Documentary

"Camera?" "Check!"

"Microphone?" "Check!"

"Lights?" "What lights?"

Yeap, that's right! We are doing a documentary for our LAST assignment! Well, its very new to us for this assignment, we have to do everything ourselves from choosing people to be interviewed to editing.

So, before that, we have to do some research on what is documentary all about. Documentary constitute

 non-fictional motion pictures, mostly on some aspect of reality or recording a historical moment. 

Documentary should be interpreted into three categories, which is 

• Actual (A) – in other words something that would have happened whether or not the camera was there?
• Creative (C) – in other words affected by practical decisions made by the director/camera operator, and which had the effect of making the sequence more entertaining
• Interpretive (I) – in other words affected by practical decisions made by the camera operator/director that might affect an audience's understanding of what they were seeing.

So, how do we start shooting a documentary film? 

This guy here will talk about what are the basic equipments you should have when we start a documentary, it's a very short video so if you have time and you do not know what to prepare, here's a good way to help you get started.

There are mainly 7 types of documentary you can choose from, which is, 

• Docusoap,  A docusoap is a hybrid genre, it is observational. It is a long runningdocumentary series which follows an individual or group of people. 
• Reality TV, Reality TV is factual TV. It progressed between 1989 and 1999.This type of TV gives you useful information in the form of entertainment.This is a mix of authentic material with serious information and commercialcontent. They have a use of camcorder, observation, surveillance and commentary.
• A fly on the wall, A fly on the wall is when the camera is unseen or the people ignore it. Thereforethe cameras record the events which are unrolled.An example of this would be Big Brother, as the cameras are hidden which makesthe people in the house act as if they were not there.
• A mixed documentary, A mixed documentary is a combination of interviews, observation, actualityfootage, archive material and narration.The narrator links the story together, it also advances the narrative.A lot of the time newer documentaries are mixed.
• Self-reflective,This type of documentary is when the camera follows a person or groupof people around. The person/people know that that camera is thereand they stop to talk to it.
• Docudrama, A docudrama is a reconstruction or re-enactment of something which hasactually happened.They show events which have happened at the time.
• Fully Narrated, This documentary is when the narrator narrates the whole way through thedocumentary.It is used to convey the exposition, and used to make sense of what they see.They dominate what is happening.An example of this would be Human Planet.

Other than that, we also watched some documentary films in youtube, to learn how they shoot or interview. I  must say that there are many ideas to shoot a documentary and we really did learn a lot from it.

So, the next step was to interview people, and we found two people, a photographer and an artist, who have a similarity motif in their works, that is to promote our own beautiful Malaysia.

Let me introduce to you, Mr. Yap Kim Boon and Mr. Chok Yen Hau

Yap Kim Boon

Chok Yen Hau

They are pretty well known both in their respective field and I must say they both showed a lot of determination in what they believe in. #RESPECT

some of the works of Chok Yen Hau

The works of Yap Kim Boon

Our documentary films

The trailer

Doing a documentary stuff is no easy stuff, we have spent countless days and nights just to edit the video, and finally! The final outcome of the video!

And FINALLY......

FAREWELL.

The Mask

Do you have a mask? 

What does mask means to you? 

Are you wearing a mask right now?

We were given a task, to find a definition for "Mask", and explain it through a video.

A mask is often known as something that you used to cover your face or protect your face. It can also be used to hide your identity. Mask can be seen in different ways, it can be seen as an object, a personality or, a secret you are trying to hide.

Many people tries to hide what they truly are by wearing a mask, afraid of being an outcast of a society, or trying to blend in with the group. Have you ever be someone that you are entirely not, just to please someone? Have you chosen the path that you dislike just to please your parent? Or did you do something that you hate just to make friends with others? Some people might be close to you or friends with you for many years, but are you sure that you truly know who are them? 

Some of them might be criminals, murderers and be living next to you, oblivious to it, you grow close to them, let them into your life, until one day, he takes off his mask, and then you realise, everything was a fake......

Sometimes people wears mask to be someone they dreamed of, 

instead of someone they were forced to be.

Sometimes people wears mask to be stronger, to be more confident, to be......someone they desired. Some people are too timid to face the world bare faced, they felt insecure, exposed, unconfident. 

They undergo plastic surgery to possess the perfect mask, the ideal face so that they can face the world in a different manner, some people just change completely, from inside to out, the way they talk and walk, but at the end of the day, they look at the mirror, is this really who they are? 

Graceful on the outside, ugly in the inside? Strong on the outside, timid in the inside? Happy on the outside, sad in the inside?

Are you looking at the world through your mask?

 So, are you wearing a mask right now? Are you looking through your mask? Some people do not want to face the reality of the world, they live in their own world, behind the mask they are wearing. 

They might have been hurt before, or a scar in their heart and started to wear a mask to hide it. 

