justin_guber - @ 20six.co.uk

A quick note from the trenches

40 minutes done.

Taking a break right now.

Brain hurts.

Did I also mention the cyst on my chest? Apparently it's due to me having oily skin. Hurts like buggery, goddamn thing is infected and now I'm on antibiotics.

Gonna finish this.

Soon.

13.1.06 17:41

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11th Hour

Last night I edited till 6 in the morning, with about 50+ minutes of the movie done. Then I checked on-line to see the possibilities of couriering the movie over. No such luck. They can pick it up on a Sunday, but they can't deliver it till Monday. Grrr.

Today is crunch time. I've decided to do an abridged version of the movie for submissions, and if it gets accepted, send them the proper one. Looking at it at the moment, if I put everything in it may even end up to be 110 minutes long. The abridged version should be about 70 or 80 minutes.

My father wants to watch it before I submit it which scares me somewhat. I associate showing my father the movie to baring my soul to him. What if he doesn't like what he sees?

However, my father assures me he just wants to make sure I don't diss the government in the movie. Dissing the government is not good for one's health in this country. He just doesn't want to get me (and the family) in trouble, 1984 style.

Then maybe, just maybe, I might have a private cast & crew screening before the actual premiere. Not sure yet. Will see soon.

All I know is that once this movie's over I'm taking a weekend off for once. Maybe go to somewhere exotic. Like Kajang.

14.1.06 05:53

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Daddy

Father's coming over tonight at eleven to check out the movie for any anti-government-stuff. As an added bonus he's bringing my mother.

I'm so dead.

Add to that the fact that I'm only at the fifty minute mark. I'm gonna be cutting through the night and hopefully the cut will be watchable by one, because I really need to start rendering and burning to DVD.

Aaargh.

