Perantauan Pictures

Cutting a trailer – 5:13

2008-09-22T01:34:00.001-07:00

I’ve spent the last couple of days cutting the trailer for 5:13 with director, Arivind Abraham.

The one thing that actually really annoys me about trailers, in general, is how much they tend to give away. It’s at the point now where I actually AVOID trailers as much as possible. Especially when it comes down to scary films – I want to go and see a film and jump at the scary parts. I want to be surprised. I don’t want to sit there and know what’s coming up. I want to experience the film with the characters.

Examples of decent marketing campaigns would be Taken and Cloverfield. Taken’s trailers tended not to feature anything that happened outside the first 20 minutes of the film (for the most part, they featured just the phone conversation between Liam Neeson and the kidnappers). Cloverfield was pretty much a teaser campaign – going into the cinema, I didn’t know what the ‘event’ was.

I think it’s been several years since anybody’s gone to see a film solely for the special effects. That might have washed a few years ago with Jurassic Park, but I think the audiences are (more than) aware that great visuals don’t guarantee a knock out film. That’s sort of why I don’t understand it when film makers fill trailers with all of the killer moments from the film. I mean, sometimes trailers are treated like a “3 minute version” of a film. And that’s bad.

So, going into the 5:13 trailer edit, the idea was to make the audience want to go see the movie. We didn’t want to give away the story, we didn’t want to blow the “jumpy bits” in a trailer. The goal was to present a minute-or-so teaser that leaves the audience wanting more.

Trailer to follow soon.

Post Production Updates

2008-09-22T00:18:00.001-07:00

Youch, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here. Last time would have been about half way through the S’kali edit. So, yes, an update is long over due.

We’ve been cutting the trailer for 5:13 over the weekend. I was hoping to have some video blogs for you on the editing of the film, but there’s been all sorts of issues with codecs, editing software and formats, that it’s been a little bit crazy. I’ll blog on this at some point in the near future, but I guess the down side of using the latest technology is that you’re often in uncharted waters – that’s certainly been the case here, with all sorts of issues early on in the edit, typically regarding brand new camera, the format they output to, incompatibility (or, at least, inconsistencies) between PCs and Macs, codecs, how editing software handles file formats… You name it, we’ve come across it. And of course, using the latest technology means that there’s very little documentation out there (even on the interweb).

The end result is that we’re using a Sony Vegas suite now, and the edit is running smoothly at long last. In fact, we’re about two scenes away from having the first rough cut of the film (minus sound treatment), which is pretty exciting.

Sony Vegas itself is rather new (relatively speaking), and certainly not nearly as well known as, say, Final Cut, Adobe Premiere and Avid. But, rather oddly, it’s the only suite that’s been capable of handling what we’re throwing at it. It’s audio facilities, incidentally, outclass any editing suite I’ve come across, which – seeing as we’re working on a horror film, warrants its usage alone. It’s also creeping its way up the Hollywood ladder at the moment. For me, the way it has allowed me to cut in HD without the need for rendering, and to run with such a smooth frame rate on an external monitor, has been a treat.

Anyway, the first cut of the trailer is doing the rounds with the 'higher-ups’ today. So, we can hopefully bring that to you very soon. It’s all rather exciting.

Oh, and if you fancy a peek at the editing suite, it’s covered from head to toe (or, rather, door to window) in storyboard….

I’ve booked a weekend on the crazy farm once I’m done with the edit… Surrounding myself in pure blue horror can’t be healthy…

Ali

Some Pictures From The Set Of "5:13".

2008-05-17T08:27:00.001-07:00

Perantauan Entertainment & Befour Media are currently midway through the shoot of new horror movie "5:13". Filming has been progressing well and below are some shots from the rushes. Enjoy.

Cast member Samantha Tan getting prepped for her scene.

Cast Member Iki Putra.

Arshad contemplates.

Vivien recovers.

There'll be more pictures and hopefully some video blogs to come as well so keep dropping by.

Cheers,
Perantauan Entertainment

Leading Male Actor Required for New Horror Film "5:13"

2008-03-22T01:06:00.000-07:00

Perantauan Pictures and Befour Media UK, the team behind S'kali are now casting for their new feature-length horror/drama, written by Arivind Abraham and Keith Leong and to be directed by the former. Details as follows:

Title: 5:13
Genre: Horror/drama
Looking For: Male actor, playing age of 20-27 years, Malay/mixed race (or whose looks could pass for Malay/mixed race), slim/average build, very fluent English and excellent acting ability. Acting experience good but not essential. Professionalism and a great attitude are a must.

Shoot Dates: 5 May 2008 to 24 May 2008
Filming will comprise of night shoots between 2000hrs and 0500hrs, and the individual hired will be needed for 12 days within that date range. We are happy to negotiate whether these days are continuous or spread out, depending on your availability and our scheduling needs.

Fee: RM1,000 lump sum, to be paid at the end of the contract. Food, petty expenses and transportation will also be covered for the duration of the shoot.

To apply, please email your CV and headshot to perantauanpictures@gmail.com with "5:13 CASTING" as the subject.
No time-wasters please, we are auditioning for a main character with specific qualities so only individuals that fit the description above need apply.
- Hide quoted text -

Please note that shortlisted candidates will be required to submit a video clip as the director is currently based in London, however we will provide details for this later on and there is no need to do so until we have informed you that you are selected.

GOOD LUCK and we look forward to hearing from you!

S'kali Opens The 2nd London Filmmakers Convention

2007-12-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

Perantauan Entertainment is pleased to announce that S'kali will be opening the 2nd London Filmmakers Convention on 07/12/2007. Whilst the organisers have misspelt the title of the film and writer/director Arivind Abraham's surname (they have promised to rectify it on their website) we are pleased nonetheless to finally have the film shown in London which is Arivind's second home and place of work.

The screening is free and open to all members of the public.

Here are the details:

Location: Westbourne Studios, 242 Acklam Road, London W10 5JJ
Time: 1800hrs
Westbourne Studios Website

Festival Website

Arivind Abraham will be there to introduce the film.

So to all of you Malaysians who are in London at the moment, c'mon down if you did not have a chance to catch it when it was on back in KL. Also, you will be getting the see the movie uncensored unlike your mates who watched it back home!

Perantauan Entertainment

One Year On

2007-09-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

It's been one year now since we premiered S'kali in KL and 2007 has proven to be a difficult and disappointing year somewhat for the team.

We look forward to having some news for all of you soon.

Perantauan Entertainment

S'kali Available as Digital Download on Firecracker Media

2007-08-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

We just wanted to announce that S'kali is now also available on demand from Firecracker Media. Also featured is a great interview with writer/director Arivind Abraham about the process of getting the movie on its feet.

All this can be found:Here

The interview can be found: Here

And to our fans in Malaysia who can't purchase the digital downloads at Jaman and Firecracker due to licensing reasons, a HDDVD and regular DVD will soon be available on demand via Amazon.com. We are working very hard on getting a local DVD available as well, but it has proven to be very difficult for us being a small movie and all.

Thank you all once again for the continuing support, and we promise, soon we will have an announcement about new projects!

The S'kali Team

S'kali Available as Digital Download on Jaman

2007-07-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Would just like to inform everyone that S'kali is now available as a digital download from Jaman (http://www.jaman.com/). You can either rent the movie for $1.99 or purchase it for $4.99. Prices quoted are in USD.

Just search for it under the genre of "Drama".

So for all you guys who have been asking to see it and were not in Malaysia at the time of release, get downloading!

Cheers,
Arivind Abraham

Popcorn & Soda

2007-05-11T03:38:00.000-07:00

Hey all, KLue magazine is hosting a series of screenings called Popcorn & Soda beginning this Sunday and every 2nd Sunday from then on..Check out the attached poster for all the screening dates and movies..

Do come for all the screenings (especially the one on June the 10th) and support the event. Earlybirds get free popcorn & soda. Make a day (or a date) out of it..!

S'kali @ Towson University, Maryland USA

2007-03-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Last night, Towson Uni faculty and students had the opportunity to watch S'kali, followed by a post-screening Q&A with writer/director Arivind Abraham & cameraman Lim Benji. Attended by about 30 people, here are some pictures from the event.

Questions fielded included ones on racial politics and production methods.

Comments from the audience touched upon the way they liked the naturalistic feel of the actors, and the lighting in the cars.

So all in all it was a good night, followed by dinner and drinks with some people in the audience who had some further questions!

Perantauan Entertainment

Coming Soon.

2007-03-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

So it has been a long time since we have posted anything on the blog. There have been reasons for this, one being most of us on the team have been very busy but also because we had nothing really significant to talk about. But we figured it would be a good time to post an update and have a little chat with you all.

Perhaps it would be good to start with what we HOPE to be making this year. We stress the word HOPE as post-S'kali, things are still a little up in the air. But anyways, first off, here is the movie we HOPE to make maybe at the end of this year:

Working Title: “Captain Bangla”

TAGLINE: GO BANGLA GO!

Captain Bangla tells the story of Khaled, a young Bangladeshi man who comes to Malaysia with the hope of finding a better life. Unfortunately the stories of an Asian utopia fail to be true, and in an ironic twist of fate Khaled finds himself working for another immigrant: his Indonesian boss in a fabric store in downtown KL.

Alone and despondent, his only solace is the company of his neighbour-the strange, silent Sikh known as The Colonel-as well as the love he secretly harbours for the local girl who comes into the store ever so often.

One night, Khaled stumbles upon a snatch theft taking place and inadvertently stops it. From that moment on he is convinced he has found his destiny, and decides to prowl the streets fighting crime as Captain Bangla, accompanied by his sidekick The Colonel.

But Captain Bangla is no superhero, and soon he stumbles on a crime so big, it may just be the undoing of his destiny.

An absurdly hilarious yet heart-warming tale that is more Don Quixote than Captain America, Captain Bangla is a story of courage, friendship and making a home in a foreign land.

So that's the movie we hope to be making very soon as a follow up to S'kali.

We've also been very busy pitching some ideas for telly which we hope to get greenlit, and allow us at Perantauan Entertainment to break into TV sometime this year as well. Here's a taste of some of the ideas we've been pitching:

Drama:
THE OLD BOYS
CREATED BY KEITH LEONG
Three Boys: One School; Three Destinies: One Nation.

Comedy:
Country Club (Working Title)
CREATED BY BAHIR YUESUFF
Step into the Kota Bangsawan Country Club, a world of glitz, glamour and utter chaos…

Let us stress that at this point of time, we do not know if any of these are going to get greenlit and we're just working our darndest to make it happen. We are however busy with work left on S'kali which includes getting our long-delayed DVD/VCD release off the ground, sorting out some internet distribution deals, and special one off screenings around the world like in Towson, Maryland USA this March, Cyprus sometime soon and some other dates being worked on.

So there you go! That's stuff that we hope to have on our plate this year and if all goes well, it will be stuff you'll all get to watch come 2008!

Perantauan Entertainment

Coming To America!

2007-03-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

Perantauan Entertainment are extremely excited that S'kali will be shown at Towson University, Maryland USA! The screening will take place on the 30th of March and is being organised by the Motion Picture Association of the uni.

Writer/Director Arivind Abraham and Cameraman Lim Benji will be in attendance and will participate in a post-screening Q&A. Students on Towson's film degree have already had a chance to view S'kali as part of their World CInema module, and liked it enough to organise a bigger screening for the rest of the uni.

We will most definitely get a post up letting you all know how the screening went down, including pictures from the screening itself.

Perantauan Entertainment

S'kali Screening in Athens

2007-01-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

S'kali was privileged to have an exclusive one-night-only screening at Hoxton in Gazi, Athens, thanks to Director of Photography Dimitri Kotselis who DJs at the venue and who took the time to organise the event. Despite playing to a Greek crowd unfamiliar with the many Malaysian references in the film, we were surprised to still receive good feedback from the 40-odd members of the invited audience.

By a lucky twist of fate, media artist Christopher Malapitan also happened to walk in to the bar during the last half hour of S'kali and expressed interest in having the film screened in Cyprus. We are now in discussions to arrange the event some time in the near future.

Arivind, Dimitri and Hoxton owner George preparing the white screen
Dimitri double-checking the player and projector
Chatting with audiences after the show

The S'kali Team

NOW HIRING!

2006-11-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Perantauan is now beginning its first phase of hiring for our upcoming feature to be shot mid 2007. Here are the posts open for applications:

1. Location Scout

Must have own car at your disposal at ALL times.
Must have good knowledge of downtown KL and Klang Valley area.
Must be able to think outside the box.
Must have own digital camera.
Must have constant access to the internet.
Must have own handphone (who doesn't right?)

2. PA to Associate Producer

Must have own car at your disposal at ALL times.
Must be organised and self-motivated.
Must have good eye for detail with exceptional people skills.
Must be an all rounder. (Interests in producing, marketing, and the nitty - gritty business side of the film industry)
Must have constant access to the internet.
Must have own handphone (who doesn't right?)

All roles are full time and paid. Contract details to be discussed prior to hire.

For both roles experience is of course great but above all,we want people who will be committed, punctual, driven and serious about the craft.

Interviews will take place on the second week of December 2006.

Please email all CV's to : perantauanpictures[AT]gmail.com
ATTN: Bahir Yeusuff
Subject: Location Scout OR PA

PS: Good taste in music and movies is a plus.

S'kali Available On Astro Box Office This November!

2006-10-28T01:26:00.000-07:00

Hi guys & gals,

To those of you around the country who did not get to watch S'kali in the cinemas, you will now be able to watch it on Astro Box Office this November. Just check out all the details in your new Astro Guide for subscription instructions to purchase the film!

Cheers,
The S'kali Team

What Next For S'kali?

2006-10-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well with the run at Cathay now over, what is coming up next for S'kali?

Look out for our VCD/DVD release somewhere towards the end of the year, and of course the film will be on Astro around that time as well.

Thanks to all of you who have supported the movie, it was great having you all along for the ride.

