that what I'm doing is radical, and that its risky. I'm not doing any public demonstration or anything, I'm just telling the truth as I know. Telling the truth is far less radical than keeping it in a closet.

Busy

2009-04-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

As the title suggest.

Have handed in one paper. Am now struggling making portfolios for these films:

Yes, two of them. So if you mind, I must get out of the net and start putting on my creative cap!

Peace

US products and US bounds

2009-04-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

*This was written by a good friend of mine, Emir Anuar. He post it up for a while and retracted it from his blog to protect his relationships with people. I for one, find that it is a shame for this not to be up on the net, and I trust people around me would be open minded enough to accept another person's point of view*

US products and US bounds

I heard and read a lot of students urging to boycott US and Israeli products.

And it amazed me that some US bound students urged the same thing too.

Shouldn't the first thing they do is to drop the scholarship? It would be a hypocracy if they don't. The TAXPAYERS money is being used to finance the education in US universities. And where the money goes? What happen to to the boycott? Didn't you guys realized that by going to the US, you are making the government pay MILLIONS of ringgit to the country you are urging to boycott?

Seriously, it doesn't make sense. If I am wrong, give justifications. So don't go or stop being a hypocrite.

At least those people buying Big Mac are using their own money and it is about 100000times cheaper than an education there.

Please don't criticize without any negations or justifications.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

As for my personal view on this matter, I would say that I'm not against the idea of boycotting US products. I can really respect their cause, and see where they're coming from. But for a government sponsored student bound to the US to do such a thing - I have a great deal of 'APAKAH?' accepting that. I agree with Emir, that demonstrates a bit of hypocrisy.

I mean, it is obvious that these people, despite their beliefs, refuses to "drop the scholarship" because of their fear of loosing something important.

Ergo, my arguement is, if you yourself can relate to the fear of losing something out of this - You would actually be the person that'll be most empathethic of the situation that you yourself put the local McDonalds retailers into. Who by chance, could be a Malay Muslim as well.

The same goes to the Intel factory workers in Kulim, who now, are fearing for their jobs, and the incapability to provide their underprivileged family.

*I rarely...wait, NEVER post up anything political here, but this one caught my interest*

Too Much Time In Hands Tonight.

2009-04-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

Classes has ended. True, it has. No more class till the beginning of the new term this autumn, where I'll return as a final year student ("Already?" I know!). But that doesn't mean its all play and relax for me, as I have a horrendously massive amount of work to hand in on the 23rd of April and the 5th of May. Then it'll be independence from the 2nd year BA Film Video and Interactive Arts learning frame. I guess in a way, I have slightly less to worry about compared to my other classmates, as I'm pretty much finished with my year end film - Fragility. The public premiere of Fragility went well, I'm pretty convinced that a lot of people liked it (self re-assuring moment).

Sesi berbahasa Melayu bermula:

Aku tau aku akan bunyi seakan-akan riak, angkuh, dan bodoh-sombong. Tapi, kalau anda-anda berada di tempat kejadian, anda akan setuju, dan faham bila aku kata:

"Fragility ditayang bersama-sama filem-filem sampah!"

Jangan salah faham, aku tak perasan bagus, aku tau kelemahan-kelemahan filem aku. Dan ada beberapa filem rakan sekelas aku yang aku benar-benar tabik! Namun tidak terlampau jika aku kata 80% dari filem yang ditayang malam itu benar-benar memalukan aku sebagai rakan sekelas. Filem yang siapa-siapa dengan camera boleh buat. KATA belajar buat film? Aku malu, sebagai tukang compile filem-filem itu kedalam DVD aku malu. Fragility diatur untuk ditayang nombor 10 dari 20 filem. Maka, dalam 'perjalanan' ke filem aku itu, aku perasan, seorang demi seorang ahli audience blah sebab SAKIT mata. SAKIT mata melihat keJAHILan budak-budak yang ambil degree filem buat filem. Aku duduk dibelakang seorang ilmuan filem masa screening itu, Patrick Philips. Dari riak wajahnya, aku tau dia sedang sakit hati, merasa dirinya seolah-olah sedang membuang masa. Yang aku paling marah, dia BLAH sebaik-baik filem aku bermula. Bila aku berharap dapat mendengar feedback beliau tentang filem aku.

