How CMT Convergence & Reality Show Bridged Me with Live MV Experience (Part 1)

It's been a month of my tenure working on media industry. Lots of insights and experiences gained along the way. I finally figured out why some people could be so chauvinist of their company's products :))
 However, my post here was fully written under objective judgement :)
 
Working on Business Development function essentially drives me to think about the future of the Company & industry. In brief, at this moment, all media companies around the world basically are going towards the same trend: Convergence, specifically CMT convergence. It's a terminology for the combination of Communication, Media, and Technology (CMT).

CMT Space

Now, we all can taste the delicateness of using mobile phone for communication, internet, movies, audios, etc. In several developed countries, there have been lots of development on mobile TV, where basically by plugging in a dongle, we can watch all TV channels on iPad / any other tablets. And.... many more CMT convergence development beyond our imagination.

Not only had the hardware (TV set) adopted the convergence, but also the software (TV programs, artists, fan base, etc) itself has also transformed towards this trend. One of the concrete examples is how current talent show utilized twitter to get more viewers & higher ratings.

Indonesian Talent Shows

It's interesting to talk about Indonesian talent shows. At this moment, we have 3 popular shows (excluding the ones for kids), i.e.: IMB / Indonesia Mencari Bakat (Trans TV),  X-Factor Indonesia (RCTI), and The Voice Indonesia (Indosiar). All are broadcasted by the biggest audience-share media groups (MNC, EMTEK, and Transcorp.). Without any means to expel IMB, X-Factor and The Voice have been competing tightly to be the best current Indonesian talent show, specifically in singing.

Indonesian Talent Shows

They're both utilizing social media intensively to get more audience shares. The show itself has twitter account as well as the coaches, contestants, even the contestants' fan base. Each has different CRM (customer relationship management) approach via this twitter: X-Factor are used to broadcasting the tweet for each contestant after he/she finished performing, while The Voice still use pop-up feature to broadcast the viewers' tweets. Besides twitter, they also upload their videos on YouTube, something which might be new for Indonesian TV show.

Adopting the same format from US programs, X-Factor and The Voice have rivaled not only in US but also here. Moreover, the shows are also coming on the nearby period, thou X-Factor Indonesia started earlier. There have been lots of debates on deciding which one is the best singing competition show between these two + American Idol. Based on my quick research, I found out that The Voice has surpassed American Idol and X-Factor (some references: dailynews, Reality Nation, USA Today). And, how is it going for the Indonesian versions?

The Voice VS Idol VS X-Factor

Here are my thoughts...

X-Factor Indonesia VS The Voice Indonesia

Untuk pembahasan ini, mending pakai Bahasa Indonesia saja :)
Sebagai penggemar US singing reality shows, awalnya saya mengikuti Idol. Seiring dengan berjalannya waktu dan bertambahnya acara sejenis, perhatian mulai teralihkan ke The Voice. Kemudian, muncul X-Factor. Namun, dari keseluruhan acara itu, hanya The Voice yang selalu ditonton setiap season. Oleh karena itu, sangat menarik saat tahu bahwa (akhirnya) The Voice masuk ke Indonesia.

Secara personal, ada beberapa alasan utama kenapa The Voice (versi negara manapun) menjadi lebih menarik dibandingkan yang lain:

1. Format / Konsep
   Alasan paling mendasar adalah format acara yang menarik, penuh dengan unsur "game" tanpa mengindahkan keindahan talenta menyanyi dari setiap kontestannya. Hal ini mungkin sebagian besar dilatarbelakangi oleh keberadaan Mark Burnett (yang buat seri "The Survivor") sebagai produser acara ini. Continuous improvement dan kejutan pun terus diterapkan di setiap season, sebagaimana adanya tweak STEAL semenjak Season 3 di The Voice US.
   
   
2. Kontestan
   Game atau Permainan pada dasarnya bersifat fun dan berarti tidak selalu harus serba serius. Tantangan terbesar bagi The Voice adalah memastikan keseimbangan antara unsur fun dan unsur keseriusan ini. Dan, IMO, The Voice selalu berhasil mengatasi problem ini dengan menyajikan talenta-talenta yang juga sama bagusnya dengan si konsep.
   
   Mereka melakukannya dengan tidak hanya bergantung pada mereka yang mau mendaftar, tapi juga menjemput bola kepada sejumlah nama yang memang belum memiliki banyak kesempatan untuk menjadi bintang (underrated artists). Di sinilah peran talent hunters sangat penting. Dan, sejauh mata memandang, The Voice always amazed me with its contestants' talents.


3. Juri (Coach)
   Dibandingkan mengambil konsep juri / judge seperti Idol atau kompetisi menyanyi konvensional lainnya, The Voice mengambil pendekatan yang berbeda, yakni: pelatihan (Coach). Hal yang sama sebenarnya digunakan oleh X-Factor. Bedanya coach di The Voice sudah memilih sejak awal tanpa mempedulikan fisik peserta (blind audition), sedangkan X-Factor memilah kontestan menjadi milik coach siapa setelah memasuki sejumlah babak audisi. Bagi sebagian penonton, hal ini mungkin menjadi daya tarik tersendiri karena dinilai lebih objektif.
   