14.1.06 13:36

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KUL -> SQ -> KUL -> MAD

Written on Sunday. Enjoy my pain.
The date is January 15th, 2006. The time, according to my beat-up Nokia phone, is 2:56pm. I am in Singapore, and I have not slept since 6:00am, January 14th, 2006.
Why? Because I have been editing.
What can I say right now? My head hurts, I am completely dehydrated, I think I've bruised or sprained my wrist (or damaged it in the long run) from using the mouse continously, my shoulders ache, my back hurts, my feet are killing me, the cyst on my chest is burning into my body, I smell like shit, my breath stinks, my pits reek, my eyes burn, my throat is sore, and I may have carpal tunnel syndrom.
So what else is new?
Here's what's happened (and what will happen, as I'll probably add to this) i na nutshell:
January 14th, 2006
12:30pm. Woke up in Damansara Heights. Had been editing in Taman Tun till 6 in the morning. Sleep was pleasant. I have decided that sleeping in Taman Tun is detrimental to my health. How else to explain the two days of illness I experienced on Monday?
2:00pm. Bought bus tickets to Singapore: RM$160. Why so much? I'm taking an Aeroline bus, one of those fancy double deckers. Why Aeroline? They have plugpoints on the bus. Worst case scenario, I can prepare the press pack there.
4:00pm. Naz SMS's me, telling me that he's sent the revised version of the DVD cover for Ciplak's submission to the Singapore International Film Festival. Too busy editing, so I tell him I'll check it out when I take a break.
7:00pm. Diana and Farah came over, followed by Tony, who was dropping off his two short films to send together with mine. We're sending everything under one big 'FYI Films' package. Showed Tony the cut of the first 53 minutes. He enjoyed it. So did Diana and Farah. However, since they were involved/know me, their opinion might be biased. My other worry is that later tonight I'll be showing some of the movie to my father. Grrreat...
8:00pm. Go to Starbucks for Grande Latte Enema. It's a Venti. It's fucking huge. THIS should keep me up. Then I called my father to ask him whether he can come over around eleven. He says he can, and that he's bringing my mother too. Double grrreat. Briefly blogged about this.
11:00pm. Showed some of the movie to my parents. Officially worst screening I've ever had of the rough cut. They didn't say anything bad about it... but they didn't say anything good either. Morale lowered considerably. Turned to my girlfriend for emotional support via telephone. One thing is certain. I'm sending something to the SIFF. I just don't know what.
January 15th, 2006
6:30am. Edited continously since screening it to my parents. Huge chunks of the movie are missing. And I mean huge. For some reason right nostril starts dripping water. Not snot, not blood, fucking water. Decided, considering the time, that I should bite the bullet and render the movie as a WMV file. If there are any little things to fix, I can do it on the laptop on the bus. As the files rendered and the clock ticked I packed my bag with the laptop, blank CD's and editing software.
7:15am. Roughcut rendered and burnt to disc. Rushed off to the Corus Hotel on Jalan Ampang to catch my bus at eight, stopping at my parents' house to pick up a t-shirt and the laptop plug.
7:55am. Get on bus. Not sure if the car's locked.
8:05am. Fell asleep for a minute on the bus but was thankfully awakened by the steward serving breakfast: weiners, scrambled eggs and a buttered bun. I put the weiners and eggs into the bun for my very own Aeroline Sausage McMuffin.
8:15am. Install Vegas Video 3.0 onto the laptop.
8:20am. Finally watch the roughcut. Third act is fucked. Carelessness, rushing and sleep deprivation have left a shitload of mistakes. Good thing I brought the laptop. For some reason the additional sound effects track has been nudged out of its timeline... by about five minutes earlier. So when the intense moment between my character and Peter Brown's takes place, for some reason there is the sound of a skateboard/car chase in the background. Fixable, but there's a huge hole in the plot now. Anyone watching it will notice that a good ten minutes are obviously missing from the movie.
8:50am. Start editing.
12:45pm Finish editing just as we arrive at immegration. Spend the rest of the trip through Singapore doing the end credits.
(Begun to notice that grammar structure and past/present tense is gradually getting fucked. But I shall not fix it for I am an elk.)
1:00pm. Arrive somewhere in Singapore. Have no Singaporean currency. Walk in the hot sun to some mall somewhere to look for a money changer. Try to call Goz. No answer. Try to SMS. No reply. Fuck.
1:40pm. End up at Burger King on Orchard Road. A girl named Grace sat at the other end of the long table reading a book offers her mobile phone to help me call Goz. Still no answer. Chit-chat with Grace for a bit. She just came back from England 2 months ago. Talk about the UK before she leaves to join her friends after their champagne brunch. It's rare to find people that will talk to random strangers just for some idle chit-chat in Asia. Not part of the culture. We talked about books and she recomended 'the Time Travellers Wife'. After a couple of cigarettes we parted ways.
2:10pm. Decide to wait at Coffee Bean and do my final render of the movie.
2:30pm. Goz finally calls back. He was asleep. The bastard.
3:20pm. 33% of the movie rendered so far. Still have to burn it, go to a cyber cafe to download and print the cover, print out the press pack and cover letter, then find a manila envelope big enough for it all and find the SIFF office before getting on my bus back to Kuala Lumpur at 6:00pm.
It has begun to rain. Shiite. I hope it doesn't get my laptop. And it's fucking heavy too. Isolated bursts and showers. Things look bright and dry outside of Orchard so maybe it'll go soon. Goz still isn't here and the Coffee Bean is packed. I'm not sure how much longer caffeine can keep me going.
3:36pm. Goz arrived. 42% rendered so far. When, Lord. When do I get to see the goddamn sailboat...
5.45pm.Hmmm. It's 98% rendered. I'm wondering right now if I should press 'cancel' i nthe hope that by doing so, I'll still have 98% of the movie.
...
Fuck it. Let's try it.
...
Cool. It worked. Now to burn.
6.00pm. Goddamit.
Ok. So I re-edited the roughcut I had so that the third half made more sense, right? Right. Then I spent the whole day in Singapore rendering the file, diving in the car with Goz to the bus stop as I rendered it, then we perched ourselves upon the sidewalk as I slipped in a CD-R to burn to VCD.
Except the laptop I have doesn't have Nero installed. It has Sonic Record DX.
And Sonic Record DX cannot convert files into VCD format like Nero. The files have to be converted first. Motherfucker.
Rushing like a madman, I tried burning the original WMV files that I used to edit (which were split into three chapters, the third being the one that needed the most work) to VCD, and guess what?
It can't do that either.
Motherfucker.
So, in the end, I burnt the original WMV file roughcuts I burnt from my PC at home to do the roughcut I edited on the bus as opposed to the roughcut edit I did on the bus that was, at the very least, more wholly coherent.
Which makes all the hard work I did for the last ten hours absolutely pointless. That's depressing. Incredibly depressing.
But it was an experience. I will say that.
Waste of money? Not too much. An experience? Sure. There are other festivals to aim for. And they all cost money.
It's weird. I thought I'd be crying and bawling my eyes out for not making it on time. But, for some reason, it makes me want to laugh my ass off. I'm smiling right now as I type this. Maybe it's the relief that I won't have to be all stressed over the Singapore International Film Festival anymore. Maybe it's because of the ludicrousness of this whole endeavour, all for one festival. Am I really gonna be this way over all festivals? Doubt it. I really do think it's the vanishing of the stress of trying to make the SIFF. I really do.
Alternatively, it could be because I haven't slept in... oh, about 30 hours. Heh. Sleep's for pussies. Besides, I'm not going to sleep yet. I'm still on the bus in Singapore. If I fall asleep now I'll end up being rudely awakened at immigration. I'll sleep once I'm on Malaysian soil. Yeah... sleep the sleep of champions, then wake up fresh... for fucking work.
One day... one day I shall see the sailboat.

