Since my first Umrah in 2010, I have planned to spend to the last days of Ramadan and Syawal at the holy land biannually, God willing. I made another trip in 2013. The last trip was made in 2015.
I have yet another opportunity to visit the holy land in 2017, nor 2018.
However, I had the blessed opportunity to do a telemovie for Ramadan in 2018, ZAKAT ZAKARIA, for Mediacorp's Suria channel. Directing this telemovie had given me ample opportunities to study my comprehension about Ramadan and the Zakat.
It was pretty interesting to work on this telemovie because I was paired with the Noorman Nordin, the director of photography. The last time I worked with him was more than 10 years ago. I worked with him on my first short film, Lost Sole. This is also the first time I worked with Suhaimi Yusof.
But it was an intense one week filming. The male lead could only attend the last 4 days of shoot whereas the female lead could only be on set for 2 nights. There were much reshuffling of schedule to fit their availability. It was my 3rd time directing Hasnul Rahmat and my first directing Nabila Huda.
Directing actors
I am all for the thinking actor. If the actor wants to explore his character dynamics, he is more than welcome to do it. I appreciate it when the actor thinks beyond the script and explores boundaries. However, when it comes to collaboration, it’s about listening to one another. The actor cannot take the liberty to block himself without discussing with the director and the rest of the actors in the same scene. Even if you're in the zone, please do not make it hard for anyone on-set to communicate with you. Your intensity is not an excuse for you to shut out everyone on set.
An actor does not exist in a vacuum. Unless it is a monologue, the scene exists with other characters.
The other actors need space to react too. I need to be aware of the actor’s movements within the shot frame so that I am able to capture his performance. The last thing you want to happen is when the actor gives his all but because he had failed to communicate with his fellow actors and the director (and my director of photography) of his actions, the performance need to be replicated - to be retake. Most times, the energy and intensity cannot be replicated in the next take.
You are wasting time and money. It is not being productive on set.
Importantly, the actor is not the one sitting in with the editor during post-production. All actors see their fine performances only after the footages have been assembled (ie the bad takes removed), sound mixed and colour-graded at the post production. Thank the editor and the director for your fine performances.
Thus STFU, listen and collaborate when you're on set.
That is set Discipline.
Original soundtrack (music video)
I have yet another opportunity to visit the holy land in 2017, nor 2018.
However, I had the blessed opportunity to do a telemovie for Ramadan in 2018, ZAKAT ZAKARIA, for Mediacorp's Suria channel. Directing this telemovie had given me ample opportunities to study my comprehension about Ramadan and the Zakat.
It was pretty interesting to work on this telemovie because I was paired with the Noorman Nordin, the director of photography. The last time I worked with him was more than 10 years ago. I worked with him on my first short film, Lost Sole. This is also the first time I worked with Suhaimi Yusof.
But it was an intense one week filming. The male lead could only attend the last 4 days of shoot whereas the female lead could only be on set for 2 nights. There were much reshuffling of schedule to fit their availability. It was my 3rd time directing Hasnul Rahmat and my first directing Nabila Huda.
Directing actors
I am all for the thinking actor. If the actor wants to explore his character dynamics, he is more than welcome to do it. I appreciate it when the actor thinks beyond the script and explores boundaries. However, when it comes to collaboration, it’s about listening to one another. The actor cannot take the liberty to block himself without discussing with the director and the rest of the actors in the same scene. Even if you're in the zone, please do not make it hard for anyone on-set to communicate with you. Your intensity is not an excuse for you to shut out everyone on set.
An actor does not exist in a vacuum. Unless it is a monologue, the scene exists with other characters.
The other actors need space to react too. I need to be aware of the actor’s movements within the shot frame so that I am able to capture his performance. The last thing you want to happen is when the actor gives his all but because he had failed to communicate with his fellow actors and the director (and my director of photography) of his actions, the performance need to be replicated - to be retake. Most times, the energy and intensity cannot be replicated in the next take.
You are wasting time and money. It is not being productive on set.
Importantly, the actor is not the one sitting in with the editor during post-production. All actors see their fine performances only after the footages have been assembled (ie the bad takes removed), sound mixed and colour-graded at the post production. Thank the editor and the director for your fine performances.
Thus STFU, listen and collaborate when you're on set.
That is set Discipline.
Original soundtrack (music video)
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| It's a wrap!! |