   Namun, berbicara pandangan personal saya lagi, yang lebih menarik dibahas sebenarnya bukan konsep pemilihan sejak awal / tidak, melainkan aspek pembagian porsi anak didik per coach dengan konsep demografi (usia, kelamin, individu / grup, etc)...
   .... yang mana justru menjadi bumerang. Karena apa yang diinginkan oleh penonton (khususnya swing voters - bukan fans / kenalan kontestan) essentially adalah talenta-talenta yang terbaik, tanpa peduli usianya / jenis kelaminnya / faktor fisik lainnya. Jadi, sangat disayangkan kalau ternyata yang bagus-bagus misalkan sebagian besar berasal dari kelompok usia >30 tahun. Sedangkan, untuk kelompok tersebut hanya bisa meloloskan 4 orang ke babak live show. Mungkin ini alasan kenapa beberapa orang mengatakan bahwa X-Factor bukan kompetisi menyanyi saja, yang mana merupakan sebuah paradigma yang sulit diterima oleh khalayak.
   
   Keuntungan natural ini bagusnya juga berhasil dimanfaatkan dengan baik oleh The Voice melalui penyajian coaches yang berkualitas dan menghibur. Kalau di The Voice US, perdebatan, kelakuan, dan jokes Blake Shelton VS Adam Levine adalah salah satu key success factors dari acara tersebut.

Berbicara di dalam konteks Indonesia, kompetisi ini juga sudah mulai dirasakan. Bagi kalian yang sering menonton kedua acara ini via YouTube, coba sering-sering membaca komentar di bawah video! Siapapun yang ditampilkan di klip YouTube tersebut, pasti ada saja komentar yang mengatakan acara "ABC adalah kompetisi yang terbaik! XYZ ga ada apa-apanya!" plus berbagai alasannya. Selalu ada pro dan kontra, namanya juga kompetisi kan :)

Contoh Perang Reality Show di YouTube

Tapi, kalau saya pribadi tetap lebih menyukai The Voice. Alasannya sederhana karena ketiga aspek utama di atas. Meskipun perlu diakui bahwa sejauh ini kualitas audio maupun visual X-Factor lebih baik dibandingkan The Voice. Namun, secara kualitas kontestan dan juri / coach, selera saya masih mengunggulkan The Voice Indonesia (TVI).

Perang Komentar Akibat Lagu Sama Dinyanyikan Kontestan TVI Maupun X-Factor

Dalam kesempatan ini, saya lebih memilih untuk tidak membicarakan kelemahan mendetil dari masing-masing acara. Toh, itu hanya menimbulkan masalah baru. Yang lebih penting sebenarnya adalah membahas tantangan The Voice Indonesia / TVI (pada khususnya) dan Indosiar (pada umumnya) ke depannya, khususnya menjelang memasuki babak live show ataupun next seasons, yaitu:

1. How to satisfy both Indosiar's market segment + incumbent TheVoice fans
   Pada prinsipnya, Indosiar ini memiliki target pasar kelas menengah ke bawah (SES BCD). "Tersanjung" sinetron ratusan episode itu maupun sinetron dengan naga + elang terbang adalah salah satu contohnya. Jadi, bisa dikatakan, baik sebelum maupun sesudah diakuisisi EMTEK, strategi ini tampaknya masih sama. Apalagi mengingat EMTEK sudah memiliki SCTV, channel TV dengan target pasar kelas menengah ke atas (SES AB).
   
   Bingung sekaligus menarik sebenarnya mengulik kenapa The Voice disiarkan di Indosiar, bukan di SCTV. Bicara pengalaman, memang Indosiar lebih berpengalaman daripada SCTV dalam hal singing reality competition, seperti: AFI, MamaMia, dll. Tetapi, alasan pastinya apa? I am not the right person to answer it.
   
   Yang harus menjadi concern sebenarnya adalah bagaimana TVI bisa merebut hati seluruh segmen pasar (SES ABCD) untuk nonton Indosiar. FYI, bagi yang belum mengerti apa itu SES, SES adalah singkatan untuk Socio-Economic Segment, sebuah terminologi yang biasanya digunakan untuk mengkategorisasikan masyarakat berdasarkan kondisi sosial dan ekonominya, di mana SES A adalah segmen pasar dengan pemasukan dan pengeluaran terbesar & SES D sebaliknya.
   
   Beberapa kali liat di komen YouTube maupun komentar teman-teman, tidak sedikit yang menyatakan tidak nonton TVI karena ditayangkan di Indosiar, sebuah channel yang mereka anggap penuh dengan acara-acara kurang berkualitas (secara spesifik, ada yang menyebut sinetron penuh dengan binatang-binatang terbang tersebut), suara dan gambarnya juga jelek dibandingkan channel-channel top lainnya.
   