Writer/Director Arivind Abraham is now busy co-writing a comedy with fellow screenwriter Keith Leong which he will be shooting sometime in the middle of next year.

Love, Life & Friendship to you all.

The S'kali Team

A Chat About How It Looks

2006-09-29T02:33:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

In almost all the reviews for the movie, both in the print and online media, including reviews by bloggers, there has been mention about the way S'kali looks in the cinema, particularly issues in regards to blurriness and pixellation. Some questioned as to if it was due to inexperience on our team, others if it was because of issues in regards to projection. In light of this I felt, that as writer/director of S'kali, I would write a post to explain the reasons for this.

Like all other digital filmmaking teams in Malaysia, our first port of call once the shoot was over, when it came to talking about getting the movie into the cinema, was GSC. This is because at the time, GSC was not only the one chain with 3 E-Format screens, but in fact the only one with E-Format screens. What transpired in the end was that, for a variety of reasons, GSC would be unable to show the movie till sometime April/May 2007, if they decided they liked the movie enough to show it.

By the time we were made aware of this, the momentum had begun and we were slowly getting the word out via the press and other avenues and thus there was an expectation that the movie would open in 2006. Also, we knew that if you leave a movie on the shelf too long, it can become a 'stale' product.

At the same time whilst we had been talking to GSC, we had also been talking to Cathay and they were very interested in the movie and what we wanted to do with it. So when GSC did not work out, Cathay stepped up to the plate, moving up the installation of their E-Format screen from the end of the year to September just to get S'kali out. Now the thing was, Cathay's E-Format screen was only going to be able to screen the movie on DVD. Digibeta was not a possibility.

Now most of the production team have seen S'kali in it's full HDV glory. It is sharp, clear and looks pretty good for something shot on digital film. As most people would know, HD-DVD is only beginning to emerge, so when one has to burn a DVD of a HDV movie, it means compressing it, which means a loss of quality. Now that loss is not that noticable when you pop the DVD in to watch on your TV, in fact it still looks pretty good. But once you blow it up via a projector, then yeah, things don't look so good anymore.

So we were faced with the following decision:

1. We could wait till 2007 and release the movie on more screens on digibeta but run the risk of the momentum dying. Also, there was no real guarantee that the movie would get shown anyways.

OR

2. We could make the compromise and get the movie out with Cathay who were really eager and supportive thus getting the word out because that was more important to us.

And we stand by that decision. What was important was that people got to watch the movie, got to talk about it and that the name of the team and the company got out. It was the best decision because it led to us getting a significant chunk of money now for our next movie which is being shot middle of next year.

But what is also important to glean from this is the implication E-Format holds for other emerging digital filmmakers in Malaysia who do not have huge budgets and will be gunning to get their movies in the cinema. We were lucky that the people at Cathay were willing to step up to the plate and get the movie shown. E-Format is our first step in what should a constant and unrelenting march towards proper digital projection where one pops a hard drive into the projector and screens the digital movie in full digital quality.

This is vital as digital cinema is a cinema about innovation and Malaysian cinema from now on will be about digital cinema. Thus it is only right that we continue to push the boundaries not just when it comes to production, but also distribution and exhibition.

Because to remain showing digital films on E-Format would be akin to screening 35mm films on video.

Thanks for reading,
Arivind Abraham

Blogger Reviews

2006-09-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

So we've got some good reviews and some mediocre reviews in the printed and online press but what about within the blogger community? Here's just one review we happened to stumble upon:

http://kopi-o-satu.blogspot.com/2006/09/movie-review-skali.html

Love, Life & Friendship to all!

The S'kali Team

NST on S'kali

2006-09-27T00:14:00.000-07:00

Today's edition of The New Straits Times has carried a review on S'kali. You can check it out online at:

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Wednesday
/Features/20060926151547/Article/index_html

Don't forget that the movie is still screening until the 4th of October at Cathay Cineleisure Damansara!

Showtimes For S'kali Up Till 4th October

2006-09-26T23:15:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

Well here are the show times for the movie at Cathay Cineplex Damansara till our very last day on October 4th.

Wed 27 Sep
2:25pm 4:05pm 5:50pm

Thu 28 Sep
1:15pm 7:45pm

Fri 29 Sep
1:15pm 7:45pm

Sat 30 Sep
11:30am 1:10pm 7:40pm

Sun 1 Oct
11:30am 1:10pm 7:40pm

Mon 2 Oct
1:15pm 7:45pm

Tue 3 Oct
1:15pm 7:45pm

Wed 4 Oct
1:15pm 7:45pm

Tickets can be booked online at www.cathaycineplexes.com.my

All you have to do is register with the site which is free and easy to do!

So to those of you who have not seen the movie, or would like to do so again, you've got one more week to go experience love, life and friendship!

The S'kali Team

S'KALI ON FOR ANOTHER WEEK TILL OCTOBER 4TH!!

2006-09-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

NEWSFLASH!!

S'KALI WILL BE PLAYING AT CATHAY CINELEISURE DAMANSARA FOR ANOTHER WEEK TILL OCTOBER 4TH SO GO CATCH IT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!

Love, life and friendship to you all.

The S'kali Team

S'kali Premiere - 08/09/2006

2006-09-22T01:19:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Well we should have gotten these pics up much earlier, but we've been so busy with the movie coming out that none of us got the time, till now. All pictures featured in this post were taken by photographer Kevin Han, whose work can be seen on http://www.kevinhan.net/v2/. Our sincere thanks to him.

Our cast & crew. Sorely missed were those members of crew overseas: Dimitri Kotselis, Lim Benji, Luke Yerbury, Ali Maggs & Bella Drinkwater.

The cast of S'kali

You can't stop Associate Producer Bahir Yeusuff and Writer/Director Arivind Abraham from hatching diabolical plans. In fact, Perantauan and Asa'ad are already hard at work on their next film, a comedy to be shot and released next year.

We'll get more pictures up soon, we promise. Till then, S'kali is playing at Cathay Cineleisure Damansara till Wednesday, 27/09/06 so go catch it before it closes!

Love, life & friendship to you all.

The S'kali Team

A Super Long Review

2006-09-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

An anonymous review emailed to us today- we honestly haven't got a clue who, what or where this person is (all we know is that the email add is very interesting), but considering the stupendous amount of effort he/she obviously put into analysing S'kali and writing this super long article, we figured it merited a place on our blog. Clearly we're also thrilled that he/she rated us 4 out of 5... thanks pal!

Whether you agree or disagree with the opinions below, hope this makes those amongst you who haven't seen the film feel like seeing it... remember you have only 8 days before its run at Cathay Cineleisure ends, so hurry!

Cheers,
The S'kali Team

*warning- this review is VERY LONG

It’s rare that I find Malaysian-made films worthwhile,
be it inde or not. I really have to say it was a rare experience
to watch director Arivind’s S’Kali which had been generating
some interest or curiousity amongst us Malaysian filmmakers
for the past months. Obviously this is always the case with most
inde films that reach our local screens rather than just minor
festivals because we’re always curious to know if it
would be any good, have a broader appeal… or just be
some plain dud with exaggerated marketing and
overrating-optimistic reviews… which the latter proves
to be unfortunately, painfully true.

Now let me just say it for the front row seats. S’Kali
is fairly impressive and has surprisingly GOOD acting.
I seriously can’t remember when was the last time I
felt characters in a Malaysian film felt so rich…. Yes
I’m sick of those arty-farty pretentious
character-trash that seem to populate festivals.

S’Kali has quite a basic premise and merely deals with
five close friends who are about to depart, either for
university, studying abroad or simply pursuing some
minor career. The fact is is that they can’t stick
together much longer despite their well-bonded circle
of friendship.

I can’t imagine anyone who hasn’t gone through this or
at least has felt the force of reality overpowering
his/her youthful life. And eventually you’d just have
to face it and simply move on. This is what I feel
makes S’Kali work. In terms of originality, frankly,
this particular teen flick doesn’t have to be! The
simplicity of the premise alone is what would
contribute appeal. But S’Kali’s strength is really in
its characters. If they don’t work, any premise or
predicament won’t ever suffice because we couldn’t
care less for them. I certainly don’t give a rat’s ass
for any of those mute/silent/staring characters we
often see in those local heavy art movies.

Arivind’s characters/cast are a sigh of relief!! They
really did it for me. It won’t be anything a hardcore
film buff hasn’t seen before but I swear these fellas
do a fine job of carrying/driving the picture through.

Apart from its premise, Arivind has wisely chosen to
further complicate things for his characters by simply
giving them distinctive attachments that they each
can’t let go of. You have the individual who can’t get
over drinking, another who’s petrified to fulfill his
dreams, the couple who isn’t sure what their parents
might think of them being together, etc. Ultimately,
they each contribute to the conflict and separation,
and Arivind skillfully unfolds each one of them. As
aforementioned, it’s not the originality, but the
mixture, and it’s overall pleasing to watch.

Now admittedly, at times Arivind’s dialogue can be a
little too on-the-nose [writers get this] but I got
comfortable and didn’t mind it at all. I concede that
I’d normally nitpick at every moment of a local movie,
but S’Kali made me wanna listen and see more. Now
wasn’t that a surprise! On top of that, the film also
has marginally good songs by this band called FatBoy
and I still have the trailer song in my head as I’m
writing this.

Where S’kali falls short is that it’s… well, TOO short
as it clocked in just over an hour and you can’t help
but think some viewers may go "That’s it?". Great
films [all the world over throughout the century] have
always had great characters, first established as
either interesting, appealing or sympathetic. Then a
crisis occurs that throws them all into the mix and
we’d be anxious to find what happens to them in the
resolution, seeing how they may or may not resolve it
which leads to something big. Whether it’s triumphant
or ultra-tragic, hi-tech, low-tech, it’s still
emotionally big and unforgettable. S’kali has all of
the above except a proper satisfying/active resolution
and it just breezes through the ending. I wished there
was some additional ‘act’ or more conflict but alas
it’s not here. While I wasn’t expecting anything so
gigantic [and it doesn’t need to be], again, you can’t
help but feel Arivind could have done more with the
material simply because his characters actually work!
Nevertheless, the transition or change of what they go
through unfolds almost masterfully given the short
duration.

While I’d be glancing at my watch for certain
Malaysian flicks wondering when it’ll be over… S’Kali
was over before I knew it. I really digged Arivind’s
characters and I would have loved to see more
interaction between them on say… a sequel or
something. Wishful thinking, but that just shows how
much the flick can be fun. Yes folks that is very
unexpected for a local one and although there have
been acceptable ones throughout the years like Sepet,
S’Kali is quite different as it doesn’t want to hint
too much on artistry or indolence.

So how does it compare to Yasmin’s flick? As in
‘Sepet’. Tough one. Well sort of. To kick it off, I
VERY MUCH prefer the characters of S’Kali to Sepet by
quite a long mile and I ain’t kiddin’. And yes, dare I
say it… S’Kali’s bunch has more life to each of them
and I feel they make those of Sepet look somewhat
stiff and dry by comparison. It also makes Sepet feel
draggy or slower. This is fairly strange to me because
Sepet has it the easy way as you only need two main
characters to drive the story and in the film medium
itself, when you have more characters, things are very
difficult to keep track of, let alone create a sense
of coherence - a critical flaw in Gubra btw, despite
the better performances. But anyway in S’Kali, you
have FIVE characters and it’s impressive when you find
Arivind is capable of crafting them together and all
things add up satisfyingly.

Now I can’t compare it to Gubra because that one takes
on an entirely different structure and narrative. But
even then, S’kali’s characters are still BETTER.
Speaking of which, Yasmin makes a small poignant
cameo, along with a handful of other artists.

Now on to technical technicalities. And some trivial
nitpicking you could say. As often mentioned in forums
[including it’s own website], S’Kali was shot in High
Definition! That’s pretty much [well almost] THREE
times the resolution of standard MiniDV, assuming that
all the settings of Arivind’s camcorder were set to
max, as in 1080p. This somewhat new format gives far
greater depth and definition to the overall video as
‘highlights’ don’t overexpose much while deep
shadow-detail is still preserved. This would also mean
killer video-filesizes to edit on! If you’re a
knowledgable video buff, you’d get all of what I’m
saying here. Now I’ve seen various MiniDV movies
projected on a movie hall in Midvalley and although
they seem kinda blown-up in resolution, it’s still
quite watchable. Which means if they project HD
footage, it would be better right? As in three times
better? Well not quite, which made me dumbfounded.

As proven with the case of S’kali [as in when
projected on a big screen], it’s hard to distinquish
the added HD resolution from miniDV’s because the
square pixels look so notoriously large and blocky.
Either the editors outputted the whole movie on a much
smaller resolution [as opposed to its highest HD
glory] or the digital projector inside the Cathay
Cineleisure hall is one helluva dud. If the reason for
this happens to be the former, then that’s one BIG
mistake and quite a missed opportunity.

When the movie began, the cinema hall’s screen opened
up to an almost 1:85 aspect ratio [real movie-buffs
know this], yet the film itself sits within a mere
1.33 frame [aka 4:3] so we see some black bars on the
SIDES throughout. What I don’t understand is why
couldn’t the film be shot in true 16:9 widescreen? It
was shot in HD which would have had that setting and
would have given the film a more cinematic look. Well
slightly, since that’s still a far cry from grand
Cinemascope [2.35 aspect ratio].

On a side note, I felt the overall sound volume was a
little too loud. Not really an ear-bursting problem
but you’d really agree it gets a little too high on
the levels at times. And I don’t understand why it
never occurrs to editors [whether sound or mixers] to
lower the volume of car-doors closing. And S’Kali is
no exception. These particular sounds almost seem to
‘clip’ when it happens. But overall, I guess S’Kali’s
audio is still clear for the most part and not too
distracting. And thank God there’s no obvious
looping/ADR by the actors as is so obviously the case
with Bjarne Wong’s Legend of the Red Curse.

