Update 29-01
Update 29-01
Update of New Film Ideas & CAS Attendance Form
13th May 2006
11:50 PM


Alright this is a long-ass entry and for that I apologize:


I doubt all of you want to hear all this crap I have to say so before I go on ranting about the new film ideas we’ve came up with after today’s meeting, here is a copy of the CAS Weekly Attendance Sheet that was promised. Thanks Mel. Please feel free to spruce up the very meager descriptions - It’s the best we could do. All you have to do now is copy + paste the dates which apply to you. Remember, this is a very very general list which lists down ALL our rehearsals & meetings thus far; not all of which may be applicable to you. You will have to personalize your own list according to your turnout.


I know that some of you have came down more often than it says your category was present for. The Crew, SWAT, Actor columns are just guidelines that highlight the MINIMUM hours each of you receives. For example, Kia Hua came for the rehearsal at Yang’s place, Elsa went for prop sourcing at Beach Road, and Kiat came down for the rehearsal at my place. Being Crew, Acting and SWAT members, all of them will have to trace which meeting date corresponds to their presence and paste it into their attendance sheets (In addition to those already tabulated) individually as it is not reflected in the general list. Please exercise initiative and discretion. Once again, forms are available for download here.


Thanks to all 6 for coming down today. Really do appreciate the help. We've come up with several ideas thus far – All of which are unfortunately inconclusive at the moment. Rather than scrap action totally for the sake of winning, Jeff has suggested that perhaps we should film at least one action film since we're pretty decent at it and is something we all enjoy. We're planning to do almost 4-5 films this year simultaneously from now until November - An aim which I concede is extremely ambitious but I think with ample time allocated for PROPER storyboarding, planning, and fine-tuning, actual execution of the film will be fine and less prone to last minute screw ups…..


Unlike last year where we shot BLINDED on November the 10th and had to submit on the 21st, hence only giving us 10 days for editing, I think we’ll be less rushed and have space for continually improving the script, organizing serious rehearsals, developing proper choreography, and tweaking advanced editing this time around. Gone are the days where we ‘just whack ah’: I recall rushing Ali to print the final script ON THE DAY OF FILMING ITSELF, Bloke asking me to 'pass me the script hidden under the table, will you', or me going ‘Okay Jeff try to pretend you're not looking at the script held up by Zheng Hao behind the camera'. Although this looks set to be a very long term project with the potential to consume a large amount of time, I think we should at least give it a shot anyway. (No pun intended)



Here are some ideas as presented by Luke at today's meeting:


1. The Winning Entry to Canon Film Festival 2006
Comedy/Reality Drama/Documentary - Story circles around a group of individual attempting to film a winning entry to a film competition. However, they face difficultly because of their age. This is a good idea because we easily dodge most of story related-problems by incorporating them into the story itself. Sneaky, eh?


2. Alienation
Philosophical/Abstract/Interpretive/Drama - A normal student finds herself alienated from humanity when she comes home from school one day to discover that her parents, and everyone else she knows, are gone. We're toying with the idea of perhaps making the protagonist is a real bitch and thus there's some form of deeper meaning: If you're a real arse, you'll end up getting alienated and ignored by those around you. But moreover, I dare say it’s more of a typical art-house film in which we will attempt to score on camera shooting and editing techniques by filming ‘artistically’.


3. No Title Yet
Abstract/Drama - Story revolves around what happens when someone's cell phone gets stolen and how this one article affects all who come into contact with it. There this sense of cyclic karma in that maybe the phone will return to its owner or perhaps the owner is always one step behind getting the phone back.


4. No Title Yet
Abstract/Drama/Philosophical - Another one of Luke's karma stories about 3 main characters whose lives interact in seemingly non-related ways but indirectly affect each other drastically. This idea is the most undeveloped and it loosely involves something along the lines of 3 depressed, emo-angsty teens trying to commit suicide but failing in the process because of some fated occurrence.


5. Action Film Idea
Action/Suspense/Drama/Thriller - Another Vendetta-like action flick from us. The film essentially centers on a cop and his new partner who are out to solve two apparently unrelated kidnap-ransom and a bomb threat situations. The film starts off with the police ambushing the bomb site and finding a live bomb with 10 minutes left to detonation. It is then revealed that the kidnapped hostage may be the only one who knows how to disarm the bomb. They head over to the suspect hideout (Which they also somehow know) with the explosive inside their car boot for the hostage to disarm once they rescue him (Note the lack of time). At the site, the lead tells his rookie partner to stand down and stay in the car for his own safety before entering with... Yes, you guessed it - A SWAT Team.


Once they enter, all hell breaks lose. SWAT & baddies engage in a ferocious firefight (As always) and chaos reigns supreme. The eager partner, convincing himself that his friends need help, knocks out a bad guy and dresses up in their garb; hoping to infiltrate the gang and rescue the hostage. At the same time, the hostage, who has been tied up and gagged for the longest time ever at the deepest recesses of the compound, decides to take advantage of the firefight above and surprise his captors. He manages to escape and even switches places with the lead kidnapper - Gagging and binding his former captor to the very chair he once occupied.


By this time, most of the SWAT and baddie henchmen have killed each other off - Leaving the main cop left with a few stragglers here and there. Followed by more gunplay, BLT action, blah blah, he finally reaches the room where the hostage is held.


Now things get really intriguing. The partner, who has snuck into the site, enters the room dressed as one of the thugs. The hostage (Also now wearing what the thugs are to escape), thinks that the partner is another thug and kills him. The main cop, thinking that they are about to execute the hostage on hearing the shots, enters the room and seeing a lone bad guy (The hostage dressed up), shoots and kills him despite the hostage going 'Wait - Wait'. He then releases the 'hostage' (Actually the lead kidnapper) who immediately takes advantage of his situation by grabbing a gun and killing the lead. The main bad guy then runs outside and avoiding the perimeter policemen, commandeers the lead's car... Which by this time, has a bomb in its boot that is set to go off in a few seconds...


I felt this idea was rather thought provoking (For an action flick) and I loved the lethal combination of wrong assumptions, over enthusiastic characters, and extremely bad luck coupled with Murphy’s Law of ‘anything that can go wrong will go wrong’.


Independent Projects which I am helping out with:


1. Diary of a Madman
Abstract/Interpretive/Drama - Alastair's drama shot entirely in first person perspective about how a deranged student thinks and imagines his companions are about to eat him. Are these visions merely a product of his unsound imagination or is there more to it that meats the eye? (Haha sorry couldn't resist)


2. Year 4 Film
Quasi-Abstract/Drama/Action - Last I heard was that our Year 4 Division was doing a complex film about a SWAT guy who got shot and couldn't decide which last memory flashback he wanted to die with. Something like that. These guys have pretty good ideas that are continually changed as time goes on.


3. No Title Yet
Mel & Zheng Hao's film. Not sure exactly what they're doing but knowing Zheng Hao & Mel, one can expect really sweet angles and camera work typical of their photography skills.


That’s all I have for now concerning upcoming projects. Everything is completely open to change and everything I’ve listed is far from being confirmed. I admit a lot of things have to be sorted out; among which is our lack of a big 3CCD camera (We do have a small one though), funding, and a really good script. To be honest and realistic, because of our heavy schedule I doubt we’ll be able to do everything that we’ve planned but as I said earlier – We might as well try. Again, I’ve been repeating myself like a broken tape recorder but I’ll say it again. Anyone interested in taking part please let me know. My thanks goes out to those of ya’ll who have been engaged in MSN Conversations with me suggesting and discussing possible film ideas. Thanks.
- posted by BLT @ 9:19 AM