I was reading Life! last tuesday's paper and an article in particular interest me. The article under the Culture Vulture column written by Ong Sor Fern titled 'Film-makers here should unite'.
I do share the same sentiments with the title wholeheartedly even without reading the content. Yes local film-makers enthusiats and alike understand how difficult it is to produce an independent film. The difficulties does not only lies in the budget but everything right down to the nitty gritty details.
But at the same time while i was reading the article, i asked myself on what grounds should these film-makers unite?
We knew that film-makers here groan about how cliche it is to make films here. We complain that our local audience do not know how to appreciate our work and that something more should be done to nurture the scene so that it will flourish. And so far well, its definitely not fair to say that nothing has been done. 3 years back before i went to my school,i do not know other schools that offered film courses, most prominent one i knew of is at Ngee Ann Poly. But now we have so many schools offering these courses, be it new private schools or government aided and in fact primary and secondary schools have these courses as their CCA (my sister's school is an example). The past year too there's a big hoo-haa about developing Singapore into a media hub hence the existence of severals local competitions to encourage the youths and let's not forget Lucasfilm Animation opening its quarters here.
Therefore we see paths opening, hopes arising and requests being fulfilled although the major ones are not. But still what do we lack of? Why is it the film scene is glum over here? How come those talented film-makers doing a string of short films or the indie films are not receiving rave reviews from the public?
I dont know about other people's conclusion but i have my own opinion, i believed local film-makers here produced too many short films and are too artsy for the public to understand. Dont get me wrong, i praise and appreciate them really i do, this proves that we Singaporeans does not fall short on creative people who dare to put their ideas and thoughts to screen. But sometimes is showcasing art-house films is all there is to it in Singapore film scene? I always wonder why cant there be more homemade blockbuster movies? The number of commercial films that are released each year can be counted by only one hand with 5 fingers and these films are always by the same bunch of people; Jack Neo, Eric Khoo, Jack Neo and Jack Neo but hey no not that i despise watching movies made by the same people, trust me i respect the work that they do! Although of course there was Glen Goei (Forever Fever), Keng Sen Ong (Army Daze) which i must add they made 2 of the most entertaining commercial films locally!
My point here is that maybe we local film-makers here should dare to produce a long feature films/movies! Yeps i know i sound insanely ridiculous and some people may say its just wishful thinking, but hey look at Royston Tan! He made it possible when he made the short film 15 into a feature, isnt it great if we have our own varieties of feature films to watch, different genre and different style of film-making?
Though some may argued that this never can happen here, because we do not have much facilities which im sure if we divulge the problem we can work that out, the government has been encouraging dont they(or so it seems)? Or the fact that art-house film-makers will defend their passion for film-making is strictly for art and not for commercial distribution, but isnt it one of the reason we created these works for people to watch and admire it? I guess you can say if i am to be an establish film-maker one day (again my wishful thinking here) i will be that of a money-minded kind, well making films you must admit that it is a money-making business right? Well why not use that formula? Now im not entirely all about the money, it is lucrative indeed but im the sort who prefers to make movies solely to entertain. Only then after you are as famous as Jack Neo (to be realistic for local context),its in your power to produce films as artistic as Wong Kar Wai.
Then maybe this is a way film-makers should unite,(just like we all know that other countries have unions of their own) discuss the possibility and the boundaries. Like take a step forward from talented short film-makers to a noted feature film-maker. Instead of mulling, what will work?
Well im just contributing two cents of my thoughts, because i truly agree with the writer's quote at the end of his article, he mentioned when we buy the tickets we decide whether the locals film live or die.
I do share the same sentiments with the title wholeheartedly even without reading the content. Yes local film-makers enthusiats and alike understand how difficult it is to produce an independent film. The difficulties does not only lies in the budget but everything right down to the nitty gritty details.
But at the same time while i was reading the article, i asked myself on what grounds should these film-makers unite?
We knew that film-makers here groan about how cliche it is to make films here. We complain that our local audience do not know how to appreciate our work and that something more should be done to nurture the scene so that it will flourish. And so far well, its definitely not fair to say that nothing has been done. 3 years back before i went to my school,i do not know other schools that offered film courses, most prominent one i knew of is at Ngee Ann Poly. But now we have so many schools offering these courses, be it new private schools or government aided and in fact primary and secondary schools have these courses as their CCA (my sister's school is an example). The past year too there's a big hoo-haa about developing Singapore into a media hub hence the existence of severals local competitions to encourage the youths and let's not forget Lucasfilm Animation opening its quarters here.
Therefore we see paths opening, hopes arising and requests being fulfilled although the major ones are not. But still what do we lack of? Why is it the film scene is glum over here? How come those talented film-makers doing a string of short films or the indie films are not receiving rave reviews from the public?
I dont know about other people's conclusion but i have my own opinion, i believed local film-makers here produced too many short films and are too artsy for the public to understand. Dont get me wrong, i praise and appreciate them really i do, this proves that we Singaporeans does not fall short on creative people who dare to put their ideas and thoughts to screen. But sometimes is showcasing art-house films is all there is to it in Singapore film scene? I always wonder why cant there be more homemade blockbuster movies? The number of commercial films that are released each year can be counted by only one hand with 5 fingers and these films are always by the same bunch of people; Jack Neo, Eric Khoo, Jack Neo and Jack Neo but hey no not that i despise watching movies made by the same people, trust me i respect the work that they do! Although of course there was Glen Goei (Forever Fever), Keng Sen Ong (Army Daze) which i must add they made 2 of the most entertaining commercial films locally!
My point here is that maybe we local film-makers here should dare to produce a long feature films/movies! Yeps i know i sound insanely ridiculous and some people may say its just wishful thinking, but hey look at Royston Tan! He made it possible when he made the short film 15 into a feature, isnt it great if we have our own varieties of feature films to watch, different genre and different style of film-making?
Though some may argued that this never can happen here, because we do not have much facilities which im sure if we divulge the problem we can work that out, the government has been encouraging dont they(or so it seems)? Or the fact that art-house film-makers will defend their passion for film-making is strictly for art and not for commercial distribution, but isnt it one of the reason we created these works for people to watch and admire it? I guess you can say if i am to be an establish film-maker one day (again my wishful thinking here) i will be that of a money-minded kind, well making films you must admit that it is a money-making business right? Well why not use that formula? Now im not entirely all about the money, it is lucrative indeed but im the sort who prefers to make movies solely to entertain. Only then after you are as famous as Jack Neo (to be realistic for local context),its in your power to produce films as artistic as Wong Kar Wai.
Then maybe this is a way film-makers should unite,(just like we all know that other countries have unions of their own) discuss the possibility and the boundaries. Like take a step forward from talented short film-makers to a noted feature film-maker. Instead of mulling, what will work?
Well im just contributing two cents of my thoughts, because i truly agree with the writer's quote at the end of his article, he mentioned when we buy the tickets we decide whether the locals film live or die.
Yours Truly Lis @ 1:27 PM
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