adobe mayhem

this is the reason why postproduction is torture.

imagine seeing this beautiful white box 10000000000 times a day.

adressing two issues.

the vicky christina barcelona design

adressing two issues.

a) the feedback regarding the posters overall. 

i realised both posters are good. the cute ryan head one offers a the creepy vibe that is true to the film. however although it looks really good, it fails in comparison to the other decadent design we call the Vicky Christina Barcelona one.

thanks to the feedback offered by many including the recent ones by vincent and weisiang, we have adjusted the vicky design to look like what you see above. it's the best i can do with the limited options/skill i have.

b)the 'based on a true OBSESSION' title.

since everyone who reads this are not the general public but friends, i can unveil our sinister plot. Since a no. of you ask whose biography is DM based on... you know what....... i dont even want to explain it to everyone who asks me from now on because the fact that you ask me, means the little short quotation served it's sole purpose...

i hope u get it.

vote for your favorite poster design

Calling everyone who reads this blog. 

please vote for the poster you prefer. 

just tag this post/comment box/facebook and i will consolidate

your vote is vital for the future of this film

it will change lives!

studio

i met up with tim and some other guy i think he's thomas tan or something... they were doing the studio recording of the songs for damien's monologue. the official OST.

updates

okay i have not been updating all about the progress of the film. i shall do that now.

we have created a preview for caiyu. however her exams which ended not too long ago meant that the reply whether the film would be screening or not is yet to come. but we are keeping our hopes high because she thought the preview was 'hilarious'.

the 2 evenings where the bulk of the filming with all the cast has also been completed. the hardest scenes have been filmed in those days and everything went smoothly thanks to the hardworking helpers who came on that day to resolve all that me and kaywee could not do ourselves.

reshots of some scenes and voiceovers were also done on tuesday. some scenes really became really good. we are proud of the outcome of the day's takes that day. evidence can be seen on the screenshots i posted.

currently i am doing subtitles and some postproduction with whatever i've got. 

tomorrow ryan and kaywee will resume reshooting scenes again. hopefully by the 7th, everything will be filmed and i can focus on the postproduction. 

on the 7th, we will be doing the last filming scenes with the whole cast as well as the poster design planned for the film.

timothy wan is doing a studio recording soon of a song he composed for the film called confession of a broken heart for the film.

lyrics so emo! dont cry when you read it okay...

Confession of a Broken Heart (G Major Capo 1)

   C5

Maybe this won't sound right

Em5    Em

and maybe this won't sound pretty

C   D

but this is as real as it gets

   G

confessions from a broken heart

Maybe I'm not the perfect kind-a guy

and maybe I'm not right up your street

but listen to my un-pretentious

confessions of a broken heart

  C    D

You don't know how much it means to me

   G D/F#  Em

to see you smiling like a summer dream

Am     /Bm

I want you to be happy, 

    C D

even if you never know of me

G   Em

I watch you through, the looking glass

Am    C D

but always from a third person view

   G    Em

I'd sing to you, a song of love

C D

but you don't feel the same way too

     C B

you tore my heart into, a million pieces

    Em  Bm  C

with-out e-ven a clue

    Am     C D

lifeless my love becomes, like a rose

  G

wilted for you

anticipatory screenshots

its a wrap for the day!

From Kaywee and me:

yes! filming on the two intensive evenings are done!

the hardest scenes have been video recorded. 

thanks to the following people who made this two days possible:

Weenie and family who lent us her house for the filming

Main actors and actresses: Ryan Chow, Joey Feng and Brandon Ng for a acting job well done. and also thanks joey for driving us around..

The other actors and actresses/helpers: Andrew Yeo, Timothy Wan, Veronica Lee, Evan Tang, Angela and Constance

pre-production cast shoot

From left: Angela Teng, Veronica Lee, Ryan Chow, Joey Feng, Brandon Ng, Andrew Yeo

From left: Angela Teng, Veronica Lee, Melvin Tan, Thong Kaywee, Ryan Chow, Joey Feng, Brandon Ng, Andrew Yeo

update

preview is done. we are considering putting it on youtube.

but today, whole cast filming day 1 commences.

WISH US LUCK.

plan for next 4 days

monday
submission of preview to caiyu in SMU
meet weenie to discuss about house scenes and shift the things in her room
confirm the second car

tuesday
meet new peter
story boarding for aftermath and rose scenes
call and confirm cast and crew to prepare stuff (e.g. wig, arrivals, timings, cars)

wednesday
filming of 2 carpark scenes and 1 lift scene
things to bring
filming equiptment and camera
food and beverages
paper napkins
umbrella
2 cars
1 tranny
2 serene entourage
1 red-bull can
1 battery operated fan
joey feng 3 sets of clothings
ryan 3 sets of clothings

thursday
if joey is early, we fil aftermath scene where she finds rose on bed because reqires sun.
filming of rose scene and aftermath scene
things to bring
fake blood
rose
string mechanism to 'drop camera'
laptop

update again

met up with joey and a candidate for the role of peter today. 

things went well. 

filming will begin soon.