   Bagi SES CD, ajang ini mungkin sesuatu yang baru dengan konsep yang sangat menarik. Ditambah faktor Indosiar sebagai channel pilihan mereka. Namun, bagus tidaknya singing reality show juga harus bergantung pada kelas AB, apalagi lagu yang ditampilkan juga lagu selera kelas atas.
   
   Bagi SES AB sendiri, ekspektasi mereka akan acara ini mungkin cukup tinggi, apalagi bagi mereka yang sudah terbiasa dengan The Voice US / UK / lainnya (sebut saja mereka: incumbent fans). Apabila memungkinkan, tim TVI mungkin bisa memikirkan tweak seru & unik seperti "Steal" - ambil kontestan juri lain yang tereliminasi di battle round, ataupun drama pemilihan kontestan jatah terakhir seperti di The Voice UK (Jay Ellington - Will.i.am team)
   
   

   

   TVI Coaches

   Harus dipastikan juga coaches TVI menjadi diri mereka sendiri dan tidak meniru coaches The Voice lainnya. Komentar-komentar yang dikeluarkan juga harus berbobot, objektif, dan menghibur. Risiko menggunakan konsep coach adalah subjektivitas penilaian. Namun, selama keputusan akhir tidak selalu ada di tangan coach, seharusnya hal ini tidak terlalu menjadi masalah. Sejauh ini, saya merasa terhibur dengan juri-juri TVI, khususnya Kang Armand!
   
   Memperbaiki program-program di luar TVI mungkin bisa menjadi solusi, tapi it takes time. So, better memikirkan strategi internal TVI untuk mengemas acara menjadi lebih elegan dari berbagai aspek: visual editing, audio, MC, stages, pengambilan gambar, dan iklan-iklan yang dikemas lebih menarik & tidak terlalu berlebihan. Strategi pemberian bocoran via twitter juga harus diperhatikan agar tidak sampai terlalu spoiler dan membuat rasa penasaran penonton berkurang signifikan.
   
   
2. How to provide better visual & audio
   Seperti yang sudah disebutkan di point #1, TVI dan Indosiar harus memikirkan pula bagaimana menyajikan pengambilan gambar, editing, dan pengemasan AuVi yang lebih berkelas. Beberapa teman saya banyak yang mengeluhkan masalah ini. Beberapa kali nonton, saya sendiri juga merasakannya. Dan, saya harus akui bahwa X-Factor Indonesia unggul dalam aspek ini.
   
   Dari sisi visual, TVI harus memastikan timing audio dan visual yang tepat (jangan seperti dubbing yang terlambat / kecepatan), transisi antar klip juga harus lebih smooth (tidak terlalu patah-patah atau mendadak), pengambilan gambar dibuat lebih elegan dan tidak membosankan (jarang terlihat manuver-manuver kamera yang menarik seperti contoh American Idol yang seringkali close up memutari kontestan), dan kualitas warna Indosiar yang somehow berbeda dengan channel TV lainnya (apa mungkin gara-gara gelombang radio yang digunakan berbeda?).
   
   Dari sisi audio, sebenarnya saya tidak terlalu mempermasalahkan. Karena saya juga bukan ahlinya dalam bidang audio, jadi takkan berbicara banyak tentang ini. Tapi, besar harapan, pada saat live show yang mana pasti akan menjadi lebih sulit daripada tapping babak audisi, TVI dan Indosiar harus bekerja lebih keras lagi untuk memastikan adanya perbaikan untuk kedua hal ini guna tidak melemahkan sejumlah keunggulan natural yang sudah dimiliki oleh The Voice.
3. How to lead the Contestants to promising future
   Entah kebetulan atau tidak, namun juara singing reality show yang paling sukses umumnya berasal dari Idol, baik itu di US maupun Indonesia. Selain faktor kualitas, tentunya faktor komersial memiliki peran besar di sini. Namun, sebelum bicara ke nasib pemenang kontes, TVI juga harus memastikan jangan sampai penampilan bagus yang terlihat di audisi malah justru memburuk saat live show, yang mana somehow IMO terjadi di reality show seberang. Peran coaches akan sangat besar dalam hal ini.
   
   Tantangan tersendiri pula bagi Indosiar, yang sudah pernah menelurkan sejumlah juara kontestan menyanyi seperti AFI, bagaimana lantas talenta-talenta bagus ini kemudian ditindaklanjuti atau setidaknya dijembatani menuju karir yang lebih baik. Sejauh ini, jebolan kompetisi menyanyi yang sukses berkelanjutan menjadi artis papan atas di belantika musik Indonesia berasal hanya dari Indonesian Idol (meskipun tidak semua). Hal inilah yang harus dicontoh oleh TVI guna menempatkan posisinya sebagai tidak hanya acara unggulan pemirsa, tapi juga unggulan peserta dengan bakat-bakat luar biasa. Otherwise, nasib TVI bisa berujung seperti AFI yang semakin lama semakin mengalami penurunan kualitas.

