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)

31 comments:

adLedash said...

salam afiq!

waaaa...sangat2 touching! bukan touching nanges tu..tp touching sbb ur muveys are always out of d cliche! teruja la sng citer..hee...well done!

this is sumtin different. banyak part yang xpnah org invent lagi babaknye.

yg klakanye, buley pulak si abg ikut adik dia...so sweet! and overall...CREATIVE! tu je yg i buley komen..x reti sgt la..but i like dis one more than Sebelah..huu! and 4PA my most feveret!

afiq...usaha lagi..u can improve lagi...jgn mudah selesa dgn pujian..pujian akan buat otak tenggelam dan x bergerak..improve more okeyh! i'll support u always!

create more style of shooting..why u want to be be d next yasmin ahmad while u can be d 1st, one and only AFIQ DEEN!

Afiq Deen..i'll pray for u..may Allah give u more inspiration for ur success in future! Allah loves for those who strive d best!

all d best my fren!

WASsalam~OUT

Puteri said...

I love this! It's BRILLIANT =)

The idea is simple and well executed. Boleh jadi iklan Merdeka ni. Serious. Throw in a Chinese and Indian kid and u'll also promote 1Malaysia effectively(hehe...)

I think you casted well, i suka the kid and the brother. Abang dia macam layan je adik dia nak buat apa, the shots dia kejar and ikut sambil texting tu is very real, we see that happen everywhr.

U titled it well also, "Projek Merdeka Adik".. so it makes people wonder what this lil kid is doing and wants to follow through til the end. Flow dia smooth. Not to slow, not too fast. I like all the shots you took from diff angles masa dia tengah work on her project.

Finally muka puas hati dia in the end tu i suka. Haha.. and nice bendera too!!

Afiq, submit this for a the next Merdeka themed competition. Its got high commercial value, I mean it. I would wanna watch the ad. Again and again pun dont mind.

I can imagine people going, "Ha, tu iklan merdeka yang budak kecik pasang bendera kat taman tu best!"

Heh =)

Aman Wan said...

afiq~!

sgt2 smart yg ni! ak pun sama cm arina, lagi suke ni dr sebelah. neway,haha. cool la pelakon2. x nmpak kekok. shoot pun smart. (dr dulu pun smart)

lagu kena dgn tema merdeka, citer pun cm sweet je. hahaha. cool~! aku suka~!

Afiq Deen said...

terima kasih arina! Jangan risaulah, lagi orang puji lagi afiq rasa tak kena. Afiq percaya bila orang tak dapat terima, bermaksud kita buat benda yang betul. Maka YA, afiq lagi suka Sebelah. Wahahahaha!

Projek Merdeka Adik is a chidren's story so I intended it to be as sweeeet as possible. I wanted to use your title Puteri but I decided to surprise the audience with the ending. Omg the bendera, took me forever to get the flag to stay still at the park because it was so inconveniently windy. And since the flag was made of formation of papers, it flew around like crazy! It's a commercial video puteri, very people friendly. Even to those who don't find Wong Kar Wai's movies appealing... (hahaha)

Suka betul Wan bila bab2 lagu ni. Ingat afiq cakap dulu, lagu tak penting. Afiq letak soundtrack sebab watak budak perempuan tu banyak beraksi. Kalau dia banyak cakap, letak lagu di tempat2 sesuai sahaja.

J said...

Afiq. I sgtlah tau kat mana you shoot! Haha. That was the playground we used to go to sementara tunggu our school bus!

(haha i sound more excited about finding out about the place than your movie eh?)

I think this is your best video so far. Relatable, clear, understandable (unlike any other with your AfiqDeen trademark, lol) and it didn't make me squint my eyes at the end of it.

So *claps*

RITZ CHEWAN said...

Raw. I feel a bit sea sick after (or is it just me?). Commendable effort nevertheless.

kawan sekelas ko huhu said...

kenapa budak tu menyusahkan diri tarik tali dr rumah?
bendera tu naik tgh padang kosong utk apa?
budak tu dipantau abangnya sbb takut kena kidnap? bahaya? tak merdeka lagi la sebenarnya.

Anonymous said...

hmm mcm x terasa sgt the means of indepentdent day...

The Man said...

wei kawan sekelas, ko mangkuk ke bangang? punya susah dia buat bendera malaysia, asal, ko dari bangla ka? blah a dari malaysia.

Afiq Deen said...

Hi Jannah. I still think Sebelah is my best work so far, not quality-wise but because the whole process was so much different than conventional storytelling. There was a sort of design finesse to it. Sure its untested and undeveloped but its a new way of approaching films.

Wahai rakan sekelas, aku zaman budak dulu lebih kurang macam tulah. Kalau ada kotak yang boleh bukak dengan tangan, nak jugak design mechanism yang boleh bukak dengan cara lain. Memang lumrah kanak-kanak...

kawan sekelas ko huhu said...

hoi The Man, bendera Malaysia kepala hotak ko menegak ke bawah camtu. bendera tu sentuh tanah pulak tu. hukum bendera tak tau nak ckp pasal patriotism, balik kampung tanam jagung la wei!

