Ofcourse many people have and would have criticised about the trailer onYouTube. Some attacked me for making Sultan Mansur Shah a pirate. Somehave argued there is no pirate in our good old Malacca. Some simplyhate see Chinese people in Malacca. Some complained why I didn't useany footage from Putri Gunung Ledang.
Anyway, before you start attacking my movie idea, please allow me to explain....
1.I imagined my movie to be fast moving, fun and upbeat like Pirates ofthe Carribean. So I use the footage from Pirates of the Carribean. Ihate anything slow-moving. Even the movie is set in the old days, itdoesn't neccessary need to be boring, right? (If you think otherwise,okay, this movie is not for you)
2. Secondly, I used Johnny Deppas Sultan Mansur as it's the only mean to get big-time producersinterested in the project. (No offence to anyone because I doubt itwould/could be produced in Malaysia without making some of theproducers go bankrupt... )
3. Thirdly, in the movie, SultanMansur Shah is only disguising himself as a pirate. He is NOT a piratein my story. And to those who claim that there was no pirate inMalacca, please do your research properly.
4. Fourthly, Ipersonally do not believe that Hang Li Po is a princess from Chinabased on the non-existence of historical accounts in China and manyother historical facts. (Sorry) She is not a princess in my movie.
5.Also, in my story, I want to present the fact that Malacca was thenalready a "international port". There are people from everywhere....China, India, Japan, even Africa beside the majority Malays. If youread any historical texts (not the "political-correct" historicaltextbooks the government made us to read), you will know Malacca isvery different than what we have been taught it to be.
6. When I did the trailer, I did not have access to Puteri Gunung Ledang the movie.
Okay,what I need now is a couple of million dollars (USD40 millions to beexact). Please start donating to my project, and you will see Malaccain the year 2012.
don't mean to sound discourage but i find your vision to be too far fetched...
before you go on thinking that i'm going to attack you (which i am not) let me give out the reasons why i can't buy out your idea of "Malacca"
first...u planned to make a fun and upbeat movie called "Malacca" a la Pirate of The Carribean (PoTC)...in movie term, we refer to it as swashbuckling adventure movie. You said of getting hotshot producers and big name actors in your "Malacca" project..but then to attract these kind of producers you must have a very high credentials in filmmaking...maybe a brief description about your filmmaking activities or your resume would help people (at least in this forum) believes that you can actually make this movie..or at least makes a movie.
second...historical facts are pointless in this type of movie that you planned to make (swashbuckling adventure)...audience doesn't care whether Sultan Mansur Syah used to disguised himself as a pirate or not...or Hang Li Po is really a princess...those are less of the concerns as audiences are aware that "Malacca" is a period adventure movie and expects something fun like PoTC..you can make a Kraken monster come out from the sea and attack Malacca with Sultan Mansur Syah fight the monster by riding a flying seahorse..it just the matter of whether you can tell a good story or not..simply to say..what is your 3-act strategy?
third...a trailer that just a mix of Hollywood movies doesn't really helps envision "Malacca". In fact, my 10 years old cousin can do better than that with just a Movie Maker software. If you really want people to believe your idea of swashbuckling period adventure movie called "Malacca" is a brilliant idea, then how about a treatment? tell us what "Malacca" is about..plotline...characters and so on...if you want people to invest in your movie...you ought to have at least give out the "Malacca Movie Treatment" here...not some mash-up trailer.
fourth...you want to make a swashbuckling adventure movie for USD40mil? I don't think that is even enough to cover the pre-production works. Swashbuckling adventure is a big-budget movie (by Hollywood standards around USD95mil - USD150mil) by default...so variety of props and huge settings cost a lot of money...not to mention, a hell lot of stunts work...so you need a lot of crewmembers, craftsmen..stuntmen...probably SFX men to make "Malacca"...and the fact that you wanna get big name actors to act in "Malacca" that doesn't come cheap either (as i don't think Johnny Depp and the likes of him would settle for anything below USD10mil)..USD40mil would be suitable if you wanna make "Malacca" as something artistic or period drama like Putri Gunung Ledang..your movie would probably get some international distributions from small branch studios like Fox Searchlight or Miramax (if they find "Malacca" is very good and have global commercial market value) that can get "Malacca" some limited release in the US or at least get some exposure at Tribeca Film Fest or Sundance..but then who wanna watch swashbuckling adventure movie at indie film fests? let alone to cover your production cost with limited release.
fifth...you planned for a release in 2012...which is 4 years from now. Is it sufficient to covers pre-production, production and post-production work in 4 years?. Even Putri Gunung Ledang that only cost USD4mil took around 10 years to make. Pirate of The Carribean that was based on a ride in a theme park took almost 13 years to produced, "Malacca" which will be based on historial facts can't be done in 4 years time...it need at least 5 years to do all the research and pre-production works alone.
