After Sending My Short Film To Tokyo, I Suffer From Painful Post-Creativity Depression.

Post-creativity depression is a painful feeling. You feel empty and depressed because you've finally completed something you've been working on for ages. I had this feeling when I finished the first version of Forced Labour almost four months ago. And that lasted for almost a week.

What Nationality is my film?

Okay, I've pretty much finished editing my short film, 'Forced Labour', the only thing giving me fits now is the end credits. Having some problems as I realized that most of the characters (in fact, all but one) are nameless, so how the hell are audiences going to know if I put the names of the characters (yeah, they have names in the script) next to the names of my cast members?

Or perhaps I'll just stick with a simple 'Featuring', and then followed by names of my cast members? Decisions, decisions.

Have to get this done as soon as possible so that I can send it to this Internet film festival in Japan, followed by numerous other film festivals I can think of. However, there has been something that's been bothering me for quite a while.

Which country is my short film representing?

Is it a Malaysian film? Or is it an Australian film?

Yes, I'm STILL A Filmmaker. Check out New Screenshots Of FORCED LABOUR

Yes, I'm still editing my last short film, Forced Labour, which was originally finished 3 months ago, but due to my Wong Kar Wai-ness, I totally remade the thing from scratch again while adding a new scene. I'll show two screenshots of the main characters, and er, someone bleeding.

Filmmaking Dilemma, Suggestions needed

Right. This is a complicated little situation. I made a short film last semester, from February until May called 'Forced Labour' with the intention of submitting it to film festivals and the like. Now, the first version I edited during the end of April (early May) was 18 minute long, which is way TOO long for a short film with such a simple story, besides, more than half of this is dedicated to the fighting scenes, which feature characters not originally in the script.

Realizing that the fighting scenes are way too long, and take too much attention away from the main plot and the theme. I decided to re-edit the whole damned thing (I've already mentioned that few weeks ago, actually). And re-edit, or remade the film I did, snipping it down to nearly a third of its original length (ideally, this new short film will be between 5-6 minutes, I think), lots of scenes were sped up, most of the fighting scenes were removed, and the characters not originally in the script did not make it past this version either (thus any scene with them in it are gone).

The results thus far had been stellar, and it's totally something that can be sent to film festivals (if they look past the fact that I'm using a cheap-ass camera, and that the film's sooooo low budget). I've reached near the ending, all I have to do is reshoot one more scene with my main actress and things will be completely done.

Now, I feel pretty guilty that the five characters didn't make it past the final cut, and wanted to make it up to them by including them in the credits. For example, I shall do what the Farrelly brothers did with 'Me, Myself and Irene', and inform viewers that 'some characters and scenes were removed due to time constraints', and then show snippets of scenes featuring these characters and then give them credit.

Wonderful solution, right?

HOWEVER, this is best used for a jolly little comedy... what if the ending of my short film is meant to be pretty dark and angsty (bittersweet, kinda), and I try to toss that in during the credits? Wouldn't that mess things up?

So, what do you guys think? Any suggestions? It was suggested to me that I shall put them in the 'Special Thanks' section during the credits, which is something I will most likely do.

Re-editing and revamping 'Forced Labour', figuring my next project

I've mentioned numerous times that I was going to re-edit 'Forced Labour', the short film I made earlier this year due to the fact that I wasn't entirely happy with its end result.

Final Thoughts On My Recently Completed Short Film, 'Forced Labour'.

Okay, I've just finished burning DVDs of 'Forced Labour' (my short film) a week ago, and I've also sent my submission to the Euganea Movie Movement 2005, a film festival in Italy couple of days ago. And now that my parents, my little sister and my grandma have seen it, I think it's time for me to give my second feature a proper send-off, and my thoughts regarding the entire experience. (my speech during the celebration party back then was too short)

Here's a summary of the 'Forced Labour', to those who don't know yet:

FORCED LABOUR done, picking up the pieces of my life.

Many things have happened. Forced Labour's complete, I've just finished making an 'outtakes' feature for the upcoming DVD, and also, I threw a party to celebrate the completion of this movie two nights ago.

Besides that, trailers of 'Forced Labour' are available at http://www.swiftyworks.com

I'm currently suffering from post-creativity depression. Feeling kinda empty that I ain't doing anything anymore after working on the short film for more than 2 months.

Uuuurgh.

"FORCED LABOUR" Editing Done.

22nd of April, 2005. Editing for Forced Labour is finally complete, with the opening sequences being one of the most bizarre thingie I've ever attempted. Sound editing will begin soon.

Oh, and also, I must remind myself that another few anime I've finished recently are Rozen Maiden and Genshiken.