Namun tidak semua sampah, dibawah merupakan filem-filem yang aku boleh respect:

Indistinct - James Clear Tournas

The Horror of Hang Wood - David Paul Irons

Together Forever - Mikel C.G.

Dracula - David O'gara

Fragility - Web Premiere

2009-04-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

So last night was the Big Screening of Fragility. It went all right, despite the fact that.. well..forget it.

So here's the Web Premiere of Fragility.

Enjoy! - Seriously, I demand you to!

Fragility Feedbacks, so far.

2009-03-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

" The usage of space is very well thought of, and the camera movements compliments it well too. Personally likes the consistent usage of focus shift of the piece, and the constant cutting between the conversation itself and the conversation off screen with shots of the girl. Good use of music and sound. Notices the change of light on Liang's face, referring it as a continuity error. Not really a fan of the tv static usage, being the depiction (personally) of the dream sequence a point of view of Lydia's character - using tv static, a very technological and electronic thing to represent something biological like memories. Likes Ching Yee's performance and thinks she's a very capable actress"

David Heinemann, Lecturer

"Love the style of the cinematography, the representation of space through cinematography and continuity was brilliant, interested and hopes to work with Anwari for my final year project. I really like his style!"

Navarro Aydemir

"Disagrees with David's opinions about the usage of static, and believes that the usage of static represents 'disturbance' and compliments well the situation - disturbance in her memory - her forgeting him. Likes the look of the film, especially it's depth of field"

James Clear Tournas, fellow filmmaker

"Finds the cast to be rather good, charismatic in a way. Likes the significant difference of depth of field between the dream sequence and the real world"

David Paul Irons, fellow filmmaker

"The film looks promisingly professional, not very keen of the whole idea in which the past events are hocked into the audience by the means of dialogue. The film, being fairly experimental, might have utilize other ways to represent the past events, something more expressive ,perhaps with mise-en-scene or such. The dialogue in the beginning draws the audiences' interest away early in the film. Otherwise, the dream sequence is wicked!"

Nicole Wirth, film critic

"The editing is superb, also notices the continuity error with light on liang's face. Finds the dialogue scene to be a bit long and dragging"

Siti Noor Fateha, senior filmmaker

"Ching Yee's performance is great!"

Suraya Hani, Media Student

"The early handheld scene to be novice-ly shot, likes Liang's performance and is the only science student to watch it and interpret the dream sequence as a struggle for memory, and likes the dream sequence."

Afida Liyana, Petronas Scholar

"Likes the effects in the dream sequence! Nothing like the Malay trash films"

Emir Anuar, Physics Whiz

"Find the acting to be a little stiff, resulting the feeling of dragging-ness early into the film, almost cried towards the end, almost got a heart attack from the sudden neuron buzz and strikes"

Elly Azreen, Law Student

"The acting seems to be a little stiff, was irritated by the high pitched sound, couldn't relate the content to the title, and a few medical mistakes"

Farhan Wilson, Medical Student

Rough Cut for Fragility Ready

2009-03-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this as I export the rough cut of Fragility. I just finished editing it. Not done 100% yet though, I'll call it a rough cut if anything. Personally, what I'm trying with Fragility is something I've never done before, and it is unlikely to be my 'kind' of film. I thought that it'll be challenging and fun. Plus, when else should I experiment if not while I study right? Well I think I did ok (I guess) considering how unfamiliar I am to this type of film-making.

Sound was a bitch to edit in this. Not only in the dream sequence, but the conversation/ normal-action ones too! All because of that annoying thing that goes off occasionally in the location we were shooting, I have quite a hefty amount of footage with my voice cussing to it. This thing I'm talking about is a malfunctioning security alarm that beeps every 3 to 5 minutes. And I tell you, loads of it managed to get into my footage. Some I managed to wipe out with post production, some I wasn't so able to.

The dream sequence requires me a lot of imagination to edit its sound. I don't know if I can be proud of it or not. But heck, I am kinda proud of it anyway.

So yeah, class premiere coming!!!
*Freaks Out and Faints*

Fragility Premieres 23rd March

2009-03-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

As the title suggest, 23rd for the class premiere and 30th for public premiere. Come to the public premiere guys! And see me embarrass myself in front of everyone!

Here's the promotional poster! Ching Yee looks good as the poster girl don't she?