so based on these reasons, if you ask me whether i find you idea for "Malacca" is a catchy, i would say yes...i find the idea of a local swashbuckling adventure movie that revolves around the era of Malacca Sultanate is great...our film industry badly need a revolution as many of us are already sick with the badly produced teen-flicks that have been dominating the screens..and "Malacca" could be the turning point...but then like i said earlier...your vision, as ambitious as it may sound...is too far fetched...
if you want to convince people to invest in your "Malacca" project...regardless of whether you're serious or just trolling around in this board...show us some logic in-depth details of your idea...realistic figure...and you can start by presenting your draft treatment here so that people can read it up and give feedbacks...
if you can't convince me, a person who doesn't have any background in filmmaking whatsoever about your plan..then how you want to convince those hotshots producer to give you at least USD4mil to start this project?
my 50cents...anyway...good luck!!!
[ Last edited by king_kong at 22-7-2008 04:27 AM ]
you guys are so great. thanks for the encouragement. But like KingKong says....
-------------------------------------------
dear kingkong,
Please donate USD 100 million, and I will give all you want.
thanks kingkong for all your advises. you are definitely in this line, eh?
let put it this way kid, true filmmaker don't ask for money when they want to make a movie, they don't come out with mash-up trailer (no offense) and asking people if they would like to invest in their movie project in the form of monetary based on a mash-up trailer made from various scenes of Hollywood movies...they come out with screenplays.... Even if i have USD1billion and USD200mil is not an issue...i don't have faith in you to be a good filmmaker..simply to say...u don't have what it takes to be a filmmaker..
actually i don't even think you know anything about filmmaking...so my advice, go and learn things or two about filmmaking first ok?
nice try dude. love ur efforts. but how u want to find approximately rm120million? maybe you can start do the script@storyboard then send it to john woo@ang lee@whoever can get multimillion budget from other countries. like China/hong kong maybe? but anyway its a good movie since it involve/clash of culture, nation and civilization.
p/s want to see the malay actor in to be sultan mansur.
Any person in his/her right mind know he/she won't get funding through the forum. Especially USD 40 million! Hahaha. I'm just putting here to see people feedback la. (Hehe, people from Lowyat gives the worst feedback. ) If I am serious about getting money here, I would have my PayPal account ready. Wakakakaka.
True filmmaker doesn't ask for your money when they want to make a movie? LOL. So they just sit there and wait investors to come? You know even Scorcese needs to pull a lot of strings to get funding for his movie Gangs of New York? It took him years to get the money he wanted. You think money simply go into his pocket simply because he's famous? Issssh....
Anyway, mash-up trailer? You know I showed it to real filmmakers in Hollywood, and they told me the best way to pitch the story is to show the trailer without even trying to pitch? Hehe, of course they told me theydon't have to budget la. Their companies only fund movies about 15 million dollars.
You know terms like treatment and stuff, at first I assume you either studied film or worked in the advertising/film scene. Then the way you talk.... well, it shows a lot huh.
Regardless how childish you end up sounding, you are right about me not being a filmmaker. I actually wrote the screenplay, then I did the trailer. And I wrote the screenplay out of fun. I should have written something easier to sell.
Now I'm writing Saving Ryan's Private. Wanna fund my project? Only RM 2000 and I need only one girl. LOL.
Originally posted by king_kong at 23-7-2008 07:23 PM
let put it this way kid, true filmmaker don't ask for money when they want to make a movie, they don't come out with mash-up trailer (no offense) and asking people if they would like to invest in ...
I would love to cast Malay as Sultan Mansur of course, but honestly it would make it harder to get funding from foreign producers (especially for that budget).
UNLESS the government stop sending monkeys to outerspace and borrow me the money they are going to waste anyway.
That way, Millions of views could see a true Malaysian film. A much better way to promote Malaysia in the eyes of the foreigners. Right, no? Like what Thai government is doing to help its film industry.
Many people say Malaysia films have small market because of the language. I say "f it". I don't know Thai or Korean, but I love to watch Thai or Korean movies.
i never said i am a filmmaker, or in a way involved in that line of profession. In fact i made it clear that i don't have any filmmaking background nor involved with filmmaking crafts whatsoever...
it just that i happened to like filmmaking and read quite a lot books about filmmaking and stuff...maybe not much but quite a numbers...funny thing is none of the book actually mentioned about presenting a "trailer" in order to get a fund...most funding approved thru ideas and stories pitching and screenplay revisions...
even Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York finally got funded for USD97mil from group of producers after i believe 30 years of pitching numerous ideas, stories and screenplays since the idea of the movie conceived circa 1978. Of course he didn't sit around waiting for the money to come rolling in...he went selling the screenplays to various people which is usually what filmmakers do..they sell their idea of a movie thru a draft treatment or draft screenplay, not mash-up trailer...in fact, if they ever do that(mash-up trailer), they might being sued for copyright infringement.
