"Project U" Downtown Jakarta

Sorry for the long delay between updates, it's been a very hectic month. BTW attached is the traffic ambience of downtown Jakarta.

Jakarta Rush Hour

Traffic Jam Ambience

"Project U" Early Scenes

Attached is the early panels of Project U. This serves as one of the introduction scenes depicting Jakarta "Selamat Datang" statue in the glasses' reflection.

Welcome to Jakarta!!

"Project U" Page 8 Color Version

This morning I received quite a number of progress updates on my comic. Attached is the color version of page 8. As usual, feel free to comment:)

I think black underwear is more appropriate in this situation:)

"Project U" Page 11 Pencil Version

Hi guys, it's been quite some time since the last update. This time I upload the pencil version of page 11.

First action scene:D

"Project U" Page 10 Pencil Version

This morning I received quite a number of progress updates. Here I attach one of them, feel free to comment:)

Finally, the action starts to unfold;)

"Project U" Page 8 (Pencil Version)

Another day, another update. This time it's the pencil page of page 8. Enjoy & feel free to leave feedback:)

Don't worry, the story is still Teen-rated:P

"Project U" Page 2 (Color Version)

As promised, here is the color version of the same page as the last post.

Jakarta people will definitely recognize the references in this page:)

"Project U" Page 2 (Pencil Version)

Last night I received an update from the artist. It is the first 2 pages of the comic. Attached below is the pencil version of page 2. I will upload more this weekend as the color version becomes available.

For those who don't know, it is the National Monument

"Project U" Storyboard

Today I got the comic storyboard from the artist. Apparently, it has grown from 24 pages to 38 pages long. Now I have to think of how to trim it to less than 35 pages, preferably 32 pages.

Draft Storyboard

"Project U" Costume Design

Another quick update on the comic project. This time I upload the costume design for the lead female character in preview issue #0.

The shoes still need to be tweaked;)

"Project U" Final Character Design

Just a quick update on the finalized character design, this time the artist did tackle it according to my expectation. BTW do feel free to provide some feedback:)

Finally, Here She Is!

"Project U" Alternate Color Test Page

This morning I receive another color test page from the studio head. This time I instantly fall in love with the visual style. The only thing to be revised is the facial features. Well, the heroine's face needs to be more "feminine". Hopefully, next week I can have it all rectified and ready to enter production phase *can't wait!!!*

Final Color Test Page, I Think^^

"Project U" Color Test Page

Just a quick update. I received the color test page for Project U just now. Somehow I think that something is still off with this test page. The color ambience doesn't have that chemistry or connection to the feel of the overall scene. But I decided to post it here for you all to see. Anyway, comments are much appreciated and I welcome your suggestions.

Something's Still Not Right:\

PAGE Awards Script Notes

This morning I got an email from PAGE Awards regarding the judge feedback on my screenplay. FYI, I entered my drama script last May for PAGE International Screenwriting Awards 2011. It is my first ever screenplay and the script I entered is the second draft so I know there is still a lot of stuffs to be improved, but since the submission deadline is very tight I decided to enter it anyway.

I decided to share the judge's feedback on my script for all of you to read. I know it's a FAIL (55 out of 100), but it motivates me to keep rewriting and improving my storytelling skill. Also by entering the competition, I got the feedback from Hollywood's associate producer and script supervisor, who has worked on the projects by Warner Bros, Disney, New Line, Paramount, MGM, United Artists, and Fox. I also attach a feedback from a script doctor named Eric (not related to PAGE Awards) and since his feedback is very constructive, I also share it here for all of you to read.

Updated "Project U" Pencil Test Page

Just a short post to update you of Project U progress. Yesterday I received this pencil test page from the artist, so far so good. If you paid attention and compared this test page with the previous draft, you might notice there's a slight change on the bottom panel. Attached are 2 different drawing styles, which one do you prefer? BTW next stop is the coloring phase, hopefully I can have it done in the next few days. Let me know what you think:)

Which Style Do You Prefer?

"Project U" Character Design

Another day, another update. Attached below are the character design for the upcoming comic "Project U". Which one is better?:)

First Draft

Second Draft

"Project U" Thumbnails

Just a small update on the progress of my comic. This week I received the rough thumbnails of the first volume. After some revisions, the artist came back with clean thumbnails to be used as test page. Here I upload one of the thumbnail for each version, rough & clean.

 

Rough thumbnail

 

 Clean thumbnail

Comic Project Begins

Heya fellows! It's been quite some times since my last update. As you might have read from my previous post that I've finished my screenplay. The thing is, finding a producer or director who's interested in my (an unknown writer) script is not an easy task. Couple this with the fact that my script requires a huge investment (a lot of scenes need special FX) and the current condition of our local film industry, I'm sure Indonesia is not a good place to start. I guess my script was born in the wrong time and at the wrong place.

