A link to Star2 where Patrick, our director was interviewed in regards to directing Di Sebalik Wajah.
Featured in Star2.
From strangers to family
Production is a strange place to be. All of us from producer to the writers, the director, the actors, the technical team, the make up team, even to the caterer and runner, came in as strangers but through the 2 months of production, we became a family. Be it TV, drama or film production, it is always a team effort. It is like building a jigsaw puzzle, all the pieces need to come together to create a masterpiece in the end.
We are grateful for such a wonderful experience and the opportunity to be able to work alongside each other and pulled it through, at the end of the day. It’s a hard’s day work, most definitely, but obviously, a rewarding one nonetheless.
Di Sebalik Wajah is showing every Monday and Tuesday on Hypptv, channel 116 Hyppsensasi
Changing Direction
Our apologies for not updating for a while now. We will be updating again slowly. Our director, Patrick Lim has been making certain changes in how he is handling his career. For the longest time, he never had wanted to be involved in the TV drama industry. Well…. guess what? He had just completed a 30-Episodes psychological thriller drama series called DISEBALIK WAJAH (loosely translated as “Behind The Looks”) which has just started screening on HYPPTV.
We will be updating further but here is a little nugget where Patrick Lim was featured in Sinar Harian.
Below is the poster to DI SEBALIK WAJAH and the press conference.
Two Years In Reflection, 2014 and 2015
Crazy two years in time, apologies for the absence here. It is not that we have been crazy busy with projects, it is just a matter of juggling time spent in production, on shoots, managing clients’ expectation and delivering finals, while overseeing new spaces and frontiers like working on my personal lifestyle and beauty blog called LUMINNEJ here. Yes, I am a full time screenwriter producer at PATJENN FILM, a boutique production company, but also a relatively busy human being! It can be quite a challenge.
Back to official work, it has been a sporadically exciting years, with pockets of projects, meaningful ones, nonetheless. Of course, we could not have sustained or come this far without the endearing support of our clients (whom truly believe in our strength, which we have come to love and appreciate), our associates (our team who supports us unconditionally, that would be our editors, our production crew and many others who have somewhat become almost like a family to us) and our new producer friend, Ritchie (whom we are in debt to, for his undying work contribution, sacrifices and support, without asking anything in return from us) and those unsung heroes who have become our pillar of strength, family and friends, far and wide.
We would love to take the opportunity, for we have stepped into a brand new year, to reflect upon what we have achieved, no matter how small or big they may seem, and to thank everyone who have made this journey a worthwhile one, with us.
Here are some of the highlights from the projects we have had the pleasure to work on for 2014 and 2015. Allianz Junior Football Camp 2014 & 2015 were a great project that brought us to Bali. One of the most memorable moments was my interview with the German renowned football coach.
Working on Yen Pao Lai again bought us back to places which we normally would not have had the chance to visit. 2014 also saw a year of a little traveling for Patrick, to USA, China and Hong Kong, that itself had brought us closer to our connections with Hollywood, rekindled and reunited with old associates from LA, and forge new friendships and Ritchie to Germany.
2015 was a great year, thanks to clients like Tokio Marine, Coke Malaysia, Allianz (once again), Microsoft Malaysia, Milo (Through a post house MFX here) , editing work for CIMB, a meaningful CSR project, Yayasan Chow Kit for Yayasan Malaysia and others.
Patrick having some fun on set, with actors and crew
Whatever the projects, one thing is for sure – we are about storytelling and we always strive to give our best to each project and try our very best to have some fun along the way! You can check out some of our work via our youtube channel here.
Patrick with Masato Harado, Japanese actor director
We look forward to a greater and better 2016 and hope to be able to venture into movie making this new year! Let us work towards that vision in mind, together and have the ride of our life.
Happy New Year 2016!
Working With Joe Flizzow The Hip Hop Rapper
We were super excited when Patrick was approached and given the opportunity to direct a music video for the internationally renowned Malaysian hip hop rapper, Joe Flizzow! Joe decided to contribute one of his songs, titled KONGSI for a local Malaysian action drama feature film, Kisah Paling Gengster (directed by Brando Lee). It is a story about an unlikely male nurse (played by the Malaysian famous male actor, Shaheizy Sam), who is down and out in life, but has a stroke of “luck” and is offered to lead a group of gangster simply because he accidentally saves the life of the gang leader. Though he turns down the offer, but is eventually being forced to take up the role, reluctantly. Ever since then, he is being dragged into the world wind of the dark side of the gangsterism and seems to have no turning back!
