The first part of the film was somewhere felt cliched to me like when the assassin try to kill a man but ended up killing more people because of his silly mistake. It got a few cheap laughs here and there,well the boys enjoyed. I know this is surely not what helps it won the Cannes award. I was very freaked out at this particular scene. The scene opens a guy talking to another guy about a dream he being inside winkie’s which is the restaurant they are in right now. He said in the in the dream that he could see a guy behind a wall in the back of winke’s.If he actually see this man there , he will be so scared out of his life. So they went to check it out. The cinematography when they walk toward the wall was masterfully done. The brilliant part was david Lynch makes fear in the auidence out of nothing.

The second part to sum it up is a bunch of surreal scenes. Well, i don’t want to go in details because my head spin at the thought of it. After the film ended, I didn’t like it. It takes me out of the movie itself . It makes me turn my left and ask my friend what is going on . It ruined the experience. Especially, when I know the director is toying with the audience’s expectations,which can be a good or bad thing . Ryan told us that one of the most common interpretation was the first part was actually a dream sequence and the second part was reality . It kinda of make alot of sense. I figured it is pretty good overall after reading some of the interpretations. It is just that abstract stuffs is not my thing. Also, it reminds me a lot like barot fink.

Here’s the creepy moment in the film. It still scared me even when I watched it the second time.

Oh Oh, I really liked this song called 16 reasons why I love you in the film. The person upload the song found it creepy for unknown reason.

So ryan, that makes the score 2-1,alright?

My bro recently borrowed the 1st season of Gilligan’s Island. I am hooked to the theme song,remind me of Cat Ballou ballad.

For those who have no idea what it is, it is like Lost but a sitcom instead. A bunch of people trapped on the Island represented majority of the people in a society. You got the typical girl, a professor, a movie star ,a millionaire and etc. Most of the episodes show them trying to leave the Island,well,that is never gotten happened. I only watched one episode. Some jokes were really dull but some were pretty good. The millionaire and Gilligan found a gold mine. Despite it being a secret, the rest found out about it and start having gold fever. At the same time, they found a life raft. It’s pretty obvious where is it leading to. By the end of it run, all the actors in the show suffered from a bad case of typecast. Most of them even hated the show for what it has done to their careers. Only Alan Hale loved being seen as the skipper. When he was dying of cancer, he learned there was a sick child in the same hospital who loved the show. He went to see the boy and said “The Skipper’s here, son, everything is going to be all right.” It is really touching. If anyone of you are thinking of watching it, be warned that the first season is black and white. Oh no!

I am not sure if I am a Singapore teen. I will talk about myself and you will be the judge. Alright?

First up, like other teens, I love watching movies. I felt movies are combination of many creative forms: photography, dance, music, story and stage. Here’s the odd part: my favourite movies are in black and white. My favourite are Schindler’s list, The Elephant man and Harvey, just to name a few. Well, some are not old, just chosen to be shot in black and white. I must say black and white make films look exceptionally classy and stylish.

Next up, like many teens, I have an ipod. I felt a bit forced into buying the ipod because I have an apple Powerbook. Also, I wanted to download podcasts. Otherwise, I would have gotten a creative mp3 player instead, which is way better. Here come is the unteen part about it: 90% of the storage is made up of podcasts. Some about photography and one about youth ministry. Lately, I have been listening to a podcast called Daily Breakfast. The host, Father Roderick, an extremely cool priest who talks about tv shows like 24,lost and prison break and movies like Rocky balboa and about his newly-bought Wii (saliva drooling). The podcast is not preachy and really great for non-Catholics like me.

I have been seeing more and more teens reading comics like Naruto and Death note. I caught on the comic wave too, just in a different language. Last year, my younger bro influenced me into reading comics. Initially, I had a bad impression of comics, not that I found it too childish but on the contrary, it was too adult and edgy because my brother was reading comics that were very explicit and me being a conservative, found it offensive. Anyway, I am more into the DC universe than Marvel. DC seems more intellectual and offered plenty of mystery stories. Because of schoolwork, I still have a large stack of comics waiting to be read. My brother and I always buy a whole lot in one go. Favourite comic book: Kingdom come. My favourite character is of course Batman. Favourite comic artist: Alex Ross (By the way, the drawings in the header is done by him) Favourite comic writer: ? I haven’t read enough to know who’s good.

