What happened to drunk malays on film?

Labels: opinion, tv

Notes for Ghost Episode 1

• The story opens on Eza, who is rushing for dinner. She's dressed up to the nines, and is excited.


• It should be immediately clear that this is Eza's story. It was always meant to be about how she reacts to what's going on around her hopefully the audience can see how she changes from the first episode to the last. Having said that, she's not the protagonist - not for the most part anyway.
• Notice The Sweet Escape playing in the background. For the first time (as far as I know), Popiah Pictures managed to get licensing for western pop music for their shows. Actually, if you go back to previous series, some of the incidental music actually is sampled from other stuff - although you'd have to be a pedantic fan to actually be able to pick it up.
• In this episode: The Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani; Clumsy by Fergie; Realize by Colbie Caillat; Apologize by OneRepublic.

• In her rush, Eza meets Zack Imran, famous movie star. He's cool. She's flustered. He just came out of the women's toilet. But the lady inside the Ladies claims there was nobody in there.
• Now, I don't know if it's clear that Zack Imran is a famous actor. An early draft had established this very early on showing him acting in a film, but I said that it was an unnecessary scene. Words I regret? A little.


• Eza is rushing to have dinner with her boyfriend, Adzam, but in contrast to her excitement, he seems a little distant. Finally, it comes out. He's breaking up with her. Eza is devastated.
• In the original script, the breakup was scripted. The final version is much better, leaving things unsaid. However, we do miss several things: That tonight was their fifth anniversary of being together, and that Adzam felt that Eza dreamt of being something more than she was, but didn't do much about it (you're meant to get that from the if-that-was-Zack-why-didn't-you-say-hi part of the conversation).

• As mentioned in her interview with The Star, Cheryl was not the first choice for this role. However, having seen her in the rushes, she definitely brings something to it that the other actresses would not have. This scene is a prime example. There's crying, as in calling up tears; and then there's crying of the pain-wrenching sort that only the loss of someone or something valuable can inspire. And, by jove, in this scene, she has even me welling up.
• Notice that the actors really eat. Ping is a stickler for things like that. If there's eating in the scene, then there will be food in the mouth, and chewing througout. This can actually be harder on the actors than you may think.


• In her despair, she gets distracted by a breakup SMS from Adzam, almost hits a car, and then swerves straight... into?... Zack Imran. He's acting strangely, and he asks her to help him.
• This was one of the problematic scenes, and Ping had written many versions of it. One reason it was hard was because we kept changing how Zack Imran died. The other reason was how to give Eza a reason to let this man into his car.
• I think I was the one who suggested that Zack already realised that something was wrong, but he didn't want to admit it. Otherwise, I thought it would be quite strange for someone to not notice that his hand kept passing through things.
• Yes, the car dips a little when Zack (a ghost) sits in it. Whenever you work with fantasy-type things, you get to write the rules of how it works. Here's one such rule: Ghosts actually affect the world around them, but do so unconsciously. It's when they want to deliberately interact with physical objects that things become difficult. Don't like it? Tough.
• We tried to explain to Ping (more than once), that just because the ringtone on your phone is Mr. Lonely, it doesn't mean that people hear that when they are calling you. But, yes, you could set both of them to be the same, I guess.


• Eza tries to drive Zack back, but the guard won't let them in. Instead she takes him back to her place, where they make small talk and she asks Zack to stay over.
• Censor Board Alert! According to some guidelines, it seems you're not allowed to show a man and a woman together in a closed room. But Zack is a ghost, so maybe it's okay...? Even better, there isn't actually a door between the living room and Eza's bedroom - it's just a curtain of beads.
• Eza's wishboard was Ping's idea, but I thought it was underused. To me, it demonstrates that Eza is a dreamer who wants to be more than she is, but she just doesn't have the gumption/determination/guts to make more of it. So, my idea was that as the series progresses, they start using the wishboard as a noticeboard, with photos of suspects and clues on it. Now, this reality takes over the Eza's fantasies, and her dreamboard does finally reflect what she wants and is going through. Unfortunately, another good idea not used...



• Eza wakes up and gleefully tells her best friend Julie that she brought Zack Imran back home. However, she is shocked when she finds out that the news is reporting that Zack died in a car accident. They rush over to the hospital, just in time to catch Zack's manager, Jimmy, make the announcement that Zack is truly dead. Then who spent the night at Eza's place...? Eza is shocked to find that Zack is really a ghost, and that only she can see him. She runs away. He chases her. Special effects ensue.
• Finally, after more than fifteen minutes of show, we get our first special effects shot. No, it's not the van running through Zack, it was the camera that was pointing at Zack, but showing not-Zack. I think they had a green-screen on the original shot, and then pasted a fake video over the monitor screen. But it's so subtle, I think people might miss it.

• What about the puffs of smoke when the van hits Zack? Yeah, I liked it too. However, I wish he hadn't turned around, so you had him babbling, and then the van running through him without him immediately realising it.
• Recognise the hospital? Here's a game for you all: try to figure out if you can find all the locations used in Ghost that was also used in Realiti.


• Exposition time. Jimmy says: Zack was at an AIDS awareness dinner, then Jimmy left him, and that was the last he saw of Zack. Incidentally, Jimmy becomes the sole proprieter of Zack Enterprises Sdn Bhd, and a whole bucket-load of cash. We also realise that Zack knew all the while that something was wrong when he first met Eza, and was trying to hide it from her.
• The voice singing that haunting song in the background when the clips are playing is Chelsia Ng. She also sings the theme tune.