Fragility

2009-03-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

So I haven't been updating for a while. I thought that I might as well do now. So right now I am at a point of being hyped about my upcoming shoot. A short film for my graded final yeas assessment; Fragility. I don't know if some people might find the title cheesy or something, but I personally feel it's one of the best titles I've ever came up with. I always like the idea of having a short, dynamic, one-word title for my works. For me it's either one-word short or really long like exampled with: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. No, I haven't watched that yet if you have to ask. So down here is the rough edit of the first page of Fragility:

Fragility

by Anwari Ashraf

FADE IN:

INT.HOUSE.LIVING HALL.DAY

BILLY and JIMMY are carrying and arranging a few boxes. They both stop about the same time. They stand there silent, awkward.

BILLY
Coffee?

JIMMY
Yeah, Sure.

Billy walks into the kitchen.

INT.HOUSE.ROOM.DAY

LYDIA still lies on the bed. Still motionless, almost lifeless.

INT.HOUSE.LIVING HALL.DAY

Billy and Jimmy sits at the opposite sides of the table, with cups of coffee in front of both. There is a moment of silence for a while.

BILLY
Hey, listen. Thanks for coming down
to the hospital and back here for
all this. I really appreciate it.

JIMMY
No, please. It’s nothing.

They pause again.

JIMMY
So how long has it been?

BILLY
Sorry?

JIMMY
Lydia, Coma.

BILLY
Oh she’s no longer in her coma.
She’s awake. They call it PVS,
Persistent Vegetative State. It’s a
post- coma thing. She has awaken
from her coma, but there’s just
still no sign of awareness.

JIMMY
I see

BILLY
The Doctor said that it’s 50 - 50.
In some cases, people with her
condition would just wake up
spontaneously one day. Others
just...But not her, I know she’ll
wake up one day.

So yeah, that's about it. Do tell me if anyone is interested to have a read of the whole script. Give me your email and I'll happily attach it; with hopes of criticism. Because I for one, find criticism to be a rather good thing to listen to. Although it does hurt at times, and I might bitch around about it for a while. But it makes me stop and think what I'm doing wrong.

I'm not trying to prolong this post by writing this, but recent events just made me feel like saying a few things about criticism.

I mean I know it can get harsh and rather dents you in the heart. But take it easily, don't bitch back. It's not their fault, they're just honest, some might just launch the harpoon because they feel intimidated. Or to reassure a non-secured self-know-it-all. But when these kind of things happens its no reason to back out and give in. Feeling down doesn't help you at all. Bitching it through Facebook status or notes can be annoying to other people. Take it in, swallow it up, digest it, and get rid tomorrow through your 'Morning Glory'

I know that I'm in a art-driven industry. And that subjectivity of opinions is rather common, but if someone doesn't like what I try to deliver, I really want to know why. Because it might be a thing that I might have looked over before. If its not, its always refreshing to know that I didn't succeed to please everyone. I rather go through that than get self-indulged with my known success and obliviously uninterested on my unknown failures.

So yeah, I'll stop here.

A Compulsive Psycho-Analyst

2009-01-29T16:44:00.000-08:00

Well I havent been updating coz ive been doing all sorts of things lately, it HAS been a rather hectic time for me.

This post has nothing to do with any of my previous works, or anything as equally substantial to that. Its about something I've been meaning to channel since weeks now;

Have you ever had the feeling that you know too much? Some that you actually don't even want to know and wished you didn't. Have you ever had that like 50 times in a row?

Well I do.

I get to know all these things I'm not supposed to through various means and mediums, mostly from the compulsive psycho-analysis that's becoming like a fetish that I somehow developed from my studies in film.

You see, general opinion would think that learning film is all about the technical stuff, (lights, camera, editing, directing, pre-production, production, post-production yadayadayada) and I believe most institution even really practise that kind of film learning.

But where I end up to study is all about the appreatiation of film arts, in which might be not too wrong to say as - About the existence of people, about the sensual, sensitive nature of being a human being. and this, if you ask me, requires a lot of psycho-analysis.

So as i go on with this new compulsion of mine, I find that I'm understanding more about people, and its annoying how perfectly close I am to precise. How do I know this?

Facial articulation, tone of voice, involuntary body languange and at a certain extent, I just know, I have no specific solid proof whatsoever but I just do.

And later, God has HIS own way to somehow prove me right (as I rarely disclose what I find), and I curse myself for this! And its never easy to disclose what I figured out - so it's agonizing!

So yeah, stay away from me, because I might read you like a book.

