The Making of Becoming Royston: From Dream to Reality1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteFrom a casual conversation during a drive to dinner, to the surprise nominations for Asian Festival of 1st Films — we are going to share this amazing one year journey with everyone.
Presented in parts, we will reveal how we transformed a short story into a screenplay. How we did casting calls and re-wrote parts to suit the cast. How we begged and borrowed equipment after we ran out of money halfway through the production.
How a little short film project became a feature. How we wanted Becoming Royston to be a part of everyone’s life. How a group of crazy people tried to convince each other that going against practical logic was worth it.
Stay tuned for a play by play account of ” … the script is in my head!”
Technorati Tags: sinema, Singapore cinema, Singapore film, Becoming Royston
Nicholas Chee
Hey mo! I was a little hesitant about doing this actually. It is one to do something and another to sit and wait for criticism. When we were rushing out the 85 min version just to make it in time for the Asian Festival of 1st Films, we knew we had to make do with whatever we have. Audio quality was terrible (again, no more money left) What went through my mind was that we had to get it out, otherwise we'll risk being pulled out of the festival. Film making isn't just about turning great stories into cinema box-office breakers. It's about having something to say and saying it via the medium of film (as opposed to writings, music, photography, etc). On a larger scale, it's about managing expectations; both internal and external. It is tremendously tiring and especially after jumping for a 5 min short to a episodic/short/feature product, I have a newfound respect for filmmakers. It is no longer about being cool (I remember back in those days where we prospective design students can't wait to carry a huge-ass A1 size portfolio bag just to look different from everyone else, only to ditch it after 1 week - knocking into people on the bus all the time ain't so cool anymore). I've written the preface and the editor is giving it a nice cleanup right now. I'll write a new chapter every 4 days and hopefully that would give an insight of how we did it. I don't know how others did it but maybe other filmmakers might do the same afterwards. We couldn't have persisted if not for the many emails we've received, the encouragement and the "thank yous". This is just a little something back. x)
mo
Just now had an argument with a friend over this issue: daring the improbable versus dismissing the impossible. So I'm all eager to read more on your heroic feat - and let you make my point! I truly hope that the courage you displayed, the inspiration you provide for so many out there will earn its respect and due recognition, I really do. Keep it going and share what you've achieved with everyone, wherever!