• Zack pops by. He tries to convince Eza that he was murdered, and that Eza must help him.
• This is where the first act ends, two commercial breaks in. This is why I feel the first episode is a little slow. But there's a lot of explaining to do.
• Originally, Eza did a lot more soul-searching before she decided to help Zack. However, Ping wanted there to be some action that moved forward the mystery of Zack's death in episode one, so all that "will she, won't she" stuff got thrown out.
• There was also a scene of a bomoh coming by trying to exorcise a ghost, with a very unimpressed Zack looking on.


• Eza drops by Jimmy's place. She unsuccesfully tries to convince Jimmy that Zack was murdered. Jimmy is skeptical. With Zack's help, Eza points out that she knows a lot. When Eza insists it can't have been Zack driving the car, Jimmy shows Eza a security video showing Zack staggering back to his car.
• Apart from location, Ghost also shares a host of actors with Realiti. Not only do Naz Rahman, Reefa, and Radhi Khalid return to work with Popiah Pictures, both Cheryl and Kin Wah (who appears in the next episode) were original choices on Realiti and who both appeared in the unaired pilot showreel for that show. Debutantes are Carmen Soo, Razif Hashim, Yasmin and Nas-T. There are actually links between those actors and Popiah, but I shan't bore you with the details...


• Eza tells Zack that she won't help him any more. Zack tries to convince her to do otherwise, and only the threat of being a perpetual peeping tom is what turns Eza around. Zack points out a discrepency in the security video. Somebody faked it.
• For all those of you that noticed that Zack leans on chairs, makes footsteps that tap and sit in chairs that squeak... I refer you to the Ghost rule I outlined above.
• The original idea for the eating-in-front-of-Zack scene had him telling Eza what kind of food he loved to eat, and then because she was angry with him, she makes that very same dish and eats it in front of him.


• More exposition on Eza and her (ex-)boyfriend. And then, we meet Ameesh, the hotel security guard on duty the night Zack Imran died. He denies he knows anything about that night. But he has Zack's handphone. Or at least one with the same ringtone.
• Again, we don't quite get the idea how long Eza and Adzam have been going out with each other, and what a big shock it was for her. I wish now we established a little more about their relationship.


• Eza realises that the guard has a CD - hopefully the real video of the night Zack died - and he wants to sell it to somebody mysterious. Unfortunately, she gets caught trying to steal the CD by the security guard.
• The scene is a little longer than I would like, but it all works out okay.

• The guard drives a tied-up Eza to an abandoned warehouse, where he threatens her. Finally, Zack manages to make himself touch things and rescues Eza. And they get the CD too, to boot.
• Is it clear that Zack finally gets the will to move objects because Eza's life is in danger? I hope so. The only thing about this, is that Zack suddenly finds it easy to move things. I wanted him to still struggle a little, and then get better with each episode.
• It seems Cheryl was quite terrified of the drill being near her face, so that's not really acting you see!
• Actually, quite a well done scene. It's not easy to film action, and everything here makes sense, so that's good.


• The dynamic duo finally get to watch the VCD, and they see somebody putting Zack's body in the boot of the car. Unfortunately the CD is damaged, and you can't really make out who the bad guy is.


• The mysterious buyer is quite upset that the security guard lost the video. The guard gets fired for his incompetence.
• There's actually a very amusing story about the fire scene that involves a fire extinguisher that doesn't quite work, and a director who is reluctant to say 'cut', but I'll save that for another time...
• Don't try to figure out who the mysterious buyer is by measuring body dimensions, looking at hands, etc. The actor that plays the mysterious buyer in this scene is not the same actor that plays the actual character in the series who is the mysterious buyer (did you get that?).

Labels: ghost, tv, writing

Thoughts on 8TV's new series: Ghost

Labels: ghost, tv, writing

What's new, procrastinating blogger?

• Contradictheory is out every other Sunday. Basically, if you turn to page 2 of StarMag, and see Huzir Sulaiman's face, you've got the wrong weekend. This week's article is about travelling.
  
• The agricultural documentary Seeds is on every Sunday at 5pm on NTV7. If you're unlucky, you'll catch an episode that I scripted. For one reason or another, I keep missing episodes. But there is one episode where Siti Nurhaliza makes yoghurt, so it can't be all bad...
• Those of you who are under the impression that the work of a writer is glamorous can come see me destroy it to dust (if I'm not being overshadowed by Gavip Yap, that is) at the 8th MPH Breakfast Club for LitBloggers to be held at MPH Bangsar Village II on 22 September 2007 (probably at 11am).
• At the risk of confusing the non-technical among you, I will also mention that I have added Dashboard Manager to my ever-growing list of Business Objects trainer curricula, as well as being Crystal Reports (v10 and XI) and Business Objects Enterprise XI certified. I now teach: Crystal Reports, Business Objects Enterprise, Web Intelligence, Desktop Intelligence, Universe Design and - you guessed it - Dashboard Manager. If you want take the official courses in any of these subjects, contact Iverson Training Centre.
• Work in Progress/Discussion: Two TV series and one... something else. This needs severe thinking and hard work.

Labels: contradictheory, training, tv

Contradictheory: Relaks, Brader

Relaxing our way to the top

CONGRATULATIONS to Joe Jer and Zabrina, the Malaysian pair who recently won the first Asian edition of the Amazing Race. Winning US$100,000 (RM350,000) isn’t something to sneeze at, but more importantly, they managed to overcome tremendous obstacles to grab first place. So, what was their secret? That’s a tough question to answer.

Labels: contradictheory, tv

Now the whole world thinks I'm a thief

See it first – on the Internet

If you know how, the latest movie, TV series or song is only a download away.