There are however, brief moments where Arivind’s bunch
get together and start to have multiple conversations
that overlap each other. This is where it can be
difficult to hear specifically what they’re saying,
but you get the idea they’re just gossiping trivial
stuff. Good example would be the opening mamak scene
itself. Luckily we still have those funky subtitles
and unfortunately S’Kali is yet another movie where
the editors forgot [or just don’t know how] to add a
stroke of shadow around the subtitles. Meaning if the
text appears on a sparkling bright image, they’re
virtually invisible and that happens 35% of the time.

Well in terms of shooting style, I wouldn’t say there
is anything remarkable which is still fine in case you
were curious if Arivind would try for a more fancy
style, given his talent. It’s simply the good old
shoot-straight form with no tricky, fancy business.
There are however, a few very good time-lapse shots
where multiple roads [filled with tiny shimmering
carlights] intersect, as if coming together than
separating. Good symbolism folks.

As for the style of basic conversation scenes, I’m not
too sure if Arivind personally operated the camera,
let alone oversaw the framing of every shot because
things do look a little too up-close [or tight] for my
taste. Personally feel they could have been handled
better slightly but this is ONLY a minor quibble and
no big deal. I’m really quite impressed with all those
table/mamak scenes because as the average filmmaker
knows, they can be very deceptively simple to shoot.
Yet Arivind always maintains a sense of geography and
doesn’t jump his axis, so there’s hardly any confusion
as to who is where and who’s responding to who. I
guess casual readers won’t get what I’m trying to get
at here unless you’ve personally shot five characters
at a table scene.

Lighting-wise, there appears to be some minor digital
diffussion around shots that frame the ever dull
overcast sky during day-scenes. My isn’t it so hard to
get interesting clouds or vivid sky blues? Night
scenes are typically orangy and blusih, mostly lit by
overhead street lights. Overall, acceptable stuff.

Oh and one anecdote about S’Kali’s marketing… It
should have been better! The faceless poster’s tagline
"Love Life Friendship" simply is inadequate and
doesn’t specifically imply what the movie’s plot
really is and I doubt just by looking at it, will
spark any interest. The so-called trailer itself
doesn’t tell you anything and even FatBoy’s song isn’t
enough, though it just ‘might’ make you feel it’s
catchy. Hate to say it, but even Bjarne Wong’s
attrocious ‘Legend of the Red Curse’ [I’ll run to the
hills away from his next film ‘Possessed’] had a
better trailer because I at least [and the very damn
least] knew what that show was about. Yes the same can
be said about Julian Cheah’s ‘Hired Killer’. Trailer I
mean, if you happen to have somehow caught a glimpse
of it.

But with all that said and done, the verdict is still
that S’Kali, is I feel REALLY a breath of fresh air to
the Malaysian filmmakers. Attention to all those local
Art-only-directors [yes even those so-called renowned
ones], THIS IS THE way to make movies!!! Characters we
like and care!! Not slow, draggy, sluggish, boring,
silent, muted, loser-like handicaps who only know how
to get it up the ass!

S’Kali is my recommendation!

4 out of 5 stars

S'KALI NOW SHOWING!

2006-09-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

The team at Perantauan are THRILLED OUT OF THEIR SOCKS to announce that S'kali is NOW SHOWING at Cathay Cineleisure Damansara!

After the continuous uphill battle getting the movie funded, pre-produced, filmed, edited, censored, distributed, marketed and finally, FINALLY screened, we would like to express our deepest gratitude and sincerest thanks to Cathay who have been nothing but supportive of us since the beginning. S'kali is the first digital movie to be screened in Cathay in Malaysia, and we are extremely thankful that they went out of their way to speed up their digital set-up for us and offered invaluable advice and help with marketing, not to mention the attention and detail paid to the smooth running of the press premiere and special screenings.

But most of all, we are thankful to Cathay for daring to take on the huge risk of supporting a little local first-time film produced by a first-time company, a first-time writer/director and a first-time cast and crew. We thank you for helping us get our humble feature onto the big screen.

To the general public, we hope you will find the time to catch S'kali during its run, if not to support us then to support the generosity of Cathay :) Please check the cinema listings section of your local newspaper for daily screening times-tickets can be obtained at Cathay Cineleisure Damansara counters, via the Cathay hotline 03-7727 8051 or online at www.cathaycineplexes.com.my (you'll have to register first though-it's free, don't worry)

Thank you and love, life and friendship to you all!

Cheers,
The S'kali Team

What People Have To Say

2006-09-12T00:28:00.000-07:00

"For those who thought making a film was impossible, S'kali shows that you can be young and still get your film unto the big screen. The film is set to inspire local, young filmmakers and realise their dream of getting their movies made." -Rizal Johan, The Star-

"A promising effort by a young first-time director." -Lim Chang Moh, Cinema Online-

"A film made with love—a love for KL, its creative young inhabitants and their idealistic pursuits." -Brian Yap, KLUE Magazine-

"S'kali isn't interested in seeming hip or clever but taps into the pathos and possibility of ordinary urban life ... I can't wait to see what they will do next." -Amir Muhammad, filmmaker-

CONGRATULATIONS EVAN!

2006-09-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo! A big WELL DONE to Evan Lau Soon Yee, age 19 from Shah Alam, who sent in this winning entry to our S'kali World Gallery competition and won himself and a friend tickets to the exclusive S'kali Premiere last Friday night.*

A million thanks for supporting us Evan, it was a pleasure meeting you and we hope you and your guest had a great time! :)

Cheers,
The S'kali team

p/s: That little yellow post-it Evan helpfully stuck on reads "Out in cinemas- 14th Sept '06". That's right, 14th Sept next Thursday... MAKE A NOTE IN YOUR DIARY NOW!

*read all about the premiere in an upcoming post

Press Screening Epiphany

2006-09-07T23:49:00.000-07:00

So...

The cast will finally get to see the film for the first time tonight. We're all looking forward to catching it (apart from possibly closing our eyes at the scenes which we respectively appear) and we hope the guests today will enjoy themselves too.

I love how this film has a no-holds-barred outlook at the lives of Malaysian youth. I think just about everybody would be able to relate to at least one of the characters in one form or another.

On a personal note, I've just started to realize how important my own character is to me. Sze Huey has always believed herself to be open-minded, but after treading on unfamiliar emotional grounds, prejudices which she wasn't even aware of beforehand start to surface.

We preach about how much we should eradicate prejudice off the face of the earth, but deep inside, we know that the laws of human nature will never let that happen. All we can do is just be aware of them, and use it as an impetus to understand ourselves and each other better.

Thank you Sze Huey for helping me face the music. I'm looking forward to meeting you tonight...

And as for someone else (he knows who he is), I'm so proud of you and thank you for everything.

-Davina-

Labour day!

2006-09-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well not quite.

I'm Jason, and this is also my first post on the S'kali blog. Tonight, I'm more psyched and nervous than a 17 year old about to "perform" for the very first time.

Tomorrow, for the first time, S'kali will be screened in a full cinema, in front of a live audience. This is it. We're officially out of our comfort zone. Our baby is about to be unleashed to the sometimes exciting, sometimes cruel world.

No matter the outcome. If the people in the press premiere love it or hate, we'll always remember this moment. This will be how it all begins. Come tomorrow night, we'll all no longer be industry virgins.

Win tickets to the S'kali Premiere

2006-09-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

Perantauan Pictures are giving away 2 pairs of tickets to the premiere of S'kali, which will be held on Friday 8 September 2006 at Cathay Cineplex, Cineleisure Damansara.

For a chance to attend this exclusive invitation-only event, simply email us no later than 6 September 2006 at perantauanpictures@gmail.com with a picture of yourself (or your friend/granddad/pet iguana/washing machine if you're shy) holding the S'kali World Gallery poster- click on the S'kali World Gallery link on the left to get this poster and to see samples of how to do this. Please use "S'kali Premiere Competition" as your subject line and don't forget to include your name, age and location!

The two most creative entries will win a pair of premiere invites each. Winners will be notified via email.

Good luck!

The S'kali Team

S'kali: Circle of Friends

2006-09-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

THE FIVE KEY CHARACTERS
Love Life Friendship

Ravin is a young and idealistic filmmaker trying to come up with the definitive Malaysian movie. At the same time he finds himself falling in love with Sze, and has to deal with the reality that both their parents will not share his ideals.

Sze Huey is the quintessential modern Malaysian woman: opinionated, tough as nails and trying to make a change. For her, the pen is mightier than the sword and being with Ravin holds much promise and hope.

This young interracial couple face the prospect of having their relationship torn apart by outside forces such as their traditional parents, but slowly begin to realise that their own deeply buried prejudices may be where the true divide lies.

Bahir is an aspiring artiste attempting to break into the local music scene as something different and original. He gradually begins to develop feelings for Tehmina and despairs over her descent into alcoholism. Simultaneously, tensions arise in his relationship with his best friend Tzao as the reality of the Malaysian higher education system becomes clear.

Tzao finds himself increasingly disillusioned with a system which seems unfairly stacked against him, and the only way he feels able to vent this frustration is by taking it out on his closest friend Bahir. Witnessing the struggles of his friends as he negotiates his own, he is deeply conflicted by what he truly loves about Malaysia and the stark matters-of-fact that are driving him to leave.

For the usually cheerful and goofy Tehmina, alcohol becomes an escape route from the anger and pain she suffers as her family disintegrates. Whilst on the outside she battles to maintain a demeanour of normality, internally she is crumbling and before long the cracks begin to show.

Set against the backdrop of the ubiquitous Malaysian mamak stall, our young circle of friends face joy, confusion and conflict as they venture into the daunting world of adulthood. Will they survive love, life and friendship under the lights of KL?

S'kali World Gallery Batch #3

2006-08-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

MORE photos we've received featuring cutie-pies around the world holding the SWG poster. THANK YOU GUYS AND KEEP IT COMING! (and a big huge awwwwww for our little baby contributor!)

Batch #3

Attila the Hon, aged 7 months
Southampton, England

Chi and Kat, both 22
Ta Keo, Siem Reap, Cambodia

John de Keyser, 20-something
National Museum, Singapore

Ooi Gaik Ping, 20, Fiona Pang, 23 and Friend
Mongkok, Hong Kong

To view the full S'kali World Gallery Collection and find out how you too can contribute, click on "S'kali World Gallery" in the Links section on the right.

The Digital Dilemma

2006-08-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

So you’ve got the movie in the can, all cut and ready to go. Where to next? Likelihood, if you’re a digital filmmaker in Malaysia, distribution hell, unless you’re lucky enough to be linked up with one of the big ones. If not, prep for the biggest fight of your life.

The reality of Malaysian cinema is that it is fast becoming a digital movement. Yes, the big guys still shoot of film, but the rest of us are either on DV or moving into HDV and HD. But where do we really stand in terms of getting a digital film out in the country, digitally?

I should make it clear that this is just my take on things, and should not at any point be taken at face value. I will attempt to voice my opinions in 2 sections: Technology & Attitude.

TECHNOLOGY

Let me begin by tackling the issue of the technology needed to show a digital film locally. The first answer that comes to people’s lips is “You can screen digitally at GSC can’ t you?” Well, technically what one is getting at GSC is not actually digital projection.

What they do is to hook up a DVD player or digibeta machine to the projector and screen it that way. That is the definition of “digital projection” in Malaysia at the moment. It means that digital filmmakers are not getting to show their movies in the way it is intended to be seen by an audience.

True digital projection, as it is being put into place not just in the West, but in countries just round the corner like Thailand, is when a hard drive containing the movie is plugged into a machine that streams the film via the projector. No fuss, no muss, no quality loss.

The main reason of course for the cinema chains not having this, is primarily monetary of course. It is not a cheap step to take. However that does not mean it is not a necessary step to take. Proper digital projection being put in place will spur the digital filmmaking movement in the country because it will mean producers knowing that the product can be shown, and will be shown in a truly digital fashion.

Also, if an exhibitor chooses to make the argument that the cost is not worth the return, in relation to the fact that having digital projection for local movies is not a viable investment since local films don’t do that well anyway, can it not be the case that Malaysians want to watch Hollywood films in HD as well? Wouldn’t we all have loved to have seen Star Wars, Superman and Miami Vice next month in the way it is meant to be seen? We know that the exhibitors make money on Hollywood movies, so if the digital halls are shared amongst local and Hollywood fare fairly would that not justify the expense?

The problem at the moment has many reasons, but another one I want to move on to is attitude.

ATTITUDE

“These kind of films won’t make money”.

“People will only go watch it on the first week and then come out and say oklah”.

“ We show these films at a loss.”

This is what I call a problem with attitude. Yes, the exhibitors have good reason to make these statements based on experience. However, if one begins from the outset with a defeatist attitude, it does feed in, no matter what one says, into the proceedings of distribution.

It lends itself to the lack of enthusiasm that comes from the exhibitor in regards to really making room for the film. Right now as it stands the exhibitors have 2 things in favour for not really having to make room for local digital movies:

1. The fact that the “wajib tayang” law has not been amended to include digital movies.

2. The argument of these movies being shown at a loss.

At this point in time, the one chain with 3 screens capable to show digital films, uses those halls to show international films as well. From what most of us know, and I will say now that I cannot quote figures on this, they run those international films at a loss as well.

The likelihood is, if they freed up those screens even more for local digital movies, the takings would be marginally better than what they are getting for the international movies. And marginally better, is still better.

The problem is, at the moment, we as the filmmakers do not hold any power or sway because we all function individually. Thus we get tied into bad deals, are forced to sign exclusively with one chain and are saddled with the fact that our films are not being seen in the fashion they are meant to be, thus further reinforcing the notion that local digital movies are of low or amateur quality.

What we do need is for all the filmmakers to slowly begin rallying together and “unionising”. That way we will all know how to deal with the exhibitors and also prove to them that we can be just as professional and market-savvy about how to push our movies.

