ASEAC 7th Conference 2012

Here's a nice starter video before we go to the main subject


Film Archive conference at National Museum of Singapore helped me understand Southeast Asian Cinema better. The 7th Biannual Association of SouthEast Cinema Film Archiving Conference: The Politics, Practices and Poetics of the Archives run from 19 June 2012- 22nd June 2012.


On 19 June 2012, Professor Gaik Khoo and Associate Professor Adam Knee gave opening remarks and orientation for presenters. Panel 1's topic is Restoration and Lost Films. The Chair is Tan Bee Thiam, Ekky Imanjaya,Dafna Ruppin and Davidze Pozzi. Tan Bee Thiam is the chair and he regulates the discussion and directs or makes questions clearer to speakers as asked by the audience. Ekky Imanjaya shares about the topic: The Importance, The Process and the Obstacles. Dafna Ruppin presented about Archival Metadata and Cultural Heritage: Remembering the Lost Films of Colonial Indonesia. Davidze Pozzi shares his topic is about Film Restoration & Conservatory Laboratory. He also speaks about his case study of restoring 1953 Indonesian Film Lewat Tjam Malam. It is then followed by a 101 minutes archival film screening of black and white film LEWAT DJAM MALAM (After the Curfew) which was filmed at Bandung. This film is directed by Umar Ismail and is done by Perifin Films.


Associate Professor Adam Knee and Lee Chor Lin, National Museum of Singapore Director welcomes the participants of the conference. The opening night address done by Thomas Doherty and he shares about Adventures in the Film Archives. It is basically Thomas' experiences working in the film archives sourcing for his projects as a film studies student.


On 20th June 2012, Panel 2: Cambodia and the Archive is shared.Jack Yeager is the moderator. Jack Yeager from Lousiana State University shares the Fragments in the Archive: Images of the Khmer Rogue Years: Fragments, Documentary and the Public Access Archive: Bophana Archives in Phnomh Penh, Cambodia. Mr Cheap Sopheap shares a Unique Resource: The Bophana Archive; Archive;Fragments, Documentary and the Public Access Archive: Bophana Archives in Phonmh Penh, Cambodia. Patrick Campos shared about Narrating the Archives: Three Case studies from Southeast Asia - The case studies are Cambodia's Bophana and the narrativzing of archival motivation, Vietnam and 2 Archival Projects ( VCA and VFI support) and the Society of Filipino Archivists for Film(SOFIA) and archival detective narrative as politics. Eric Galmard from University of Strasbourg shared about the poetics of the archive in Bophana and S21: from rhetorical usage to body- archives. 


Following Pannel 2 is the Screening of Bophana: A Cambodia Tragedy which has a screen running time of 60 minutes. This film is introduced by Eric Galmard. National Museum of Singapore Film and Wayang Gallery Tour was really exciting and enjoyable with overseas delegates as they enjoy looking at Singaporean Historical Films Posters and Snippets of Singaporean Historical Black and White Films. 


Pannel 3 was next. The topic of Pannel 3 was Film as Archives. Liew Khai Khiun was the moderator. Rolando Tolentino's topic was Film as Archives: Film Representations and National Memory. He talks about Lino Brocka's Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila in the Claws of Neon, 1975) and Mes De Guzman's Ang Daan Patungong Kalimugtong ( The Road to Kalimugtong, 2005). Fiona Lee presented about the Spectral Communists. This is about Amir Muhammad's The Last Communist/Lelaki Komunis Terakhir (2006) which offers a counter narrative to the official state history of the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960). Gerhard Jaiser shares about Thai Cinema- An Archive of Popular Music. He shares about Introduction of Sound film in Thailand in the early 1930s. He gave Luk Krung style. Sawan Mued (Dark Heaven) from 1958 by Director Rattana Pestonji is a good example. 1965 Film Ngoen, Ngoen, Ngoen (Money, Money, Money) is also featured as having one of the most popular representative popular music but also show their role in society. Monrak Luk Thung ( Magic Spell of Luk Thung) shapes the image of Luk Thung acceptable to city audiences to the present day. Katarzyna Ancuta shares about Horror Film as an Archive: Thai "Real Life" Horror Films, History and Collective Trauma. She shares about Meat Grinder and Tamasaat University's ghost stories with some thai delegates who graduated from Tamasaat University sharing a ghost story of the red elevator. 


During Plenary Talk, Mariam Lam introduces Bliss Cua. Bliss Cua shares about the Archival Fragility and Anarchival Temporalities in Philippines Cinema. Following that, a Screening of Archival Showcase from the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival was screened and is introduced by Karen Chan. 


