Lat the Musical

I just got back from Lat the Musical! It was Boleh Tahan.

I particularly enjoyed the childhood skit. The kids, the kids are really good actors. Better than the adult actors actually! My eyes were on this one extra child actor. He looks like me, he talks like me but he isn't me. His mannerism was spot on and after a brief moment of absorbing the fact that there may be millions of kids who look and act like me, I felt embarrased for myself, and for the boy. I might have spooked him a little for staring at his face for too long. The boy must think that I'm a pedo.

And guess who I met after the show. Mrs. Hew with her tall hair!

Lat the musical was a good deal of fun but it is not something I would give a standing ovation. And yes, the boy. He thoroughly enjoyed performing and I could see that he loved every minute of the musical. That boy will go far. I think he needs a movie role. I want to write him in one of my screenplays.

Can I please become a boy again? Detective Conan could do it, why can't I?

It Has Been A While

It has been a while. I didn't have any internet connection for a month so that is why I am absent from the online world. Updates updates updates, I was recently in KOSMO which is quite cool.

I have been featured in The Star, NST, Berita Harian and Metro but this is my first time in KOSMO so I was pleasantly surpsrised when a dozen people sent me congratulation messages.

I am now working on two PSA for Astro Hitz as the director. It will be produced by D1 Production, a reputable production house. So as a newbie director, I am pretty much in the dark about the process of making a proper television PSA. Here are some sample storyboard to make this blog entry appear visually interesting.

I am really sorry for not posting any youtube videos but there was no internet and I don't go out of my way to do something that is intended for fun and laughs, unless I get paid for it of course!

Living alone is not as fun as I anticipated. Now I make all manner of excuses to visit my relatives in the weekends. If they are busy, I would go catch a movie alone or discuss about Anime at japanese manga/anime shops (I AM AN OTAKU!) In between those mundane activities, I would sit in the corner of a restaurant and stare at the teppanyaki dory fish for a full minute before harpooning it with a chopstick. Repeats process.

When I am at home I work. Work is fun. I have absolutely no complain about my work. This is probably the best work in the world and I am still considered as a freelancer. Imagine how it would be when I work permanently? More awesome fun I reckon.

Oh yes, there will be an afiqsays video this weekend! Weeeeeeee!

Two Babies On Its Way

Those are two rough ideas I conjured up for commercial videos I'm working on for Astro. Both of them were given a greenlight so I am super excited to get started. Next week I'll have a moodboard, script and full storyboard ready for the final preparation for what will be the most awesome PSA (Public Service Announcement) production so far in my entire life!

I am also scouting for new talents. I am not a very technical person. Lately I'm impressed with Shafiq's youtube videos' VFX especially this one. Story aside, the VFX is cool, no? I just hope today's aspiring filmmakers don't look up to these new and exciting media without classical knowledge of cinema. Even Tarantino, who broke the rules of storytelling can tell his Kubrick and Scorsese apart.

I am no bonafide filmmaker myself but I am a constantly learning one. One of the things I learn is that in film, there is a huge gap between internet meme and mainstream. There are always exceptions but those are practically kryptonite gems. Kids will go Whoa! but kids will grow up. When kids are all grown up, they will look at the films again and only go Oh... The trick is to get them to say Whoa! everytime they watch the film so in a way, that film has to be like an onion: sweet, layered and tear-jerking!

How about my film you ask? If you know me well, my soft spot has always been making ads and PSAs. My love for films has never diminished but it is not my full time job. Is it just me or somebody is unconsciously emulating Yasmin Ahmad? Although I am not a fan of her films, she is very dear to me. I remembered how I almost had an opportunity to work for her but God loved her more. So if I am inclining towards YasminAhmadism, so be it.

Focus, Afiq, Focus!

Ah yes, two babies on its way. I am super grateful that Astro Hitz is giving me the opportunity to realize my ideas. I like explosive ideas. They let me reign free so these PSAs I'm making will be so freaking explosive it will literally explode. Explosions! Explosive babies! Exploding explosive babies of explosion!