In doing that, and establishing a mutual respect and confidence between the two parties we, as the filmmakers will then be in a better position to negotiate our distribution terms, on our own terms

The bottom-line is this. It is getting easier and easier to make a digital movie and Malaysia’s movie industry when it comes to young blood and new talent, lies in the digital realm. The only loose cog in the machine now is distribution and exhibition and unless you get a big distributor on board, the exhibitor is then taking on the role of both and that means we as the moviemaking community, need to make sure we know our rights, and put pressure on the chains to make sure that the industry thrives as it is in both parties interest.

Arivind Abraham

Prelim Loading Time On www.skalithemovie.com

2006-08-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Now we have been aware that a lot of people are annoyed by the fact that it takes a while for the official S'kali site to load up. Unfortunately, this is down to the fact that Streamyx does not actually offer the broadband speed it tells us that we are getting. How do we know this? Well:

1. We got S'kali team members in the UK, US and Oz on same speed net connections as what Streamyx is supposed to be offering us to check the site and it loads instantaneously.

2. Those of us in KL got some software to test the actual speed of our Streamyx conenction and have found that it is nowhere near what they tell you that it is hence the loading time.

Now, we do hope that we can eventually do away with the loading page coz' as those of you who have been to the site, you will know that once that initial loading page loads up, the entire site is actually all ready to go once you're in.

Till then, we do hope you guys will give us a chance and wait for it to load, go in and explore our relatively simple and no frills site. Feel free to download the trailers and pictures etc and load them up to your blogs, websites etc as you please.

And if you really don't feel like waiting, you can always get stuff from our Friendster account at www.friendster.com/skali and our myspace at www.myspace.com/skalithemovie.

Cheers guys & gals!

The S'kali Team

S'kali General Release Date Announced!

2006-08-16T00:53:00.000-07:00

The Official S'kali Poster

FINALLY, the wait is over! We are proud to announce that S'kali will be opening to the public exclusively at Cathay Cineplex, Cineleisure Damansara (opposite The Curve) on 14 September 2006!

Keep watching this spot for all news, updates and competitions leading up to the general release. Hope to see you in cinemas come September!

The S'kali Team

FACES Magazine Features S'kali

2006-08-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Aside from getting the release date wrong, FACES magazine provides a comprehensive and well-written lowdown of S'kali. Read all about it by clicking the link below:

http://www.faces.com.my/movies/movies.asp?id=1872

S'kali World Gallery- Batch #2

2006-08-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

More great photos we've received from around the globe for the S'kali World Gallery Collection. Amazing work guys, the S'kali team thank you for your support!

Bruce Indiana Abraham the Bear, pretty young
Camden Town, London

Ng Shiow Fern, 25

George Square, Glasgow City Centre, Scotland

Keoni, 4 years old
Damansara Jaya, Malaysia
(Contributed by Lee Jas Min, 21)

To view the full S'kali World Gallery Collection and find out how you too can contribute, click on "S'kali World Gallery" in the Links section on the right.

ntv7's The Breakfast Show does S'kali!

2006-08-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

9.25am Malaysian time, this morning (2 Aug '06)- Writer/Director Arivind Abraham and Associate Producer Bahir Yeusuff are interviewed live on air in a mini S'kali segment on ntv7's The Breakfast Show!

For the lucky ones amongst you that were still in bed (and not at work like the rest of us) at this hour, here's the brief lowdown on what happened complete with pictorial aids:

8am- Arivind and Bahir watch The Breakfast Show being broadcast while waiting their turn. Meet and chat with Lina Tan of Red Films, who is in the slot before them. Breakfast arrives after Lina pointedly asks on air why there isn't any, "breakfast show summore!".
Thanks Lina :)

In the make-up chair. Bahir looking unusually content as he gets powdered, as Arivind (having just been powdered himself) looks on.

The S'kali segment goes on air! Bubbly hosts Daphne and Naz seem genuinely amazed with the youth of the entire film's team and the quality of the clips and trailers shown. The cast is also noticed-observations include "eh, that's Azimy!", "that's Angeline Rose" and "ooh, J.Lo!"...
as in Jason Lo's cameo, not Jennifer.

10 minutes (or less?) later- segment ends and Daphne comes over to shake my hand, having seen me hovering with a camera. Our duo are hurriedly un-miked, thanked and wished best of luck, and sent on their way.

Whereupon we adjourned to Kampung Baru for some good nasi lemak. Only way to round off a full morning, no?

-Samantha Tan

S'kali Trailer To Be Screened At Malaysia Shorts

2006-08-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

The S'kali trailer will be screened at the Malaysia Shorts session next Monday, at HELP University College. Details are as follows:

Date: 7th August 2006, Monday
Time: 8pm
Location: HELP University College, Pusat Bandar Damansara

All are welcome.

Cheers!

The S'kali Team

The S'kali World Gallery Collection

2006-07-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

A few months back, the S'kali team initiated the S'kali World Gallery Collection, where we invited anyone from anywhere in the world who wished to show their support for the movie to email us photos of themselves with the special S'kali World Gallery poster. Below are just a few of the interesting entries we've received from good sports around the globe. Thanks for the great work, guys! :) *details on how you can take part below*

Batch #3

Attila the Hon, aged 7 months
Southampton, England

Chi and Kat, both 22
Ta Keo, Siem Reap, Cambodia

John de Keyser, 20-something
National Museum, Singapore

Ooi Gaik Ping, 20, Fiona Pang, 23 and Friend
Mongkok, Hong Kong

__________________________________________________________________

Batch #2

Bruce Indiana Abraham the Bear, pretty young
Camden Town, London

Ng Shiow Fern, 25

George Square, Glasgow City Centre, Scotland

Keoni, 4 years old
Damansara Jaya, Malaysia
(Contributed by Lee Jas Min, 21)
______________________________________________________________

Batch #1

(L-R) Brandon aged 7, Bella the dog aged 4 and Christopher aged 11

Lake Pend Oreille, North Idaho

Anonymous: "Two random Arab fishermen statue things"
Bahrain International Airport

Mazdiana bt. Mahathir, 20
Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium, Stuttgart
(Germany vs. Portugal-World Cup 3rd place match)

Amanda and Hidemi, both 14, and Hidemi's dog Alaska aged 8
Cabin John, Maryland

If you too would like to be featured in the S'kali World Gallery Collection, simply email us at perantauanpictures@gmail.com with a picture of yourself (or your friend/granddad/pet iguana/washing machine if you're shy) holding the poster below, with "The S'kali World Gallery Collection" as your subject line. Don't forget to include your name, age and location- remember, the photos above are just some examples of how creative you can be, feel free to be as quirky and bonkers as you like:) Happy snapping!

Click and print the S'kali World Gallery Poster:

Vida Does S'kali!

2006-07-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

Also in July:
Lifestyle magazine Vida! features S'kali in their latest issue. Writer/Director Arivind Abraham, Associate Producer Bahir Yeusuff, actress Davina Goh and publicity manager Elena Harith speak about the message of S'kali and the memorable journey of getting it made.

Cinema Online Does S'kali (2)

2006-07-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

The cast of S'kali is featured in the July edition of Cinema Online, Malaysia's biggest movie magazine. Davina Goh, Jayram Nagaraj, Derek Ong, Angeline Rose and Zimy Rozan gave a funny, candid interview on the experience of making the movie and themselves.

Be sure to pick up your copy of Cinema Online at the nearest newstand or bookstore.

The Nasi Lemak Reward

2006-06-06T07:06:00.000-07:00

In return for their many months of days and nights spent slogging over S'kali, tirelessly watching the same scenes over and over until able to recite the movie from beginning to end, Bristol based editors Luke Yerbury and Ali Maggs (left and right of writer/director Arivind Abraham respectively) were treated to a full home made nasi lemak meal, complete with beef rendang, sambal tumis udang, hoisin chicken and pisang goreng for dessert prepared from scratch by Associate Producer/chef wannabe Samantha Tan.

am pleased to report that all parties involved ate until unable to move. Well done, boys!:)

The Great Render

2006-06-04T15:40:00.001-07:00

Well S'kali is finally cut and done!

Well, nearly lah..

The movie is now fully complete from front to back with credits and music etc and now there is only one more thing left...

THE GREAT RENDER!

Rendering is the lovely part of digital filmmaking, and with the kind of plug-ins being utilised on S'kali, rendering takes up a good chunk of the work being done by Ali Maggs and Luke Yerbury.

1 minute of footage equals about 1 hour's worth of rendering.

S'kali is 1 hour 15 mins.

Yes...you are good at math and have not miscalculated the time of The Great Render.

So yes, S'kali now sits on our G5, chugging away day and night till it finally says 100% and that blue bar has filled up.

Man, digital filmmaking it the best.

When Darkness Falls

2006-05-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some moments captured during the night shoots of S'kali. With a round-the-clock filming schedule, it is safe to assume that the industrious-looking faces you see here are generally powered by coffee and/or cigarettes.
-davina-

The 'Bah-ero' parked by the lighting that, no matter how competent, was not able to create the atmosphere for one of the longest filming sessions of the production. The scene was eventually shifted to another setting.

Azlan and a smidgen of Jay, setting up for a climatic scene in Ravin's car.

Jay, Dimitri and Arivind

Bahir and Dimitri making sure the dolly is dandy. Just like Bahir's shoes.

Derek looking demure, Jayaram looking enthusiastically hungry.

Dimitri, Jay and Zaid getting ready for some 'action'.

Dimitri the deer confronts the headlights...

...His slight paunch proudly brought to you by Ramly.

Derek comes in peace.

"I LOST MY SOUND..." No matter how perplexed Arivind can get, he still looks like king of the world.

Arivind briefs Jayaram and I for a scene that's a little trickier than others to pull off convingingly.

The crew remain oblivious to Jason's plea for positivity.

Feel No One: The Theme Song For S'kali

2006-05-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

I got turned on to Lo like everyone else, when his track "Evening News" exploded onto the scene back when I was in high school. It was the first time the Malaysian music scene had heard such a sound, comlpemented by such polished production and a really good music video.

At the time, one of the local dailies ran a competition asking young people to review the Days Before Dawn album. I sent in an entry, talking about the sound of Lo, comparing him to the likes of bands like Toad The Wet Sprocket. A few weeks later, I got an autographed copy of the album, and also some VIP backstage passes to the very first Rock The World.

Fast forward many years later, and I am sitting on set in PD in what was the bedroom for the character Bahir. Jayaram who plays Ravin brings in Lo's latest album The Fall and passes it to me to use as a prop within the set. I was not aware that Lo had a new one out and popped it into the G5 we had on set.

The minute I heard "Feel No One" I knew it was the song for the trailer. The energy and pace of it corresponded exactly with how the images for the trailer were playing out within my head. I think it is Jason Lo's best song, though he might think otherwise.

As some of you may have gathered already from our trailer, Lo does make an appearence in S'kali and it is worth checking out as I must say I had a great time in the few hours we had with him to film his scenes.

So go out, and buy a cop of The Fall. There are some great tracks on the album, and of course the track that is now the theme song for S'kali: Feel No One.

Arivind Abraham

So What's Our Writer/Director REALLY Like?

2006-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

By Samantha Tan

First and foremost, this post contains absolutely nothing directly related to the filming process of S'kali. I simply thought that as the Associate Producer/Perantauan partner with the closest personal relationship with and deepest insight into Arivind Abraham, it was high time for me to reveal what truly inspires the creative mind behind S'kali; in other words, I felt it my obligation to show you what really goes on in his head, what he does in his spare time and generally what our writer/director is really like when not on the set.

It is my sincere hope that after this, all shall be enlightened and no longer live under the misguided impression that Arivind Abraham is in any way serious, business-like, no-nonsense or remotely balanced.

Let the pictures speak for themselves...

Exhibit A: Arivind Abraham and his smurf impression.
When he's not writing or directing, he believes doing stupid things like this provides a healthy outlet from which to channel his excess creative energy.

Exhibit B: Arivind Abraham and Bruce the Bear.
Bruce Indiana Abraham the Bear, to be exact. He says, and I quote, "eh, put that picture of me and my muse up on the blog la." Yes, his MUSE. Yes, it's a stuffed animal. Yes, it's the same one he hugs to sleep. So named after his other influences Bruce Springsteen,
Indiana Jones and... er... himself.

Exhibit C: Arivind Abraham and another stuffed animal
Smurf and Bear aside, other strange varieties such as a life-size donkey in a suit and sunglasses also serve as inspiration.

Exhibit D: Arivind Abraham and his Real Ambition
Originally aspiring to be an MJ impersonator/cheap-lak Eurovision wannabe and failing abominably, he has since found success and happiness making Malaysian feature films.

Exhibit E: Arivind Abraham and the face he makes when things don't go his way.
i.e. when he hits writer's block, when the take won't go right, when his new MacBook isn't ready, when a cookie isn't chocolatey enough, when we're out of Lingam's chilli sauce...

Exhibit F: Arivind Abraham, his producer, and his DOP.
Clearly, it is difficult not to be weird when the team that surrounds you behaves likewise.

Exhibit G: Arivind Abraham and his idea of fun
Going wild at a house party. That plastic ball spells "Nuts" by the way. ROCK ON!

So there you go, now you know. Glad to be of help:)

Samantha Tan

S'kali Gets A Mention On Kaiju Shakedown!

2006-05-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

S'kali has got a mention on the Hollywood trade paper Variety's Asian film blog Kaiju Shakedown which is written by Grady Hendrix.

The mention appears under the blog posting titled "Malaysian Moment".

Check it out at http://www.kaijushakedown.com/

www.skalithemovie.com is now LIVE!

2006-05-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

When here it is finally! Our simple and concise website at www.skalithemovie.com has gone live. You can access it by clicking on the link above or the link in the sidebar.

S'kali is really a movie that is trying to tell ONE of the myriad of stories that make up the Malaysian experience. It is a story that we hope has elements within it that all of you can relate to. It is a movie made by a young and new company whose only aim is to make entertaining movies for the people who go to watch the movies; you the paying public.