our production company's logo

MELWEE MELWEE Productions

made up of our names melvin and kaywee: melwee. 

note: melvin's name is first only because melwee sounds better than kayvin. kayvin sounds like cave-in. melwee sounds fun. like us! haha. 

more good news

ok mark the film expert came to my home to film today. gave some great advice and technical tips. thanks to my dad, we resolved the problem of formatting the clips. now they are in the process of edit in Adobe Premiere Elements. Great!

a preview of the film would have to be completed by this sunday. with whatever we have, i hope we can complete this in time!

filming outdoors

beer bottles are some props we used.

kayweee busy demonstrating to ryan how he wants the picture to look.

the laptops alongside each other roughly shows the attempt we tried to convert the files to a format suitable for iMovie but till now we still cannot do it. tomorrow, mark teng will come and help out with our technical difficulty.

filming

proposed filming dates

cast meeting

1 evening, this evening

with joey, ryan, friends

1 full day

preferably the following sundays, 7th December

• Orchard Scene (day)
• MTV shots (day/evening, as day goes along)
• NUS scene (day)

with joey, ryan, friends, peter

2 evenings 

preferably wednesday and thursday, 26th and 27th November

• 1 aftermath scene 
• 2 carpark scenes (evening)
• 1 void deck scene (evening)
• 1 window/rose scene (night)
• 1 road side scene (day)

with ryan only

1 full day

23 November

• doorbell scene
  
• bolster scenes

2 evenings 

1st and 4th December

•  bloster scenes
• piano scenes

we gotta mac!

yup problem solved. our mac is attained. 

now all we have to worry about would be postproduction, whereby i would need assistance to edit. i have some experience but i dont believe it's good enough so anyone who knows naynoe who can work with a mac or a PC, whichever they are comfortable with, call me! 

drawing near.

okay as the days draw near to actual filming, i would use this opportunity to also announce i have gotten a macbook specially for damien's monologue.

also, certain props has been recieved from actors/actoresses of the shortfilm. 

regarding the filming, all scenes has been filmed except those that require Serene and the song singing parts.

Currently, the song, already memorized and playable on the piano both minor and major versions of it by ryan, is still yet to be filmed.

starting 17th to 27th, i plan to have a crew meeting. 2 to 3 days later, official filming shall begin. this schedule is based on the availability of people during this period of time.

i ask of all involved to set that period of time free from anything else and put DM first.

Thats all for now.

filming is lokoing very good

yay!!!! most of ryan's filmings has been done and i tell you the photos you saw for the rehersal was NOTHING as compared to the final screen shots. you've got to watch to believe me. things are ahead of schedule. it came as a surprise. we are redoing certain scenes now, cos we have the time to. we are also now focusing on the piano playing and song. 

thing is the actress is not contatcing me and i need to choose another actor for the role of peter. this will be resolved soon. hopefully i can esolve this matter soon.

ryan screen shots

rehersal film stills

Treatment-like stuff about DM

Damien’s monologue is structured according to what we call the ‘Labyrinth concept’.

A labyrinth is a maze-like cavern he dwells in, away from the world, apart from reality. Where he makes his own logic and rules. In other words, it is a fantasy world he created for himself and Serene. However, the maze within this labyrinth concept also serves as a metaphor for the actual difficulties and barriers he has to confront and overcome in order to reach and connect with Serene in reality. The stalking scenes from Damien’s point of view are purposely filmed in the dark and are obstructed by pillars and structures to portray the idea of a maze and the existence of barriers in their ‘relationship’. They come in between him and Serene and he conceal himself comfortably in his comfort zone so that he can appreciate her from afar.

Later in the film the labyrinth was ruined by an intrusion of Peter, Serene’s new boyfriend. Light breaks through the labyrinth and suddenly the world he was accustomed to no longer is. He needed to step out of the comfort zone of his labyrinth to make progress with Serene, as the labyrinth he had built had already been intruded and ruined by the 3rd party, upon his discovery of Serene’s boyfriend while stalking her. In other words, he needs to come out of his shell in order to sustain his fantasy and dreams. This departure from the labyrinth is portrayed in the film by a brightening of scenes, where locations are less walled up. He wanders to places in the open, unrelentingly retaining his initial sensibilities but unknowingly makes him more vulnerable to the reality of things.

Damien Monologue is entirely filmed using a video camera, because the film is based on a Vlog (video blog) concept, where Damien interacts and controls the camera all by himself. He chooses to film what he wants to show, which portrays an exclusive narrow perspective of reality. This extends to his stalking scenes where a 1st person point of view is being adopted. The raw shooting technique that will be adopted creates a ‘live’ effect which helps to draw the audience into the experience, making them feel like they are going through the same pursuit as Damien. This creates a certain tenacity and tension that engages audiences, the same classic concept that is used in films like Blair witch project and Cloverfield, but in a love story context that is unique.

At the last scene there is a switch to the normal 3rd person perspective. This is because it would have reached a point where Damien’s monologue is dead and no longer relevant. There is no more perspective when Damien finally loses the video camera. Thematically it simply shows that the narrow cropping of ‘vlogging’ on the video camera is unable to contain what reality is and the audience sees the end the film with a holistic point of view.