Then I started to look for other media to deliver my story. The cheapest one would be rewriting my screenplay into a novel. But with a full-time job in a company with no relation whatsoever to arts (let alone fine arts) as well as having no talent in writing a novel, finally I resort to comic medium. From the cost viewpoint, it is more efficient than producing a feature film, that's for sure. But comic is not cheap to produce too. However, I already told myself since last year that "No matter what, I have to tell my story to the world!"

So, I shop around for local comic artist and I stumbled on a studio called Caravan. To cut things short, I've met the studio head (a nice bloke) and also seen some of their works (including the working environment). I decided to hire their service to realize my vision. I designate this project with a codename "U". Thus, this week is the starting point and I hope within the next one or two months the first volume will be ready. Wish me luck!!!^_^

Berbagi Informasi Tentang Penulisan Naskah Film

Yo guys, berhubung gw barusan menyelesaikan naskah gw yg kedua maka gw pengen berbagi pengalaman (meskipun belum banyak) tentang proses penulisan naskah film. Berikut ini gw list daftar website yang menurut gw sangat banyak membantu dalam proses penulisan screenplay:
- The Script Lab: website yang bersifat umum tentang screenplay.
- Script-o-rama: di sini bisa download berbagai script dari film2 blockbuster Hollywood.
- Celtx: aplikasi open-source (gratis) yang menurut gw paling bagus untuk membantu proses pre-production & penulisan naskah.
- Script Doctor Eric: script doctor yang menawarkan jasa (gw sendiri udah pernah pake jasa dia & menurut gw sangat profesional & nasihat yg diberikan sangat konstruktif).
- John August: screenwriter Charlie's Angels yang banyak memberikan tips & tricks di blognya.
- Ashley Meyers: blog yang memberikan banyak tips bagus bagi yang mau menjual naskah ke Hollywood.

Moga2 link2 di atas bisa membantu teman2 sesama penulis pemula. Gw sendiri sebetulnya lagi nyari website ekuivalen seperti di atas ini tapi yg versi Indo, tapi gak pernah nemu2. Kalaupun ada, udah jarang diupdate isinya. Kalau ada yang tau, bagi2 info yah. Thanks;)

PS: bagi yg berminat baca sample script gw bisa diakses di sini.

Naskah Film Kedua Akhirnya Kelar!

Eureka!!! Akhirnya screenplay gw yang kedua kelar juga setelah melalui masa pre-production lebih dari 2 tahun (baca posting gw yang ini). Dan hari ini juga gw udah buat sinopsisnya sebanyak hampir 4 halaman. Sekedar info bahwa script kedua ini tebalnya 180 halaman (bagi para pembaca yg kalau kebetulan adalah penulis naskah kawakan, yap naskah gw ini kelebihan 60 halaman dari yg normalnya 120 halaman). Jadi kalau dibuat film kemungkinan running timenya bisa sekitar 2,5 jam.

Next step is... nyari produser yang berminat memfilmkan naskah ini yg gw rasa akan berat di Indo karena genre script gw ini adalah action sci-fi yang budgetnya pasti juga bakal gede. Kalopun nantinya ngga nemu produser yang minat yah paling coba gw wujudkan script ini dalam bentuk storyboard dulu. Anyway, wismilak yah guys:)

Behold, my second script!^^

Blackberry Playbook Bugs

It's been a long time since my last blog entry, which is more than a year already!!! Anyway, this morning I just received my shiny Blackberry Playbook imported from US through eBay. I played with it straightaway, of course! After went through some initial setup I found out that the wifi is quite buggy. It took me more than 5 attempts to register with my access point, which works with all of my other stuffs (my laptop, Xbox 360, iPad, even my Blackberry Torch). Then it threw me a Blackberry ID agreement page, which I struggled for quite some time to get through it since it frequently lost the Internet connection.

This is where things got interesting. I turned off the Playbook and switched it back on. I thought that I'd just redo the whole setup thing from scratch while restarting my access point to get a fresh start. Once I switched it back on, the screen went like below screenshots.



As you see, the screen got the burn-in/ghosting of the previous images. I finally managed to went through all the setup & tutorial. The Playbook is now functional (everything works), but the screen color & burn-in/ghosting thing remains. I even tried to do the hard reset (hold volume up, down, & power button for 10 seconds) and security wipe but to no avail. If only I can do battery pull then it will refresh the screen to normal, but there is no such way to do that:(


I googled everywhere and searched forums like Crackberry, Blackberry Rocks, etc but I couldn't find any solution. It seems that it's only me who suffers from this problem. So here I am, stuck with the malfunctioned screen and I'm in Australia. All I can do is hope that RIM will release a way to solve this problem.