indonesia production note #2: the development

To continue my last post, now I’ll tell you how I developed the ideas and theme that I already had in mind for my film. Now, in my opinion, this is the hardest part, because on one side if I didn’t manage to develop the idea and how to convey it to the audience, then I’ll be screwed, because this film will just be a deep fried bullshit. But on the other hand, this is also a fun part because I get to study and really absorb my influences, learn how the great directors narrated their idea through the lenses.

I quickly listed all the directors that I really loved, and soon I was watching some of their works. I went to the library and grab a copy of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “El Topo” and watched it there, while taking notes of events and technical stuff that occured on that movie. Still hungry for more influence, I bought Tarsim Singh’s “The Cell” and David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive”, watched them and analyzed them slowly. I didn’t pick these movies by accident, because I knew that these movies have the elements that I want in my film, weird visual, weird storyline and non-linear storytelling. The only reason why I grabbed them is because I wanted to learn how these elements are applied correctly in films.

Around that time, I was also pretty much influenced by the minimalist drone metal work of musician such as Sunn O))), Earth and Boris. I really love how the minimalistic elements in their music works, and I’ve been a fan of them for several years now. Subsequently, I also learned that experimental films are like music, they have motif and variations, motion in screens also have that degree of rhythm. Now if we speak of these slow, minimalistic drone music, then the motif and variations becomes something really highly valued. The music is so slow and repetitive that a single small variation can give a lot effects. I thought that this would be a nice element of the film to have.

So to put everything together, here’s what I did. I wrote all the things that I wanted to say, and then I roughly mapped those things into different scenes, so that every scenes will have different meanings. I already had one thing on my mind that this film will be filled with different weird and symbolic scenes, so I’ll try to follow that rule while making the rough storyboard. While making those scenes on my head, I keep on referencing the note gathered from watching the aforementioned movies. To create the sequences tempo of those scenes, I put the drone-metal influence on the table, making series of movement in my head.

The exhausting process of development came to an end when I finally set the 9 pictures I will have on my storyboard.

Indonesia Production Note #1: The Theme

So after I proudly finished my first ever film, I figured that this would be the perfect time to write about the production of this film, as a reflection for me and as a story for you dear readers. I’ll write these production notes in a sequence of articles, so bare with me as I start the first installment: the theme of the film.

One thing that I’ve learned from all the great movies that I’ve watched and all the artwork that I’ve encountered, is how much they are all influenced by social issue. As for me, I consider myself as a nationalist and I’ve always want to create an artwork that is socially conscious on one hand as well as political on the other hand. Well I never had that chance when I was in a band, the only closest thing with that was me writing some absurd lyric back when I was in high school.

With all that in mind, I think this would be the perfect timing to unleash my social-political view. A first time experience is always the purest thing upon creation of things. It’s a time where there’s a unique mix of curiosity, eagerness and fear. This is also a time to practice what I’ve learned from all the movies I’ve seen, and putting everything on the table.

So again, I’ve decided that this movie will be filled with my view of the current social-political condition of Indonesia. Specifically, I will highlight the conflict between people, the power of electronic media to the rise and fall of Indonesia. I have to address these several issue, because I’ve been so much bothered by these. When I formulated this theme, basically the headline of the Indonesia’s news is conflicts between these groups of people with no action whatsoever from the government. I was (and still) do think that the country has been diverted from the truth by the media, and as a citizen, we are forced to follow these view produced by the higher power (which is not God). Media never provided or suggested a solution to these conflicts, they just amplified it for everyday consumption of people. As a result, seeds of conflict inside the society are planted slowly and it’s just a matter of time before a bigger and bigger conflicts are to explode.

This is what bother me and I will not stay still. I will tell this story.