ASK a Malaysian teenager what their current favourite TV shows are, and you might get an answer that includes Heroes, Friday Night Lights and Ugly Betty.

The funny thing about these three shows is that none of them are showing in Malaysia at the moment.

Labels: contradictheory, tv

Realiti on bittorrent

Labels: realiti, tv

Take a bite out of Kitchen Confidential

Labels: tv

So, Realiti's over. What next?

• It may use the same five kids or it may introduce a set of new kids.


• Mac, Wahida, Jay and Pop TV Girl may be back, or it may be a new set.


• It may be about a singing competition, or it may be about a different reality show altogether (think Survivor, Amazing Race, The Contender).

• It will be produced by Popiah Pictures - that is, Ng Ping Ho and Anne Low.


• It will use at least one of the actors seen in Realiti.


• It will be set in KL.


• It will be a ten-episode series.

• It will focus on the two main characters and not (repeat: not) be an ensemble piece.


• There will probably be no singing, off-key or otherwise.


• It will probably have very little english dialogue and no hokkien (the closest thing to this I can think of that Popiah Pictures has done is Impian Illyana, but the tone will be closer to Realiti.)


• It will use special effects.

Labels: realiti, tv

Things I learnt from Realiti

• Writing an ensemble show is hard. Wah, we watch shows like Lost and Firefly and then get delusions of grandeur that it's really easy to plot multiple storylines over a course of a season and have them come together to make sense. It's not. It's hard for several reasons.
  
  • First, instead of having one interesting story, you need to come up with five. So, you end up with some good stories (Burn/Melody), some okay stories (Nickson), and some 'hmm...' stories (Baby, Amir). And you have to come up five interesting characters, with five different voices, and five different styles... Argh.
  
  
  • Second, it's almost impossible to stretch a story arc over ten episodes without it either being very slow, or very soap operatic. What worked was the Burn/Melody story, where it started with 'Melody is on drugs' and then transformed into 'Burn's love-redeems-all'. Roughly three episodes for each, and almost seamless. What didn't work so well was Amir's story (The ran-from-kampung didn't really segue that well into throw-the-competition-for-your-family line), and Baby's (I think the poison-pen letter storyline was too short; the resolution of the blackmail storyline was too stretched out).
  
  
  • Third, crossing-over storylines need work to make it feel natural. There needs to be a really good cause-and-effect at work. I tried to cross-over Burn's storyline to Baby's; however, in the process, I lost sight of the competition, so that had to be ditched. On the other hand, I did like how Baby's story created tension between Amir and Dayang.


• Having a clear theme would be a good thing. Sometimes, I felt like we lost direction about what the show was about. Yes, it's about a singing competition, but it isn't just that. It's more about what you would do to win the competition. The tag-line I end my notes post with has the phrase, "What would you do to become a star?". This isn't the official line, this is just something I realised very late into the writing process (despite having Ping point out that it's "all about the competition" a lot of the time). If I had this stuck on my monitor as I was writing, I think everything would have hung together much nicer.


• Planning helps. Having a good idea where you want to get to really makes a difference. That whole run between episodes 7 to 10 I think works because we had a strong theme (eliminations), and because we knew who would reach the final, so we knew which stories had to be wrapped up when, so we knew how to pace (most) of them... Compared to, say, Impian Illyana, when the episodes were more standalone, so they didn't really fit in that well.


• Malaysian audiences don't always have patience. Rather, until they've bought into the show, they don't really want absorbing storylines that have subtle turns. Well, I'm not sure that I know what I'm talking about in this one, but let me try. People thought episodes 1 and 2 were slow. But I've been through them (again), and I think there's at least as much fat in episodes 6, 8 and 10. I think audiences need to identify with a character first, before you can put them in a grind. Compare this with the first season opener for Battlestar Galactica (very tense, slowly builds up), or a lot of mid-season episodes of lost (it's all about the character and lots of 'hmm' moments). And I'm a huge fan of Inspector Morse, but I notice very few people in Malaysia took to that show. So, the lesson is, hit with a bang, then another bang, then another bang, and then slow down.


• Extreme characters become popular. I should already know this, but people like characters that make larger-than-life decisions. I think Baby (when she's bad) and Nickson (when he's gay) stick in many peoples' heads, whereas Amir and Melody are a little more low-key.


• Songs and music can tell stories. Duh. But what I mean is that I regret not pushing for songs that fit into the storyline better. The song then tells the story or reinforces the theme. For example, Melody singing 'All By Myself' to Burn on the rooftop. But it's hard to find songs that fit the style of the singer and the copyright/licensing restrictions that you have.


• Banter resets tension. Okay, this really isn't a lesson learnt, but it's quite funny to see how I've handled banter throughout my writing career (I do use this term loosely). At the beginning, I used to have a lot of banter, but Ping kept cutting it out. And then I learnt that "shorter is better", so I started to cut down on it myself. But then I realise that it's not that you want to cut unnecessary banter, but you need it to let stories breathe in between scenes sometimes. So now I wish I had pushed for a little more in some scenes (e.g. in Burn's dyslexia story).

Labels: realiti, tv

Realiti - Episode 10 notes

• This is the only episode that I practically had no involvement in. Although I knew broadly what was going to happen, the devil was in the details. There was a time crunch, and I had to be out of town when Ping wrote it, so the first time I saw the script was when it was a shooting draft. I had some immediate comments, but because they had to do with structure, and because they were so late in the day, they couldn't be incorporated.


