Tak Jadi

If you've been following my blog from a year ago, you will notice that I blog a lot about making videos that I eventually didn't. It as if I discarded them like bad memories. But if you haven't notice yet, memories are time travellers. I didn't throw them away because I wanted to but because I didn't have the means or time to execute my plans.

This time around, I won't promise anything until I actually finish my video. I will then pretend that I'm working on something (that is already done) to get people to anticipate the end result.

Banyak benda yang tak jadi dalam kehidupan yang fana ini.

Like my plans to lose weight. I realised today I love food so much that it is pointless to try to get rid of excess fat by eating less. Refusing perut masak lemak is like refusing to breathe in air. So I bought a pair of tubes for tubing exercises and will use them for my daily strength workout. If you're about to google tubes, let me make your internet life easier. This is an exercise tube:

I'm living example of how mankind is a step closer of evolving into a sloth so I need to get stronger. Strength exercises can also increase muscle mass and naturally get the body metabolism running. Now I don't need dumbells to do my workout. I can do a thorough workout with a portable and mobile tube.

It has been 6 months since I last worked out. You heard me right. SIX MONTHS. I want to make tubing a lifestyle because it doesn't require much to do. Just time and good music.

I felt like posting pictures of my progress from today but then again, nanti blog ni jadi macam blog berunsur lucah. Maybe I should. Or not. Or I can just create another blog under a different name and post my progress there. Yes, that is what I'll do.

Where Oh Where?

For many years, one particular question haunts every new year's eve, birthday and maal hijrah I ever had. It's "Where Oh Where Will I be in 5 Years" I could've chosen 2 or 10 years but 5 is more believable for anything drastic to happen.

Now that I'm old enough to clean the toilet without being told, I don't ask this question to myself anymore. I'm beginning to look at things in retrospect. Like an old japanese man sipping tea to the memory of his dead wife. "I will" is more action than ambition. "I am" is what I am and not what I think of myself. "I am" beginning to be more realistic nowadays. Realistic in a sense that I'm open to lateral possibilities. I know which hole I can fit in and which hole I can learn to fit in. I just don't barge in anymore.

For example:

15 years ago, I wanted to be an architect.

7 years ago, I wanted to be a project manager.

5 years ago, I wanted to be an engineer.

2 years ago, I wanted to be an entrepreneur.

Now I want to make films, documentaries, commercials, music videos and other fast-paced images that conjures into impressions, expressions and passions.

Personality-wise, I'm still pretty much a lazy, messy, reckless and childish human being but at least I got my career binoculars properly tuned.

Thanks Syahiran!

Syahiran Sukardi pitched in an idea for a documentary that I really really like. It's about the KTM train in Kelantan.

I'm doing research on the subject and then I will get clearance and permission to shoot. Wednesday, Everyday is still ON but it's more of a personal project. The KTM documentary will be a joint-venture project with more than 5 people working on it. Syahiran will be the photography director and Idris and Nik (both of them acted in 4 Peringkat Ajal) will edit the whole 15 minutes documentary. I will of course helm the director's seat.

This is all very sudden. From short films to documentary. I think it's a positive progress. Maybe I have talents I never knew I have in making documentaries.

Maybe.

We'll just have to watch and give our verdict shall we?

At the mean time, I'm still figuring out the storyline in Wednesday, Everyday.

Race Rant #1

I noticed how Malaysia is depicted as a multiracial country, as if that's something we should be very proud of, as if that's unique. Videos, short films with a Malaysia theme has a staple malay-chinese-indian cast. I find this hypocritical. I also find it funny that urbanites are the most enthusiastic about the 1 Malaysia concept. Funny because non-malay city folks prefer to send their children to Jenis schools or private chinese or indian schools. And yet they are excited about the 1 Malaysia concept. Funny because every race has their own television channels and radio stations. Funnylah, just funny. And hypocritical.

Wednesday, Everyday.

That's the title of a cocumentary I'm working now. I was inspired by Carrier, an Emmy winning documentary about life in a US carrier.

Wednesday, Everyday is about life in Pekan Rabu. I will be following several entreprenuers as they go along with their life in the historical shopping complex.

If everything goes well, this will be my first ever documentary!

Midnight

Midnight. It was all a blur. I remembered climbing the stairs rather swifly and slamming the door behind me. I remembered anticipating her to chase after me. I remembered how she yelled at me, the veins at her neck bulging when she asked me to punch her in the face. I did no such thing. She wants to resolve this conflict her way, in the express lane where she is the cashier and I'm the customer at fault. She wants me to break down, get on my knees and apologise. I did no such thing.

I'm already a pro at this.

Midnight. My pillow was stained with saliva from all the yelling. The bulky Sony radio I got as a present was booming Enigma's Flower. My little brothers were sound asleep. She was downstairs watching random movies while sorting out her worksheet. I know everyone in the house so well it terrifies me. They know what I let them know about me.

