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Rocket Rain, Anggun Priambodo's first feature film that was officially released on March 1, 2014, might not have a plot but it is loaded with themes that are more or less linked to all of us. Written by Tumpal Tampubolon and produced by Babibutafilm in collaboration with buttonijo, the film fuses the concerns of daily life with splashes of surrealism and fantasy.
Here is a list of recommended reads for next week’s Fantastic Film Feast discussion: Southeast Asian Films with Apichatpong Weerasethakul “For me, story is secondary to feelings, and when you try to explain so much you are losing the beauty and locality. When you travel abroad there will be many things you cannot understand. I don’t need to explain that, it is the beauty of differences, accept it for what it is. Film is not a textbook; it is a different form of expression. If you really want to reach a wide international audience, then what kind audience? Because there are so many. Do you want to be a textbook and make everything clear? It depends. For me, I prefer to make the film as much as I want to understand.” Film Craftmanship with Mouly Surya “In my opinion, even though it won’t apply to everyone, I am not talking about feeding the students with bulky theoretical thoughts but there are conventions in filmmaking that people should understand before they start filmmaking. A degree of knowledge has to be learnt to understand a film within the first five minutes of its inception. Think of it as a language. I see film as a language to communicate. Filmmakers need to understand this visual language. I don’t believe in an instinctive filmmaker, moreover I don’t believe in talent. There is basic knowledge about filmmaking that people need to acquire if they are truly interested in their craft.” The Persisting Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema by Martin Scorcese “Now we take reading and writing for granted but the same kinds of questions are coming up around moving images: Are they harming us? Are they causing us to abandon written language? We’re face to face with images all the time in a way that we never have been before. And that’s why I believe we need to stress visual literacy in our schools. Young people need to understand that not all images are there to be consumed like fast food and then forgotten – we need to educate them to understand the difference between moving images that engage their humanity and their intelligence, and moving images that are just selling them something.” Film as Film by Malcolm Thorndike Nicholson “I do not mean to suggest that the critics above are not thoughtful or knowledgeable enough about film as an art. Yet the aspects of filmmaking these critics are ignoring are hardly peripheral. They are as crucial to the effect of a movie as brushstrokes and pigment are to a painting. And remembering the question we began with – in the digital age what is left for a critic to supply? – it makes their absence all the more relevant. It doesn’t follow that critics should suddenly ignore narrative and character development and spend 500 words analyzing camera technique; that would be fatally boring, as well as alienating. But reviewing films as if they are stories that merely happen to be told using a camera can often miss the point. Most importantly, the sort of writing we currently lack can, and has, been done successfully before.” Towards a New Film Criticism by Willie Osterweil “Entertainment reinforces the narcissistic myth of the consumer as master of his own experience: In the movies, a protagonist always wins by making the right choices or loses by making the wrong ones. The important thing isn’t success or failure, tragedy or comedy, it’s the protagonist’s individual responsibility: If he’s crushed, it’s because he picked a fight with an enemy too powerful to overcome. If he finds love, success, and happiness, it’s because he did the right things starting from a level playing field where anyone can succeed. But the individual’s actions provide cover for the systematic processes of alienation and exploitation. By focusing on the film-historical context—the aesthetic idiosyncrasies of an individual film or its connections to other films by genre, crew, or cast—film criticism fails to see the intentions and desires of the film industry, the only active subject in major cinema. In doing so, film criticism colludes with the entertainment industry’s massive project of commodifying experience. By treating entertainment products as a mirror of social experience, film criticism legitimates capitalist alienation while cheapening the possibilities of art. The point is not, however, to become silent. A new film criticism must emerge: By evaluating a film’s methods of production, its place in the film current, and its similarities to concurrently released films on top of its individual contents, film criticism can understand the multiplex’s true ideological effects and reveal new avenues of cinematic pleasure.” Tuesday, March 25, 2014 7–9 pm Kinokuniya Plaza Senayan (near the language section) Jl. Asia Afrika 8 Sogo Plaza Senayan Lt. 5 Jakarta 10270 Please look out for more #WeDiscuss updates on our Facebook page and Twitter account! If you’d like to share your opinions, or if you have friends who’d like to share theirs, sign up via e-mail with the subject title “We Discuss” at ! If you have comments or questions, tweet us @wjournal.