On 21 June 2012, Pannel 4: Singapore Nostalgia is shared by 3 different speakers. Ben Slater is the moderator. Lai Chee Kien shares about Archiving Singapore and Malaya in Hollywood Movies, 1945-1978. Some examples of such films are Road to Singapore(1940), King Kong(1933), Saint Jack (1978), 7th Dawn(MGM, 1964). Gaik Cheng shares about the topic of Diminishing Memories and Old Places: Singapore Films and the work of Archiving Landscape. Elmo Gonzaga shares about Cosmopolitan Nostalgia: Cinematic Paradigms of Historical Memory in the Global city. He shares about Kevin Tong's 2001, Its a Great Great World, Tan Pin Pin's Invisible City and Jean-Luc Godard's Histoire(s) du Cinema.


Pannel 5: Sinematek carries on. Zhang Wenjie is the moderator. David Hanan discusses about Sinematek Indonesia and the Preservation of Feature Films in Indonesia since 1975: Achievements and Limitations( A personal view). Berthy Ibrahim shared about Sinematek Indonesia: The Current State of the Sinematek Indonesia. Riri  Riza shares about Sinematek Indonesia and the Indonesian Film History. Lisbona Rahman shares about The Digital Compromise: Programming Sinematek's Indonesia's Pirated VCD collection.


Discusssion and screenings in memory of Misbach and Alexis with Lisabona Rahman, Ben Slater and Clodualdo Del Mundo: Misbach: Di Balik Cahaya Gemerlap, Butterflies have no memories and Superfan.
Pannel 6: Archive Case Studies proceeds after that. Thomas Doherty is the chair. Katrina Tan shares Tioseco Bohnic Film Archive: A case study. Galen Yeo/Olga Polunin shares about Ivan Polunin Archives: The Ivan Polunin Archives - Singapore and Malaysia Collection. Olga Polunin is Ivan Polunin's daughter. Ainurrahmah/Satrya Wibawa/Dina Septianai shares about Indonesian Youth & Digital Film Archive: An Implicit Piracy in Archiving Data. Screening and discussion of Producer/Director Davy Chou's Golden Slumbers. Golden Slumbers shows the 1970s Cambodia Film Heritage and interviews done with the oldest generation of film makers. These Cambodian Film Makers share how some of the Khmer Films are lost due to Khmer Rogue (1975-1978) This is really tragic as it resulted in a loss of numerous valuable and precious film titles done by renowned Cambodian Directors. Golden Slumbers has a running time of 96 minute. Adam Knee introduces about Davy Chou's Golden Slumbers Fact Film.


On 22nd June 2012( last day of conference), Panel 7: Religion and Film begins. Jasmine Trice is the chair. Eric Sasono shares about Tauhid and Ideological Contestation in 1960s in Indonesia. Alicia Izharuddin shares about Popular Memory of Progressive Islam in Hanung Bramantyo's Sang Pencerah. Arnika Fuhrmann shares about Under Permanent Exception: Thai Buddhist- Muslim Coexistent, Interreligious Intimacies and the Filmic Archive. Plenary panel: Contemporary Challenges for the Archive was rather interesting and comprises of 5 speakers and a chair. The chair is Bliss Cua. The speakers are Clodualdo Del Mundo, Chalida Uabumrungjit, Ray Edmonson, Hafiz and Sopheap Chea. They take turns sharing their views.


Pannel 8: Film and Cultural Memory is the wrap up pannel and marks the finale of all pannel sessions. Mariam Lam is the chair. Dag Yngvesson shares about the Unconscious is Structured like an Epic:Indonesian Cinema, Wayang Kulit, and the Politics of Aesthetic Form as Cultural Memory. Tito Imanda/Adilla Amelia shares about the Early Films of Tjipto Boedojo: a Traditional Wayang Group in Merapi Highland, Central Java. Erik Bordeleau shares about "Looking Back is the Art of the future":On Apitchatpong Weerasethakul(Thai Director)'s Archaelogical Filmic Gesture. Evyn Espiritu ends with "May Bay": Oral History, Film and the Transgenerational Transmission of Stories. May Bay is vietnamese for airplanes. Site Visits for 2 Groups. Group A went to the National Archives of Singapore and the Cathay. Group B went to the Cathay and the Singapore Art Museum.


It was a very memorable conference for participants as well as speakers and chairs. Many new friendships were forged and film information was exchanged. I am looking forward to 2014 Pnomh Penh 8th ASEAC Film Conference on GENRES.