Joe Flizzow came on set on time for the night shoot. The concept was trying to make it look like part of a behind-the-scene shoot on set. Patrick was toying with the idea of playing with loads of smoke and contrasting lighting to create a some sort of dark environment to suit the theme of the song. “Kongsi” is the Malay word equivalent to “gang” in English. He had two sets of change of wardrobe and Joe was cool about what we were trying to do. We really had fun seeing this talented singer/songwriter rap to his song while we tried and capture as much shots as we could.
If you love to know more about the movie, please do check out their official website here, and facebook here. Meanwhile, we leave you with a trailer of the film, Kisah Paling Gengster, hitting our local cinema starting 21st November 2013. Happy viewing. For the Malaysians, please go support the local films! For those of you who like to know more about Joe Flizzow, click here, and Shaheizy Sam, check him out at his Facebook page here. See you at the cinemas!
Pacific Rim: A Visual Feast
Fiercely captivating in visual style, markedly detailed and stand out in its CG effects, I was quite amazed by how entertained and engaged I was when I finished watching this piece of creative work by director Guillermo del Toro and his team. I could see how much effort and thoughts he has poured into this sci-fi action adventure, to make it not just about the robots (Jaeger) and the monsters (Kaiju) battling against one another, but also about the human race and the story behind each character. I, personally am never really a big fan of this sort of supposedly very “masculine” hero action flick, but once in a while, Hollywood does surprise me. I love for a fact that Guillermo takes it very seriously to make sure that it looks real and convincing (just look at the textures on the Jaegers and Kaiju), be it the mega huge machines that mankind uses to fight the sea creatures, or the kaiju monsters that have been attacking the earth and terrorizing the world all over, right down to the designs of the whole world and the mechanics of it (check out the the pilot suits, and the helmet design videos below!). It does reminds me of the film Blade Runner in terms of its look and design of the streets of Hong Kong.
Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh Becket
Rinko Kikuchi as Mako Mori
Idris Elba as the charismatic Stacker Pentecost
Mana Ashida as the young Mako
I thought the cast were well put together. I could relate to their back story and their fight and struggle. The one performance that stood out the most for me, was the little girl, young Mako (played by the talented Japanese child actor, Mana Ashida). She made the whole terror seem so REAL that I held my breath and felt for her imminent danger just by watching her scenes! Such raw and natural talent. The very one thing I respect how the movie makers in Hollywood work is their professionalism and detailed approach to movie making. Of course, I do understand a lot of it has to do with budgets of a movie. But I do also believe that it has very much to do with how a certain director envisions and takes its creative work close to his/her heart and give the best that one can give. It will all show on the big screen in the end. Like what Guillermo said, “I didn’t want a movie that was technically right, but a movie that felt passion.” I can see what he meant there.
Why movie making is such a fantastic world to be in, is the fact that it is about TEAM work. Everyone (cast, crew, costumes, CGI, production design, music, arts, sound, etc) plays a part in making the film a reality. Whether it will be a box office hit later, that is another matter all together. I absolutely love the music of Pacific Rim, and I love the subtle comedic moments that Guillermo throws in. An absolutely entertaining film. So, do you have a favourite Jaeger (or Kaiju)? Which one, I wonder? Watch the movies below on the highest resolution possible:)) 
Courageously Black
The colour of COURAGE and RED. Yes, it does take a whole lots of “blood” and sweat to be courageous and relentless in pursuing what you believe creatively is possible, even the rest of the world may think it is unattainable. Love the juxtaposition of sadness, amidst positivity in this video, which we find extremely creative and mesmerizing. A story unfolds. The words are powerful, the dance is fluid, the music is enchantingly heart-wrenching at some points, but nonetheless, after all that is done, the last note is played, the last word is written, you feel a sense of relieve, a feeling of liberation and most of all, a sense of HOPE, knowing that in the vast universe of creative world that you choose to work in (here at wherestorymatters too), and live by, your dreams will eventually see the light of things. It is only a matter of time. We believe most creative people have gone through this phase, but The deepest Black (original post here) can be impermanence, if you choose to. Kudos to My Pretzel Logic for a great piece of writing and Jubafilms for an excellent visual interpretation. More of Neil’s musings and creative writings can be discovered here and the four dynamic filmmakers and artistes at Jubafilms here.
To all our friends who are celebrating the special occasion, SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI from us at wherestorymatters, no matter where you may be, in the world, have a great celebration!
Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, written by Simon Beaufoy and Paul Torday, starring Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor, Kristin Scott Thomas, Amr Waked, Rachel Sterling and Tom Mison.
Hope keeps our faith alive, at times, it is the singular driving force of human struggle. Salmon Fishing In The Yemen brings us to a place where in the beginning, it does not seem impossible, yet, by sheer determination, and faith, the outcome can be magical and uplifting. This film is somewhat a nice representation of how interesting British romantic comedy can be. The comedy is subtle yet captivating, very nonchalant but still right on the spot. The scenery is amazingly refreshing. The cinematography is beautiful to say the least. I absolutely adore the blue tint look to the film. I have come to love Emily Blunt (especially since The Adjustment Bureau. My blog post here) for her natural acting ability. The role of Harriet is a perfect fit for her. As for Ewan McGregor, he does aptly pass off as the no-nonsense and somewhat rigid fish specialist, Dr. Alfred Jones. My pleasant surprise was watching Kristin Scott Thomas as the foul-mouthed press secretary pulling off quite a different sort of performance. My next best character will have to be Sheik Muhammaed (played by Amr Waked) for his vision, his determination and faith in making fly-fishing a sport in a not so fish-friendly environment Yemen. Love his performance and portrayal of the character, most of all, love what his character represents in the entire film. This may sound weird (as I am not a person who easily find things funny), I personally do find the film extremely funny in a wicked way. Surprisingly, it is based on a true story, yet, it is treated in such a different manner that one can somewhat relate to it, on a more personal level. All in all, a great story, well told, in many ways.
The World of Oblivion
What if the future is a world that is so surreal yet so familiar at the same time? What if you can trace back the memories that were wiped out of you? A future world that seems promising by Tet, a world where the horizon extends beyond a vast land of emptiness, an emptiness that reflects the hollowness and the utter depth of your mundane human heart, that is a fascinating world of the future created in Oblivion. We absolutely love that imaginary world created by director Joseph Kosinski and his production team. We love the set design, the atmospheric landscape, a future that is somehow familiar and grounded, that’s what we love about a science fiction movie of such. There is a (false) sense of hopelessness, and hope at the same time. We take on this journey with the lead actor, Jack Harper (played by the ever-so-charming-looking Tom Cruise) to self discovery, and realization of a bigger scheme at play. Everything is gradually revealed, and nothing is what it seems in the first place. Those time lapse shots of the sky are amazingly breathtaking! (check out the video below to see how it is done). There are some really cool action sequences and amazing graphics, but ultimately, this is more of a human story at heart. Love this piece of work. Though his futuristic up-in-the-sky-home is pleasing and oozing with awesomeness, one can’t help but feel a little lonely up in the clouds. Will our near future be like this? I personally don’t mind waking up to a beautiful sunrise everyday, and come back to a magical sunset at the end of the day, but I still would love my feet to be planted firm on the ground, somehow. Perhaps, it’s time to make that paradigm shift in mind and let in some fresh new perspectives of how our future could possibly look like, no?
Stoker
Captivating, intimidating, haunting and stylized, STOKER opened and immediately captured my attention with its mesmerizing editing, voice-over and visual style. I absolutely adore the film for its quiet moments, yet gradually build up to its intensity while peeling away layers and layers of deceits, secrets, mystery, psychotic behaviour and motives. Southern flavour with a touch of Hitchcock’s mystery, the film studies the dark side hidden within a seemingly harmless India (Mia Wasikowska), who has just recently lost her beloved father to an accident, and is struggling to cope with her estranged relationship with her mother (Nicole Kidman). This is further complicated by a sudden arrival of her supposedly long lost Uncle Charlie, (Matthew Goode). The nature of the film is one that is such distinctive in terms of visual style, element of gothic horror, yet so psychologically inclined and eerie in a way that it basically glued me to my seat, wanting to know how eventually the whole story will unfold. The music and sound design are particularly mesmerizing and we love the production design of the film, very atmospheric and it has a certain timeless quality to it. Nicole Kidman plays the role of the mother in such an interesting manner that you can’t help but noticing her more. Of course, the hypnotic character which is the pillar of the story, is still the excellent performance by Mia. Can tell that this OLD BOY film director, Park Chan-wook went to great length in preparing the shots and exactly how he would envision the film to be. Everything is answered in the end. The jigsaw puzzles fit perfectly. Amazing piece of work. One of our favourite films this year.
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