Over the coming weeks we will slowly but surely launch a range of activities to get YOU, the public involved. This is a movie about love, life and friendship, and we wanna try and get as many young people involved to help get the word out and to get as many people into the cinemas come August.

So what's on the website right now? Well you can get information about the film, there are stills in the gallery and our 20 and 71 second trailers are available for download!

So click on to the site, have fun, and we look forward to getting you all involved from now till the release of S'kali!

Blast To The Past

2006-05-03T21:55:00.001-07:00

Davina says:

I was saddened to discover that one of my favorite columns in The Malay Mail was coming to an end. Lim Chang Moh, its resident movie reviewer for almost 30 years, was finally going to take a long-deserved break.

His last article was however a nostalgic surprise. He made a mention of The Young Reviewers Column, a side project which involved youths, handpicked by Mr. Lim himself, trying their hand at film critique. Invitations to movie previews were to be repaid via contribution of opinion, all of which would be compiled to offer an all-rounded review on one featured movie each week. Being a not-so-impactful college kid with journalistic aspirations, it was a pride and privilege to see my byline in a national publication.

There were a few names whom I was consistently on the look-out for in terms of outstanding style. As fantastic masters of the English language they were, I held a burning desire to write like them, if not topple their thrones of eloquence. A gist of their reviews were often featured as the main headline.

How I yearned to have my headline there too. How I fought to be numero uno. And it seemed that these two buggers had me with their fingertips pressed onto the middle of my forehead, my fists swinging at them just beyond reach.

Unbeknownst to me until December 2005, I was now looking up to them as heroes in all respects.

"My greatest joy as a columnist was compiling the Shakey's Young Reviewer's Column which ran from January 2000 to 2002. I had learnt a lot from these youngsters and some of them - Arivind Abraham, Davina Goh and Jason Lim - are making a loval movie called S'kali which will be released soon."
- Lim Chang Moh, The Malay Mail, 27th April 2006

See if you can find us :P

Q & A Time

2006-04-28T00:20:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Recently the S'kali team have been getting emails from other filmmakers who are in the midst working on getting their movies off the ground, asking us what the process was like and how did we get the movie made.

So we have decided to have a little Q & A here on the blog. Feel free to ask any questions in regards to any aspect of pre-production, production or post, any specific questions about lighting, camera, writing etc. Put them in the comments section and we will have the right person answer it for you in a post.

Fire away!

Screenwriter For Hire

2006-04-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
As S'kali is in the final stages of post production, I am now in the midst of trying to secure my next freelance gig. I am a screenwriter by trade, and am for hire for anyone needing any script development, formatting or script polishing work.

My rates are as follows:

Short Films

For a short film up to 15 minutes:

GBP 50 for the entire job.
This would entail about 3 weeks of work and providing there is no research to be done on subject matter etc.

Half to be paid before work begins and half after it is complete.

Should there be research involved, then the entire job will cost GBP 100.
This would entail about a month of work.

Half to be paid before work begins and half after it is complete.

For a short film above 15 minutes:

GBP 100 for the entire job.
This would entail about 3 weeks of work and providing there is no research to be done on subject matter etc.

Half to be paid before work begins and half after it is complete.

Should there be research involved, then the entire job will cost GBP 150.
This would entail about a month of work.

Half to be paid before work begins and half after it is complete.

Features

For redrafts, script polishing, formatting, and final drafts:

GBP 400 for the entire job.
This would entail about 2 months of work providing there is no research period, development etc needed to be done.

Half to be paid before work begins and half after it is complete.

Should any redrafts be asked for after the contract period that would be GBP 50 per redraft.

For feature scripts from scratch:

GBP 1000 for the entire job.
This would entail about 5 to 6 months of work and will include research, development and drafting till a locked draft that all parties are happy with.

Half to be paid before work begins and half after it is complete.

Should any redrafts be asked for after the contract period that would be GBP 50 per redraft.

I require that I am credited on all work I do.

For further information and to discuss any proposed work please feel free to contact me on:

Email: video@befour.co.uk
Tel: 00 – 44 – 7986 8288 08

Thank You.
Arivind Abraham

Editing Update

2006-04-20T01:23:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Ali and I'm one of the editors, the other being Luke, on S'kali.

For the technical minded, we're editing using Final Cut Pro Studio (5 HD) using a Sony HVR-A1E camera as a deck. Editing on a Mac, first generation G5 with a 1.8ghz processor and armed with 1.5gig RAM, a dual CRT display, and a 400Gb internal drive with 2 Lacie D2 drives daisy chained up giving us 860Gb of space which, as we're working in high-def, isn't as much as it sounds!

We're over a month into the actual edit now (I think... It's all been rather a big blur) although with the import procedure beforehand (the pain in the ass for any editor, and always the most uncreative, tedious part although the out takes always make for good watching), we must be looking at six weeks so far, and we've finally got a rough cut down which Arivind, the writer/producer viewed over the weekend. The feedback was very positive, but there is still a lot of work to go.

The rough edit, as always, is mostly a case of "sticking everything in order" to put it crudely. It's a chance to watch the whole film, make sure the story is coherent and that it flows at a good pace.

So far, so good. It's been a tough process. This is the first feature film for the crew and we're working with new high definition technology so many of the things that might have been a given with standard definition film can't be carried over into the HD era. Our first cut, however, is flowing nicely.

Our next step is to get creative with the transitions between scenes which I'm excited about as it will give us a chance to use some of the visually stunning cultural footage and location footage of Malaysia.

One of the issues which came about during filming were the changes to the "rest stop" scene near the end of the film (I won't give away the story here, but you'll know it when you see it). Originally the vision of this scene was fairly straight forward but the crew weren't too happy with the location and so we get a chance, as editors, to be creative in the way that we handle one of the most pivotal moments of the film. We get to "screw around" with the narrative here and tell this part of the story in a more interesting way. We also have some fantastic music to edit to for a sequence near the end of the movie. It'll give us a chance to almost create a music video of sorts (if you've ever seen Millennium's The Time Is Now, you'll know just how well these sorts of things can contribute to a film both from a story telling and artistic point of view) and to tell parts of the story in a way that is visually and emotionally exciting.

All in all, the edit has been a huge challenge but it's getting to be very rewarding. Of course, still to come is the enhancement of the actual picture, and I think we will be using Magic Bullet to treat much of the film, which I used previously on a short film, Mighty Tykes, last year. This will be quite a challenge as HD tends to show up any glitches and artifacts, so this will be a learning curve for us as editors too. Sound still needs a bit of work, but we're getting there.

The edit is helped along by copious amounts of coffee, beef jerky, pop tarts and the fact that there's a fruit machine in our studio... What more could we ask for?

...Sleep perhaps?

Eh, You Guys Actually Going To Manage To Meet Up or Not??

2006-04-07T01:57:00.000-07:00

The amount of times the cast would hear me saying that to them either via email or on the phone from the UK was a common occurence. A lot has been happening over the past few weeks with work on the edit, the impending launch of our simple and concise website (seriously, no frills one) and completion of the trailers.

In the midst of all that I thought I would blog about the 5 people I casted who became 5 friends by the time I saw them again almost a year and a half later.

The S'kali production team got down to casting in the Summer of 2004. We put up notices on all the usual spots and then had a series of auditions over subsequent weekends.

It was always going to be hard to find people who could pull off characters that were loosely based on real people, who could embody their spirits and temprements.

Davina Goh - Sze

Davina possesses the inner silence and focused energy that I think one finds in actresses such as Naomi Watts. Everyday I would sit in front of the monitor and watch as this wonderful actress transformed herself so selflessly and totally into the character of Sze, nailing every nuance and emotion so perfectly.

Davina is also due to appear in Kit Ong's up and coming film and is busy with possible castings on future projects. Some may also remember her as the face of Whisper and TMnet at one point.

Jayaram Nagaraj - Ravin

The character of Ravin was the last one we cast. We had not found anyone who I felt fit the essence of the guy I had written. I knew of Jayaram via some relatives and gave him a buzz asking him to come in for an audition. We got him to read with Davina, a scene which was in the early drafts and is now the fight scene in Ravin's car.

The room was silent when they finished.

We offered him the role there, on the spot.

Jayaram is of course better known as Junior from Hitz.

Derek Ong - Tzao

The producers never thought Derek would work. I told them he would. When Derek read fo us, you could see, in his eyes, the wealth of life experience this guy brought with him. The producers were primarily worried about his theatre background and if or not he would be able to adapt to the different style of film acting.

Derek rose to the challenge, tackling Tzao with such minimal dialogue, all the while proving that his theatre background was giving him some serious acting chops. Watch out for his scene with the character Bahir towards the end of the film. The scene was shot in one take, and features what I feel is on of the most stellar performances.

Derek can be seen on the stage in Habeus Corpus.

Zimy Rosan - Bahir

Zimy auditioned with a heavy American accent. He had been away from Malaysia for a while and everyone was like "Will he lose it?". But sure enough, a few months back home was all he needed and soon enough he was doing all the "lah's", "oi's" and what not, like, if not better than any of his fellow countrymen.

I chose this picture because I think it shows the very thing that stands out when it comes to Zimy; his eyes. He says everything with it and there are times when every emotion he is holding under his skin explodes onto the screen via those eyes of his.

You will see more of this guy I am sure. Since being on S'kali Zimy has been for various casting calls and hopefully it results in some work for him.

Angeline Rose - Tehmina

Angeline is of course now well known to the Malaysian audience thanks to KL Lights and I am told has just secured a role on an upcoming film. Angeline had the challenge of tackling the one character I wrote without trying to know too much about her. With the other 4, I became so familiar with them, I had their histories and where I knew they would be mentally and emotionally at various stages of their character arcs.

With the character of Tehmina, I wanted it to be a little unknown, I wanted to see what the character would do and where SHE would want to be taken.

Angeline embodies that for me. You can never quite read her, but there is a lot going on under the surface and that was exactly what the character Tehmina needed.

I will always cherish this cast.

They will always be in my mind the people I worked with for my first feature. It was not easy. As it so often happens on a film, tensions arise and stress levels peak as tiredness and fatigue set in.

So once again I thank you guys.

On to the bandwagon then..Why not?

2006-04-01T02:33:00.000-08:00

Just about everyone else who was in and around the production has had their say, so I figured..what the hell. So here goes.....

My name is Jay and my involvement in the production was a three pronged sorta thing. I was a part of the cast, on the production crew as well as the soundtrack, which incidently, is still under construction. What can I say about the whole thing? Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, it was the best damn thing I've done in my life, up till this point, whatever's gonna top this will probably be too much for me. Yes, there were times over the course of those two manic weeks when I wanted to rip my shirt and strangle someone(which of course I didn't), but it was worth it. Who would have thought those long conversations that I had with the Tuan Direktor from my dingy flat in Newcastle would eventually lead me to lighting his sets? Initially, I wasn't even confirmed as a member of the production. Then I was confirmed with the unfortunate(just taking the piss) honour of playing the lead character's brother, Kumar. It was about that time that one of my songs caught the ear of the Tuan. After all that, about 2 or 3 weeks before the shots were cast, following all those pre-production meetings, I was honoured with the position of runner which eventually led to gaffer.

An experience it was and it always will remain in the memory, even if we do make this our livelyhood.

Also, through hours endless experimenting, lighting a porn set seems like a piece of cake...so give me a call if you need help, my fee is $0+++....hehehehe

Wait for IT!

So What Does Luke Have To Say About Editing HDV

2006-03-23T14:12:00.000-08:00

So, cutting HDV...

Ok, so here's some advice on cutting HDV, that I've picked up on so far.

Oh, and by the way, if you're not at all into the technicalities of editing then I wouldn't read much further! All you need to know is the edit is progressing and we hope to have a complete set of HDV trailers by the end of next week.

The following are a few paragraphs that gives some basic but useful advice about importing and editing HDV.

Offline DV edit system -

Be aware that this method of editing can cause you a lot of headaches, as we discovered!

When we first cut the trailers, we cut them using DV footage imported directly from the camera at native DV quality. We then assumed it would be just as simple to online the footage in HDV and simply link up all the cuts in full quality.
As it turns out, HDV is compressed using a GOP (group of pictures) system, this means that any single drop frame results in the camera having to re-locate the timcode during capture. So that means that when we decided to online the footage in HDV it split the clips into smaller chunks of footage, which meant that when it went to link the files up in HDV it did not have matching capture scratch clips! Rendering all of our work in DV useless!

This lead us having to use the following method to re-cut the trailers, and eventually the entire film.

Importing HDV -

This is an important factor that anyone should consider when importing their HDV footage to begin your cut.

HDV is compressed very heavily so that it can be recorded onto a standard mini DV tape, this means that your computer has to work incredibly hard to decompress the footage anytime you play it out. In editing terms this means that the simplest of cuts and scrubs take a hell of a lot of processing power!

To help out your computer, its best to import all of your footage in native HDV, then use the batch export function to convert all of your footage to a more stable and less compressed format. Such formats as Apple Intermediate Codec, or if you have the space, DVCPRO HD are good choices as they hold the same aspect ratio but are edited much more easily that native HDV. You then edit the whole sequence in your converted format, then once you have finished your edit, you can simply remove the converted format clips and replace them with the original HDV clips ready to render and export.

So far, these are the main issues that HDV have thrown at us in the last few weeks, but after a few tests and experiments we seem to have come up with a method that works pretty well.

I would go into more detail but I think I could go on forever! If you have any questions then just ask!

Oh yeah, and one last thing, before you get your kit set up, make sure your camera or deck is compatible with your software!!!

I'll keep you posted.

Luke

Join S'kali MaLi!

2006-03-23T01:07:00.000-08:00

We're aware the movie and press write-ups have successfully generated a level of interest out there. And as much as we'd like to think that you're cool enough to visit this blog and our soon-to-be-released official website, we know that the truth is less pretty. So to cater to people who're hungry for news on this movie but are too lazy to surf by here often, we're setting up a mailing list to contact you when there're new developments towards the release of S'kali.