16.1.06 04:01

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Festival Festivities

Registered to WithoutABox just now and I've been checking it out ever since. Very cool. And to think, previously I'd been searching via google for film festivals. This is so much easier.

So easy it is, it's come to my attention that most festivals in the States 'prefer' movies that are premieres. The tough bit is trying to pick which ones to send to, there's so frickin' many. I've got my heart set on the Seattle International Film Festival but (a) the entry fee is quite high and (b) perhaps I'm setting my hopes to high with it, too. I dunno about the festival, but the site is certainly a classy affair. Perhaps I should submit it to a smaller festival... or one closer to Hollywood (incredibly wishful thinking on my part).

See, my question is this: with so many film festivals going on in the States, how do studio execs and agents and distributors check them all out? There must be some that are more preferred than others. And it's US dollars for the entry fees. That's a lot of money in ringgit, so shotgunning the festival circles with spray pellets in the hope of hitting one isn't exactly the most affordable. Plus the fact that some festivals don't accept DVD as their final screening format (which is understandable) although I always thought DVD was clearer than digiBeta.

Edinburgh Film Festival's also on my hitlist... that is, if it's good enough for them. I really want to get it into some festival in the UK, just don't know which. Not quite sure about all this. Need outside assistance, helpful opinions from an experienced soul.

Any of you happen to be an experienced soul? And I don't mean that in a cherry-poppin' way.

Another of my worries is the fact that different festivals cater for different audiences. I need to find a festival of film geeks (wait for it...) with a sense of humour (see? Not so easy now, is?).

And, of course, I still have to finish my cut of the movie. As tiring as editing by myself is, I can't imagine giving someone else my footage and asking them to edit it. They'd probably tell me I'm mad.

Then again, Saiful's been calling me mad for ages.

The cyst is getting bigger and it hurts like buggery. I shall be having harsh words with the doctor soon.

16.1.06 09:54

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Please Believe The Hype

So I posted a notice about the 'Ciplak' website on the Malaysian-Cinema Yahoo Group listing yesterday.

Since then I've been receiving e-mails from a number of people: some were friends (such as the Voxel crew) and some were those in the 'industry' (does that sound too pompous?) who I shall not mention for now for fear of the jinx factor.

But the hype has started, and at times like these I urge that for once, just once, you do not listen to the words of Public Enemy when they say "don't believe the hype". Please, believe the hype. At least long enough so that I can get your bums on seats when/if it screens (no offence to Public Enemy, though. I love the P.E. Got all their albums, even the remix ones).

Time to design the web banners I had in mind. As well as update the site since a lot of the other links don't work.

And, of course, finish editing the damn movie. I really want to shoot some more shots for the climatic skateboard-car-chase sequence. Needs to be more dramatic. I have a feeling I'll be injuring myself even more.

I may yet see the sailboat.

17.1.06 07:38

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The Breakdown

Last night I broke down.
Couldn't help it. I was on the phone with my girlfriend when I just broke down and bawled my eyes out.
I know that I usually joke about the physical pain my body's going through, and the mental pain, and my extreme lethargy and lack of sleep, but joking about it and not taking it too seriously keeps me going.
But not last night. Last night I just wanted it all to go away. The movie, the music, the job, everything. It was one of those moments where I wished everyone would just fuck off and leave me be in a room full of pizza, DVD's and a PS2 on a comfy bed with a TV that works and a room temperature that doesn't cause me to either sweat or sneeze uncontrollably.
I wanted respite.
But the fact of the matter is I know I'm close. I'm so fucking close to getting there that it would make no sense whatsoever to give up now.
But I'm still not there. And by God it would be such a relief to just throw in the towel and say, "that's it! I've had it! Fuck it all!"
Jay asked me why I don't cut down a bit on some of the stuff I'm doing. But there's nothing to cut. The movie's almost done, the Y2k album's about to be launched, Triple 6 Poser have been waiting to record for ages, the studio's almost up, there are numerous video jobs lined up (music videos and weddings)...
What the fuck am I supposed to cut down on?
So, no. We keep on trekking. And there ain't no turning back,
I'll keep on trekking even if I get a heart attack,
With cigarettes in one hand and a keyboard on my left,
A runny nose, a cough and cold, my left ear going deaf,
With caffeine pumping through the veins and red dots in my eyes,
A milky, phleghmy aftertaste and aching, burning thighs,
With painful shoulders, heavy head and never getting rest,
A neck so stiff it can't turn left, a cyst upon my chest,
A chin that has not seen a shaving blade in quite a while,
As somehow all my muscles try to pull an almost-smile,
Through late nights sat in front of my unbalanced PC screen,
I'd rather fuck a goat than throw away my childhood dreams.