Basic Storyboard Design Part 1

To all Aspiring Film directors/scriptwriters/Storyboard Artists/ Actors/Actresses/Producers etc. Here's something for you:)

Storyboard design is a wonderful module. Firstly, it deals with the art of drawing and story crafting to life in television dramas or films. Generating Ideas is important as it equips one with the skills of thinking on the spot and giving alternatives. This allow one to be innovative and to have plenty solutions to tackle a problem in a practical sense. Random ideas when added or used in a story produces different storylines and it affects the climax curve of the story differently. The " beats"( moods) of the story will also vary based on the circumstance characters are in. Storytelling is the art of telling a story with these different elements: Introduction, Struggle, Conflict, Resolution/Conclusion. Introduction begins the story and gives the readers or veiwers of the film to understand the overview or synopsis of the story. Usually the introduction gives ideas about the initial part of the story. The struggle is what the persona or the main character tries to achieve. Conflict is the problem or obstacle introduced that delays the progress of the main character. This usually comes in the form of villains or crisis. Conflicts can be tangible or intangible. Script writing format is usually in the form of pannels which comes after a synopsis about a scene. The pannels consist of the setting(Interior/Exterior), Action/Dialogue, Props/Cast/Sounds FX. After that, the camera shots play a important role too. Examples of shots include Extreme Close Up, Close Up, Mid Shots, Over the Shouler Shot, Long Shot,Worm's Eye View and Bird's Eye View. Shooting techniques include Canting Shots and Panning (right to left) Shot, Dolly & Trucking( Shots).



In Visual Imagery, Force Fitting, Distortion, Combination and Metaphor exists in which different objects can be used to create a new idea or object. Force Fitting is taking parts from different object/terms and “forcing” it on to something completely different to create a new object. Distortion is changing the way an object / term originally look / meant through pronounciations, word form, different meanings of the word etc. The list goes on. Metaphors are used in written works to compare different things. Its commonly found in poetry and prose. Camera Composition plays a role in storyboard design.


In Camera Composition, the focal point is the spot where your eyes are drawn to when you look at a image. The focal point is usually found in the clearer element. A scene has foreground, middleground and background. Some techniques include leading the eye, framing, rule of thirds, 180 degree rule. Comics are a common form of visual art where heroes and characters portrays drama and excitement. This is a result of dynamic angle of the characters are drawn to create the emotions and nature of the characters. Perspective drawing helps to create 1 Dimensional, 2 Dimensional and 3 Dimensional drawings. Vanishing points must be correct and eye level is determined in perspective drawing. Human Anatomy is important when drawing male and female figures in storyboard pannels. Knowing the muscles and the body parts of the male and female gender gives the storyboard artist a edge as he helps to make the character animated. Gestural Drawing shows the actions and body language the character shows. First draw the rough sketch. Next, Draw the muscles and the features. Finalise with the final curves and lines to draw the full figure to finalise the picture.  Emotions is also important to convey nature of character. Eyes and Mouth speak the most about a person's emotions.

Final Year Project Many university students know the hassle.and chore of doing research for their final Year project. As a third year student, I have to work on designing a distillation plant. This is when Process Flow Diagrams, Process & Instrumentation diagrams, Equipment Specification Sheets are important. Much research has to be done to understand a distillation system and how it works before we can draw out the flow diagram of the distillation column system. I am still in the progress of doing the project. Its only the 2nd week and all of us are preparing and giving ourselves deadlines for each submission of component of project to our lecturer.

COMPASS Song Writing Masterclass 8

This Song writing masterclass shares with aspiring song writers tips in writing and improving their songs showing song writers how their new songs can improve for better quality. Personally, this is my first experience for going to any song writing lessons. I have learnt a lot and am inspired to start writing a song. What will be a challenge for me now will be Chord Progression and Relative Pitch.

The masterclass was held on a sunday afternoon at Esplanade Library in Singapore. I am creating my song with lyrics and presenting it to the next masterclass.

Basic Storyboard Design

Story is about a sequence of events. Before one can write a story, one must craft a big picture or overview of how the story is going to be. Circular Viewpoint of characters help. For any character, ask the following 3 questions. 1) Who is this Person. 2) What is he/she doing? 3) What is he/she thinking? Basically, Storyboards are boxes drawn that shows each scene broken up into different frames which tells the story. By making use of the camera directions and movements of the character, one can draw the storyboard effectively. One can also adjust the position of a person or object in a frame to give it a different effect. It was a great and enjoyable lesson as we learnt the 4 main components of a Story 1) Introduction 2) Struggle 3) Conflict 4) Climax 5) Conculsion/Twist Genres of diffeernt films are important in deciding the story line for each type of film. If you have any questions, you could ask.

Final Year in School

It has been a great Holiday break.  As always, the first week of school is always more relaxed with less amount of workload. This is rather an interesting semester as I have been doing my daily studying for this week so far. Running is also more regular for me as I train for my fitness test that I would be taking next year before enlisting into National Service in Singapore.

Logos Hope(OM Ships)

Here are the photos I have taken on board Logos Hope when it was docked in Singapore on 22nd December 2011 at harboufront(Vivo City)

If you want more information about the boat:
1) http://www.omships.org/