Just drop us an email at perantauanpictures@gmail.com with your name, age, a short description of yourself and most importantly your email address/es and we'll add you to our S'kali Mailing List : S'kali MaLi

Members of S'kali Mali can expect to be first to know about our trailer releases, get first access to meet the cast and crew sessions and anything other crazy goodie the S'kali team may come up with!

Gmail users may also get exclusive trailer downloads and soundtrack clips.

DOP From Outer Space

2006-03-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

Dear readers,

Here I am. My name is Dimitris (or Dimitrios) and I am the Director of photography of S’kali.
I have not made my presence visible as I was trying to process the material of the great Malaysian experience within the limited piece of equipment that is my head.

I studied film and English at the University of The West of England. That’s where I met Arivind. That meeting took place in the lift of a student halls building, and has acquired mythical status. No one remembers full details so we decided to “print the legend”.

I am grateful for the entire Malaysian experience, increasingly as days go by.

One does not get the opportunity to do such things every day, and it has been a real pleasure. Although in the latest years it feels like I ‘ve been living off a suitcase!

The problem with people, who wish to work in film, and make films, is that they can sense that they have some sort of talent, but are not able to prove it until they have done it!

Especially in that corner of the planet where I come from teamwork is not appreciated and talented people are not able to achieve certain goals that require teamwork. This is why filmmaking over here seems to be struggling at times; also, this is why too many aspiring artists remain unaccomplished individuals struggling to fulfill dreams. When I came home from Malaysia, I felt I had a little goal in life. To learn even more about filmmaking (and even more cinematography) and apply it wherever I can.

I never intended to be a cinematographer (although you never know what the future and your needs bring) but S’Kali proved that I could go ahead and work with directors who need my vision (not in the kill bill 2 sense…) in order to make art existent. I actually desire to keep on doing it together with filmmaking and screenwriting, because it is a ball game of its own!

I studied film theory, which can cause serious damage to creative people. Theory is adifficult sport, despite its beauty. Like filmmaking it is designed for the chosen few. I meant the mentally disturbed few. No kidding ! Blessed are the minds who can theorise and create at the same time (Godard and “mentor” Wim Wenders should be mentioned here).

I can’t thank enough the other team members though. These guys are wild ! I bonded especially with people behind the camera, as their “cannibalistic” sense of humour was incredibly close to mine. Plus we litteraly had to share food, beds, air throughout the shoot. And I thought I was the only idiot on the planet.. These guys proved me wrong ; I am the only “white” idiot. By the way It was the first time I was called white !! Sounds so…pale ! The other thing about the team was that they love movies a great deal. Benji would kill to get the proper shot done. He would climb the Petronas towers just to get a shot right…if he could. He also loves filmmaking to…deportation point! (Inside joke)

Jay is the man with the plan. The man who restores our faith in the coolness of engineers.
Zaid and Azlan…. No comment baby… Beyond commentary
The producer? ha ha ha ha
Jason, Keith, Kumar ? Outlaws beyond redemption.

Not every moment was great though. Time alters memories, and we might think so, but there were moments of misery and distress, further proof that a proper film was made. Yet, by the end of the shoot (48 hrs later actually) I was ready to go ahead with the making of another feature…I really was.

I have really appreciated the way S’kali dealt with a variety of issues: social, racial etc. It deals with so many things. Racial tensions in Malaysia are similar to the ones everywhere else, yet unique. I feel lucky to have taken a chance to be a temporary part of that culture. By the time I left Taman Tun I strongly felt that I could have stayed six more months. Possibly longer !

I have friends in Malaysia now, people I can call any time and discuss idiotic stuff, and although we don’t come from exactly the same neighborhood we have this bond between us, playing air guitar at the penthouse apartment or hiking at Frim, trying to catch up with the director’s brother, a keen sportsman, and deputy chair of applied bulshitology at the University of Rednecksville, Tallahassee.

Now, on the blog someone mentioned that the director states American films only as far as his influences are concerned. I stand by his viewing obsessions. These are good choices.

I would like to name five cinematographers whose work has influenced my perception of cinematography:

1. Laszlo Kovaks and Vilmos Zsigmond : Hungary born visual virtuosos who received similar training, and fled the country in 1956. American cinema owes its looks to them.
Look them up in anything from Easy Rider (Hopper) to tragically overlooked The Last Movie (Hopper) and Heaven’s Gate (Cimino).
2. Robby Muller : He is the one responsible for the cinematography in Paris Texas (Wenders) and the majority of the Wenders masterpieces. A real connaisseur of black and white.
3. Christopher Doyle: This gentleman has transferred cinematography to a different territory. Wang Kar Wai’s wonderful cinema found the ideal visualiser.
4. Vittorio Storaro :
Mr. Storaro made Philippines look like…Vietnam popping out of Dante’s mind. That was in Apocalypse Now (Copolla) A megalomaniac and a perfectionist…
-END OF LIST-

It is time to finish this one. I need to go! I hope that S’kali will take off soon. We shall follow its marvelous course.

Love, Peace, Understanding

Dimitris

Stills From Upcoming S'kali Trailers

2006-03-21T15:23:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since the last post and this is mainly a reflection of the work that has been going on over the past few weeks. In KL, the team are preparing for the next phase of publicity, whilst in the UK, writer/director Arivind Abraham and editors Luke Yerbury and Ali Maggs are working hard on the trailers and movie.

The trailers will be making their way to KL within the coming weeks, and the guys decided to send over some stills from the film itself.

Luke Yerbury will soon be posting a section with tips and hints in regards to working in HDV, which hopefully will be useful to any of you who are either already working or planning to shoot something in HDV. In advance to that post, they have sent over 2 stills from thhe movie, just to show how much work is still needed, even when shooting in HDV.

It is very rare that what is shot onto tape, makes it onto the screen without some work being done on the image first. The edit team for S'kali are cutting the movie on Final Cut Pro 5 HD, and are also using a plug in called Magic Bullet. Ali and Luke first got experience working with this plug in when they worked on Arivind's graduation short 'The Mighty Tykes' which in fact won editor Ali Maggs the Hewlett Packard Award for editing.

This is the shot straight off the rushes:

And this is it after being worked on with Magic Bullet's "Look Suite" option:

Post Production

2006-03-15T03:26:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
Arivind Abraham here. Just thought I would drop in a little update from the editing frontlines since we have been a little quiet as of late.

Ali, Luke and I have been working on the various trailers for all forms of media be it TV, Radio, Cinema and the internet. I promise some photos will be up soon with some screen grabs off the movie.

We can now confirm that the movie's website will be officially online from 03/04/2006 and will feature information, trailers and some downloads as well.

Talk to you all soon.

S'kali on mSTAR

2006-03-14T03:05:00.000-08:00

Three cast members from S'kali were featured today (14.3.06) on mSTAR Online, theStar newspaper's Malay-language portal. Here is a brief extract from the interview:

Barisan pelakon Skali sering mengatakan bahawa filem tersebut merupakan sebuah filem yang localized (berunsurkan elemen tempatan). Namun, apakah yang dimaksudkan localized jika bahasa perantaraan yang digunakan adalah bahasa Inggeris. Tiada penggunaan dialek Cina , India ataupun Bahasa Melayu dalam skripnya.

"S'kali menampilkan sebuah kelompok masyarakat Malaysia yang kebanyakkannya hidup di bandar," jelas Zimy mengenai pengertian localized.

"Memang wujudnya pemuda-pemudi yang menggunakan bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa untuk berkomunikasi. Terutamanya di kalangan mereka yang terdiri daripada pelbagai bangsa. Mustahil untuk berinteraksi jika seseorang itu menggunakan bahasa Cina kepada mereka yang bukan Cina," jelas Angeline mengenai penggunaan bahasa Inggeris secara menyeluruh dalam S'kali.

You can read the whole interview here.

An Innocent Post.

2006-03-14T02:12:00.000-08:00

“Wah..this is just like an actual movie ah..?”

Those words were uttered by the director’s younger brother as we parked the Pajero, filled to the brim with the production equipment in their driveway. It was a weird moment, but an honest one. I personally have been working on this for the better part of 4 years, and I’ve been talking about it for just as long to anyone who was in screaming distance. And oddly enough, the response we got was constantly a variation of the one quoted above. We, the partners would have liked to think the response was mostly one of awe and respect. But to be honest, deep down we all knew it was more of disbelief. Many thought this group of 20 somethings (hey, isn’t that a song…?) were just a bunch of kids chasing a dream. We all got our fair share of doubters, some even coming from within our ‘support structure’.

“What? You think your just gonna call up Apple and walk up there and get their stuff issit..?!”

“Yeah..pretty much…”

And that’s exactly what we did. And that’s exactly what we got. (Admittedly, I’m leaving out some details, like the phone calls, the marketing plans, the business plans, and all the swearing (internally) but we don’t need to be bogged down by details right..?)

So, with our doubters in tow, we went about our business. Over several time zones, over several regions, we got the preproduction work done. We had had several “interesting” meetings with several producers who were interested in our humble little project. After much internal discussion and deliberation, we settled on the one that we felt fit our profile best. And what was the reason behind the eventual chosen one, I hear you ask? Well, they gave us our freedom. They gave us the license to run the production any way we felt best. Not only were the Executive Producers interested in our project, but they were interested in our dream. They were interested in the way WE wanted to run the production. It didn’t matter that we were a bunch of young, inexperienced kids. They didn’t want us to stick a famous face in the lead roles. They didn’t want us to do anything we didn’t want.

It had been a while since any new posts were written for the blog, so I thought id write something up. For all those kids out there who have a dream and want to chase it down. This is our story. We had our dream, we studied, we researched, we worked our way through everything, and we got our dream. They were right, we were chasing a dream. And no matter what happens, we’ve achieved that dream.

It’ll be nice to get some of that awe and respect now.

S'kali Gets a KLUE

2006-03-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

The following is an extract from a feature on S'kali's writer and director, Arivind Abraham that appeared in the March 2006 issue of KLUE Magazine:

Gen-2
Text Brian Yap

One group of filmmakers does not a film industry make. So while Amir, James, Yuhang and Yasmin have been giving us reason to be excited by Malaysian cinema, a new generation of directors are already eager to contribute to Malaysian filmography. Arivind Abraham 23, and Khairil M Bahar, 25, are prepping their feature film debut this year. Here’s a side-by-side look:

Arivind Abraham

TITLE: S’kali

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Arivind Abraham, Multiple MVA winner since 1999. First feature.

SYNOPSIS: Five friends who are about to graduate from secondary school confront obstacles in love, life and friendship. A coming-of-age story that relates the various Malaysian experiences, touching upon contemporary socio-political issues faced by the young in Kuala Lumpur.

RELEASE DATE: August

SOUNDTRACK: Will feature tunes of different genres, mainstream-friendly songs by prominent local acts, together with a handful of newcomers. A rocking soundtrack with a smattering of hip hop, r’n’b and electronic music. With so many musicians in the cast, the hard part might be keeping it all in one CD.

WEBSITE: www.perantauanpictures.blogspot.com

Cinema Online Does S'kali

2006-02-27T00:32:00.000-08:00

All Together for "S'kali"

By Sharon Chu

For 22-year-old Arivind Abraham, multiple winner of the Malaysian Video Awards, a lifetime of hard work and dedication to his writing/directing career has finally reaped rewards. This year, the film director is looking forward to release his first feature-length, “S'kali”, in the mainstream, and have his new company, Perantauan Enterprise, introduced to the local movie industry.

Since the beginning of the year, “S'kali”, has been causing ripples in the mainstream media as it looks to be a promising independent film which features an introspective and moving story about friendship.

When production for the new indie movie “S'kali” began on 9 January, Abraham had only seven people working for him, including himself. But the director and his skeleton team managed to finish their work on time, as on 22 January, Abraham and his team wrapped up production for the movie. Currently, the movie is in the process of being edited. One of his associate producers and real-life buddy, Bahir Yeusuff, said, “We (the production team) are very glad with the results, but we'll have to wait to see the final product.” He added that “S'kali” would be out in the local cinemas around August this year.

Read the full article at: http://www.cinemaonline.com.my/news/news.asp?search=TogethernessTriumphs

Behind The Camera

2006-02-23T05:51:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
My name is Arivind Abraham. I would first of all like to give a big thank you to all of you who have been coming to the blog and who have been voicing their opinions on what they have seen in regards to S'kali so far.

A lot of times a film gets made, and people tend to forget the collaborative nature that is the medium of film. S'kali only got made because of the amazing production team I had behind me. This post is about them.

ASA'AD ENTERTAINMENT - Exec Producers

A remarkable company that took a chance on us. The duo behind it prefer to remain behind the scenes, but we look forward to a long working relationship with them.

PERANTAUAN - Associate Producers

The partnership of which I am a part of. Made up of the following divisions: Digital Film, Records, Publishing, Performing Arts, Business. These people represent my closest friends, my brothers in arms and the soulmates who helped me realise this movie. Here they are:

Keith Leong. Writer Extrodinaire and Genuine Genius. He heads up the at the moment dormant publishing department but is an accomplished and published writer. A sheer force to be reckoned with.

Jason Lim. The creative business mind and cool sense within the partnership. Jason heads up the records division and brings his business acumen to the plate working closely with fellow producer Bahir Yeusuff.

Samantha Tan. Currently in her 2nd year at the prestigious London Studio Centre doing her BA for Performing Arts, Samantha will eventually work out of the performing arts arm of Perantauan. A tenacious worker and a perfectionist to the hilt.

Bahir Yeusuff. The Man With The Plan. My backbone and confidante throughout this production. Bahir did not only function as an associate producer but also as my production manager. Up there in my opinion with the likes of great producers like Rick McCallum and Brian Grazer. Look out for him on anything else I may one day work on.

