After completing my new short film screenplay, CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY yesterday, I realized in quiet horror that it is actually my first screenplay in 18 MONTHS. It's unbelievable that the last time I've ever completed a script (that's GIRL DISCONNECTED) was that long ago!
My writer's block had lasted fairly long. What caused this drought? Did I run out of ideas? Or was I merely demotivated? To take THAT LONG to actually write a script for a short film is a little sad.
There were numerous attempts to come up with a new short, but none of them actually went past the 'treatment' stage.
So it was actually quite a surprise to finish this new script in merely two days (throughout the weekend). I didn't expect that myself, but sometimes, ideas just seem to solidify and take form at the most unexpected of moments.
I remember a while ago when I told Sebastian that I never wanted to work on a particular (writing) project for too long because whatever enthusiasm I have would fade away very quickly if I leave things dormant. I am fickle. I boasted about having an endless pool of ideas that float inside my oversized head, and I would just pluck out whatever I want to do when I feel like it.
Lofty claim that felt true during my final year in university last year. A short screenplay would take me only a day or two to complete, and I remember actually writing 3 to 4 of them during the first half of 2006 (and then ended up filming VERTICAL DISTANCE), and then taking a slightly longer time for the 'passion project', GIRL DISCONNECTED.
This new short film is much smaller than GIRL DISCONNECTED in scale (no 'girl taking a flying train to the moon' this time), but perhaps a bigger challenge when it comes to filmmaking and acting as the storytelling and controlling of mood are much trickier. Besides, this is a comedy, so it makes things harder.
Yup, this time I just aim to do something entertaining and fun. It's a quirky whodunnit + film noir + Stephen Chow comedy + musical. Another genre-bender.
The title of this new short is THE CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY (an alternative title would be 'CHICKEN, RICE').
I'm still polishing up the screenplay based on the feedback I've gotten from my test readers from the past few days. After that, I'll probably start casting!
My writer's block had lasted fairly long. What caused this drought? Did I run out of ideas? Or was I merely demotivated? To take THAT LONG to actually write a script for a short film is a little sad.
There were numerous attempts to come up with a new short, but none of them actually went past the 'treatment' stage.
So it was actually quite a surprise to finish this new script in merely two days (throughout the weekend). I didn't expect that myself, but sometimes, ideas just seem to solidify and take form at the most unexpected of moments.
I remember a while ago when I told Sebastian that I never wanted to work on a particular (writing) project for too long because whatever enthusiasm I have would fade away very quickly if I leave things dormant. I am fickle. I boasted about having an endless pool of ideas that float inside my oversized head, and I would just pluck out whatever I want to do when I feel like it.
Lofty claim that felt true during my final year in university last year. A short screenplay would take me only a day or two to complete, and I remember actually writing 3 to 4 of them during the first half of 2006 (and then ended up filming VERTICAL DISTANCE), and then taking a slightly longer time for the 'passion project', GIRL DISCONNECTED.
This new short film is much smaller than GIRL DISCONNECTED in scale (no 'girl taking a flying train to the moon' this time), but perhaps a bigger challenge when it comes to filmmaking and acting as the storytelling and controlling of mood are much trickier. Besides, this is a comedy, so it makes things harder.
Yup, this time I just aim to do something entertaining and fun. It's a quirky whodunnit + film noir + Stephen Chow comedy + musical. Another genre-bender.
The title of this new short is THE CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY (an alternative title would be 'CHICKEN, RICE').
I'm still polishing up the screenplay based on the feedback I've gotten from my test readers from the past few days. After that, I'll probably start casting!
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