• The biggest arguments I had with Ping throughout the whole series was whether to return Melody to the competition. I simply felt it was too unrealistic, and a too drama-minggu-ini for my liking. Her waking up, okay. Her fighting against the odds to see Burn for perhaps one last time at the final five performance, perhaps. But for her to have od'd, woken up, be fit enough to reenter the competition... aiyo, too much lah. So Ping and I fought, and fought, and fought. And he won out. But I have to grudgingly admit that having Jay press for her does lend credibility to it.


• A bit wierd, to see Nickson drop back into happy-gay mode after his storyline has been wrapped up. But he does work as light relief.


• Funny how Burn and Melody are a little cool to one another when you first see them meet up. I'll just assume they saw each other earlier and got the mushy stuff over and done with then.


• The attack on Wahida was a little overdone for me. My original story idea was to just have an envelope on the windshield wiper.





• Burn and Joe's phone conversation - solid gold. "Apasal lu tak bunuh aje gua malam tu, bro?"


• Baby's storyline is the weakest of the three. I got that impression from the first read. It's not clear what's happening, it's just a lot of exposition. Although Baby makes a decision at the end, it's not as strong as I would like.


• Another thing that annoyed me - Baby's kidnapper was arrested somewhere that looked very similar to where Burn and Joe met up with the drug dealers. Almost exactly the same, in fact, even though the two stories don't really have anything to do with one another. Must be a really seedy part of town.


• Cheyenne Stutzriem (Fazrina) gives quite a good performance in this episode. I don't know her that well, but we did have a conversation where I told her that if she was naughty, we'd put her in a velcro suit and stick her to the ceiling. She didn't really believe me, for some reason.


• Even though we didn't discuss this, it's interesting that Ping decided to go with the 'all the contestants love one another' idea for the episode, although it real life, you usually see some degree of factioning between the kids. It would have been an idea to get Amir/Baby facing up against Melody/Burn.


• There was that moment between Mac and Wahida which got fans of Maria Farida all a-flutter. Mac was indeed meant to have a story arc waaay when we started, but he got pushed aside by the kids' stories. And yes, the backstory (that we never actually got around to saying) is that Mac and Wahida had a pre-existing relationship.


• Carmen Soo with her hair up - nice. Carmen Soo with her long hair down - very nice.


• That bit where Mac gives the kids his farewell speech is hyper-cheesy. I would have rewritten it, for sure.


• Songs sung this episode: Best of Them All by Douglas Lim (all contestants); Selamanya by Douglas Lim (Baby); Looking Down by Douglas Lim (Melody); Akustatik by OAG (Amir).







• Personally, I really like that group piece that all five do before the final begins. They're all pretty much in tune. They all look nice. And it's a nice song. What more do you want?


• Okay. So Melissa says she's not so good at singing. I think she can actually do better than she thinks she can - it's all a vicious circle of poor confidence and self-fulfilling prophecies. However, it's horribly obvious Baby did not sing her finale song well at all. Based on the judges' comments, I can only conclude that they were all stone deaf that day, or maybe they were on some sort of hyper-optimistic happy pill.


• That bit where Burn says goodbye to Melody and she gives him her locket is really well photographed. It actually really is directly behind the stage at Sri Pentas 2, but obviously better lighted than usual.


• Although I was initiallly okay with how the Amir/Jay story ended, now I wish that Jay had a little more of a comeuppance. Suffered a bit, you know what I mean.


• We weren't quite sure who would win, right up until we were planning the ninth episode. What we did agree was that whoever won would have to also lose something. So, Melody wins, but she loses Burn. We had an alternative where Amir wins. If I remember, it was something like: Jay stops paying for the hospital bills, Dad falls ill, Amir has to decide whether to stay in the competition or go back home, Amir decides to stay, Amir sings, Amir wins, but you find out that the father has passed away. We're callous with lives like that.


• Okay, the big question that lots of people asked after the end. What happened? Is that how it ends? Is Burn dead?!! When Ping and I were planning this, we weren't thinking of a cliffhanger for season two. In fact, Ping's original idea was to have one of them die in the other's arms. Melody in Burn's, Burn in Melody's, I can't remember which. But I was worried about the sentimentality and said it should be handled really carefully. Then his script called for Joe to emerge from the back seat when Burn gets into the car, but now you don't see the death. Finally he decided on what you see on-screen, which I think is an even better ending. But I'm avoiding the question: is Burn dead? Well, I don't know. It depends if there is a second season. And even then...

Labels: realiti, tv

Best of Them All - Cast of Realiti

Labels: realiti, tv

One Step by Chelsia Ng

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Labels: realiti, tv

Realiti - Episode 9 notes

• Although Ping is credited as scriptwriter for this episode, I actually came up with the first draft of the story outline. There are big differences between that draft and the final version, and it's Ping's final script, so that's why his name is up there. But it would have been nice to have a 'story by' credit. I am indeed a whore for attention.


• Yes, the question must be asked: Why would Baby keep the photo of Fazrina when it has "I KNOW YOUR SECRET" plastered all over the back? Well, erm... because it serves the plot (*cringe*). Actually, I originally wanted it to be a letter, but Ping argued that a photo would be better because it better reminded Baby of how poorly she's stayed in touch with her daughter. Of course, if Baby wanted photos of Fazrina, all Baby would have had to do is ask Constance. But that doesn't serve the plot.


• The bits where you see Amir or Burn sitting on a ledge. Well... they are really sitting on a ledge. With no safety cables. They're not jumping around, but I myself have a very sensible fear of falling long distances, so I would have probably not done this as an actor. (There could have been a crew member ready to leap across to grab him if needed - he'd be called a grip, right? Geddit? Grip?)