Jebolan Indonesian reality show yang meroket

At the end...
Ini semua hanyalah pendapat pribadi yang coba saya rangkum bersamaan dengan pengamatan dan penelitian singkat. Tidak ada maksud menjelekkan ataupun merendahkan acara apapun. Saya sebagai penikmat musik & penyanyi Indonesia serta penyuka reality show tentu sangat bersyukur dengan semakin banyaknya singing competion di Indonesia. Mata pun semakin terbuka bahwa kualitas suara dan musikalitas orang Indonesia itu sinting bagusnya! Ga peduli agama, warna kulit, ras, fisik, gender, kita semua pasti semakin bangga dan puas!!! 
Tinggal bagaimana semuanya itu sekarang dikelolah dan dikemas dengan baik oleh program TV maupun stasiun TV terkait. Dan, semoga tulisan ini bisa berguna dengan tujuan ke arah tersebut :)

Thank you for reading!


NB: the relationship between my above insights with my latest experience on filming live music will be discussed later on separated post, the 2nd part :)


Peace, Love, and Community
@edodotcom

#DoingGoodIsContagious

"You know you’ve made it when you graduated from Harvard working directly with Obama himself and the U.S. Department of Education/White House Initiative on APIs; or how about when you graduate UPenn and work for one of the most prestigious consulting firms; oh, here’s one: going to Harvard. Med. School. Yep, these are the boys—no, men—of The Jubilee Project: Eddie Lee, Jason Y. Lee, and Eric Lu, respectively." -- The Other Asians.

The Jubilee Project (JP).

About a year ago, I knew them accidentally thru my YouTube timeline. Those three guys have decided to quit their promising full-time job to make videos for good causes. And, they’ve always been standing on their slogan: #DoingGoodIsContagious. Something’s beyond my imagination. When many people use YouTube for singing, short movies, and other commercial stuffs…

• How come these people survive by sustainably making only social movies?!
• Are they all rich people that would love to do charity through videos?
• What’s Eddie’s, Jason’s, and Eric’s turning point that led them to leave their high-paid promising jobs for this uncertain risky job?
• How can they do charity through YouTube? 

(Left to Right) Eddie Lee, Jason Y. Lee, Eric Lu

All of those questions were the key reasons behind my decision to keep coming into this event, thou I’d been late for 45 mins already. Apparently, I also knew that I might be the eldest in that event amongst plenty of teenage girls listed on FB “Going” list. On top of that, I can say that March 18, 2013 was 1 of the most memorable days in my life. I got the most inspiring advice to keep me making videos! (Amen)

So, let me share you my experience on that day…

Starting with their history, none of them had videography background on college or prior that period. Starting as a hobby, they made bunch of videos, yet none of them hit any big success. Up until they made this “Love Language” video, which was copied by many videographers around the world ~ even some of them also used the same concept, background, and OST. Before talking directly with them, I’ve always thought that they would have felt disgusted with all those copycats. Moreover, there’s a copied video that hit bigger views than theirs! However, surprisingly they feel the vice versa. They feel blessed since it proved that their mission to influence people doing good things was victorious!

Ever since, each of them made one of the biggest life-decisions, which was quitting from their full-time job. Eddie and Jason moved out to Eric’s house in LA, started sleeping on bunk bed and living their dreams to make more videos for good causes. They started getting more trusts and supports from donators and NGO to raise not only awareness of social problems, but also funds to help others. Along the way, they learned more about videography. Each of them shared and contributed differently based on their previous working experience – e.g.: Jason (ex consultant from top-notch global management consulting firm, Bain) helped Jubilee Project got access to lots of NGOs and companies, Eric gave lots of insights in terms of illnesses and psychological impacts, etc. 

Up until now, they have produced over 60 videos and raised more than $30,000 for good causes (leukemia, altruism, AIDS, sex trafficking, Mom’s day, etc), partnering with amazing organizations, such as: Jeremy Lin Foundation. From hobby and a small dream to give hands, Jubilee Project now has just been registered as one of national NGOs in USA! Amazing, isn’t it?!

After the big forum discussion, I finally decided to come closer to get the answers of my curiosities. While waiting for them to get done with the girl fans’ stuffs (photo sessions, etc), someone came to me and asked if I was the one who threw up the question earlier (at big forum), about Jason’s life-change from consultant to video maker. Her name is Ailen, and she works for The Jubilee Project as well, supporting the boys in business model, organization, etc. Aha, bless in disguise! Along with my chat with Eddie, Jason, and Eric, hereby I would like to share more about my experience meeting with them.

Me trying to substitute Jason

At first, I tried to understand the reason why they come to Indonesia…

So, basically one of their big projects last year was to create a film about the end of AIDS. At that moment, the fundraiser came down to a thrilling last 24 hours when they still needed $10,000 and end ended up surpassing their goal and raising $41,000.  Continuing their mission for global AIDS campaign, they’re coming here to film their next big project titled “The EndGame”.