Midnight. I opened the window and waited for Leela. I was already in my birthday suit. Behind closed doors, I made full use of the dumbells I secretly bought. I assumed middle-aged women like their man to be edaquately muscled. I knew weightlifting could potentially stunt my growth at 15 so I only worked on my chest, arms and abs. I pretended to fix the window frame to show my bulging biceps, hoping that she is peeping from her shut windows, admiring my progress. Nothing was wrong with the upper window fixture but I fixed it anyway. I climbed on a stool, exposing a trail to remind Leela that I'm already a full grown man.

Leela opened her window. I saw her smiling from her dark room.

Midnight.

Afiq's Next Big Project

I am thinking of making a documentary. I haven't made one since "Istana Sepahchendra". In Istana Sepahchendra, I was the assistant director even though I did all the directing but I had no creative control over the whole project.

Why a documentary?

Because to make a documentary, I don't need actors and actresses and I can work in my own pace. However, I can't work alone. I need good writers to come up with a script for the narration. So if you think you're a good writer, send a sample of your work to me at afiqdeen@hotmail.com. Yes, yes, you will get paid!

Why a documentary?

Because it has no boundaries in terms of viewership. I'm also planning to send my documentary to Festival Filem & Video Pelajar Malaysia and some international festivals.

What documentary?

I'm still scouting for anything interesting in Malaysia that is worthy of a documentary. I need you help readers! What do you think I should make this documentary about? Pitch in your ideas. If I'm interested of your idea and decided to use it, you will get the credit as the content creator.

So guys, jangan malu-malu, pitch in!

Ketupat's Labyrinth

Setelah kenyang yang teramat melampau, tiba-tiba dapat idea cerita baru. Cerita ni senang je. Cerita pasal ketupat yang jahat dan budak yang terperangkap di antara dunia nyata dan dunia roh. Seronok cerita ni, ala-ala thriller merepek. Namanya: Ketupat's Labyrinth.

Sad Clown

This is how I feel right now:

I guess sometimes they forget that underneath all the jokes is a human being with feelings.

My Kind of Erotica

I find nothing sexier than a wet kampung girl in a sarong. The short film was directed by Osman Ali and I loved how he made dirty dirrrtayy.

Until further notice, my liquid girl is in a form of a well built kampung girl with a lingering singing voice.

Raya at Tok Nab's

There was a big hole in my pants today. F**king hell! Just imagine, from the moment I wore the pants which was early in the morning, I thought the fabric was just ventilation-friendly until Saiful whispered in my ear.

"Abang, seluar abang basah!"

There was a strange sense of urgency in his voice. I checked for

Projek Merdeka Adik

Projek Merdeka Adik is an entry for a video contest with a 'Malaysia' theme. It has to be anything that the participant feel about Malaysia in 5 minutes or less.

Projek Merdeka Adik is about a little girl's attempt to celebrate Malaysia's Independence Day in her own unique way.

The story is very straight forward and for some, it can even be nonsensical. But let me put it this way... When we were smaller, do we look at a box as a box? I don't know about you but when I was younger, a box had a potential of turning into a car, spaceship or even a submarine.

With that in mind, enjoy!

Please write your comments, feedbacks or reviews! Every human being is a teacher of mine. So don't hesitate, teach me something I don't know or know already (repetition is good to enforce lasting memory)

Tomorrow: Preview of 'Projek Merdeka Adik'

Raya is around the corner. Wait, that is a flawed expression. Raya is not around the corner. Raya is in the end of PLUS's tunnel. It is there. It is near. It is on Sunday.

I can never comprehend the joy of raya. Joy have always been there but I refused it to be the reason why I smile. I smiled because of the ketupat pulut, rendang and lemang. But I have a feeling that this raya will be different.

Nothing much will change this year. Same-old, same-old but something changed. I think it's me. The ghoul in the form of hormones exorcised itself out from this body of mine. That, or this is the first raya in a decade that I balik kampung in a proper car (Mazda RX8) and not in a creaky bus. Bus trips back to kampung is a journey of torture because:

1. It is like gambling and your only chip is your LIFE. Statistic of road collision is at its peak around and during raya.

2. Even though you might buy your bus tickets a month in advance, the probability of you riding a bas tambahan is as high as that day's accident rate.

In this day and age, people no longer send cards. They send SMSes and tag you in their raya picture on Facebook. We no longer bother to cook a lot during raya and prefer to buy from professional and experienced rendang scientist. Believe me, rendang is an intricate science. Some might still do what they've been doing for years but I'm all up for an overhaul. Raya for me should be more spiritual than physical. Thank you technology!

It's all about connecting, celebrating and the spiritual art of eating.

Selamat Hari Raya guys! Thank you for reading my blog, watching my videos and sharing my interests.