Working as a translator in a game company, Abebe Tinari is a game fan with insight into how games are made. While the term “creator” puts emphasis on the person doing the creating, ultimately the type of games that get made are dictated by sales. It's up to us as players to make sure great games succeed. This is the final part of Abebe's unique series on video games.
Film is surely no one-dimensional topic. There are so many aspects to it, but in order for us to be able to discuss it within two hours, we have to select only several parts of the field. In an attempt to spice things up a little bit, and perhaps look at film from another perspective, we are going to connect it with terms associated with food. Preparing and Cooking - In “The Persisting Vision: Reading the Language of Film,” Martin Scorcese highlights the three main elements, or “ingredients” in films: and. - Light: “Light is at the beginning of cinema, of course. It’s fundamental – because cinema is created with light, and it’s still best seen projected in dark rooms, where it’s the only source of light.” - Movement: As opposed to photographs (still images), film involves motion, but not only of the subjects within the film – there is also the movement of time. - Time: The time setting (or settings in the film) and “real” time (of the audience). Film allows us to experience several time periods at a time. - Additional “spices” (e.g. soundtracks, special effects) - And then there is the question of how to mix the ingredients and cook it well. What are the standards? Who sets the standards – the chef or the diner? - What is the significance of appetizers or complementary snacks – teasers and trailers? Presentation, Consumption and Digestion - To what extent can a film succeed without including all of the vital “ingredients? Perhaps it is possible to consider the analogy of a restaurant, with which one could also depend on the ambience/atmosphere – the “mood” – of the film rather than the plot. - “As in the case of many great films, maybe all of them, we don’t keep going back for the plot. is a matter of mood as much as it’s a matter of storytelling,” wrote Scorcese. He suggests that while a good plot might make a great impression, it is the mood that has the power to make us want to see a particular film again. But do you think it is possible for the mood to be at the center of a film? - In our interview with the Thai independent director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, he states that for him, “Story is secondary to feelings, and when you try to explain so much you are losing the beauty and locality.” He also noted that it’s not possible to appeal to everyone in the “international audience” as it is so diverse. Like food, it is perhaps difficult to create a “universal taste” that ignores the existence of the long histories of cultures. - Do you think that the “mood” of a film can cross national borders? Can it solve the problem language barriers (despite the use of subtitles) and culturally specific gestures? Or if the mood is not enough, how about the visual presentation of the film? Do you think that aesthetics (cinematography, set and costume design, etc.) can draw more people to a particular film? - Please also keep in mind that there is also the choice of a light meal (in terms of content, or the "short film") and a heavy meal (again, in terms of content and "feature film"). The Director, The Actor, The Audience, The Critic - “We were living through the emotional truths on the screen, often in coded form, which these films from the 1940s and 1950s sometimes expressed in small things: gestures, glances, reactions between the characters, light, shadow. These were things that we normally couldn’t discuss or wouldn’t discuss or even acknowledge in our lives,” wrote Scorcese. Do you think that a certain degree of “literacy” is necessary to pick up the subtitles of the cinematic language Scorcese suggests? - Perhaps literacy is in an important tool for the audience. Appreciation can be emotional or based on instincts, but if one is able to pinpoint the exact reason as to why they appreciate something – that is, if they understand and are able to explain one’s reasons for liking a certain film – do you think that the impression will last longer? - In your opinion, what are the most important elements in the relationship between the director, the actor, the audience, and the critic? What do you think can cause conflicts among them? Tuesday, March 25, 2014 7—9 pm Kinokuniya Plaza Senayan Please look out for more #WeDiscuss updates on our Facebook page and Twitter account! If you’d like to share your opinions, or if you have friends who’d like to share theirs, sign up via e-mail with the subject title “We Discuss” at ! If you have comments or questions, tweet us @wjournal.
As an anime and music enthusiast, Dylan Amirio laments over the fact that "music is an underutilized aspect of anime." He believes that music has to the power to attract more people of diverse interests to various anime series. In the first part of "Look to Listen," Dylan's series on music, he shares his favorite anime soundtracks.
In a world that is increasingly interdependent, individuals who are actively contributing to the creative scenes of their own countries will eventually need to reach out to those living elsewhere. Asian Creatives is a book compiled by Ubies, a Japanese social network service that aims to connect the creative communities throughout Asia.