• Originally, I wanted the drugs to be in tablet form, with a design etched on them. This is how they are branded, with hearts or doves, or something equally peace-loving. Ping opted for some alien-like logo. I would have preferred something more ironic.


• Joe calls girls 'chicas'. I only know one person in real life who says this, but that's license enough for me to use it in dialogue.


• Originally there was more Jay/Amir interaction about the newspaper rumour in episode 8. Because of time, it's now in episode 9.


• I don't know if Ping intentionally sourced Nike so that Joe's wearing a sweatshirt from them when he says, "As the shoe company says, Just Do It, man". But it's a nice touch.


• The scene where Dayang enters Baby's room and takes her photo was meant to be in episode 8. I originally had her find personal photos of Amir and Baby together, which she tears up in a fit of anger. After writing this, I took to calling Dayang 'Psycho Girl', and Lydia used to crinkle her pretty brow at me everytime I called her this. Of course, trust her to give a pretty sensitive portrayal on screen, so she isn't 'psycho' so much as 'sedih'.


• Incidentally, does anybody else think it's strange that Baby would have a photo of herself on her desk? Or it's just completely in line with her narcissism.






• The food that you see Dayang eating when Amir goes to see her is probably really her lunch. Lunch and dinner is provided on set, and they always come in these white polystyrene boxes, with nasi, one veg, and one bit of animal. No, the cast and crew don't get a long buffet line or a catering van or a menu. And everyone pretty much eats the same food - the only differences are halal/non-halal/vegetarian.


• I distintively remember writing the Amir/Dayang dialogue, where Amir says that why do those in the kampung accept that people help one another, but people from KL are more cynical, and assume there is an agenda. This is one thing I wanted to get through about Amir - that he is genuinely a nice guy, but in trying to be nice, he gets into trouble. I personally have a problem that I find it hard to say 'no', and when I do, it's usually too late, so there's a whole bit of me in Amir, I guess.


• That bit at the end of the Amir/Dayang conversation, when Dayang asks Amir to not see Baby again, is something that resonates with me. When I write stuff like that, it feels like I'm exposing myself - even though hardly anybody out there will know what it means.


• I think this is another good episode for Melissa and Zizan, acting-wise. Wish they were like this in Table for Two.


• I had a scene which shows Burn stealing a set of crutches, in order to pretend to be a patient and sneaking into the hospital. But, "the nurses dig me" works as well.


• When Baby slaps Amir, I keep thinking, "Hit HARDER!". Mel's just too nice.


• The montage of Burn calling for money is actually not great writing. Montages like this are shortcuts for "time passes...", where the same thing is said in practically every cut. But they're easy to write.


• Okay, authenticity check. In real life, on the day of the performance, the kids spend practically the whole day at the stage, preparing for the show later that night. In retrospect, it would have been better to set the whole episode at Sri Pentas, against a background of rehearsals. But, I think it was hard to find shooting time there, anyway. My bad, though.






• That whole bit from Burn and Joe visiting the dealers and then the ensuing fight is completely Ping. My version had a lot of detectiving, and Ping complained, "Where do they have time to do that?!!"


• So, when I set a scene in a completely new location, Ping rails at me for increasing his costs. When he writes a scene in a drug dealer's hideout in Bukit Bintang, it automatically makes the final cut. Wonder why.


• Ping said that the fight scene between Burn and Joe was incredibly intense to shoot. Ashraf and Reefa went full force into each other.


• Despite fighting in some back corridor in the seedier side of KL, note that their clothes stay clean. Most of the nicer clothes and furniture are sponsored. Don't sit on the wrong sofa on set or you'll get roundly scolded for it.


• "What do you mean, tinggal dua saja?" Hahahaha. I love that bit.


• Songs sung: Pernah by Ferhad (Baby); NowWhy2 by OAG (Amir); Ayu by VE (Burn).


• I know that even Melissa herself says she can't sing, but I think what she did for this show is pretty nice.


• "I'm Burn, man. Always ready." - My line, that. Heh.


• It's actually pretty obvious that Burn was going to lose this one. There was no reason for Amir to lose votes, and Baby's story isn't over yet.


• And yet, for those who watched the "next week" clips, you know there's one more person's story to wrap up...

Labels: realiti, tv

Realiti's Nickson: How his story came about

Labels: realiti, tv

Realiti - Episode 8 notes

• When I wrote this, I mainly dealt with the Burn storyline and the broad aspects of the Nickson story. There also was a Baby story which got shunted into the next episode. Anyway, here is the script.


• I'm not entirely happy with this episode. The Burn storyline is okay, but the Nickson and the Amir stories don't feel so natural. I wish now I had spent more time on those.


• For completeness, based on the poll for episode 7 that I posted earlier in this blog, Nickson would have been kicked out, Amir would have come out top, and Carmen Soo would have had a million-dollar recording contract.


• A lot of stories got moved around between episodes 8 and 9 (and maybe 7 too). Not enough time, and because I wrote too much anyway. This is why there might be some scenes in the script that you don't see on the screen.


• The opening scene, where Burn gets recognised by a VCD seller, was initially meant to be my humourous take on how Burn's life can never be the same now he's been on TV. Imagine getting sold a VCD on Petaling Street by Daniel. Then, somehow, the idea that grew into Burn betting on himself. I thought that Burn would have too much pride to want to rejoin this dumb competition. But when there's money on the table...


• The ringtone that interrupts Joe's work in the beginning wasn't as cheesy as I had imagined it. I wanted a monotone version 'All By Myself' (matching Melody's original song in the last showdown). Like this one. And then that song changed. Not that it was my idea to do so.