i'm not the only one who know things or two about filmmaking crafts in this forum..actually there are lots of forumers here who are actually film literate .Most of them have vast knowledge in filmmaking and know more about film way more than i do. So my point is, you don't need to involved in filmmaking to actually knows about film..it just need an interest and knowledge will come when you seek it out of passion.
your accusation of me being childish is somewhat funny...actually it takes even a glimpse of reading through your post to know that you're the one who act childish. Who wanna give you USD15mil to fund your movie project based on a mash-up trailer? even one of the greatest film that came out from the indie scene, which is Pulp Fiction only granted for production on a cost of merely USD8.5mil and you arrogantly wanna boast that you actually granted for USD15mil from Hollywood producers and you declined it?...oh yeah, bravo
i don't know which Hollywood "filmmakers" told you that, but whoever they might be...i believed you're being fooled..sorry dude..
it's not my intention to insulted you...i was just being sarcastic since people were giving you good moral support and stuff and you end up preaching about historical accuracy, government sending monkey to space, bla bla bla...be serious la..if you want people to take your idea seriously then act professionally and tell us what your movie is about since you said you already wrote the screenplay...
to lbslbs, kau try laa hantar the treatment/full script to Tiara Jacquelina (Enfiniti Productions Sdn. Bhd.) >> http://www.enfiniti.com.my/ ..tengok samada derang sanggup produce or not coz this kind of film definitely need MEGA BUDGET giler2.. kalau dia REJECT.. errr cer tanya GB.. TUSB.. METROWEALTH.. kalau suma reject gak.. go to Thailand, Korea, Japan, HK or Bollywood.. lastly, Hollywood tapi kena tunggu Q pjg lah ok
then.............. baru bley cerita here okeh
oh btw.. have u establish ur 'networking' bro/sis?
p/s: a trailer is just a trailer.. ppl never judge a film by it's trailer ..apatah lagi 'mash-up trailer'
p/s/s: if just if someone (read: scriptwriter/producer/director/actor/make-up/wardrobe/tukang bancuh teh utk Peter Jackson etc..) saw ur trailer & like it.. they'll NOT contact u.. they'll write the treatment by themself and sell it to Hollywood through their agent.. tapi sure dah tukar tajuk jadi GOA, INDIA or maybe Hawaii or California Beach.. etc..
p/s/s: sapa nak tgk 'mash-up' trailer TITANIC-2? ..nahhh!
hehe...dude, this is YOUR film we're talking about..not mine..i never stated any "dream of making a movie" in any of my posts.
i just disagree with your idea of how you wanna make your movie..which i found to be too far fetched...you're talking about millions of funding and yet you don't have anything to prove, a mash-up trailer doesn't prove anything..in fact i can type "unofficial trailer" in Youtube and thousands of mash-up trailers will come out because its really common..if you really believe that your way of making a movie is the best method then show me facts to support your reasons...not preaching about how i should "pursue my dream" and stuffs..now you end up being like your friend who everyday keep talking about film but don't do anything...ironic isn't it?
actually i like wasting my time here and type a long post everytime i replying because this forum is one of the best platform for me to exchange ideas and opinions when it comes to film and filmmaking...i can discuss movies with a lot of different people from different background with the convenience of my own room...and the best part is...all that information and knowledges are free (well..except for the streamyx bill that we have to pay every month)..
u should consider yourself fortunate because other people might already take you as some loser who have no life but spend his or her time fickling on the fantasy of being big time director..where insult words like "loser" or "geek"..."go get a life you freak" may come along....but i treated your half-arsed idea with respect...i take you as an ambitious young director who have potential to make it big...but then you yourself ruin your pride by being irrelevance and sometimes i even wonder whether you even know what you're talking about...
its you who have that passion..i dont have the guts to open a thread and asking people whether they wanna watch my idea of a movie..even if i presented a full-spec draft of my screenplay and my logistic account..you the one with the ambition...to be honest, it's a good idea for a movie, even it sounds cheesy and pretentious but at least i find your idea of a movie have value and might attract people...actually it does attract people as alot of nice forumers here giving you moral support and all....my advice is stop dreaming the irrelevance and start put your feet on the ground if you really wanna make this movie...if not you just waste this forum bandwidth space and the spiritual investment the forumers here have given you...
Post time 21-7-2008 12:57 PM
变色卡
....start with a good script first ok...
and research ............
Author
Especially USD 40 million! Hahaha. I'm just putting here to see people feedback la. (Hehe, people from Lowyat gives the worst feedback. 
You know even Scorcese needs to pull a lot of strings to get funding for his movie Gangs of New York? It took him years to get the money he wanted. You think money simply go into his pocket simply because he's famous? Issssh....