It’s a story about a global movement to end AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. They’re going to visit several third-world countries, starting from Indonesia, to film compelling stories about people who are living with HIV / AIDS. Working together with local NGOs like Rumah Cemara in Bandung for the filming, they want to share the story of someone like Dina, who is a pregnant woman with HIV and has trouble accessing treatment that can save her and her baby’s life; or someone like Donna, who is a single mother with HIV and joined the national women’s soccer team to make her son proud. “The EndGame” is a quest to end the deadliest diseases of our time. (quoted some from JP’s blog)

Furthermore, I try to understand more about their business model….

Right now, The Jubilee Project have already had 3 sources of funds, i.e.: 1) generous donation from donators, 2) companies that occupy them to make videos, and 3) in-house merchandise sales. And, it has been a long way down the road to get these sources. There have been lots of ups and downs at their first year. They haven’t had huge subscriber base yet like Ryan Higaniga or Wong Fu; Thus, they couldn't rely on Google Adsense for the fund raising.  At first, they tried to implement $xx-per-view, yet it wasn’t sustainable and working well. And, finally they came up with those sources. They also got more well-known from time to time by making more and more better and better movies.
As I mentioned earlier, they even have to sleep in bunk bed to get more focused under 1 rooftop on making movies. In Jakarta, they even stayed in hostel @ Jalan Jaksa.

At the end, since they basically do what they love, they never gave up on living their dreams as they always believe that doing good is amazing not only for others, but also for themselves.

My last question is about their turning point to quit their promising job and ‘move-out’ to Jubilee Project….

If I can summarize, their turning point is essentially when they realized that their video can inspire lots of people to do good things. Ailen told me that even several schools in US have mini Jubilee Project programs. Jubilee Project every day get lots of emails, FB messages (and walls / comments), and tweets telling how Viewers feel inspired and driven to do good causes. In the meantime, it reminds me back of some of my friends who now work as socialpreneur, which in fact made this kind of vision become reasonable.

At the end, I believe that every one has his/her own path. To be or not to be like Jubilee Project is a free choice for all of us. However, if we can do what we love to cherish others, to aspire others, and to make a better world, why shan’t we start soon?!  In my latest video project #2013hopeNchanges which was inspired by Jubilee Project’s “Be The Change” video, one of the interviewees said:

“Usually when you put the word “Change” and “World” at the same sentence, it gets us to think the big things. But, for me, making change in the world can start with little things. Doing meaningful things for your surroundings, doing good for other people. Even though the scope is local, maybe can reach only like, say less than a hundred of people. But, imagine if all of us are doing it, all of us are doing these little small good deeds for people surrounding us… I think this world could be a better place.” (EP)

Thank you, Jubilee Project and Ailen for the sharing and inspiration.

Thank you, Elaine Tan and all people behind this great inspiring event.

Thank you, TI ITB 2004 friends (Rani, Rahmat, Dannu, Arfi, Ben, Atiek. Kico, Boteh, Restu, Batari, Febri, Maya, Mauli, Akom, Aldud, Uqi, Nadya, Bin), and Ernest Prakasa + Soleh Solihun for your contribution on my latest video project.

Hopefully, this writing may remind us not to give up doing what we love and keep aspiring ourselves & others to do good things! If it does, please help me sharing and spreading this blogpost throughout your social media :)

#DoingGoodIsContagious

Peace, Love, and Community.

@edodotcom

[Review] Recto Verso

"Aku jatuh cinta pada seseorang yang hanya sanggup aku gapai sebatas punggungnya saja..."

"Kalau Bunda ditanya siapa yang paling tulus ke kamu, Bunda akan jawab... Abang"

"Kamu tahu apa soal Cinta?"

"Kalau kita punya firasat akan seseorang, apa kita perlu kasitau orang itu?"

"Sebotol anggur mahal anggur putih ada di depan matamumu, tapi kau tak pernah tahu. Kamu tetap menanti.. Segelas air putih."

Hanya Isyarat | Curhat buat Sahabat | Cicak Di Dinding | Firasat | Malaikat Juga Tahu.

Apakah kesamaan yang bisa kita temukan di kelima tema di atas?

Bagi kalian yang sudah membaca buku "Recto Verso" karangan Dewi Lestari (Dee), tentu pertanyaan ini bisa dengan mudah dijawab. Namun, bagi kalian yang hanya tahu di bioskop saat ini sedang tayang film "Recto Verso" tanpa tahu asal usul nama tersebut, beruntunglah kita diberi kesempatan untuk memahami, mendalami, dan mencintai "Recto Verso".

Recto Verso. 'Cinta yang Tak Terungkap'.

Sebuah pesan universal yang coba disampaikan melalui 5 tema (cerita pendek) di atas dengan kemasan epik ke dalam salah satu drama romantis terbaik Indonesia. Kisah melankolis yang sangat lekat dengan kehidupan khalayak ramai ini dinilai telah berhasil menjadi penghias hari Valentine 2013, dipandang sebagai sesuatu yang kolosal bagi dunia layar lebar Indonesia.