Junctions DVD-ing

2008-12-30T09:20:00.000-08:00

So i finished editing the interactive project i was working on. Believe me this is without a doubt, one of my worse, narrative-wise, I would like to dis-own it. But knowing that I must, however submit something for my degree grading process, i figured that i dont have any other choice.

Editing Junctions:

Well I have been asked by many people - Apakah Interactive?

So I might as well explain it here.
Interactivity

interactive |ˌintərˈaktiv|
adjective
(of two people or things) influencing or having an effect on each other : fully sighted children in interactive play with others with defective vision.
• (of a computer or other electronic device) allowing a two-way flow of information between it and a user, responding to the user's input : interactive video.

meaning that the user (whoever is playing the DVD) has the power to make decisions for the character in the video. And that the video has various turns and junctions that the user is allowed to make decision for. Thus, re-enforcing the idea of 'The Death of the Author'

Now I'm working on the process of actually making it interactive, you know with menus and stuff. So this here is the background for the main menu:

The two boxes indicated with arrows are to be filled with text from the menu buttons, you know, like one you find in a DVD. The production design of this DVD is inspired fully from no one other than Fatin herself. Her habit of scribbling everything that passes her mind inspires me to create 'The Notebook" theme.

Interactive DVD-ing Junctions

The thing about this project is that i would LOVE to disown all of the narrative content, but still take credit for all the other production values (except the narrative.just re-emphasizing).

Talking about credits; Junctions also have the longest credit i have ever included in a video. And a montage I'm pretty proud of. I would love to include the montage in here but since it would ruin the element of surprise for some people, I wont.

The other day i was watching one of Kak Siti's video and then I realized that she crams all her thanks in all of her videos. So being a good fellow Astro scholar, i decided that I should do the same from now on, as it feels incredebly good to do so!

So here is the GOOD end credits (being interactive, they are two end credits)

So yeah, the only part that i like about "Junctions" is it's production value; Montage, Menus, Styles, Credits. I HATE the story!

I'll post more up (montage, clips, pics etc.) after I submit it to the lecturer, so until then, itu saja yea murid2? =)

Happy Birthday My, Dearest.

2008-12-14T16:15:00.000-08:00

Look at the date. Today is mid December, that practically makes it, "Tengah bulan, hujung tahun", her exact words when i asked her birthday many years ago, back then we were just friends, not even close friends. But I always felt comfortable whenever i'm around/conversing with herl, she's like this close-female-batchmate I never had (knowing I'm from such a homoerotic institution, SAS). It always felt good talking to her, sharing things, bitching about others (don't give me the stink stare, we ALL do that) and we also help boost each other spirits up when SPM (Severe Pain in My ass) came close.

And then after a few turbulence(s) in our relationship, we gradually became fond of each other, and the result is nothing else but what you see now. The typical, heterosexual 'Wari & Fatin' stereotype.

Since then, she has been every single thing to me; lover, friend, sister, pillowtalk mate, saviour, arch enemy, shoulder, strengh, weakness, total pain in my neck and always there, she's the most there person I ever met.

She often thinks that she always troubles me, and that she is too dependant of me. But the way I see it, I'm the one who's actually the burden, I've done so many horrible things to her that I despise myself everytime I even think of it. But the great thing about her is that, she never really blame me for anything that I do, even when she does, time would erase it off her memory permanently (unlike myself, who is a dreadful kaki ungkit). She looks up upon me as this 'Great Guy' I am not, as she honestly put my flaws aside. So far aside that when I ask her what she don't like about me, she can't really answer. But if she asks me; I have this pretty lengthy list of such things. It's not because I'm a better person than her, its because of the absolute opposite.
And when we argue who loves who more (sentimentality alert!! sassians beware), I often try to argue that I'm the one who loves her more, but I was kidding no one but myself, as I know, I could'nt match up to her love. (jiwangness, harap maaf ya)

Just look at those cheeks, dont you just want to bite them off? (not that any of you can la (including myself k?) but still). I can bable about how she's this super cute girl for hours now, so i wish to stop here.......................................................

(Awkward pause)

(Bunyi Angin)

I CANT HELP IT!! SHE"S SO CUTE!!

I always feel awful that since we've been together, I never actually had the chance to celebrate her birthday there, beside her. Which again, proves the point that unlike her, I'm not a very there person to her, then she is to me.