• Not once, not twice, but... many, many times, Chelsia has accused me of purposely putting her in a coma so that I didn't have to write dialogue for her to act to. "You made me lie in a hospital bed, what kind of acting can I do with that?!!". Hey, don't blame the writer, I go where the story flows, babe. (Now I'm going to get killed for calling her 'babe'...)


• I hope I didn't go too overboard with Jay in this episode. He really comes across as being a bad guy, even though Naz puts sincerity in the role.






• The bit where Mac tells Burn that David has problem paying the bills is pretty clumsy exposition. Sometimes you just want to get the facts out, so you write straight dialogue that says "He's got problems paying the bills". The only reason you might have noticed this is because you get focussed on Mac and Burn arguing on Burn rejoining the competition.


• How do I write scenes in Hokkien? I don't. I write in English, somebody else translates. (Not sure who, Douglas Lim maybe.)


• Ping regretted not having more interaction scenes between the students. In one way I agree, because those scenes can be a lot of fun - a lot of one-liners, very fast. But if the stories are good enough on their own...?


• The whole Amir/Baby-buys-Harry Potter-for-Fazrina came from Ping. It's meant to bring Amir and Baby closer together. And for a chance for Dayang to get jealous. Because Lydia playing jealous looks scarily natural. Which I like, of course.


• "Cakap dari hati". I didn't remember I put this in originally, but it's one of the things I say a lot: "Act from the heart". Now I think about it, I realise it's something that permeates all three storylines in this episode - I didn't even mean it to be this way. Sometimes the story tells you more about the writer than the story itself.


• If you go back throughout my history with Popiah Pictures, you'll notice that the shows never have good fathers in them. It's mostly either fathers who cheat or fathers who are abusive. At best, it's fathers who abandon their families. However, there was a script I did for him for an abandoned series, where a father and a daughter learned to reconcile with one another. Probably why that series was abandoned, neh?


• There's a quick bit on TV when Juliana is wearing a red dress. Mmm.


• Baby gives Amir a guitar pick. Hopefully you all with long memories will think back to when Dayang gave Amir guitar strings (back in episode 1) to show him how much she cared for him.


• I screwed up somewhere on the Baby dialogue when she's confronted by the press about her relationship with Baby. As it is, it's not clear whether she's talking about Amir or whether she thinks the idea of her having a relationship during the competition is just silly. She should avoided all doubt and said: "You ingat aku dengan Amir? Please-lah - aku pun ada standard, tahu."


• And then just before Baby goes up to perform, she can talk to Amir. "Aku nervouslah" "Baby jangan gementar. Baby boleh beri persembahan yang hebat." "Thanks." "Baby ada standard, kan?"





• The songs sung on tonight's episode: Meant to Be by Douglas Lim and Angel Wong (Baby); Khayalan by VE (Burn); Venusia by OAG (Amir); Katakan Saja by Ferhad (Nickson).


• Amir sings exactly the same song he did in the last showdown (in fact, he sings the first verse EXACTLY the same - like it's recorded or something...). I think this wouldn't have been allowed. I wonder if it's because Ping and I weren't sure exactly when he was going to get eliminated, that Azizan didn't have enough songs prepared.


• That intro to Burn's song - pretty cool cinematography. In fact, pretty cool performance all throughout.


• Don't like the laughing and booing for Nickson's and Amir's performance. A bit too loud and too much.


• The way Nickson reveals his love for Calvin on national TV was debated between me and Ping. I wanted Nickson to pull Calvin up on stage. And then just pull him. Ping showed his quiet disagreement by saying, "You're joking, right?!! Tell me you're just playing with me". Sometimes I know when to stop arguing.


• Incidentally, Ahmad Izham Omar co-wrote Katakan Saja. (Izham is Chief Operating Officer/Big Boss for 8TV.)


• My original version of Nickson's confrontation with his dad was a lot harsher. I much prefer my version over what eventually was shown.

Labels: realiti, tv

New and good stuff on TV these days

• Heroes: Best US show debuting this year. In my Humble Opinion (tm), of course. If I say that it's about a disprate group of people who each discover they have special abilities and that they try to come to grips with newfound talents while saving the world... you might think, ho-hum. So what. But it's good. Great story-telling, good characters, a true ensemble piece. Each episode has seven disprate storylines to follow, and yet it doesn't confuse. Tremendously engaging. You've got to watch it to get what I mean.


• Friday Night Lights: Based on the book and the film of the same name, it focusses on a head coach of a high school American football team and his problems in trying to mould them into a team of winners. The thing is, this team is all that the town has, and everybody invests a great deal of hope and emotion in it. It's shot in a really nice shaky-cam, docu-style way, and the acting and dialogue sound completely natural and unforced. Even if you don't like American Football (I don't), it's worth a look.


• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: Aaron Sorkin's back, baby, and he's still on form. The creator of the West Wing has returned to network television which so cruelly spurned him three years ago with a show about - wait for it - network television. It's based around a live comedy show, something like Saturday Night Live, except that it runs on Friday nights, and stars Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry (better here than in Friends, I reckon). Only unfortunate thing in real life, the ratings aren't so hot, and it may not be around past December.


• Battlestar Galactica: Yeah, baby. Season three is back with a bang. It starts off with the humans taking the battle to the cylons the only way they can - using hit-and-run tactics, inflicting maximum damage and carnage to high profile targets. Like terrorists. The cylons, on the other hand, impose martial law and use torture and severe punishment to try and keep order. Like certain present-day governments I can think of. Edgy and brave, this science fiction show debates present-day issues more effectively than any other drama on television. I've just watched episode 2, and my jaw is still hanging from what I saw happen in the end. (Also, Grace Park in a flight suit is... erm... nice.)


