Ngorat: My thoughts on it...

May 2011. Ngorat begins production and I am given the task of basically just holding on to the video assist and marking up charts. But most importantly, I got the chance to see a story that I had been talking about for two years come to life. Back in 2009, Ngorat was originally titled 1001 Hari, and it dealt with my own life, it dealt with me being overweight and at that time a 26 year old man who had never had a girlfriend in my life. This may seem like nothing but did you know that everytime I talked to a girl in highschool my heart would pump like crazy, I would sweat like nuts and have dry mouth by the end of it. I started to change a bit after high school, I managed to talk to girls without being nervous but I was still freaking out on how to actually get a girl to like me. So I was depressed. All I had to make up for that loneliness was my good friends Syazwan, Azoe, Zac and Taf...thats all I had. So one day my friend Syazwan gives me this one book that basically teaches you on how to be a pick up artist and so on and so forth and seeing that the author of this book was hardly a looker himself, I found myself drawn to the book. Endlessly I read up all I could regarding picking up women and honestly, it worked, I was starting to get out there talking to girls, hooking up and +++. At the essence of it what I found out was that all I needed was self confidence in myself and not to shelter myself underneath this shell that I had covered myself with for the past 26 years. 

Ever since I finished film school I wanted to write my own movie, I remember back then I wanted to be one of those arty cats who made artistic movies which nobody gets but after I graduated I had a change of heart, I realized who I was. I was no artist, I never got Stanley Kubrick, Terrence Malick or some other art filmmaker. I grew up on Bond movies, Mel Brook movies hell even Steven Spielberg movies. I was a child of the mainstream but because of my surroundings I thought that I was one of those baret wearing "artistic" people which I was not. I was lying to myself. So one night, in front of my friend Syazwan's house I said this " I wanted to make a movie about people in their late 20s and their relationships". Basically what I really wanted to do was make a movie about me, my hardship of being in my late 20s and single and my friends who were settling down or had it all good. So that idea stemmed into Ngorat and in the finished film its still there if you want to find it. I kept the 1001 Hari project with me for months until I showed it to my colleagues Shaheed, Opie Harris and Nazreen who urged me to present it to Prof Razak who is my boss. Now I was doing marketing at the time, god knows why I was there but it did get me my dream job, and I'm pretty lousy at presentations so I was extremely nervous. Planning 1001 Hari to be a 3 season series, I presented the idea to Prof who took a liking towards the idea of having a hero fail so many dates but striving and succeeding in the end. After that, me and a few other helpers came to bounce ideas to make this screenplay what it is now. 

October 3rd 2012. A day before the release of the movie. I had gone to the press screening of the movie a week ago, and god was my heart pounding like hell, it felt like my heart was going to pop right out of me. The movie starts, and there are laughs, good start I reckon but I was still nervous even after the fourth or fifth laugh. I finally managed to calm down halfway through the movie after I realized that everyone seemed to have a good time. Okay, I thought, your movie probably does not suck as bad as you think. Overall I'm happy with the finished product, because for me those characters actually gel'd perfectly as a cast, everyone had great chemistry and the best thing of it for me was the theme of "friendship" was carried on to the end of the movie. You felt like these characters would go down a sinking ship together. These characters also, in my opinion managed to capture the things people my age are going through, friends are getting married, you're getting older and single be it a man or a girl which adds pressure to you from friends and family, a friend who seems to have everything but is empty without love inside, a graduate who has a diploma/degree but is working at a local video store,  these are things I see in my life and I think that's in the movie although the main focus will always be about an imaginary friend helping out a loser to find a girl but if you could see more than that, like I did, I think your enjoyment of the movie will be 10 times better. 

While some people might have called the movie crap, thats their right to say so but if you ask me if I'm proud of Ngorat...I would answer Yes I am, because it is me? Proud of it...You bet your ass I am.

Stand Up And Be Counted

Sunday....damn..tiba-tiba dont know ape nak tulis...kejap

Being Mr. Cupid :)

I don't know why...but I just love pairing people up, maybe sebab aku suke tengok everything cam ada happy ending kut...tah ler...just cam tu lah diri aku nih :). First couple aku cantumkan time aku form 4/form 5 sekarang dah kawin dan ada anak tiga...2nd couple aku cantumkan baru je kawin last June...those two yang paling bes ar record aku lain semua macam still dating tapi are heading down the aisle any time soon. My biggest cock up was in 2006 bila aku cuba satukan budak course aku ngan sorang minah course aku gak...things were ok at first tapi sedikit demi sedikit they grew apart. Aku boleh tolong to an extent tapi after that its all about diorang. My latest assignment...a good friend of mine and my former wardrobe girl. Oooh how I enjoyed meshing these two together hehehe...oh well fine...I'm a big fucking softy at heart so shoot me! See if i care! On my personal side, nope, I'm still looking. Maybe why I like getting people together so much is because its something I want as well...sad but true. Anyways it was a good assignment...proud of these two hope they'll be happy together...and now...I'm looking for my next client...nombor 4102 kaunter 3...hahahaha...

3.45 am

Jam menunjukkan kul 3:45 pg. Aku baru balik umah tadi kul 2pg, tutap tutap..aku akan tidur jam 4 pg. Kul 9 Pg kena ada kt office...amik barang pastu terus shoot off ke TV3...Bila la bole rasa tidor full...

A year in the industry...

Dah setahun dah oden dalam industri nih, adess...gila ar challenges dier. Mula nervous, pastu rilek pastu kelam kabut skrang blur...Aku enjoy the times I've had here, tapi kan honestly aku nyer passion for writing tetiba dah mai balik dah...recently aku ada tulis script entitled "15" yang ada feel The Bourne Series and 24...tapi entah ler...aku rasa macam kurang ooomph ar kalo bagi kat Prof tengok...senang kata aku takut aku kena reject...Pada masa yang sama aku pelik tol, kadang kadang mood kreatif aku ada tapi most of the time cam xder...aku ke yang silap...aku ke yang tak reti cari feel...aku kena hisap ganja ke tuk dapat ilham...pelik..pelik...Looking forward, aku rasa aku boleh do something about "15" by the end of the year, I have to make it stronger..somehow..and make it cater to the Malaysian audience either my producer nak amik ke tak projek ni is not my concern...let me just try to make the best movie I can. Salam.

Mencari Ilham...

Ari sabtu aku dapat request untuk buat story tentang a local band...mak aihhh...aku dah bertahun tak perah otak nih...ilham tak sampai2 lagi nih...boss mau bende esok....waaaa :(

The dream is still there...

Six months into my post production job I have to admit, my dream of making my own movie is still there. I'm learning a lot from the best in the business and I think it's time for me get back in to that directors chair. Don't get me wrong I have no intention at all to quit my current job but I still want to do one or two short films on the side. A few years back I didn't have the money to support my dream but right now I am earning enough cash to continue with my dreams, I think its time for me to return to the directors chair five years after my debut short. I repeat my statement again, I am not quitting my job, I just want to direct another short just to keep my sanity. So should I write my own script...or just direct someones script...hmmm something to ponder about...