For your birthday my sweet, selfless, cute, loving, caring little angel, I wish nothing more but to be beside you, holding your hand, as you blow off 19 candles off your creamy, creamy little birthday cake. I will make my amends when my time here is done, when that happens, I'll make sure you'd be the happiest person on God's earth.

I love you my!

2008-12-01T05:13:00.000-08:00

My

I Love You

Editing Myself

2008-11-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

I've finally started filming for my interactive project. Yesterday me and two good friends of mine, Hani and Kak Siti went down to one of the locations to get started with the shoot. The thing about this shoot is that it requires me to both act and direct at the same time. It was weird shooting with Kak Siti, an established Assitant Director in Malaysia. I found myself intimidated since there are still lots that i need to learn, and that what i know is nothing to what she does. The weather was a bitch yesterday, it was cold and windy. It is bad enough that it is cold and we had to stay outdoor for hours, and the wind just had to spoil my shots as it screws my captured audio on the recording. Now i have to do dubbing and foley works.

So i just finished editing the scene we shot yesterday (what i was able to edit; note that i still need to edit the sound adn record ambience and do foley works). But that's not the real point of this post.

The thing about editing this is that this is the first time i had to edit myself (a video in which i'm acting). Which is way different that editing a trip video of yourself or a birthday video of yourself. This is editing yourself ACTING.

I felt weird doing this. This is the first time I've done such a thing, before if there were any acting that I did on video, Siddiq would be the one who edits it.

It was weird, like twilight weird.

Quarterlife - If anyone means to ask what type of films I aspire to make

2008-11-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

Well a few days back i was pretty free, well actually I'm not supposed to be cause I have something that's due pretty soon - But hey; what can i do when I haven't even start shooting yet?

So being this carefree pain in the neck to myself, i started to wander around the net, like any other worthless 21st century teen would. So i was on youtube, browsing a few videos. And you know how it is on youtube; first you were looking for some Sasquatch videos, then one video led you to another and at the end - You end up wasting like 2 hours doing so.

So yeah, that happened to me (yet again, shocker!) and i end up reuniting with the cast, and the filmmakers that touched me once, as a film student. "Quarterlife" an online series about a group of young artist facing their quarter-life (20's or so). Ever heard the term; Mid - life Crisis? Well, this is a series about a group of artists facing their Quarter-life-crisis(es). Which I, personally extremely relate to.

Quarterlife Part One

Well I'm posting up the first episode up here so that later people can go follow the series (now cancelled). A bummer, but understandable since it was getting bad by the episodes. Watch part 1 to 7. Those were my favourites, cause later it started to get a little bit more and more ridiculous and populist from my point of view.

But while it was good, it was really good; for me that is. Notice the witty, charming, yet not trying-too-hard dialogues; it makes you feel..feel..well it does just that; It makes you feel . It's being very philosophical but yet, without cliche. Imagine a Malay film being philosophical; "Hidup ini mmg palat, tapi esok masih ada" wth? How cliche is that? I mean, yes it tries to improv what typical Malay novels like Budak Setan would write and make it look a bit more today by putting a swear word (which I believe they didnt even know it truly mean) in it. But still, you don't need to feed us with that, not anymore; we're sick of that shit. Instead, we used the same peribahasa's in our UPSR BM penulisan paper.

The dialouges in Quarterlife are real; and it touches you. This of course is helped by the fact that it is also enacted by some really talented young actors and actresses. I mean look at them! Are they acting? No they're not, they're being what the script requires them to be, and does even more with it. Acting and being are two different things whatsoever.

The camera work; well yeah, it's amateur, a bit shaky - makes you dizzy, screen-sick and it just irritates our eyes. right?

WRONG

Cause from where i observe, the hand held camera motions helps you feel more. It makes what's real to the character, real to you, it's sensual, it's gentle and it's natural. It evokes more emotions than a tripod can. Proving again, that what Allah s.w.t created (two hands) is more artistic than a three legged tripod.

The Foley (sound); listen to the every detail of the sound piece, the sounds the characters make as they embark into what's real to them. It could be as simple as the sound of footsteps, sheets rumbling, clothes, or a plastic fooze-hockey game. It all contributes to the gentleness of the film piece. Sub-consciously, it's lending the character's ears to us.

Editing - the gentle colors used as it color scheme is very identifying. Again, subconsciously, it delivers the emotions that we are expected to get while we, as the viewer from another end of the screen identifies with these people we see on screen.