• Veronica Mars: Neptune's favourite chirpy-yet-noirish amateur detective is back for a third season, and she's still pretty chirpy and noirish, if a little more grown up. As if having your best friend murdered and then later, thinking your dad got blown up isn't enough to prematurely age most people. The creators are trying to move the show to a more adult level by placing Veronica in college, and tackling student rape as a storyline. And you know what? It kinda still works. Veronica may be Mars to you, but she Rocks for me.


• Realiti: Of course I had to mention this. I think it's the best locally produced thing on television this year. If anyone has seen better, tell me. But if you say Gol & Gincu - I don't think so. And I'm not just being biased - I wrote an episode for that too, you know.

Labels: tv

Realiti - Episode 7 notes

• Because it's my episode, here's the script.


• Finally, the first elimination episode. It's taken so long to get here just because we love all our characters and didn't want them to disappear so early. We actually spent a fair amount of time trying to decide who would be eliminated when, and were changing it around even during the episode 9/episode 10 drafts. And the winner? Heck, there were three names in the air up to the very end. The rule of thumb is this: if a character still has a story to tell, he/she doesn't get eliminated. Or not really eliminated anyway, as the "Next Week..." clips demonstrate this week.


• Talking about the "Next Week..." clips, I feel that it spoils the surprises. My advice is to not watch it for the next few episodes.


• Notice how Baby's wound shifts from the center of her head to the side. And then later on disappears. This indeed is the magic of television.


• There are some problems in timing. When exactly is the showdown? Baby says it's in two more days. The next day, both Juliana and Mac say that it's in two more days. What they obviously mean, because the showdown is in the evening, they have two more days to prepare. Anyway, when they say "two days", what they mean is "tomorrow".


• I wish I had written a rehearsal scene for them, but this episode has so much story in it, there isn't really much space left for anything else. The dialogue that Mac has just before the show was initially meant to be during rehearsals, but it's all talk and no sing.


• Early on in the episode, as they are meeting the fans, Nickson says something like, "ikan kat pasar tu kan, dia potong dengan laser, tahu", which is definitely not something I had written. That's Alvin for you. Ad-libber. Scene-stealer.


• In the original draft, Burn palms the drugs when Mac barges into the bathroom. Mac then grabs hold of Burn's wrist, not Melody's. I still prefer the original version. But because I don't have the word 'Producer' next to my name, they went with the other one.


• I'm actually quite happy with how the Nickson storyline works in this episode. It's not so direct about Nickson's gayness, but I hope that it's clear that that is one of the sticking points in his relationship with his father. Anyway, it's a lot more obvious next episode.


• I like the scene where Mac, Jay and David argue about whether Melody should stay in. First draft by me, and then lots of rewrites, and Ping had a strong hand in the final version, I think. Does David want Melody to stay in because it's what's is best for her? I tried to at least make you believe that he thinks he's doing the right thing.





• The scene on the roof: classic. I have no idea whether it was Ping or me who first came up with it, but it's the big scene I was waiting to write. I'm going to say it was my idea, and that I set it on the roof. It's a classic love scene where two people say they love each other, without actually using those words.


• It's one of those few scenes that didn't actually change very much from the first to the final draft. Ironically, Ping changed the scene because it was too long at the beginning. (And maybe he thought the dialogue sucked, but he didn't really say that, and I don't think that was the case either.) It ended up running a little longer, split up across two scenes.


• The line about the Twin Towers? Originally came from Ping. It's okay to use cheese if you point out it's very Drama Minggu Ini-ish in the dialogue. And when you can get a rooftop with the Twin Towers in the background. It has my blessings anyway, and I edited to keep it in with full gusto. And relish.


• One thing that did change for the rooftop scene was the song that Melody sings. Originally it was All By Myself, and I wrote the dialogue so that the lyrics really fit in with what Melody wanted to say ("Hard to be sure / Sometimes I feel so insecure / And love so distant and obscure / Remains the cure"). When Ping switched songs, he paid scant attention to the words. Who can blame him, he's just the director. I pointed this out to him, but he didn't feel moved enough by my impassionate plea to change it back. Gah. Producers.


• You do realise that all the songs the kids perform are by local artists? The simple reason is because the license to use is much cheaper than for foreign artists. I did a fair amount of research, trying to get just the right song to fit a scene, and all of it - all of it - got thrown down the drain.


• SMS competition time: SMS 'real' to 33838 for a chance to win Swatch watches and a Phil Collins CD.


• The Jay/Amir scene is really long, and surprisingly holds up, I think. Basically, long scenes with long dialogue is Dzof, shorter scenes are from Ping. He says the actors get angry with me because my dialogue so tough to say. I like the West Wing and am living proof that without skill, wordy dialogue comes out less clever, and more difficult.


• A lot of the stage preparation shots came from season 2 Malaysian Idol grand final in Genting.


• I think that in one of my earlier drafts, the kids have to force their way through a swathe of fans, and we have Burn and Amir fans fighting each other. This boils over to Burn and Amir actually fighting themselves. But it's out, probably because of budget and because it's not directly relevant to the story.





• "Ingat lirik, ya Burn" - I don't remember writing it, but it's in one of my early drafts, so it must have been my line. It gets confusing sometimes remembering which work Ping did and which I did. I want the credit, but TV writing so much a collaboration. Even the actors ad-lib a lot of the time. At the end of the day, it's a huge messy ramli-burger like thing that you hope is still edible despite the irritating undigestible bits in them.