Finished Forced Labour shoot

It's official, I've wrapped up shooting. Everything's done. In fact, there's only one scene left for me to edit, and it's the opening scene. It's weird that I actually started the editing of 'Forced Labour' with the ending scenes, and end with the opening sequences. Anyway, sound editing will be trickier. I have no deadline anymore since I can't submit this to the Kurosawa Film Fest (the thing's almost 20 mins long, possibly more. That's twice the length allowed by the film fest. Damn). But I'll be able to submit it to the Singapore film fest, I think.

On the verge of finishing the FORCED LABOUR shoot

13th of April= Did a quick shooting of two assassins answering phone calls. It was shot in Justin's kitchen. Pretty scary cos' I only had 15 minutes to get them done.

It's Like 'A Boring Story' Again.

Holy crap. 2 week break has begun, and I predicted that I would have some difficulty trying to finish shooting the entire flick in a week.

Exclusive Pics of Forced Labour!!!

Yeah, just to let y'all know what I've been filming during the past few weeks.

Streetfighting Streetfighters

Yes, have filmed another fighting scene for Forced Labour. The one's different from the previous scene I shot cos' it involves only two combatants (the previous one has five). In terms of coolness, I would say that the previous one is better, but the scene I shot today is more realistically brutal. It's a good thing cos' both involved different characters (or actors). It's a strange thing, cos' I really felt that I was shooting a few different movies at once, I'm sure I've mentioned it before. But it also kinda provides a competitive feel for all cast members, with the cast of one scene wanting to outdo the other badly and such. Interesting experience, might actually try sticking with it in the future. (as in shooting separate scenes with entirely separate set of actors)

Saw Robots and The Ring 2 respectively during the past two days. The latter sucked massively. Not a single scary scene, and found myself having trouble trying to keep awake. It's disappointing that the director of Ring 2 happens to be the director of the original Ringu! Maybe the dude's just not THAT good when it comes to shooting Hollywood remakes of... well, his own movies. Robots is enjoyable, but I think Ice Age (also from the same creators) is better.

Gunfighting Gunfighters!

Finished shooting another scene. Really tiring. Will talk about it in future entries. The above's a picture taken after the shooting. One of the people above's obviously NOT in the cast.

FORCED LABOUR shoot, watching BE COOL, other school stuff

Yes, I'm seriously running out of titles for my entries. Here's what happened during the past few days, to those who cared.

18th of March = Shot the second scene for 'Forced Labour'. Wonderful session, everything needed only one single take. Managed to wrap up shooting within 10 minutes. Not bad.

19th of March = Hm. Not much.

20th of March = Yeap, saw Be Cool, starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, The Rock, Cedric The Entertainer, Vince Vaughn, etc. Really really funny shit. The Rock's the highlight, man. Andre Benjamin (from Outkast) too.

21st of March = Mid-term test for Advertising Law. Ouch.

22nd of March = Oral presentation for International Marketing. Should be fine. Finished storyboarding a sequence for the gunfighting scene in Forced Labour. Yay.

Shooting Has Begun!

15th of March. Shooting for Forced Labour has finally begun. Everything went pretty well. Since I've not shown anyone the script, it's pretty pointless for me to comment more. Anyway, special thanks to Ipoh Garden (a wonderful Chinese restaurant) for allowing me to film our scenes there. The photo below's taken before shooting commenced. Yeah, they are all mobsters. The guy with a wig is the craziest, most psychotic of them all.



16th of March. Dad's birthday. Also, more people are agreeing to appear in the short film. Drastic changes will be made upon the gunfighting scene. Instead of having a small four against four fight, it'll become four against a shitload of people. Yay.

Preparing FORCED LABOUR

"WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU MEAN, YOU HAVEN'T SEEN MISS CONGENIALITY?????"
- Some guy to Justin, 11th of March

The above quote wouldn't be that ridiculously funny if the guy speaking it didn't make it sound as if Miss Congeniality is Lord of the Rings or something.

But anyway, been too busy to post anything on the blog these days. What have I been doing? Ah, yes, hunting for toy guns. Went to do that with Justin on Thursday, and believe it or not, I COULDN'T FIND ANY!!!! Tried Toys R' Us, Target, and other shops, but nope, no toy guns (Well, there are some futuristic ones in Toys R' Us).

I almost cried like a child. Even though I did buy a flash light for my camera so that I can have an easier time shooting night scenes.

In the end, I managed to find some guns at Fremantle with Josh's help (one of the actors) and *cough* the person who was quoted above! They don't look too real, but according to the kind people of the Fremantle Film and Television Institute, I need to get police clearance for gun replicas used in films... only if I do the shooting at public places. Scary.

Yeah, so things are kinda ready. I've got some toy guns, and I've received permission to film the very first scene in a Chinese restaurant on Tuesday. Great fun!

Going to start shooting FORCED LABOUR soon!

Swifty's Filmmaking Progress

Had my very first meeting with the cast last night. Shooting for 'Forced Labour', my next short flick, will begin next week. Yippee!