Notes: Interactive Location

{ January 4, 2008 @ 10:34 am } · { Notes }
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What is a location?

A setting e.g.: Siberia, void deck, Mom’s house

A physical place
The place in your story where events occur and characters interact

Interactive Location

a setting and surrounding that interacts with the characters of the film by adding importance to their actions
An environment which impacts the action and heightens the stakes

E.G: Jurassic Park

Location – A zoo/amusement park located on an island off the coast of Central America

Interactive Location – The island is completely isolated, and anyone on it will be trapped until assistance from the mainland arrives

Notes: Actions

{ December 14, 2007 @ 1:30 pm } · { Notes }
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Story is Action

• Action is any kind of activity, movement interaction of characters with their surroundings
• Talking about feelings is not as powerful as illustrating why they do the things they do

Film is behaviour

• Actions are simply the manifestations of behaviour
• Human emotions are understood by watching the actions and reactions of the characters

Dynamic Action

• Has the potential to enrich the experience of the audience by building an emotional relationship between the characters and the audience

the end of the beginning.

{ December 14, 2007 @ 3:41 am } · { Reflections }
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We’re approaching 2008 fast, the beginning of the new year. And we’ve reached the ultimate of our first semester. Time has gone by swiftly. I’ve enjoyed Storytelling this semester. A word to describe this module would be, orgasmic. No, it doesn’t mean I had an orgasm. It simply means that it has been enjoyable and exciting. So here is my final Reflections.

I watched The Kingdom and American Gangster recently, both shows really showed what a wretched world we live in. With all this violence, it seems like the world is literally burning. We in Singapore, are so fortunate that we don’t realise how troubled it is in other parts of the world.

In American Gangster, we see the rise of Frank Lucas played by Denzel Washington. Frank Lucas is the biggest drug lord in America, in the 1970s. While it may not be a classic like The Godfather, it is definitely intense. A crime story, we see the lives of a detective and a crime lord. We enter the world of drug abusers, and it is scary. The deaths, and crime of these people is so horrifying that you’d wonder if the world we are living now is actually Hell itself. Bent cops, deaths in the streets and a community filled with drugs, it is really pure anarchy.

Meanwhile, in The Kingdom we see the problem of the modern word. Terrorists. It is a also a crime story, but seems more action packed. Jamie Foxx plays an FBI agent trying to find the terrorist responsible for attacking an American community in Saudi Arabia. While, this story seems above average at best it shows how extreme this people are. The lengths they’d go to, for their “beliefs”. I do not wish to comment on their beliefs, but what I’d like to mention is the terror they bring to the world today. We should all be afraid of this threat, it is so real. The world is literally tearing itself apart.

What has this world turn to? If this is just the beginning, I do not want to witness how much worse it can get. Here’s for world peace.

Short Stories: Forlorn (People Watch Edition)

{ December 14, 2007 @ 2:34 am } · { Short Stories }
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Thursday, 14th November 2007. 2.33pm.

Roy sits, alone as usual, on the long table at the back of the canteen. He looks around the canteen, trying to see if there is anybody he knows. He snorts to himself dejectedly.

“Do I even know anyone, at all?” he mumbles quietly to himself.

Roy turns to his plate of fruits. He starts to eat carefully, making sure none of the fruits drop onto his well-ironed clothes. Wearing a dark green long sleeved shirt and neatly combed hair, Roy is a very well maintained person. He continues eating his fruits, observing the people around him intently.

Friday, 15th November 2007. 2.47pm.

Roy walks to his usual seat, at the back of the canteen. Today, he is wearing a black blazer and looking as neat as ever. He tries to make eye contact with the people at the other tables, but everyone ignores him. He sighs heavily as he sits down. He looks gloomy as he starts eating his fruits. He stares at the plate of the fruits. They are probably his sole comfort everyday.

Roy looks up, as three women passes by his table. He smiles at them. Yet none of them notices. It is as if he does not exist. Everyone in the canteen remain oblivious of his presence. Downcast, Roy continues eating his juicy fruits.

Monday, 16th November 2007. 2.14pm.

Roy watches a man and his daughter, sitting at the table across of him, intently. This while doing his daily routine of having fruits for lunch. He munches the small watermelon pieces with satisfaction.

“Be careful darling, its hot,” John says to his daughter as he feeds her a spoonful of the chicken rice.

His daughter blows at the rice before smiling at her father.

“That’s my girl,” smiles John proudly.

Roy watches with envy. A small piece dropped, missing his pants by inches. Roy looks irritated with himself. He doesn’t want to dirty his clean suit. He pushes his unfinished plate of fruits aside and stares at them. His expression changes to one full of concentration. He makes up his mind and gets up from his place and walks towards the father and child.

John hugs her daughter. She is his pride and joy. She smiles every single time he hugs her after he feeds her. As Roy approaches, John looks up.

“Don’t ever leave your daughter. I know what it feels like not having someone there for you. Look at me now, a nobody. A forlorn figure. I wished my dad showed the same love you have for your daughter,” Roy mutters with difficulty.

He tries to smile, but it looks more like he has trouble opening his mouth. Roy walks away miserably.

John looks at him, bewildered.

Short Stories: The Golden Monkey

{ December 14, 2007 @ 1:55 am } · { Short Stories }
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Salihin puts on his hula girl outfit and enters the temple. He walks briskly to the main area of the temple, ignoring the stares by those around him as if he is used to it. He smiles politely to a monk who is approaching him. The monk however, looks furiously at Salihin. Again politely, Salihin waves the monk away as if to say that he doesn’t wish to be stopped and be bombarded with questions. The monk starts to ask him to leave the temple now. Ignoring the monk, Salihin continues to walk briskly towards the altar where the statue of the Golden Monkey is placed. Joined by more elders, the monk continues to follow Salihin. The monk is getting getting frustrated at him.

Knowing he is attracting the attention of the entire temple, Salihin stops abruptly several feet away from the altar. The elders surrounds him and demand to know what is his purpose of visit. He smiles wearily at them this time without answering any of their questions, before focusing his gaze on the Golden Monkey. He stares intently at the statue without even blinking his eyes. The room seems to have gone silent to him, and all that matters now is the statue. Suddenly, a hand grabs his right arm.

Salihin turns slowly to look at the monk who is touching him. Without mustering any expression, he turns away and walks slowly towards the exit. All eyes are on him as he slowly walks across the main area of the temple. This time however Salihin’s eyes are focusing on the tiny window near the main area. And then he sees what he is waiting for. A black clad figure stealthily climbs in the window. Nobody else notices the figure moving towards the Golden Monkey and stealing it. The figure then exits through the same window quickly. Salihin smiles widely and proceeds to exit the temple.

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