The filming process: MENCARI HAJAR telemovie

MENCARI HAJAR, telemovie.
Begins streaming on Hari Raya Haji 2023 on MeWatch and Youtube

The filming process

During production, I try to find that sweet spot between what I am comfortable with and what the circumstances on set have to offer. I work with the parameters I have been given (…and in local television production there are many, yet remain loyal to my visual style - staying true to my identity - but importantly, translating the script visually without missing what the scene is really all about.

I remind myself there is a great and important story to be told and that one has to tell the story with sensitivity regardless of the circumstances on set.

My approach has been informed by great designers like Fritz Hansen, Hay and Zaha Hadid, to name a few. In recent times my visual style has been influenced by transformative industrial designers and playful artists. If you are not familiar with these designers, they produce designs that are minimalist yet very functional but, most importantly, organic and beautiful to the eye.

In the past my directing approach was often about being elaborate, but I soon realised that often these styles were unintentionally reductive as a consequence of being imitative of filmmakers famous before me.

My professional experience in long-form drama informs me that anything and everything that can go wrong on set, will go wrong. Thus experience taught me to constantly relook into the basic, minimalist yet innovative way to translate the script visually without compromising the story.

So in summary what I have learnt from these designers, as cliched as it may sound, is that “less is more”.

It is easy to distract from the flaws in core storytelling by overwhelming the audience with style, especially during post-production, when most of the time these distractions are unnecessary, a superficial and nice laminate to veneer the disappointingly flawed particle board if you like. But to continue the cliches, to each his own.

Thus, I go back to the heart, the performance of the actor and their interaction with the camera lens. I remind myself that on set limitations can still be overcome when you have great performances from actors and hardworking filming crew who are loyal to your style and always have your back. Through decluttering bombastic stylistic distractions and with circumstantial limitations out of the way I am freed to get into both the heart of the story and the souls of the characters.

MENCARI HAJAR stars Nora Samosir, Sharon Ismail, Joyce Harn, Michael Chua with Shahril Wahid & Sani Hussin. The telemovie begins streaming in MeWatch Mediacorp on Hari Raya Haji 2023.

Bilingual with English subtitles.

Directed and co-written by yours truly.