DOP - Dimitri Kotselis

A dear, dear friend of mine who was actually intially just meant to be on holiday in Malaysia. A sheer dictionary when it comes to film, music and literature. A true renaissance man. Unfortuntely due to the fact that he was foreign, his role as DOP could only go so far as doing pre-viz with me and the storyboard artist and then keeping an eye on the camera operator on set. Dimi opened up my horizons visually as he saw Malaysia with a fresh set of eyes.

Storyboarding - Kumar Andran

My oldest friend, a guy who draws stupendously with such a unique style. Battled it out with me and Dimi in multiple pre-viz sessions which sometimes went on late into the night. Just great at what he does.

Camera/Runner - Lim Benji

Baltimore Benji! Benji currently studies film in the USA in Baltimore and, as some of you might know, recently had the unpleasent experience of being deported. A superb, diligent worker who brought so much to the team and is a future writer/director to be looked out for.

Plus he has killer dance moves.

Sound - Zaid & Azlan

Jay & Silent Bob. Well at least for the first 2 days till we began to see how funny Azlan was. These guys kept me sane on set with all their humour when the going got rough. Far out dudes...no, BEYOND FAR OUT!

Gaffer - Jay Menon

A guy who is actually an engineer, needed to kill some time for a couple of weeks and found himself falling in love with painting with light. Proves that sheer instinct can sometimes do wonders.

Art Director - Bella Drinkwater

Bella graciously designed the look for each character and with sheer grit dressed up each character's room in PD. Never underestimate the art director, they are there to make your foolish visions look better.

Editors - Luke Yerbury & Ali Maggs

Befour Madness! You'll hear more about these guys as the edit progresses along here in the UK.

Marketing & Design - Elena Harith & Jessica Richer

Unfortunately no pics at the mo of this duo who have been working hard at all the promo images and marketing strategies in conjunction with Perantauan.

I would also give a big shout out to Cinerent Malaysia and Imaginex. They helped beyond belief.

So that is the team. These are the people who made S'kali.

Cheers!

Blog blitz begin!

2006-02-22T08:29:00.001-08:00

Today's article in The Star newspaper marked the beginning of the first stage of publicity for S'kali. We hope to let the word spread on the internet first before continuing with more media coverage closer to our scheduled release date. I'm personally curious to see how many bloggers pick this up and support us, before the corporate machinery that is marketing and advertising takes over.

We're a small outfit and everyone involved in the making of this movie is fresh, young and passionate about making a truly suburban Malaysian story about love, life and friendship in a country that's growing up alongside them.

If you're young, fresh and passionate as well, do us a favour and put up our little banner on your blog to help advertise this movie. In all honesty, you're one of the reasons we made this and took great pains to put your soul into it and keep it real.

to link the picture, copy and paste the following code into your blog:
<a href="http://perantauanpictures.blogspot.com">
<img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4141/1960/1600/
teaser_final.0.jpg" title="Skali" ></a>

Harian Metro

2006-02-22T00:59:00.000-08:00

Cast member Zimy Rosan is featured in Harian Metro write up.

"Zimie baru saja selsai menjalani penggambaran sebuah filem Inggeris tempatan berjudul S’kali. Filem itu diterbit dan diarahkan pengarah baru dan biasa menghasilkan filem bebas.

Menurut Zimie, filem S’Kali sudah dihantar ke Finas dan tarikh tayangannya kemungkinan pada Ogos ini.

Ramai muka baru ditampilkan dalam filem itu, dan kebanyakannya model dan belum dikenali.

Walaupun baru tetapi jelas Zimie jalan ceritanya menarik menggambarkan suasana remaja Malaysia sebenar dan pasti mampu memikat hati penonton kerana ia berbeza dengan filem yang pernah dihasilkan sebelum ini.

Apapun ia berita baik buat mereka yang masih merindui Zimie, walaupun tidak lagi dapat mendengar suaranya peminat boleh melepaskan rindu apabila filem S’kali ditayangkan kelak." - excerpt from Harian Metro 220206

Click here for the full write-up :Zimie beraleh ke bidang lakonan

S'kali In The Star

2006-02-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

"Taking this opportunity to expound on their creative juices, 22-year-old Arivind Abraham and his group of entrepreneur friends decided to form a company – Perantauan Enterprise – which will oversee film, theatre and other creative productions. The group’s filmmaking arm, Perantauan Pictures, has its first slate – Abraham’s feature film debut, S’kali.

The film’s title is derived from what the waiters at the mamak restaurant asks when it comes time to pay the bill. If you’re in a group, you have the choice of paying individually (bayar asing) or together (s’kali). And since the film revolves around five college friends in Kuala Lumpur who will be going their separate ways as they find their own path in life, Abraham thought the title fitting." - excerpt from The Star 220206.

"THE independent feature S’kali boasts five new faces who answered the casting call almost two years ago and recently finished principal photography for the film. The filmmakers had decided to cast unknowns and were looking for three guys and two gals. They finally decided on KL-ites Davina Goh, Jayaram Nagaraj, Derek Ong, Angeline Rose and Zimy Rozan.

In a recent interview with the cast, who were shooting at the Syed Abu Restaurant in Bandar Utama, the actors revealed what made them turn to acting and what their filmmaking experience was like." - excerpt from The Star 220206

To check out the full write ups on S'kali in The Star go to:

1. All together now

2. Company of five

Cheers.

Writing S'kali

2006-02-21T02:45:00.000-08:00

I recently got asked what I was using to inspire me or that I drew elements from when I was working on the script for S'kali over the past 8 years. I decided it might be cool just to add a little in regards to this on the blog.

ALMOST FAMOUS

I love "Almost Famous". The whole idea about 'coming of age' and growing up is such a powerful theme when it comes to this movie by Cameron Crowe. I remember studying this film really to source out the vibe I was seeking for S'kali.

ST. ELMO'S FIRE

This may be an obvious choice but I think you need to watch the obvious stuff to see what works for the genre and what doesn't. St. Elmo's Fire is a film that gets a lot of flak for being cheesy a lot of times, but hey, there are times in your life when stuff like that works.

STAND BY ME

Again I chose this because this is the quintessential coming of age movie. There are some stupendous performances in here from such a young cast, and I looked a lot at this movie to think about working with actors and getting the performace I wanted.

AMERICAN GRAFFITI

A much forgotten George Lucas classic (no he did not only do Star Wars and sell toys!) where the entire story is set over one night after graduation and how a bunch of mates discover that things may really have changed. A theme that constantly runs through S'kali.

So yeah, those are some of the films that have been watched by me whilst writing S'kali and hopefully you guys and gals check em' out too.

S'kali Teaser Image

2006-02-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

Well here it is folks. The teaser image for Asa'ad Entertainment & Perantauan's upcoming movie "S'kali".

Good Day Sunshine

2006-02-17T01:41:00.000-08:00

Various movie locations included the neighborhood of a member of the Perantauan team, Jason Lim. Angeline was not involved in any of the scenes for this particular shoot.

The following photos were taken by Azimy and Davina.

Dimitri offers a suggestion in the morning drizzle.

Derek and Azimy in the first scene of the day.

Setting up the camera dolly.

Arivind preps Derek for his solo scene.

Zaid is full of youthful exuberance.

Dimitri and Benji are good to go.

(L-R) Actor, chief runner, crew, paparazzi-in-training

Dimitri and Arivind observe a take.

Jay, Bahir and Jayaram portray curious bystanders.

Arivind deflowers Zaid's virgin ears.

Dimitri wanders off to visit the 'Ram-Mobile.

Actors must improvise ways to spend idle time.

Yoga buff Derek and his rebellious little cricket.

Some More Pictures

2006-02-16T05:25:00.000-08:00

Befour Media

2006-02-14T04:02:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
We thought we would blog a little about another small start up media company like Perantauan who are now heavily involved with the film.

Befour Media is based in Bristol, UK and is made up of four partners: Arivind Abraham, Dan Blake, Ali Maggs and Luke Yerbury who were all colleagues on the Time Based Media course at the University of the West of England in Bristol.

In the beginning, Perantauan approached Befour in regards to designing and preparing the website for the movie which is currently underway and will take some time as the people working on are, as we have said, a little team of perfectionists and will not open it till they see fit.

However Befour Media is now getting involved even futher with the post-production of the movie. When director Arivind Abraham could not find a decent enough HDV edit suite in KL at the price he wanted, he decided to take it over to Bristol to have it cut over there.

Editors Luke Yerbury and Ali Maggs will be working with Arivind on the edit over the coming months. They will be using the Final Cut Suite on a G5 with the Sony HDR-FX1 as their HDV deck for exporting and importing footage.

If you would like to see a little more info on Befour Media go to:

www.befour.co.uk

Baltimore Benji Returns

2006-02-09T02:33:00.000-08:00

Just to let everyone know that Benji sucessfully got a new visa and will be on his way back to the good ol' US of A on Saturday.

And also, look out for the S'kali teaser poster which is to be released on this site within the coming days.

Look out also for the trailer which is supposed to be on this blog as well as the soon to be launched website in late Feb/early March.

And word has it the movie should be opening in August in KL and possibly certain cinemas in the UK.

The Dream.

2006-02-09T02:17:00.000-08:00

Sometime 4 years ago, a dear friend had approached me with a proposal. To be a partner in a venture that at the time, seemed like almost a fool’s errand. He asked me if I wanted to help him make movies. At that point in my life I thought, why not? It should be fun. And boy was I right.
My name is Bahir Yeusuff, and I function as the Business Operations Manager of Perantauan Enterprise, and play the dual role of Producer and Production Manager for the production of S’kali. This entry will be written, less about the actual production, but more on the foundations of that dream.
I never did film. Or even anything remotely close to the industry. So for me, I approached every meeting from a business standpoint. From meetings with prospective producers, to meetings with prospective sponsors, it was rarely ever about the dream or the passion, but more about the money. Or at least the promise of money. But eventually, the passion takes over. The dream that belonged to someone else is now shared by you. And that is when the real fun starts. That point came for me, when I started to realize that I didn’t want just anybody to be in on the movie. I didn’t care how much money they were willing to put in; if they didn’t share our passion, I wasn’t interested in them. There were those who said it couldn’t be done, not on the budget we had proposed, and there were those who said our proposed timeline was too long, or that we still had time to wait. But these comments only steeled our conviction, if anything to prove that it was feasible, and that these 20-somethings could do it.
So we did it. Armed with a great cast and an amazing crew, we shot our movie. It was a grueling 2 week schedule, in which we learned a lot about a movie set, each other, and ourselves. Personally, it was a sharp learning curve. Only having been on a set, running and managing a set was a totally different ballgame. A ballgame made especially difficult seeing that a few months prior to shoot, I wasn’t expecting to play. But I managed, with a great deal of help.
At the end of the 2 weeks, and as we all went home to sleep, knowing we didn’t have a morning call time, it felt weird. Waking up felt worse. It was disheartening almost. 2 days after the wrap, crew members started calling each other, inquiring about their day, and finally, feelings of longing. Yeah, after a 2 week shoot, the crew started to miss each other. Sad, but true. At the end of that two week shoot, we felt like brothers. It was really weird.
It’s fair to say, that as our first project, we’re not expecting to be millionaires on the coat tails of this production. And neither are we expecting a call from Ron Howard’s assistant anytime soon. (although, if you are reading this, drop me an email Mr. Howard sir) If anything, this was to prove to a lot of people that it was possible. And to find out if we, any one of the people on the cast and crew, were ready for the movies.
The vision we had for the company and this first project was to introduce new talent. Be it the ones in front of the camera, or even behind it, we wanted to bring in new blood to this industry. As had been mentioned, everyone involved is here for the first time. For what it’s worth, I know it wont be my last.

Deported...

2006-01-31T05:19:00.000-08:00

Hello all! My name is Benji and I was the chief runner/camera operator on the production of the film S'kali. Let me first just say that serving as a chief runner/camera operator has been the best experience I have had in my entire life. The simple fact that I'm a film major myself has made this experience even sweeter as I have learned so much from the cast and crew, not to mention getting mentored by my good friend Arivind Abraham.

As for this whole episode of being deported from the United States, I must say that it has been a traumatic experience. Well, at least now, I get to spend Chinese New Year with my family. I want to thank all of those who have written in messages of encouragement. Please know that I appreciate all of them and I will continue to keep my chin up through this uncertain times.

And since we're on the topic of deportation, I guess it will be quite useful for those who are thinking about leaving for the United States to further their studies. The reason for my deportation was fairly simple. International students entering the studying in the United States are required to report to the CBP office (Customs and Border Protection) whenever a student was to leave the country. Failing which of course would result in an arrest, fine or deportation.

When I returned to Malaysia to begin work with the crew of S'kali last Christmas, I had missed my connecting flight back to Kuala Lumpur at Newark Airport New Jersey. Following that incident, I had gotten a new flight out to K.L. from Los Angeles' LAX and upon arrival I had inquired about the location of the nearest CBP office to report my deprature from the United States from an airport official. The airport official told me however, that I did not need to do that and that all they needed to do was to remove a card from my passport. He removed the card from my passport and I thought I was done with it. Unfortunately that was not the case when I landed in Minneapolis and was later deported.

After an almost 30 hour flight including transit time to the United State, I was put on the next flight out to Kuala Lumpur within the 3 hours that I had landed in the U.S. All in all I had spent almost 3 days on the plane. The experience of course has been traumatic.

My advice to those thinking of studying in the United States is to really take their immigration laws seriously and understand and know your rights as an International Visitor and as a Malaysian. Knowing your rights, unlike me, helps alot.

Anyway..thank you once again for all your messages of support and please know that I will be fine.

S'kali Production Blog

2006-01-30T02:46:00.000-08:00

S'kali Production Blog

It is hard to come down after 2 weeks of intense focus, determination and passion. Working on a film turns into an obsession which always ends up with one becoming blinkered and unresponsive to any stimulus that lies beyond the frame.