Afiq's New Crib

Haven't you heard? I have my own crib now! Ya-ah! (it's pronounced Yeah-Uh)

It has been a rather arduous process. I did all the arrangements a month ago but only decided to officially move in today. How very Afiq of you, Afiq! So yes, let's take a tour shall we?

When I first visited the flat, my initial thought was "Oh, this flat has a kitchen cabinet. But, where's the kitchen?" It didn't take long for me to conclude that this flat only has a 2 by 10 foot kitchen space. To be honest, the spatial arrangement is a complete mystery to me. Where does the living room begins and the kitchen ends? Wait, where should I eat?

I can't forget the first moment alone I had with my rented flat. After paying the flat's deposit, I sat in the middle of the flat. I just sat, and looked around, and looked up, looked down, Oh hi cockroach hi! Oh die cockroach die! I stepped on the cockroach, which is not cruel because cockroaches aren't cute.

I made it a priority to clean, paint and furnish the house every night (within the allowable budget) in two weeks before moving in. I notice that interior designers like to use keywords to describe a space like classy or contemporary or modern or some other shitz. I only had one keyword: Habitable. This flat has to be habitable. Fast forward 2 weeks and this is what I did with the flat:

I personally don't like living rooms and since this flat has a small living room, I converted it into a mini studio for me to do my brainstorming and storyboarding. Since I am living alone, I didn't need a big bedroom so I turned the bedroom into a TV room.

The TV room has no TV for the time being but it has a set of mismatched sofas. I found one of the sofas in front of my aunt's house. Apparently a neighbour threw it out so as soon as the coast was clear, I ciplak-ed it and kept it for myself.

Here is the kitchen and dining area. I think this are will be deserted. I am one of those people who likes to eat in front of the TV even though I was programmed (by my parent) not to.

And this is my bedroom. It is actually a designated store room but since I have the whole flat to myself, I decided to have the most useless space to cater to my most useless but necessary activity: sleeping.

Well that's it. That's all. That's that. As you can't probably tell, I am a tad excited to be living in my own place. Rent is cheap. Water and electricity is cheap and the place is.. well the place has a 24 hour mamak restaurant! And a 7-11 to boot. Okay I am compensating.

Did I mention that this place has a 24 hour mamak restaurant?

The Merajuk Kid

Hello readers! If you are a new reader, welcome! If you have followed my recently deleted blog Afiqsays, welcome back! I think an explaination is in order. I deleted Afiqsays because I merajuk-ed at a certain someone.

If you are a close acquaintance or a family member, you would know that my emotional bouts are legendary. Look at any old pictures of me and you will see me sulking like a little kid. One would think that I somehow outgrew my habit of merajuk-ing since I am nearing a quarter century old but flashback 2009: I locked myself in my grandmother's guestroom for three days because everyone had forgotten my birthday. I was 22. Luckily for me, my cousins and aunts are more than adept at curbing my wayward ways. The same cannot be said about my parents.

Since I can remember, both my parents were neither affectionate nor understanding. Their parenting style was crudely mechanical and there was a certain point in their lives where they stopped becoming parents and became individuals, with children. There was no point in locking myself in my room because the outcomes were always the same. They would break into my door and confront me head on.

"Hit me! Punch my face! I know you want to!" my mother woke up the neighbours when I slammed my bedroom door after a long and arduous verbal wrestling. My father scolded me with his belt. It is how things were so there were really no point in sulking but I did it anyway, repeatedly.

Today my sulking is invertly proportional to the girth of my waist. I rarely merajuk but there were still instances where I let my Merajuk Kid persona took over. Funnily enough, it is extremely easy to diffuse my merajuk bomb. What you need to do is to:

1. Tell me that you love me.

2. Prove to me that you love me with a small gift like a card (or something)

3. Insist that you love me when I desist.

But then again, the reason why my parents could not decipher me is not because they cannot but because they have 'principles'. They are principled people. Their pride is unmatched by the likes of me. The very thought of giving way to my sulking is for them the very definition of Losing, even if it means losing me along the way.

Yes, I have long deciphered them. They are individuals, with children.