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~~

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jatuh tak real!!! Klu jatuh real mesti lg lawak!

farahrozhan said...

Hey your angles got so much better in this piece. And this goes without saying, splendid choice in background music.Tell the lady she has quirky eyes. It's light yet heavy, the short movie I mean. Congratulations, you.

syahiransukardi said...

adakah aku baru melihat tanjung bungah? :)

[danial][ma] said...

hej! there's no continuity in terms of the shoes of the lady...from high heels to flat shoes when she entered the shop then back to high heels...like hindi movie, change the costume so many time for a single song! a little thing but you must be meticulous...

mlle said...

Love it!
i replay to watch 3 to 4 times again XD
though i realised the flat boots when she entered the shop but it doesn't affect me much.
btw i have the same pair of high heel boots XD

Btw, is that a bit of Park Chan-wook that i smell from this short film?
No worries it does not smell like shit ^^

Afiq Deen said...

Cerita ni tak sepatutnya lawak.

Thank you for telling me about the angles earlier (b4 I made the shortie) on Farah. You're spot on, it is actually heavy than what most people might perceive it to be. I think the eyes has a certain deadness quality that I like.

Syahiran, mesti ramai orang diambil gambar kahwin dekat area tg bungah kan?

You know why she had to change shoes? Because the actress sprained her foot when she fell down. Hahaha. The fall is very much real. (if you don't believe me, put on some high heels and fake a fall)

I used Vivaldi's Invierno as the background music which is similar to Park's choice of music in Sympathy of Lady Vengeance. The song depicts so much resentment and denial so I felt like I had use it!

part time gregorian chanter said...

our next yasmin ahmad, congratulations!

Anonymous said...

powerless symmetry without any significant, there's no beauty in it.

Afiq Deen said...

yeah, i did make several changes.. like hiding the shoes when Nisa comes in into the shop and the caption in the beginning.

Anon, it has no obvious significance because it is subliminal.

Anonymous said...

afiq, ppl will only think that ur film only when it won awards. ppl are like dat afiq. most malaysians r like dat afiq. y do u think bad malay films exists? because there are market for them.

ur short film is an excellent art film. it has your trademark all over it.

1. viewers have to watch it more than once to peel the layers of messages. (very similar to 4PA)

2. the film doesnt underestimate ppls intelligent as it doesnt want to explain itself. it just wants to be interpreted.

if ppl feels that the story is complicated, it simply means they've been watching too much transformer movies n harry potter series.

andrea c

Afiq Deen said...

thanks andrea. i will never underestimate ppls intelligence, that's for sure.

i just feel its important to make ppl realise the gravity of the emotional roller coaster suffered by young survivors of breast cancer. its different you see, because young adults based their worth on their looks so imagine what they might have felt when their mastectomy is done on them.

they will go through a period of mourning, followed by denial.

Nisa will only discover her sense of denial when she realised how she she seems obsesessed with anything in pairs n realise that the loyal pair that has been before n after her mastectomy is her husband.

Shit happens, so better make fun of it sometimes. you know what i mean?

[danial][ma] said...

hej! afiq...the new version is much better...in making film, small thing must be taking care too...

Amirul Rezza said...

I don't think the plot has strength. Atau mungkin aku tak faham sangat otak kau. Hehe.

Afiq Deen said...

its a very short film because the competition requires me to make a 3 minutes video. the plotting can be manipulated and made interesting if the shortie is longer. it builds suspense and anticipation.

you don't have to understand my brain, no one can understand anyone's brain.

Afiq Deen said...

wassap with the commented comments. Only i can delete comments weih! Orang lain jangan menggatal nak delete comment masing2,

i'm_siCK_n_tiReD said...

saying ur film is 'complicated' is risky afiq...ahaha..

Afiq Deen said...

What? Why? Why is it risky? What are you talking about? C'mon lah, be clear n specific, dont waste my time.

zaFFa said...

Im here again, afiq. As your attorney, again! Haha.

okay first of all i made a background check on amirul rezza. He's 16 n thinks he's so smart n sophisticated just because he watched yasmin ahmad's films. I bet he never even watched casablanca. He don't know nothing about film so ignore his comment.

This sick n tired guy is very new to your blog. I dont think he knows that u've won loads of awards for your videos. So obviously he doesnt know how good u r so he's trying to level himself to you which is irrelevant.

Afiq, u should now know who to listen n who to ignore. Don't take people's opinions too seriously because let's face it, not everyone has something substantial to offer.

I personally think that Sebelah is a noir short film with a twist. It is an understanding of complicated situations and circumstances. Sick n tired guy dont understand or attempts to understand the feeling a young lady who survived cancer. To him, its just a video. I know u put a lot of thought into this short because it shows in the storytelling..

Its dark and light n heavy, something very different from u. And I had to watch it several times like andrea to get what you really mean. In a way you're showing off your intelligence when you let peons like me go through trouble of analyzing your video. In this aspect, damn you afiqqq... I know la ur smart, lompat kelas, bla bla tak payah la apply in ur films! But for viewers who dont take film seriously, we sorta get the picture.. Next time afiq, make a few more outer layers. Layers that can make ppl like sick n tired guy n amirul rezza understand. Me also larh!

jannah said...