Lima sutradara muda yang selama ini lebih dikenal sebagai bintang di depan layar kini mencoba memberikan warna tersendiri bagi khazanah perfilman Indonesia dari balik layar. Sejumlah respon positif, tepuk tangan di akhir film, pujian yang tak kunjung henti berdatangan telah membuktikan bagaimana sutradara wanita Indonesia sudah layak dan sepantasnya tidak lagi dipandang sebelah mata.

Jalan cerita, pendalaman peran, sinematografi yang indah, artikulasi kata-kata puitis yang tegas-bermakna-dan-tidak berlebihan, serta alunan scoring musik yang sangat pas menghiasi hampir seisi film. Rangkaian semua elemen tersebut telah membuka mata para penonton Indonesia (khususnya saya) akan secercah harapan untuk berkembangnya film layar lebar Indonesia yang berkualitas, di samping film porno tanggung, hantu, pocong, dan kawan-kawannya.

Lihatlah bagaimana Lukman Sardi mendalami perannya sebagai pria autis, Dewi Irawan dengan karakter keibuan yang penuh cinta & masalah, Asmiranda dan Dwi Sasono beradu dialog sarat makna, Sophia Latjuba yang begitu kental dengan karakter 'player' (in positive way), Acha yang dengan begitu mudahnya berubah-ubah karakternya dari ceria penuh tawa menjadi sedih penuh senyum miris & air mata yang tiba-tiba membanjiri wajah,  sampai dengan karakter manusia biasa yang begitu menonjol oleh Fauzi Baadillah, Amanda Soekasah, Prisia Nasution, Indra Birowo.  

Tidak ada yang tidak setuju bahwa scoring dan soundtrack memainkan peranan yang sangat esensial di dalam film ini. Ricky Lionardi sebagai Music Director bisa dibilang sebagai dalang di balik konsensus ini. Tanpa mengucilkan kontribusi Drew, Dira Sugandi, maupun Dewi Lestari, Glenn Fredly dengan "Malaikat Juga Tahu" serta Raisa dengan lagu penutup "Firasat" telah berhasil menyentuh hati penonton hingga tak sedikit banyak yang mengaku tak bisa berhenti menitikkan air mata hingga film usai.

Meskipun film ini terdiri atas 5 cerita pendek, namun kelima cerita tersebut tidaklah berjalan end-to-end secara seri. Pemotongan, penggabungan, dan irisan kelimanya dibungkus dengan sangat rapi oleh Cesa David sebagai Editor. Menjelang akhir film, penonton akan dibawa menikmati sebuah momen indah saat potongan-potongan final dari setiap cerita pendek tersebut menampilkan:

• sejumlah akting kelas atas, 
• scoring indah dengan penerjemahan lirik dan tempo lagu "Malaikat Juga Tahu", 
• penyutingan film yang terstruktur dan berhasil build-up moment, dan 
• akhir yang klimaks dan berhasil mengetuk pintu hati seluruh penonton!

Secara eksplisit, itulah keindahan duniawi yang bisa ditangkap oleh saya saat menyaksikan film ini. Di balik semua yang kasat mata & telinga tersebut, topi sudah selayaknya diangkat untuk seluruh sutradara dan penulis skripsi. Malaikat Juga Tahu Merekalah yang jadi juaranya!

Dengan bangga, berikut inilah kelima nama sutradara (Marcella Zallianty, Happy Salma, Olga Lydia, Rachel Maryam, Cathy Sharon) dan 5 penulis skripsi ulung (Ve Handjojo, Key Mangunsong, Ilya Sigma, Priesnanda Dwi Satria, and Indra Herlambang) yang telah berhasil menggugah saya untuk pertama kalinya menulis ulasan film.

Semoga tulisan ini berhasil menggugah mereka yang belum menonton untuk menonton, menggugah sutradara-sutradara muda Indonesia untuk membuat semakin banyak film berkualitas, dan menggugah kita semua untuk semakin mengapresiasi karya kreatif anak bangsa!

Cheers!

"When you know how hard it takes to make a simple video, you'll simply appreciate every single simple scene" (EM)

Why Love "Surprise Video Gift"?

Tidak peduli seberapa sulit, seberapa repotnya, seberapa melelahkannya....
.... namun saat ngedit dan buat video tetap saja tersenyum dan suka tertawa sendiri.
 
Tanya Kenapa?

Recently, I found out the biggest reason is the joy and happiness that I get when that surprise video comes to the target's hands! Even, when I was alone sitting whole night to finalize the editing or figuring out the right soundtrack, I often smiled by myself cos that joyful moments just come to my imagination. As the time goes by, we realize more and more, that it's not about being acknowledged or being visible by everyone that you re the video maker, but it's about sincere gift to cherish people we care and love.

I always think that video is the most memorable gift for someone's special day, either it's wedding, birthday, or even farewell. When we have the chance to cherish others, why think twice not to start soon doing it?!