I sound pretty robotic. Don’t I ? Probably because I think twice about writing stuff in my blog and the momentum is lost and also the fact I am writing in word document. Curse! I am taking too long to write a post. I am not really not good at this art of blogging. I realised that i had my name on the URL. Never mind. Bye!

I am keeping my blog alive so the first step i am taking is posting my storytelling assignment. Do comments on it especially if the mistakes are grammatically errors.

Title: Vacumn

The familiar “ode to joy” tune, crudely mimicked by the doorbell, breaks Mr. Chan’s attention from the 52-inch plasma television. With the help of his walking stick, he totters across the vast living room, beautified with exquisite furniture, toward the large wooden door. He wrestles with the doorknob and plays tag-o-war with the heavy door, only to reveal a middle-aged man.

The visitor’s thinning gray hair fails to cover his oily bald front, which glows under the harsh afternoon sun. The man musters his perfected smile, showing off his wrinkles at the sides of his eyes. He speaks in a rapid and rhythmic pace.

“Good morning, Mr. Chan. I am David from OMG, Overseas Microrid Groups. You arranged for a demo for the steamflux 240,am I right?”

“ Ye…”

David interrupts.

“Steamflux 240 is the number one bestselling vacuum. Why you may ask? The machine used a … ”

“ David, What about doing it inside?” Chan cuts in, causing David to snap out of his rapid mode.

“ Oh. Sure. Mr. Chan.” Ending off his words with the same smile.

Chan holds the door, while David picks up the bulky vacuum cleaner with his right and a bagful of accessories with his left. David enters the house, mesmerizes at the richness of the house’s decor. Chan points to the empty spot between the television and leather sofa.

”You can set up the machine there.” Says Chan.

”Any drinks for you?” Chan asks as he heads towards kitchen.

” Water will do. You are a nice man. You own this beautiful house and don’t act like others do.” Said David.

”I know people like them. They don’t know how hard we work for our money.” Chan replies.

“True true.”

Chan wobbles out of the kitchen with a tall glass of water. While attaching the flexible hose to the machine, David starts pitching.

“Thank you. As I was saying, steamflux 240 is the number one bestselling vacuum cleaner in Singapore. Here’s why. In a house, I am right to say you need to clean the curtains, windows, floors, stove, oven, sinks and toilet bowls?”

Mr. Chan lightly nods his head. David flashes his signature smile

”You know what? The 240 does allll of it.”

“Hmmm. Yes, yes. That is really amazing. Hmmm. You know I got three sons, all grown now. What about you? Ahhh. I can still …”

”I used to have two. They are living with their mother now. Well, back to the machine, let me show you…”

Steamflux roars into life.

“Last but not least, each Steamflux 240 includes a free set of essential oils and… that about it. That’s end of the two-hour demo.” He speaks while looking at his watch.

“So how many sets would you like to order? You know what? I think the 240 will do good for your sons. A discount for you if you’re buying bulk.”

“To be honest, I don’t intend on buying any.”

Chan’s words catch David off guard. He slowly twists his head toward Chan, trying hard to keep his smile.

“Why then, you got me here?”

“My wife and friends are all gone. All I do is watch TV all day.” Mr. Chan says matter-of-factly.

Chan’s response wipes the smile off the David’s face.
His tone turns more irritable.

”You can travel around, heck, in first class. Go skiing in Europe. And what you do? HA. You call salesman down and take him out for a ride.“

” Oh,nooo. My eldest son owns this house. Doesn’t have a maid, so I look after the house only when they’re gone. My sons never like me. My grandchildren don’t even know I exist. I lived alone in a studio apartment and have no need for such noisy machine.”

Silence. David breaks the silence as he starts to dismantle the vacuum pipe. Chan defends himself.

” But don’t you even feel lonely?”

David tightens his grip of the vacuum pipe.

” Damn it! Everyone does.” David splats.

He pauses his packing. He bites his teeth hard against each other and shallows hard, resisting the urge.

His voice trembles with frustration.