When I watched the trailer, I imagined this to be heavier. Like, Whoa. Afiq's finally making some sad movie! But boy I was wrong.

I like this movie (it has Afiq Deen being spelt all over it - it's easily recognizable as yours), though, again, being an AfiqDeen movie, it was kinda hard to grasp at the first place. When I have figured out (or thought I have) the story, all I can say is this : Your mind is something else lah.

i'm_siCK_n_tiReD said...

Whattttt??? Now I'm being irrelevent???

Zaffa, u do not know me well enough to judge me ok.

This is what I'm saying..its too risky too give A BIT of (-) feedback to ur film. Then, Andrea & now Zaffa.

Dear Zaffa, just becoz Im saying the film 'complicated' doesnt mean dat the whole film is not good at all. Its have a good moral value, impressive storyline, amazing shot/angle plus creative ideas which I adored.

Obviously you missed my comments which i deleted early becoz obviously its too risky too put A BIT of (-) comments towards your Afiq's film.

At d end of the comments I also put a VERY supportive words to your Afiq becoz I tot he is so talented & creative which u also missed.

After all, Afiq have to swallow all the (+) & (-) feedbacks in order to improve his filming skills. Do you ever heard a film director in this universe only received (+) critics?

I think you don't know what urself thinking.

You said dat like I'm d most bad person giving comments.

Please do not say like dat to people... x baek la...but I.m ok.

Afiq Deen said...

Yeah the trailer made it look like its going to be this depressed, sad shortie. But its actually a fun one lah rite. I wont make sad depressing shorts until i feel that its really necessary. We're living in a sad depressing world already, why lah want to add salt to it. Heheh. Im going to attempt to make a short thats totally unlike me. It'll be done in 3 days.

sidd, relax. They dont mean harm. They're just a little defensive, being good friends n all. Andrea is actually studying film in perth. Zaffa is a writer based in singapore. We used to watch movies together when they were in KL and discussed about film sampai tgh malam. Fun times!

Kamal S. said...

"I personally think that Sebelah is a noir short film with a twist." seriously, r u kidding?

"I dont think he knows that u've won loads of awards for your videos." so winning awards = good film? Jebus!

here's my 2 cent dude. u used symmetry to create a sense of perfection, because her breast is physically imperfect (asymmetry), i can see this. but if you make the narratives simpler & play with 'pure' symmetrical/asymmetrical shots, your 'visual' statement would be clearer, because there are certain 'free-form/organic' shots (masa awal-awal). contradiction = confusing. architecturally speaking, facade Gaudi, tapi pakai 'curtain glass' Mies.

datin seri syaripah noli said...

Mise en scene wise, visually amazing, but lack of substance.

Afiq Deen said...

Noir? Hahaha! Noir my foot!

U mean to have all the scenes symmetrical? If i did that, there will no sudden emphasis, no pop, you know... Because the feeling come and go. Inside the house and with her husband is the only situation where she feels that it is unnecessary to be 'symmetrical' but she hasnt realize this ofcoursw.

I might be overanalysing but yeah, that's how i see it.

architecturally speaking, u should know that perfection is impossible and subjective.

Afiq Deen said...

Lack of substance? It looks very put-on, i know but believe me, there is substance.

1. It emphasizes on how young women with breast cancer would have reacted. That itself is substance.

it lacks your preferred substance. For some people, a good performance adds substance. Some base their substance on cinematography.

hafizanmohd said...

u just show me how easy to make it easy. thanks ;)

Puteri said...

Afiq, I like the concept of how she is obsessed with everything symmetrical, i think that's a good portrayal of how someone who just lost their breast (or one of) would have and how she struggles to deal with it.

But I think the flow was not quite as smooth in really bringing that message out. Maybe it would have been better to shoot more symmetrical things or making her go to diff stores rather than just one store. Or also maybe show her reaction looking at those symmetrical things, because there should be more emphasis on the "obsession".

But then again, i know why you tak show her eyes cos that's the surprise at the end, she only eyelined one eye kan?

Good effort, tapi i wish the story could go on for more than 3 minutes, because there's depth to be explored and i can tell you probly go through some frustration while re-editing it cos there's a lot to tell.

I like it, Afiq =) Now let's hope the judges like it too.

adLedash said...

salam afiq!

hey there...dh lame x follow ur blog..dh belambak2 entries dh..huu! nway..this muvey for me is kinda weird...but it has sumtin..dat is art..tanak komen yg tgh2 sbb agak abstract and maybe afiq ade motif sndiri kan...

but i like the ending...pretty awesome! and agak funny gak la muvey ni..huhuhu!

Amirul Rezza said...

Wuu ada orang marah. Relax, itu pendapat aku lah.

Afiq Deen said...

biasalah.. kepala kita lain2. lagi2 dalam dunia online ni memang orang selalu bersikap kurang ajar tanpa sebab atau atas sebab dengki. aku pun kuat dengki jugak tapi tak pernah pulak terasa nak mengutuk tanpa sebab.

Sebelah lebih experimental untuk develop lagi technique spatial composition dalam filem. spatial composition mmg suka digunakan oleh pembuat filem jepun macam kiyoshi kurosawa. Tapi aku cuba nak neo-modern kan element tu. Dah dasar experimental..