Old times experiences always teach me not to do any things that might endanger friendship. Better to lessen our ego, hide our presence, and get lost instead of losing our best friends. I am always hard to myself about this. And, video is just one of the implicit ways to show our willingness to cherish others without ruining the friendships.

It's simply due to the fact that their happiness is my own happiness, yet my own happiness might not always be theirs. So, gotta embrace myself to keep doing this and contemplate whatever over that I might have done before, just to make sure not to "merisihkan" others.

FTW Good Deeds.

What Means The Most?

“The other day when someone asked me
"Are you living your dream?"
I didn't know what to say,
I honestly had to think.
I try to be so many places at the same time
Every day a million things cluttering up my mind.
Another feather falling off my wings
I climb so high it gets hard to breathe
Forget to remember, what I really need.” (Colbie Caillat - What Means The Most)

One of The Biggest questions in everyone’s mind. An ignition wick of my return to blog writing. Long time no blogging, no video making, and nothing to express. Well, the latter was not entirely true :P

Pekan yang sangat menarik, a bit of roller-coaster in my life. I tried to be in so many places at the same time with a million things in my mind. Exactly correct what the lyrics said about. And, it's quite frustrating, turning me a bit acrimonious. Works, friendship, family all matters to me.

However, what means the most actually is finding the excitement of doing any things. Cliche? Yes, indeed. It'd be very good if we can do things that we really enjoy to do, really love not to stop doing it, like my hobbies on finding good theme songs for videos, editing them, surprising & cherishing them. 

Nevertheless, life is full of surprises and will never always be full of GOOD GOOD DAYS. As such, how do we try to at least make those bad moments a bit exciting? Realizing it or not, sometimes the simple things that could mean the most to us. It doesn't matter anymore whether we win or lose. Sometimes we just can't help the way we feel. That might be the reason why people in this world need religion and God + people surrounding us that we care and believe. It's true that at the end, it's ourselves that determine our own happiness. Some people might be very self-independent, some might have to depend on others to be happy. It's life adventure to try figuring out those simple things :)

"He lays me on the couch and says how has your day been?
Tell me your problems, I'll help you solve them
Come on, let's talk about it, he sits next to me and smiles
Listens to all of my words, relaxes all of my nerves

Like breathing,
let it go, shout it out
Take deeps breathes and real slow, calm down
Close my eyes, soft spoke, ease my mind, take control
From my body please work your psychology" (India Arie - Therapy)

Recently, I found out this inspiring quotes:

“People are often unreasonable and self centered, forgive them anyway…

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives, be kind anyway…

If you're honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway…

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway…

The good you do today, might be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway…

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway…” (Mother Theresa)

Such A mood-booster to recall on what really means the most in my life. I found back some life excitement when I made wedding video for my college friends, Moli - Akom Wedding Trailer. As its OST, life became "Brighter Than The Sun" at the moment! Maybe, this is the same case as what my lil brother thought of taking job as social worker with only small amount of salary that has been stressing out my Mom recently. Sometimes, we might only need to be more simple-minded, stop over-thinking, release guilty feelings, let go off our trauma and just do what we love.

 

"Happy is the heart that still feels pain

Darkness drains and light will come again 

Swing open up your chest and let it in  

Just let the love, love, love begin.

Everybody, everybody wants to love

Everybody, everybody wants to be loved" (Inggrid Michaelson - Everybody)

Not an easy task to do. Those are just words, indeed. Yet, why not we try to be used to have those kinds of perspectives :)

Long way to go ahead. The 2nd phase of my project (work) will start next week, still lots of scenes for another surprise video need to be taken (gotta be invisible for this video :] ), left brain to be optimized to develop concept for my best friend's prewed video, and my brother seems willing to postpone his daring plan. 

Bit by bit try to rejuvenate my self-confidence and self-independence, not to let my ego disrupt others, be someone friends can always count on thou not the vice versa, better to stand out than to fit in, so hopefully....

"The next time that someone asks me

"are you living your dream?"

I guess I'll know what to say

I won't even have to think."  (Colbie Caillat - What Means The Most)

NB: this blog is also a compendium of song lyrics that I got recently from wedding videos (Axioo).

[VPR] Blue Valentine: We'll Be Missing You

February almost comes to its end, and thankfully I succeeded to finish this project by February 26 :)

Hello! Welcome back to VPR! 
Continuing my previous blog, I was finally able to invite some people helping me with this project. It took a week to define the project details and scripts. Finally, we decided February 18, 2012 as the shooting day!!!


Albeit lots of problems coming on the shooting day, we're finally able to wrap up all scenes in 5 hours. It's not perfectly ideal as planned (less people involved, no couples, inadequate properties), yet we've given all of our best during that limited time :)


[I] Story Behind The Scene

Talking about the story behind this video,  commemoration of Valentine's Day was the key inspiration of this project, yet I wanna picture it from other perspective.
For Couples, they re used to celebrate it with flowers, chocolates, Teddy Bears, and any other love proofs. Meanwhile, for the Singles, it's just a simply ordinary day. Sometimes they even feel so bad and depressed to be lonely in that day (not me anw :P). 