They do not want people to know they are weak. It might be a father trying to be strong for his children after a divorce, or a King trying to be strong and brave before a war so that His people can live in peace and calm. But, they might be trembling with fear or hurt inside.

The girl with the green umbrella

Our idea draft

Our story is about a girl who was forced to follow anything her parents asked to do, so she started to be someone else, always under a umbrella to hide herself from others.

One day, she met a Meme performing and their lives started to change with each other presence, can she finds her way back and remember who she really is under the shadow of the pitiful mask? 

Main actors: 

Lim Ken(credits to Jing Er)

Eva Lim (creepy right? lol)

Masked out! 

Welcome to the world of Steam Punk

 Have you ever wondered living in a world that is entirely different from ours? In a world that Rocket Man existed, a world that you can see Zeppelin everywhere in the sky, steam and hot air surrounded the city and building painted in gold and brown, a world many described as "Steam Punk"


Steam Punk is actually a sub-genre of science fiction which features steam-powered machinery. and was set in the industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century. Steam Punk was first introduced in the film "Metropolis" directed by Fritz Lang dated back in 1927.

a view of the city of Metropolis

When we are talking about an entirely different world, we cannot leave out the difference in fashion, can we?  Well, the fashion in Steam Punk is mostly based on the dress code of the 19th century, where the man wears a top hat and a vest with a coat, but in Steam punk, they might add machinery items around their bodies and maybe add a pair of goggles and revolver.

some might even wears a mask

But what I can say is that Steam Punk has its unique style of fashion that is similar to the 19th century but at the same time very differently. Here's to show you if Napoleon was to be existed in the world of Steam Punk.

In the female category, it seems that ladies have a wider range of fashion, from one piece dresses that are very formal to shirts and pants.

an example of dresses illustrated by F. Beauregard

Well, basically in Steam Punk, it's all about gears and robots. Its a very modernise world with the use of  bronze and metal. It emphasises a balance between the form and the function.

Ever wonder how will a world of stream punk looks like if you ever get a chance to live in?

Well, I for one would like to try to live in a world of steam punk for a day. I would like to ride on flying ships to see the golden sky during sun sets, seeing rocket man with their mask on flying freely in the sky , or trying out different gears and be part machine part human and having a cool revolver on my side waist. To me, steam punk is a very modernised technology created and designed in a very authentic way.

But, if the world of steam punk really do exists, mother nature will suffer greatly because of the smokes and carbon dioxide created by the industrial nature of steam punk, don't you think?

Batik

My batik basically shows a crane resting on a pond with lotus flowers floating around.  As we all know, batik is one of the popular Malay cultures, with beautiful artwork painted in a sheet of silk. It contains a very strong Malay culture with its used of darker tone of colours and floral designs. But, living in a country with many races practicing different cultures, I wanted to try and mix those cultures together. So, to start it off, I have decided to begin with something I am more familiar with first, which is the Chinese culture. By fusing these two cultures together in one artwork, we can also practice the 1 Malaysia concept that the government has been promoting so actively. As a designer, we are always taught to have a meaning, a direction in our own work. So, to explain why I chooses crane as my focus point in my batik is because crane is a symbolization of happiness and also good fortune in Chinese tradition. The lotus flowers also symbolize a form of life and the water or pond is a sense of calm. As the reason why I chooses all these elements in my batik is because I want to instill a positive energy into the people who came across my batik. I want them to have a sense of calmness, to let their mind ease up and relax after a hectic day in work. I believed that many people are way too stressful living in the city, rushing with their daily work routine and doesn’t have any time for them selves. They should always find some time to loosen up and relax a while.

Tessellation (My work)

So, here are my tessellation assignments that were based on 6 Gestalt Principle

• Similarity 
• Proximity
• Alignment
• Figure and Ground
• Continuity 
• Closure

Continuity with fractal motif

Figure and Ground with machine motif which I used Telephone

 Closure with guitar and face as motif- I tried to use two faces facing each other to make a guitar shape.

A sample of how the figure of the face was form.

 Similarity with elephant as the rough motif

 Alignment with war and people as motif- I was trying to portray a nun who shed tears for the innocence that was sacrificed in the war.

  Lastly and to me, THE HARDEST to come up with, Proximity with flame as motif- wheels of flames circling each other to form a perspective.

Tessellation SIGNED OUT

Silhouette 2

This is my second product of my silhouette, I'm going to let you read about my silhouette first before telling you the story behind it....

Its about a girl who was very sick in the hospital and one night after her parents visited her, a magician came and wake her up from her sick bed with his magic powder. He held her hand and brought her to a fun fair. They played all kinds of ride and had a great time. After that, the magician brought her to a hill and white snow was starting to fall from the dark sky. It was beautiful and the magician did a magic trick and gave her a rose. They watched the sunrise together. In the end, the girl died with a rose on her death bed. The magician turned out to be the grim reaper to bring her to another life.