Ryan plays the piano.

how?

Rehearsal

Here are some rehearsal shots taken of Ryan as Damien. 

A glimpse of how the final look will be like.

Damien’s Monologue in point form

(At all points of this film unless otherwise mentioned, Damien records his every move and thought with his hand-held videocam, like a private vlog/monologue/close-friend.)

• ·         Damien introduces himself and tells all he is in love with a girl from his poly, 2 years his senior.

  ·         Problem is the audience realises his love for her is not mutual and she does not even know he exists.

  ·         Damien also reveals his plan on approaching her and even singing a song to woo her on Valentines day.

  ·         Damien begins to express himself obsessively about Serene to his new vidcam.

  ·         Sometimes he talks to the bolster treating it like Serene, practicing for the real day in which he thinks he would finally meet her.

  ·         Damien proves to the camera his obsession. He unveils a secret stash of her photos to admire in his room and follows her movements under her block and other places where she frequents. She never notices.

  ·         One day, he realises Serene has got a special someone in her life.

  ·         He wages ‘war’ with her new boyfriend, thinking he is competition. He plans on outdoing him by approaching her and singing his song he wrote for her.

  ·         He tried to approach her on 2 occasions but never plucked up enough courage to even get near her.

  ·         On some accounts of his stalking, her boyfriend, Peter, catches glimpses of Daimen filming them but Damien always manages to run away before getting caught.

  ·         Damien gets very angry with himself, but gives himself another chance before valentines day.

  ·         He fails to approach her once more.

  ·         Late at night, on the first hour of valentines, almost dream like, he creeps outside Serene’s house to present himself to her.

  ·         He stops at the window of her bedroom and tries to touch her but he still couldn’t. She was too beautiful sleeping.

  ·         He lays down a stalk of rose beside her pillow and hums her song, like a lullaby.

  ·         Her hand phone rings and Damien was startled. She stirs and he withdraws. He runs as fast as he could and finally breaks down at a corner somewhere.

  ·         Suddenly he hears a shout. It was peter who also wanted to give her a surprise visit that very night.

  ·         Peter had caught sight of Damien and recognised him as the weird stalking videocam guy.

  ·         Peter beats Damien up there and snatches away the videocam and camera goes blank.

  (From this scene on, Damien is not filming. The film is now done in 3^rd person. Dolly shots/smooth movements now.)

  ·         Audience realises the entire clip they have watched is being watched by Peter on her laptop in her home the next morning.

  ·         Peter is shocked by his revelation that such a person exists.

  ·         Serene comes into the scene and asks what he was watching. Peter acts blur and changes the subject, not wanting Serene to know about Damien’s video about her.

  ·         Serene indifferently walks away into her room and never even got to know that he even existed.

  ·         Before scene closes for credits, Serene goes back into her room to choose her dress for her valentines date with Peter. She notices the rose on her bed. Curious but happy, she smells it and puts it into her handbag and leaves the room.

  ·         Credits…

  ·         *Special after credits add-on: An empty bedroom where Serene had left it as is shown once more. Suddenly Damien rises from outside the window, head bleeding from peter’s battery. Looking straight into the vidcam and then at the rose where it had been. He then just walks away mysteriously…

  ·         The End

rhekki 3- multistorey carpark

beside the no. 15 sign. that's where Serene's car finally parks itself and view where Damien would take a video from. It will not be so dark one la. we tried videoing. this photo is from the videocamera we used btw. 

here where you see kaywee strutting about randomly, it is where Serene's car would ride up the slope to park at the no. 15 sign in photo ABOVE. Damien will be crouching at the corner in the picture BELOW.

here is where damien crouches and talks to the camera. he will peep through the metal grilles below the yellow sign and watch Serene from afar...

this entire stretch is Damien's space to walk along to film Serene walking from the carpark area above.

this is where Damien would hide and run for cover when peter sees him. 

here's another space he could hide and feel that it is same to monologue again.

we have tried videoing ourselves as actors and it was fun and very productive yup.

storyboards

when we were doing the storyboarding with a wacom on the computer, these drawings were produced and i felt were really funny. 

though the storyboard is one of the many things i can't put on this blog, cos of it's privacy of the final plot of damien's monologue, i shall only put this one scene which is supposed to show damien playing the piano for an object that is supposed to be serene. 

both show the same scene:

this one is drawn by me (melvin)

...and this one is drawn by kaywee

this really cracks me up! :-D

what the hell is this picture supposed to mean?!?!?

rhekki 2-serene's void-deck

this is block 310, an 8 minute walk from chinese garden...

this will be the lifts she will come out from. Damien will hide behind the wall that is beside the green dustbin bottom left.

this is how the view is like when damien crouches low. serene will be walking slowly into the lift landing. damien will shoot her every move above the green bin and through the mouth of the bin as well.

a set of chairs if i walk 10 steps front. a possible place damien can reside before serene appears or after.