Afiq - tau =)

Anonymous said...

personally i think the idea is not strong enough to win a macbook.

emma songall said...

wow.
dat was so cool and so creative.

Afiq Deen said...

Thanks Emma!

zaFFa said...

nasib Afiq tak layan komen rakan sekelas, the man dn anonymous. korang haprak la, jenis yg suka kutuk bende kecik2 drpd tengok bigger picture. jenis orang yg pijak2 filem yasmin ahmad sebab benda kecik2. malu aku ada lagi manusia macam ni. lagi malu sbb korang muka tak malu memalukan diri sendiri.

malu malu..

Afiq, u berkembang dengan pesat so jangan dengar kritikan tak membina mamat2 bengong dari kampun mana tah tu.

i'm_siCK_n_tiReD said...

nice....afiq...well done...

I NEVER tot dat the girl going to hang the flag between the trees... creative...

This vids have its own commercial & family value..

Teringat zaman kecik2...aku tukar kotak2 cornflakes & kasut jadi mesin cash macam kat supermarket... main jual2 barang... haha..

How nostalgic...

mlle said...

I wonder if u really sambung tali tu dari taman ke rumah yang dekat dengan taman tu. Is it scientifically, physically and logically possible? I would love to salute you if the answer is yes :) (by posting a salute posture of mine on my blog).
btw, how long did it take you to set up the whole thing?

If no... never mind. Good effort :) Science fiction is created from something out of the box :) (not to imply this short film is science fiction, but rather a child's fantasy and dream to be able to do so).

*Skip the below if you don't want to read a pre-menopause woman's ranting*

Seriously if I'm the brother, I'll try to lock her inside the house because it's so troublesome to tail her back and forth and focus on playing my piano. Or if he finds the idea interesting, tolong lah sambungkan tali or try to throw the gulung tali over the tree instead of sitting on the bench texting friends (or delete unwanted SMS).
If he follows her without complains at all and not knowing what is she trying to do... a great brother he is. I respect people who are patience and loving and caring because I am the opposite^^

**end of unnecessary ranting**

Afiq Deen said...

I walked around parks a lot and I see big brothers chaperoning their little sisters all the time.

I wont give out the technical part la mlle, haha. I would really appreciate it if you give your criticism regarding the short film. Maybe after the menopause transition phase is done and over with?

mlle said...

sorry if the comment below does not fall under "criticism of the short film"

>>I love how you switch the raining scene to a pair of hands playing the piano.

>>may be after she stretched her hand out to see if the rain has stopped, the next take could be she stared inside the house through the window looking at her brother (and the piano starts playing from soft volume to louder as the scene switch back to inside the house)?

>>Is the sun at 3:57 reflected it was evening already or still afternoon? when they first entered the garden (at 2:00) the sunlight seemed orange-ish already, so I assume the film is indicating that adik had her project done in a short evening before sunset?

>>i love the angle where the flag is about to be raised, where you did not show both trees at once except at 4:16, even when it was successfully hanged you only showed the tree on the right; and full scene with the flag hanged in between both tress was only shown in the last scene.
---->>but there is a bummer here: on 4:44 (wah, means die in chinese myth), when she relieved and leaned on the chair, the rope that should be horizontal jatuh lembik ke arah bawah... which means she either pressed the rope down (seems like it) or the rope is not tight enough?

cheers

Anonymous said...

OMFG. this is awesome.

1) the quality, the sharpness of the video is excellent. (no offence, but ur previous short film..tak brape sharp.)

2) the song is great. suits with the whole film

3) i like the detailed parts of it. e.g. 4:02 til 4:19. oh! especially 4:14. nice touch.

4) jalan cerita pun best. ada flow...

u could be the next arwah yasmin ahmad. seriously. ur film-making is getting better everyday.
Keep it up!~ THE best film from u so far... <3

-lemon-

Qarl said...

afiq

thank God!

i managed to watch ur latest masterpiece b4 raya!

well done - i shud praise u for all d hard work; efforts that u have put in to produce dis short film. d idea was original.

but , dunno why - i found it a bit monotonous towards d end. is it bcoz of d background music? haha

some people said dat u're d next arwah yasmin - i really dont like dis. arwah is arwah n afiq is afiq la kan?

keep on producing good short films ya...

Happy eid

Anonymous said...

the composition is good but there's nothing in it, i feel nothing.btw kawan sekelas has a point,any flags in this world can't touch the ground.to me it's a patriotic-ad wanna-be gone wrong. good luck!

Afiq Deen said...

mlle, I agree with all of your points especially the one with the little girl pressing her face on the window to look at the brother. And your suggestion on the transition is spot on! I will make scene transitions smoother next time.

Thanks lemon, some people are annoyed when you use Yasmin Ahmad's name and mine in a sentence. I honestly think its flattering but for other people's sake, let's keep it to a bare minimum.