On the other hand, there are people who re hardly able to celebrate it. They deadly want it but they can't. They have just lost someone closest in their lives. Children, spouse, siblings, parents, or maybe best friends are not in their sides anymore on this Valentine's Day. This story is essentially what I wanted to lift as the video concept...

... which is then translated into 3 chapters:

1. Memory in Lunch [Opening], where...
   the man (Mie) came for lunch yet unexpectedly received unknown package from ....*let it be a mystery* :P . The package urged him to recall his memory of his ex-girlfriend (her diary, phone, pictures, etc) and suddenly there's a call coming in to his mobile phone.
   
   OSTs: Tulus - Merdu Untukmu (Intro), Depapepe - Horizon, Nina - Someday
   
2. You Wouldn't Answer My Call [Core], where...
   the woman (Maya) called Mie inviting him to come to her apartment for celebrating Valentine's eve dinner. Mie was really surprised to hear her girlfriend's voice. Astonishing joy pushed him to run as fast as he could, while Maya was preparing herself and her room.
   
   Arrived at her apartment, what Mie found was bunch of officers investigating the crime scene. He couldn't believe it's real; Mie tried to break through the barricade, yet blocked by the policemen (Dannu, Riko, and Kico).
   
   As soon as he was moved to 'ward', he tried to call Maya again... it's connected! While Mie tried to get Maya's exact location, someone knocked Maya's door. Mie told her not to open the door, to stay away from it... Yet, Maya thought it was a part of his surprise. Maya threw away her phone, opened the door, and ..... she's gone.
   Mie kept trying to call her, yet her phone was completely out of reach.
   
   If you notice the different date while Maya decorated her room and when Mie cried out loud at the end of this chapter, you'll understand essentially this is about love hallucination.... which might come from the Man who keeps blaming himself for his girlfriend's death.
   OST: 2AM - You Wouldn't Answer My Call
   
   
3. A Walk to Remember [Ending], where...
   Mie got back to Cafe for picking up the package he left yesterday. He still couldn't believe all things happened yesterday. He tried to open back the diary in big hope that the call would come again. However, it didn't happen. He then decided to leave the cafe.
   
   On his way home, many people came to give support in his grief... that friends will always be in his side, no matter how difficult life is. "Friendship Last Much Longer Than Life Lets Us"
   
   This chapter is basically bringing a Friendship message. I once made promise to my buddy who just passed away 100 days ago (when I decided to make this video) that I would make a video for him. I didn't want to bring a memory back of his death, thus I made the scenes different from his life story. I just hoped he was smiling up there while watching this video and realizing that we will always try to support his wife, daughter, and family...
   We are missing you, Po :)
   OST: Vocal Point - I'll Be Missing You

[II] Thank You Note
This time I would like also to give much credit to:

1. Shana Fatina (@pickbird) - for the Cafe (All the best for "Never Been Better". Check their FB page here, it's nice!)
2. Bin Anindita (@binanindita) - for the apartment and Pizza Hut! Thank you to Dzikri & Zaidan too, sorry for being too loud :P
3. Mirza Harun (@miie_) - who volunteered to be a male lead role!
4. Christina Maya (@maydut) - as the only female coming on the D-Day and surrendered herself to be a female lead role! :))))
5. Mico Suryo (@micoatmahadi) - for the amazing job as the second cameraman! & killer :)
6. Dannu 'ontime' Danil (@dannudanil) - for the first to come!!!! Thank you as well for the willingness to seek gas balloons in Ragunan (thou null) and policeman role!
7. Riko Ringgoanto (@rikoringgo) - for all of the supports from planning til the eXXXecution!!
8. M. Ardiansyah (@aldud) - for the tripod and additional camera!
9. Rahmat Syahrullah (@rsyahrullah) - who came from Kuningan to Kemang yet directly go back to Bin's apartment (Kuningan). Uhuy, red hairs! :)))
10. Rizky Arief Rahman (@rizkyrahman) - who still came to Bin's apartment after long 'tiring' day! :)
11. 2AM - for inspiring "You Wouldn't Answer My Calls" MV
12. Vocal Points, Nina, Tulus, Depapepe and FCP sound effects for the OSTs!!!
13. WongFu Production for the idea of shooting the box from its bottom. COOL!
14. ... and all of you who were already involved directly or indirectly with this project.

[III] Final Note
Unbeknownst to me if it's a coincidence or not, yet this February is quite different for me. It's the most unromantic romantic February. Too many sad news came true this month. My deep condolences and prayers for all of you who re having hard times this month. I and your friends here will always be there for you... Be strong, pals!

I know this video is not perfect. However, with only 5 hours of taking and all of those limitation, I am very proud with our works. This is my first time making short movie with 2 cameras, couple of shooting venues, end-to-end script, and lots of properties... Hopefully, I can make a better one in the future :)

Enjoy!!!