I'm giving myself sometime before the editors and I take it into the edit suite back in the UK.

On another note, please send messages of support to our chief runner/camera operator Benji, who after a 36hour flight to the US found himself being deported under armed guard back to Malaysia and uncertain of his future.

Mamak Mia

2006-01-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the lack of updates during the shoot. Chief runner Benji was having technical trouble uploading some pictures during the first week. Just to add some color to the blog, here are pictures from my camera too. I took full opportunity to play around with my new Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z20 whenever I was given a breather from shooting. My 'jakun'-induced trigger happiness resulted in me taking on the role of unofficial photographer for production stills.
The first few days of the shoot focused on the mamak scenes. The following were taken during a 7pm-7am session.

Cast and crew prepare for a new scene.

Writer / director Arivind Abraham keeps track of the day's work.

Runners Benji Lim and Jay Menon introduce themselves.

At 1am, actors Azimy Ahmad and Angeline Rose are still in high spirits.

So are Jayaram Nagaraj and I.

Derek Ong, however, thinks he can do with another glass of caffeine.

(L-R) Azimy, Jayaram, Angeline, Associate Producer / Production Manager Bahir Yeusuff and Arivind.

Azlan and Zaid check the sound levels.

Action.

Making a quick reference to the script.

Jayaram and Azimy await their cue to enter the scene.

(L-R) Derek, Director of Photography Dimitri Kotselis and Jay.

Dimitri tries out another angle.

Bahir monitors the monitor.

Zaid's boom shake-shakes the room.

Jayaram taking pointers from Arivind.

Arivind gives me the signal to turn my camera off.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Expect more pictures soon.

- Davina

Finding the Friends- The Search for the Cast

2006-01-24T05:37:00.000-08:00

The principal photography for S'kali was completed last Sunday, the 22nd of January. It was the experience of a lifetime which could not possibly have happened without our wonderful Cast and Crew. To celebrate, here is the last part of my interview with Arivind Abraham where we discussed the casting of the actors in S'kali.

Q: What were you looking for in your actors? Do you have a general policy or criteria when it comes to casting roles?

A: They needed to reflect the characters I had written. All the people who have been cast have within them a lot of the aspects of the characters within them and that mattered. The rest was gut instinct and the opinions of the associate producers.

Q: Describe the search for your cast. In what order did they get ‘discovered’?

A: We held an open casting call in 2004 and cast them then. I think we cast Azimy and Angeline first, Then we got Derek. We then got Jayram and finally we cast Davina.

Q: Is the Cast of S’kali exactly how you’ve envisioned them to be, or have there been any surprises?

A: There have been lovely surprised in terms of what my cast have brought to the table when tackling the characters. It’s great to see.

Q: How do you see yourself as a director in relation to your cast? How often have you experienced conflict between the two during your career and what do you do to resolve it?

A: I take very good care of my cast. They are my first and foremost priority as a director and that is only right as the director’s job is all about getting the performance. You don’t baby them, but you give them a firm direction to head into and also allow them the freedom to find things out.

Q: S’kali is a movie about friends. Did your Cast automatically click, or did it take some getting used to?

A: One of the reasons this is the cast we selected was because they became close very fast. They gelled very well.

Q: Do you prefer professional or amateur actors? Is there really any difference between the two?

A: I gotta think about this one. Professional actors or semi-pros like our cast just give you a lot more range and demand less work then an amateur I guess.

The Evolution of a Dream- Writing "S’kali"

2006-01-14T04:45:00.000-08:00

The shooting of S'kali is now well underway at its various locations. This is the second instalment of my three part interview with the director/writer, Arivind Abraham. This time, Arivind talks about the evolution of the screenplay for S'kali.

-Keith Leong

Q: I understand that the script of S’kali has undergone extensive, if not downright radical revisions in the years that you have developed it. Can you chronicle for us the progression that your screenplay has made from the moment the idea to write it initially came to you till this day? How different is your very first draft to the one that you will shoot with come January 2006?

A: The very seed of the movie came from a dream. One night, for some weird reason when I was about 15 I had a dream about a guy driving in the rain, trying to get to the woman he loved who was about to get onto a plane.

The scene played out U2’s “Faraway (So Close)” from their Zooropa album.

I woke up and knew that that was to be the ending of my film.

I then began to doodle on the script for years. It started out being a film about 5 guy friends and then I got older and things happened to me and it became a love story and then Sepet came out.

That was the best thing in a way that happened to me.

It forced me out of my comfort zone of always ending up at that ending and forced me to write a better screenplay. One about 5 friends. A “St. Elmo’s Fire” for our times.

Q: Just how does an ‘Arivind Abraham movie’ get written? Do you have a specific regime or do scripts just flow as and when they come to you?

A; Well this is my first feature so my technique is still moulding itself. I start with the basic act structure. I know what tent-poles I want to reach by what pages and I know where I want to end up. Then I just let the characters write themselves based on the character essays I have done for them from the very beginning.

And I constantly redraft.

Q: Many feel that censorship is the Number One problem for Malaysian artists from all genres. What is your take on this?

A: I used to use this one as an excuse. And Moon from MFX told me straight off, “How do you explain Iran then?”

Q: Were there any scenes in S’kali that you found difficult or painful to write?

A: Not really.

Q: Now tell me the truth. Either than the protagonists (Ravin, Tze Huey, Bahir, Tzao and Tehmina), who is your FAVOURITE character(s) in the movie?

A: No comment. Ask me again after the shoot.

0330, Monday, 09/01/2006

2006-01-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

First day of shoot.

I am feeling a strange mixture of nervousness and sheer blind adrenalin. The entire team is looking forward to making the first day today feel good coz' as you know, first days are when the "machine" starts getting oiled up.

This movie has been about 8 years in preparation, with an intense pace mainly in the last 3. Today begins the adventure that both cast and crew have been working on in order to make something meanigful and special.

Here's to the first day of principal photography on S'kali!

my 2cents:)

2006-01-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

Honestly, that all I have in my wallet:). My name is Jayaram and I play the character Ravin in this movie. Like Derek said, better not say to much or they may be an issue with decapitation. The Movie is really cool and we begin shooting tomorrow! I'm as nervous as hell. So nervous in fact that I believe that my stomach has developed a mind of its own and is having a little rave party. Please do drop us little notes on the comment board and we will get to them:)...like the boss said, Negative or positive can also...

S'kali: An Introduction

2006-01-06T23:18:00.000-08:00

This interview took place between Keith Leong (Q) and Arivind Abraham (A), the director and writer of S'kali.

Q: Let’s start with how it all began. What inspired you to write and direct S’kali?

A; It all began when I was about 15. I wanted to write a story about friends. A story about growing up and how that plays into the way friendships can be made or broken.

Q: Tell us about how the movie came to be called “S’kali”? What does it mean?

A: The title “S’kali” was actually conceived by the marketing team which is headed up by Elena Harith. She thought the word reflected the “togetherness” that was being portrayed within the movie and it ties in also with the image of the one sheet poster.

Q: There’s a very personal feel to the story and its characters. Just how ‘autobiographical’ (if we can call it that) is it?

A: The characters are using situations that at times are based on events that have happened and the characters themselves are amalgamations of some very close friends of mine but during the rewrites they have become entities on their own in a way.

Q: I think the first reaction people will have to this movie is, “Oh no, not another Sepet!” How would you respond to such comparisons? What makes S’kali different from Yasmin Ahmad's Sepet?

A: S’kali is very different from Sepet. Sepet was a love story at heart; this one is a story about friendship. It’s an ensemble piece and I am aware that everyone is going to be comparing but really that would be like comparing apples to oranges.

Q: Do you think that there is, or even can be a distinctive Malaysian style of filmmaking?

A; There is and never will be such a thing as the “quintessential Malaysian movie”. I think when it comes to Malaysian cinema it is about telling ones individual interpretation of the Malaysian experience because that is how varied the country actually is.

Q: What direction do you think the Malaysian film industry will take in the long run? Can you see yourself still having the dedication and perseverance to still be making movies here or about Malaysian subjects in say ten, or even twenty years down the line?
A: No comment really. I just know that in setting up Perantauan the aim is to develop movies over here with a Malaysian flavour and I see that as a long term thing.

S'Kali Interviews

2006-01-06T23:08:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

My name is Keith Leong and I'm part of the creative team behind S'kali. To mark the beginning of the movie's production, I recently conducted a series of interviews with it's writer and director, Malaysian Video Award winner Arivind Abraham. We talked about a variety of topics related to the movie and himself. These interviews shall be available in the coming weeks on this blog. For our first interview, "S'kali- An Introduction" Arivind talked about what inspired the story and his thoughts on the Malaysian film industry. Please keep visiting our Blog as more interviews with Arivind and the rest of the Cast/Crew get posted.

-Keith Leong.

A little bit of Tzao wisdom dust

2005-12-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

Hiya everyone.. it's that time of the year again when all things come to an end.. and a new beginning starts. Same with this movie theme I guess. S'kali is really a movie about endings and beginnings for me. In life one chapter has to close before another opens. This is what you will get in this feature that shows the growing pains of growing up and moving on in life among five "muhibah" friends. I love the concept of this movie ever since the first time I read the script. It's fresh, it's young, it's bold and most importantly, it's real .... to a certain extent :) But in any case, those of you who are waiting eagerly to watch this movie.. be prepared to laugh, cry, feel and most important of all, learn... :) I myself have learnt countless lessons from this movie and I hope you all do too.

Man! Forgot to introduce myself. I play the character of Tzao Yang. A bubbly yet down to earth person with a lot of attitude. :) Better not reveal too much or else my director and producer will chop my head off. Not that there is not much to say.. But that there is too much to tell you .. and I won't do it here .. find out more when you watch the movie..

Before I sign off let me just share with you a lesson I learned from this movie.. Tell that someone you love them .. and do it TODAY! :)

-Dong-

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2005-12-25T21:38:00.000-08:00

The Cast and Crew of "S'kali" would like to wish everyone a (albeit slightly belated) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The production of our movie will resume in January 2006. Please keep an eye out for news and posts at this blog in the near future.

intro 1

2005-12-21T22:51:00.000-08:00

Hullo. I'm portraying the character of Sze Huey in S'kali. When I went for the auditions in 2003, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I do now of course, which is why the current thought of my involvement in the film has been getting a little incredulous.
It was intruiging to watch the script and its characters evolve with each re-working of the draft. I also don't know how Arivind managed to cast the actors so intuitively - it just 'works'! The others are immensely talented and a ball to hang out with. Some of them won't be free during the Xmas and NY break so we've been given a breather from rehearsals. I'm looking forward to one more session with Arivind and my co-star Jayaram as we have yet to properly run through one of the crucial scenes, but Jayaram is currently being hospitalised for a nasty infection. Here's hoping to his speedy recovery.
That's it for now. Take care everybody, a happy xmas and a merry new year to all.
- davina

21/12/2005

2005-12-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

Man the rest of the crew really have to start bloggin on this a bit more if not the posts are going to be few and far between. If anyone tells you making a movie is simple, make sure they take that back. As my storyboard artist Kumar Andran said last night,"I used to take the piss man saying that making films was easy shit, it's harder than anything I've done!".

The past few days have been made up of late night storyboarding sessions and a succession of meetings for the marketing team. There have been conferences between KL and London as the guys at Befour Media in Bristol, UK prepare to work on the website and sort out business emails for Perantauan.

On top of that, there is of course the last few rehearsals we had which saw the cast agonizing over if or not they are going to be good enough ( they'll be fine) and of course the fact that everyone is slowly falling sick...

Better now than on the shoot as they say.

16/12/2005

2005-12-16T04:35:00.000-08:00

I have decided against listing the days now as it is getting busy and I am losing track on what day it actually is since I got back. The work is coming in thick and fast now and the rehersals have been going really well.

The biggest breakthrough we have had recently is of course coming up with the title and one sheet for the movie which we are now keeping under wraps.

Of course we also just had our first comment posted on this site in relation to the simple synopsis posted on the blog. Already the comparisons to "Sepet" are being drawn and for a long time the team has been aware that this was something we were never going to be able to avoid, evenmore so when "Gubra" opens as well.

All we can say is that if you are going to watch this movie expecting another "Sepet" you are in for a big surprise.

Keep your comments coming in be they positive or negative as all feedback is welcome.

S'kali - The Movie

2005-12-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

Running Time: 90 mins
Writer/Director: Arivind Abraham
Produced by Asa’ad Entertainment & Perantauan Pictures

5 friends find love, life & destiny under the lights of KL.

Day 3, 10/12/2005

2005-12-10T04:14:00.000-08:00

Today has been a long day. We kicked off the morning working out an amazing kit package with Cinerent where we finally managed to secure all that we were looking for and were pleasantly surprised with the quote.

It was then to hole up in the building in which we are setting up some semblance of a production office. A schedule breakdown was in order followed by a joint meeting of all the associate producers in preparation for a series of meetings next week with our Exec Producer and Apple.

We've now also got 2 lovely ladies on board as Art Director and the Head for the marketing team. A brilliant brainstorm session was had followed by some drinks at the local mamak to chill out and relax before the next round at 8.30pm with the cast to work out detailed shoot schedules and stuff.

We do apologise for the lack of pictures today but we had someone forget a digital camera and have only just managed to get down to sorting out the Flickr account.

Till then.

Day 1

2005-12-10T01:27:00.000-08:00

Landed in Malaysia to the news that my house had been broken into. Very first time it has happened but hell of a way to kick off a return to home I guess.After a much needed dose of good Malaysian mamak food, the crew and company partners gathered at my house for some late night planning and discussion.The rest of the week was plotted out and we have already found that December is full up.Everyone is geared up now and the adrenaline is kicking in as it comes to the fore as to how much we have to get done.Over the coming few weeks you will be able to keep track of the production process via this production blog. We will be posting picutres and maybe even some short vid clips if possible. We might also try and offer some podcast downloads.Till the next update.