• Aishah Sinclair (Ashraf's sister) is the host for the showdown. The judges are Fat Fabes, Carmen Soo and Fly Guy. I had a chance to watch the Carmen Soo shoot, but somebody forced me to go floating in the Klang harbour instead. (He obviously isn't a fan of Carmen Soo.)


• Songs this week: Baby by Douglas Lim (specially written for Baby), Detik Bersamamu by VE (Nickson), Venusia by OAG (Amir), Ratu Hati by Innuendo (Melody), Tiada Lagi Cinta by Ruffedge (Burn).


• The thing is, I have absolutely no idea how the kids will sing when I write the script. So, I put in the judges to make comments, so you'd have a clue of how well or badly they perform. After that, it's out of my hands, baby. Pun intended.


• One thing I almost forgot: Ping and I had a loooong discussion/argument about how Burn was going to exit the studio. I originally had him storming out before the announcer finished speaking, and then he got violent in the lobby, punching out Mac, and ended up on the back of a big black motorbike driven by Joe. And then, in the next draft, I had him punching out David. And then Amir. And then Mac again (I think). And the bike turned into a car. But, all the while, Ping kept cutting all the good stuff now, so all you get is Burn pushing away the camera in disgust. I still think a good fight would have been better.


• So Melody has a stash of drugs in her diary, and a big one at that. I liked the idea that something so personal, would also be where she hid her sin. Makes you think again why she was angry when Burn read her diary in episode 5.

Labels: realiti, tv

Realiti - Episode 6 notes

• Well I enjoyed it. There were times I had to remind myself I wrote this piece. Ah… what a nice change from me cringing at the sofa and watching the show from in between my fingers.


• The pace picks up from here to the end of the season, as we're about to hit the elimination stretch of the show. The debate is still a little out I guess on whether we should have kicked out contestants earlier on, since some on the forums are saying, "Eh, how come nobody voted out yet?", but I don't want to have lost characters before we had a chance to tell their stories.


• Melody and Burn’s character have blossomed which is, yeah. When we were at pre, pre- production stages, we weren’t sure with whom Burn should have a relationship with or at least seemingly having a relationship with. A lot of hours debating in a particular coffee shop ensued, with Ping wanted him to go with Baby, Dzof was … can’t remember but I am certain he had a long commentary on who should go with whom and why. So much so, Ping decided it is not working to have all the writers in one sitting because he said we kind of sidetracked from the storylines, sometimes, …Okay so Dzof and I joked a lot because we were looking at our past experiences to see whether the story sticks or was it too incomprehensible. Anyway, I thought it would not be much fun having Burn and Baby together because I imagined Baby would have many of those kinds of friends in the past. Melody provided a much needed stress for Burn because for one, she’s kind of messed up, does not clamour for his undying attention unlike the rest of the fans and she is a chick in trouble. So, that worked out pretty well. Besides, Baby would not have given him a toss.
• Agreed. Although I thought the Melody/Amir combo had a lot of nice possibilities too.


• Speaking of Baby, I like it when she told Amir, “Get out of my sight!” that was fun to write and watch. I like writing such things for her and I like Amir to be the rough diamond type but somehow I didn’t get it out the way I had envisaged him as. Amir seemed a bit lost, which maybe I am not too sure why but maybe Dzof can fill us in as he is always at the shoot. Well, seemingly he is always at the shoot.
• Indeed. I live for the reflected glory that are Malaysian TV stars.


• I kind of like the way Ping had grilled and re-grill me when I was writing this episode. Every time I am pleased with my writing and send him the copy with a glee on my face, he will undoubtedly comeback with remarks such as “..the opening not fast enough-la”or “The middle too slow,..” sometimes I get, “the juicy bits too late it’s about to end already….” That went on for several weeks. It could get quite arghhhh!! But I liked it, it was all worth the anxiety, frustration et el because the end product was fun (to me). In particular I liked the ending, it was fast, lots of going ons and a cliff hanger… although I remembered mine had a car chase…. Yeah when I wrote in Ping did look skeptical that I was turning it into a thriller. The only comment was I thought the police were slow. I mean like the car boot scene, huh? He had to wait? Why not just smash the windscreen and open the boot? Right? I missed something there.
• I was talking to Anne the other day, and she said that she thought the original chase scene was a little bit 24-ish. And out of budget too. What I always say as a writer is just write first, worry about the budget later!


• Dzof thought the ending was a bit ….blah and maybe he said cliché. Okay can’t have everything. But one thing for sure the heat is on.
• Hah. You just wait for the cliff-hanger next week.


• Dayang has more emotions in this one, so does Melody, Burn and Wahida. Amir is kind of Mr. Perfect, I didn’t see the dilemma he was suppose to be in as Ping had wanted in, so maybe that’s the writer’s shortcomings. Other wise it was fun. Okay Dzof now you can say whatever you like. Hahahaha.
• Already have, babe.


• Some thoughts on the Nickson storyline. I swear, this episode's story came out before a similar storyline on Lost (the one where the Korean girl meets that hotel manager). Complete coincidence. I thought I may have came up with it, but a quick search through email shows the first time it's mentioned to me is in script form already. Things get so confusing sometimes. I do remember saying that maybe Nickson should help the girl solve her problem, and in doing so realise that he is in a similar predicament, but it was shortened.


• Talking about short, this episode comes in at under forty minutes, which must be some sort of record for what some call a 1-hour show. As it is, anything over forty four minutes is long, so I'm trying to figure out if anything was cut. There was that bit when Amir goes and visits Baby, and the video goes all slow, six-million dollar man like, but I looked at the script, and I don't think there really was anything cut out.

Labels: realiti, tv