And yes, I named my Malaysia-themed short film "Projek Merdeka Adik". It will be featured tomorrow. It's a short film specifically made for children but it is still relatable for us adults. Chewah, adults! It's a shortie to proof that I also can make happy films with filling endings.

Make sure you watch it tomorrow peeps! And don't forget to give you much appreciated feedbacks!

I Need A Name

Internet is out so I'm blogging from my phone.

I'm currently editing a 5 minute short film. It is about a little girl who noticed that there are no Malaysian flags at her neighbourhood a day before Independance Day. She made a flag and set out to the park to hang it there.

That's basically the gist of it. I can't give away the plot lah nanti tak best. Do you guys have any idea what I should name this short film?

My Second Short Film: Sebelah

This is my second short film after 4 Peringkat Ajal. I'm so excited to show it to you guys.

Shit happens. Nisa is a 24 year old breast cancer survivor. Even though she survived cancer, she lost one of her breast. Nisa locked herself in her room for a week and on the seventh day, she finally decided to come out...



I need your feedback/comment/opinion/review so I can improve my work in the future so don't be afraid, hantam sajalah~~

Happy Birthday Auntie Tijah!

We found out that one of my aunt's favourite song is The Way by Fastball so we made a music video based on the original one. Make sure you watch the ori one first baru watch the spoof because nanti you won't get our reference jokes.

This is the original:

And this is our present:

Yes I still haven't lose my weight yet but I don't mind the sudden inflation one bit because I'm still here in nothern Malaysia and utara food here is to die for!

Nael and I are cousins. When we get together, we become 8 and 10 again. We were circumsised together, go on vacations together and do all sort of crazy things when we're under the same roof since I can remember. Nisa is Nael's lovely lovely wife. I was Nael's best man when he got engaged and married.

The video only took 1 hour to make and half an hour to edit. It was so much fun and I did a considerable amount of cardio and yoga, enough to burn 6 Kentucky fried chicken skins I ate for berbuka puasa.

Sebelah Trailer

I thought it'll be good to keep the momentum going.

Here's a very short trailer for a very short film (3 minutes!) entitled Sebelah. The trailer is actually the first scene in Sebelah. Don't let the trailer fool you though, Sebelah is not as grim as suggested by the trailer.

Thanks again to my cousin Nael and his lovely wife Nisa for acting in this shortie. They are not trained (or paid) actors but they did their part pretty well.

I'm still shooting minor scenes and editing the rest of the short film. I'm so excited to show you guys the whole film!

The shooting is taking a few days. It's my fault. I am a bit of a perfectionist so a 30 second scene takes an hour to shoot. I'm still a very very amatuer filmmaker with no theoretical knowledge in filmmaking so I'm still learning the curves of getting things right.

A lot of people (especially my family) are worried because I'm serious about making films.

1. Because I'm technically architecture-trained.

2. Filmmakers in Malaysia are a struggling bunch.

3. Malaysians taste in films are of a third class mentality.

4. Malaysians prefer to watch hollywood films.

Call me stupid of foolhardy but I'm never daunted with

Tomorrow is a Good Good Day to Shoot!

It's not raining tonight. My actress and actor are ready for action.

For a 3 minutes short film with a budget of RM10, I'm so very pumped!

Let's do this!

Making Sebelah

I'm watching Wong Kar Wai's 2046 for the third time to study its unique art direction. Wong Kar Wai is known for his unconventional storytelling techniques. To most audience who are accustomed to conventional commercial movies, Wong Kar Wai's movies would be frowned upon but I love them. My favourite is (still) Chungkin Express.

I've been marinating a script for a very short film for weeks already. Marinating, as in plotting the flow of events and visualising the direction. I still haven't decided how to end the 3 minutes film but it has to be done before tomorrow because tomorrow is the destined day for me to shoot "Sebelah"

I think I'm instinctively good in narratives but I lack realism. I don't mind this fact one bit. Realism has its fair share of fans. So is the bizzare and unrealistic. I have in mind something realistic in its essence but unrealistic in its narratives. Or in other words, a 'true' story with a fictional method of storytelling. Or if summed into one word, stylised. Or experimental. Pick your poison.

It'll be my second serious short film so I'm very excited to do this! It'll also be challenging because it has to be shorter or exactly 3 minutes. How very exciting!

But the ending...! How how how lahh! Any ideas guys?

Sebelah is about a young woman who survived breast cancer but her left breast was cut off and replaced with a silicon implant. She feels ugly so she compensated her innate void by putting on heavy make up and dressing up elaborately whenever she gets out of her house. So something happened while she was out (I won't tell what) that made her rush back to her house. She then discovered that her breast implant never affected her beauty in the first place. But how will she discover this? Should I make the ending totally unrelated to her breast(s)? I think its fitting because it puts her mind off it. But I don't know..... macam mana ni?

Aiyayay!