Try and watch the first episode, if you can't find to like it, i apologize.

But to me, INI SENI

I soo want to change my Module!!!

2008-11-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

Aku benci class orang Singapore itu!! Why the friggin hell did I even select it as one of my modules?!! Wargh!! I dont friggin...urm..ehem2..correction; NONE of us friggin understands what she says and yet she treats us like idiots! (well, maybe we are; TO SELECT her module). I was mistaken and fooled by the name of the course; namanya sungguh indah dan nampak macam best dan sesuai untukku. Namun Hakikatnya; Hancus!! I'm not sure if were allowed to change our modules up to this time of the year, but if we can.. I'm soo outta there! I hate writing essays!!

Yes, I'm updating. So enough sarcasm kay?

2008-11-16T15:54:00.000-08:00

So recently i looked back at a few things that i made back when i was in high school. Thinking back, i used to call them masterpieces, now i realise i'm just another teenager who found video editing to be fun. But looking back, i was a bit more ambitious and talented for my age, and for that time ( i know i'm being perasan; but bare with me as it's a form of self-motivational thing for now that i'm here, doing film seriously)

Anyways, what I'm really meaning to revisit here is that over-rated video i made for teachers day back in 2006 (All because of Amin putting it up on his blog; real embarassing). If you guys still dont get what i mean, can't recall such video, or don't even understand what i'm talking about since you weren't even there.

This piece of scrap is what i'm talking about

Rings a bell? No? Whatever..

Well to those who are getting it, or at least deja vu's of it, did you guys remembered what kind of hit it was? Coz i remember feeling like a rockstar when it premiered in our tiny little Dewan Putra Perdana. I also remember having a hard time backstage when the time to fire it up on screen closes by. Since I was using Cik Maryam's laptop (gosh, to think i was pretty close to her back then..urgh) back then, it had a problem projecting video using a projector because of insufficiency of codec (bloody acer!) so we had to go all trouble of finding a new machine, transfering all the videos and so on so forth. I even had my boys to go and grab the towers (desktops) which we used for the work. After all the trouble, our darling Miss Marwani ended up being the life saver since we used her codec sufficient hp laptop to broadcast all the shit we had to entertain the crowd.

Urghh!!
I'm drifting away again!!

Well i realized that i was ambitious enough, at the age of 17 to try chroma keying. For those who aren't familiar of this, chroma keying is the typical green/blue screen technique filmmakers use to superimpose image. Notice the green background of the video; it was meant for chroma keying. Well it didnt turn up all so well because the subject matters i'm superimposing are stickfigures - they have thin edges. I end up spilling the background all over their bodies! That's why the green screen stays.

Notice the animation too; it was purely drawn frame by frame in a 3rd party application (i.e. powerpoint kahkahkah how lowly software provided we were back then). The frames are then arranged one after another in a video editing application (i.e. back then - Ulead Video Studio) and then played in a timeline against the soundtrack. Pretty neat huh?

Well now that i'm far ahead of where i was back then, i thought that i could enhance the whole thing all over. So, the very keen me started the whole thing from step one:

Drawing new full fledged (well, almost) 2D characters.

Using Flash for the Animation (Notice The Green Screen)

And Using Final Cut Pro 6 to superimpose the animation on top of an actual footage of a location i shot.

This way I can get a more stylistic video when I'm finished. I already have some test clips up and running, and I'm really pleased by it. It rocks! But i wont post it up anywhere yet, not until it's done 100%. I really want to continue doing this little project of mine, but it seems that i can't since i'm still in my writer's block state and am coming close to a deadline for an interactive narrative piece. Heck, when can i start doing what I want?

And guess what? None of this would happen (with much reduced stress taht is) without my new machine:

Owh I just LOVE my macbookpro!

2008-06-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

1st to say - CANT BELIEVE I'M BLOGGING!!

well a series of exposure to the 'chronic-boredom' radiation has finally dragged me towards the ever-so-famous blogging plague.

i dont really know what i'll be blogging about after this first post.

i would so LOVE to talk about my life, things that happen to me, people around me, and so on so forth, but i believe in respecting other people's privacy (and my own of course). because honestly, the things you wanna tell around most is the things you cant.

so i'll figure out later what will become of this blog, with hopes that it doesn't contribute to the over-crowded state of the world wide web.

till then, cheerio.