Haiqal, maybe there's not enough suspense to suit your taste. Some people require a lot more teasing before the surprise ending and I think you're one of them. I myself am a sucker for teasers too : p

In a way, it is quite monotonous because it lacks cinematic grandieur but it was intended that way. I wanted the film to have a raw feel, like it can happen to any small girls at any neighbourhood. It could be also that I watch a lot of arthouse films so I get so used to thoughtful scenes that I fail to notice people's visual need to feel more than what the story is presenting.

Anonymous, thanks for your honesty but this is a film based on a supposedly true account of a small girl. Any small girl would have no clue about the sanctity of flags as perscribed by a true to heart nationalist like you.

People who use still uses terms like assholes should heed his own advice.

Moja Amin said...

I don't really know how to comment this, but I really like the idea of the girl tying the knot to get longer piece of string. It somehow reflects the unity or how to get things done together.

But I bet ppl will love thi more than "sebelah" because it expresses less subtle meanings and quite straight forward. But the idea of tying the tali and making the bendera out of A4 papers is reallllly creative. Instead of using bendera2 yang cantik dipasaran, you use A4 flags. Awesome.

Bdw, aku rasa most ppl will rasa terharu sebab how determine this girl is throughout the film.

:))
p/s: sorry lambat komen, I totally lupa. Happy Hari Raya Afiq!

RITZ CHEWAN said...

Dear people, let the words Arwah and AfiQ not be in one sentence for a long time to come.

Anonymous said...

afiq, im going to be blunt... it was a bore for me. i dont feel the story at all. what made the girl raise that self-made flag? whats with the sister asking the brother about their parents... the relevance to the whole thing? i think the music is not suitable... it reminded me of a mystery clip somehow, rather than 'sweet' and 'innocent'...

emm, i have more questions lingering but lets keep it light now.

maybe im not in the mood but then again a good clip can always alter one's mood right?

A for effort, but this one is not a winner to me.

keep on experimenting.

:)

Afiq Deen said...

it was a bit boring for me too.. but i'm learning, no?

Yeah the song, memang a bit tak ngam because I can't make my own soundtrack yet so I have to rely on exisiting soundtracks downloadable in the internet.

The sister asked the brother when she noticed that their parents are not home lahh. Since the bigger brother is in charge when the parents are not around, he should know where they went to.

what made the little girl to make the flag? because she thinks its the best way to show her love to this country. it's as simple as that.

It is actually mysterious because the audience have no idea what the little kid is up to until they watch the ending.

Please do tell me what you think i should improve in detail and if possible, tell me of your credentials so I can judge whether or not i should take your advice seriously.

: ) i like honesty. but honesty is relative.

Matematis Muda said...

sori lambat komen..

sedikit menarik sedikit bosan. tapi flow ok la. tajuk kao buat orang akan tunggu sampai the end, what is her project.

aku rasa macam dah best tapi ada rasa mcm something missing sikit la. tak tau apa.

kalau nak cadangkan, ekspresi muka adik tu at the end dah smart cuma mungkin lagi bernas kalau tunjuk dia lari tengok blk kat padang berjaya ke tak bendera dia naik, atau kalau nampak dari rumah mungkin tunjuk view bendera tu boleh nampak dari rumah ke.

entah cincai la. nak komen lebih2 bukan reti sgt pun. tapi mcm diorg ckp video ni belum cukup umph utk menang. mungkin boleh menang kalau vid lain pun sama tak de umph kot. hehe

anyhow, happy eid

Afiq Deen said...

terima kasih sebab komen walaupun lambat (aku tak kisah pun..)

ada sebab budak tu tak tengok balik bendera dia. aksi ni menunjukkan yang dia dah puas hati bila buat apa yang patut secara ikhlas dan langsung tak mengharapkan apa-apa (termasuklah meng-enjoy hasil kerja dia sendiri.

ini reference pada semangat malaysia kita. kita bekerja, belajar dan berjaya dalam bidang masing-masing haruslah niatnya untuk memajukan negara, tanpa mahu apa-apa ganjaran. dari aspek ni, perkataan yang sesuai untuk describe budak tu ialah Selflessness.

Afiq Deen said...

i think its good that some people feel a certain void or "macam tak ngam la citer ni". to me it shows that i'm not following a familiar style of storytelling.

it's like reading a thriller novel for the first time after years of reading romance novels. it will feel a bit awkward but you will get used to it in the end.

i think people should also understand that even though i plead everyone to comment, i will sometimes justify why I did this and that. this, to many, is a form of retaliation "eh, dia yang suruh bg comment, skang aku dah bg komen dia komplen plak" is a normal reaction for first timers in film discussion.

Amin Tambunan said...

Afiq, you're growing in a terrifying pace!

You got talent boy! A lot of people don't see this because they are film-blind. I am shocked to read some of the comments. Boring, takdak Umph.. Oh dear lord, they watch too much transformers and twilight larh!

Okay, but I think you need stupid people like that also so you won't get kepala besar. Idiots got function also! And notice how only malays who commented negatively. All your non-malays friends gave you positive responds. Remember how the malays kutuk Yasmin Ahmad? I think it's in their nature to give senseless negative reviews. Jealous maybe. I don't know lah.. Palis-palis....