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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

My PC.com column gives some basic tips on digital filmmaking

A while ago, Erna asked me to write a column about digital filmmaking for the December 2007 issue of PC.com magazine.



My very first column for the magazine, called 'Dreams of Digital Filming', provides some basic tips on digital moviemaking and also a sneak peek into the 'Malaysian New Wave', an independent digital film movement that captured the attention of some of the biggest international film festivals in recent years.

Minus the glossy special effects and postproduction gimmicks enjoyed by Hollywood directors, filmmaking becomes a purer form for the independent digital filmmakers, more emphasis has to be placed on content, performances, themes and mood in their attempts to engage audiences. As long as audiences do not have a preconceived notion that all films HAVE TO look as slick and glossy as Hollywood films.

Will you believe me if I tell you that when it comes to digital filmmaking, Malaysia is considered one of the best in the world? That this is one of the reasons why independent Malaysian films have received so much attention in film festivals around the world?

Often, the low-budget independent digital films from other countries I've seen, including those from United States and China, look grainy and 'home video'-ish, while the digital cinematography in most of our well-known indie films, thanks to the creative uses of visual composition and lighting, has a pristine look that is dissimilar from filmic cinematography, and good enough to not look like home videos.


To read the rest of the column, go and buy the year-end special issue of PC.com magazine at bookstores near you (Malaysia only).

Merry Christmas!

(... too bad Erna mispelled my name at the Editor's Notes though.)