“Af …After they left, it got worse. That… that woman had to snatched them away from me and you know? You know what I do? I pay her. I pay her half of my salary cos that the damn LAW.”

His last word rings across the hollow house. He dumps the accessories into the bag. He wants out. Now.

Chan watches him pack with a look of disappointment. He staggers toward the house door and opens it for David’s departure. David stands up with the vacuum and bag in his hands and struggle slightly with the weight of the machine. His watered eyes fix on the opened door. He storms his way out.

Chan’s disappointment vanishes in an instant. Chan staggers back and slumps on the sofa. Bending his poor back forward, he feels around under the cold gaudy coffee table and retrieves a blue file.

Chan randomly picks up a pamphlet among the many others from inside the file. He slides his thick glasses down the bridge of his nose. Straining his eyes as he reads the small letterings. Without looking, he reaches for the cordless phone. He refers back each time he presses a button. With the phone against his ear, he waits for a response. He fakes a much pitiful and frail voice.

“ Good afternoon, my name is Philip Chan. I have been hearing about this Jesus Christ from my friends, but my poor health keeps me from (coughs) going out to church. I was wondering if someone would be kind enough to… “

FILM IS BEHAVIOUR
-Action are simply the manifestations of behaviour.
-Human emotions are understood by watching the actions of characters

Dynamic Action
Define: Action that a character does according to his emotions
-Has the potential to enrich experience of the audience by building an emotional relationship between the characters and the audience.

The test was easy! What did we have it in the first place? After the test, we watched a student film. Initially, It was hard to make sense of the film but I was so drawn into it visually. This does make it kind of distracting when you try to figure out what is gong on in the film. After Ryan’s explanation of the film, I was pretty impressed by the film’s depth of profoundness.

Next short film we watched was Autograph book. Unlike other Singapore short films, it was not morbid. Despite watching it three times, I still found what the students wrote to each other in autograph books to be amusing yet true the same time. Wee Li-lin managed to incorporated the personality of the writer as well as the relationship the writer between the receivers. Girls do have the tendency to exaggerate the value of friendship. Childish talk of friendship like “ best friend forever” and giving each other small “friendly” gifts are far behind me. I never did have a best friend. I changed friends every time there was change in classes because I do not tried make an effort in keeping friends. By the way, Wee Li-Lin studied in the same school (Singapore Chinese Girls’ School) as dengli and me so what the auntie scolded the girl about in the toilet is true. Also, the gangster-like girl in the film was my classmate in secondary 3 & 4. She is really nice girl and a prefect too, unlike her persona.

Though it is best to express something through actions then words in a film, I feel dialogue plays a really important role in a film. I really appreciate and admired sophisticated dialogue. Unlike reading a dialogue in a book, viewing a dialogue on screen, I am able to listen to how the person said it and watch the body language that accompany it. I believe a balanced of action and dialogue would make a good film. Recently, I watched a film called the “the man who wasn’t there”. It was done in a film noir style: monologue, black and white, and setted in the 1950s.The protagonist ‘s monologue was in majority of the film because he doesn’t talk much to anyone. I found myself listening intently to his monologue so ultimately, if you are brilliant at writing dialogue, just write away.

Element of a dialogue
Dialogue reveals character
-    A character talks about himself or herself
-    Others talk about that character

Dialogue establish characters between character
-    Character express attitude and opinions that are in opposition to one another

Good effective dialogue will move story forward
-    Convey essential exposition
-    Character will take about what happened, establishing the storyline.
-    Dialogue move the script together

Common mistakes
-dialogue should be used sparingly, never tell the audience what they can see for itself.
-dialogue is no substitue for action.

Who is the important person in the creation of the film. Eg. Producer, screenwriter, director, audience

X Director to people
X Writer to people
X Camera to people
People to people

Writer’s purpose
To connect: -themselves
-Unique vision
-The material
-Drama
-others
-Audiences want to be transported by a screenplay

Where to look for a story/
-Inside yourself
-Everything to learn about the people is already in you.
-Now you need to figure out how to connect to it

Experience
-All people have fragments of stories
-These potential ideas prompt your desire to know more
-Respond emotionally and intellectually to what you heard
-Good stories are born in the heart, not the head
-Remember the role of an audience
-After all, you are the audience