Adieu.
...wah. Aku berpantun, sial.

18.1.06 04:27

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Snoogans

Clerks 2 teaser trailer is up.

Enjoi.

18.1.06 07:10

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Getting Better

Been going through the cut I have so far, and it definitely looks like I need to shoot another five minutes of footage to bridge the second act with the third. I originally thought I could pull it off in post using voice-overs and animated footage, but no such luck. So this Saturday it's back to Voxel (Jordan's place) to shoot a final scene.

Since we're shooting some more footage I also finally get to shoot the cameo by Izuan of Auburn fame that I was hoping to stick in there. His scene is basically an homage to Animal House (I'll give you a clue: it involves the word, "sorry," delivered very nonchalantly).

Should be able to slip those bits in for the cast and crew screening on Sunday. I've already half a mind to cut out another seven minutes from the first two acts to speed things up. I don't like the idea of the movie slowing down at all in these first two acts. Speedy Gonzalez stylee.

On the physical/mental state front, I'm feeling a bit better. Went rehearsing last night with Triple 6 Poser (with Jay back and auditioning a new drummer) and it was a nice release, even though I was still tired as fuck, and by the time I got home I fell asleep soundly for a good eight/nine hours for once. However, I will admit the lethargy is still there, but it's not as bad as before. Might not need as much caffeine.

Tonight I'm gonna back up some of my files, edit a bit more and meet up with an R n' B dude (who shall remain nameless for now) who I'm doing a music video for (hopefully). I'm just wondering whether I can get the 'Usher'-slick feel to it. The dude wants to shoot before Chinese New Year, which doesn't give much time. We'll have to see what's possible.

And on that note, just wanted to say thanks to all you out there for your words of encouragement and such. Means a lot. Keep those comments coming, they act like chicken soup for the soul.

19.1.06 04:10

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The 'Other' SIFF

I've thought about it, and figured 'fuck it, let's send this thing to the Seattle International Film Festival'.
My hesitation about sending Ciplak to Seattle was the fact that it is a pretty big festival, and whilst the good thing about that is the exposure Ciplak could get, it's also counter-weighed by the worry of whether or not Ciplak can even make it past the judges for it to be screened there.
One of their awards eases me a bit, which is the 'Independent Spirit' award. I mean, come on, how much more independent can Ciplak get? I always tell people the budget is RM$10,000 because I don't want the movie to seem too cheap but, to be fair, RM$8,000 of that money was on the camera. The rest of the money was spent on tapes, fuel, food, cigarettes and haircuts. In actuality, the budget's more like RM$1,300. Convert that to U.S. Dollars, that's about... USD$347. Shit. That's cheaper than 'El Mariachi'.
(Then again, he did shoot on film...)
Regardless, the submission deadline is 1st February. The only issue now is the costs involved: the entry fee alone is USD$97 (RM$363, about the same as half the catering budget). Then I need to Fed Ex it... sheesh. If any of you guys out there know anything about the Seattle International Film Festival, what kind of movies they 'prefer' to screen and whether or not I've got a fighting chance, let me know, please. I need knowledge.
On top of all this, I have another project lined-up, and it's a rush one (and, if you don't include the camera, has a bigger budget than Ciplak) for a music video for Liang's number one hit single "Show Me Watcha Got". Checked out one of the locations last night and been going through the pre-production with Pietra (who'll be co-directing and producing) but here's the thing: principal photography has to start on next Tuesday for the first location. NEXT TUESDAY! Tony's already freaking out a bit at the short time span. I'm strangely confident. Or mad. Yes, I'm mad. That's what it is.
Then there's some wedding job coming up too at the beginning of February. I'm gonna need more space on my desktop (which, incidentally, I have left on at home whilst I back-up 10GB of porn and other videos onto a portable hard drive. What? You thought I'd delete it? Puh-leeze...). Ciplak alone has probably taken up 75GB on footage alone, with another 2GB on soundtrack, title sequences and animation.
We're gonna need a bigger boat.

20.1.06 03:32

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