Sing to The Dawn, what happen behind the curtain
– First of all, sorry for my bad English. Initially I’d like to write it down on Indonesian language, but somehow there’s a tiny voice on my mind asking for an English, so here it is –
After several years struggling, I shall congratulate my dear fellow friends and brothers for the premiere of Sing To the Dawn. Although many media both online or offline often said that this movie is produced by Singapore (yes it’s true from some certain reason, MDA, Mediacorp Raintree, is a big player to make this movie happen) but I have to say that most people who really make this movie is from Indonesia. How do I know? I was one of them.
Located in Batam, less than an hour by ferry from Tanah Merah, Singapore, surrounded by beach and beautiful scenery, about 80 people in total (if I’m not mistaken, please CMIIW) from many places (most of them are Indonesian) put their best efforts to finish this project. This is not a simple task, especially for us at that time. As a startup, we were really struggle to form our production workflow, still trying to find the best solution suits to our needs, and many other else. Well, I have to say that many unpredictable things happen.
The best thing is, somehow, we’re able to stick to our simple goal.
“We just want to do all the best to deliver this movie”
It’s an important thing to say that this movie won’t compete with happy feet, madagascar, wall-e, or any other fancy animation feature films. Yes, this movie is definitely not on the same level with them since the first creation.
Why? B U D G E T
Budget-wise, it’s considered as a very low budget. So we need to think wisely about many many things. For me whose in charge on technology, it’s a kind of pain. But hell yeah, the show must go on. Finishing this movie with very small people in technology team and very limited resources, plus almost all of us were new in this kind of industry, is like a miracle. Wait, should I say that we’re not just supporting this movie? Technology team is responsible for whatever happen studio-wise. And at that time, we’re not just working on this movie. The same thing happen with all divisions, and the schedule is very tight.
Can you believe that there’s an artist who’s working as a modeler, rigger, matte painter, and also compositor? Umm, perhaps he’s also working on the animation layout and camera as well.
FYI, this isn’t an excuse for whatever it is. I just want to present some facts on what happen behind the curtains. But yes, there are many things need to be improved from this movie, many things.
Some people felt that this show is a boring, fail, and painful. I’m happy with this, it’s good to have people put an attention on this. They put their best efforts to write all those critics and reviews for this movie and we’re doing [almost] the same thing, by trying our best efforts to deliver this movie with whatever obstacles we had. Everyone has their own task. Without them, we’re nothing. Everybody knows that criticism is a perfect tools to make your product better.
For me personally, this movie has become one of my life’s milestone. Some of my friends might also feels the same thing. We definitely learn a lot from this project and it has become the biggest project for some of us. Well, some seniors have lots of experience on making a real feature film. But for most of us, it’s almost like a dream. That’s why it’s more than just a work, it’s our passion.
You might not believe, but sometimes the best way to do something is by doing it. Just do it.
setujuh…
osamanwae
22 Nov 08 at 9:46 am
haiyah, setujuh karo opo man?
achmadi
22 Nov 08 at 11:31 am
it’s never be easy for me -after all- to hear those reviews since they always say as long as this film played at the same cinemas with wall e, kungfu panda, Horton, etc , this film should be have the same quality with those…but that is the fact,welcome to the real life where result is more important than its process. But i will never be ashamed for this film cos like u said “for most of us, it’s almost like a dream. That’s why it’s more than just a work, it’s our passion”.
And for some reason, completed and delivered this film in 2 years, with only involve 80 artists who maybe about 85%-90% of them didn’t have experiences in the real movie industry, it’s AWESOME.
cicalthecute
22 Nov 08 at 2:45 pm
IMO, Yes, they can judge what they see, because they pay the same price for each film (either it’s low budjet/ whatever), s$10. I agree that critics make you better. So accept it and go for another masterpiece~
What is important is at least the crews had an apportunity to express themselves in creating a MOVIE and to be a BIG FAMILY. (hug hug)
And “if dreams they really can come true, and all I really have to do is believe..” … wait crews, we have reached it!
rue
22 Nov 08 at 5:02 pm
podo sama saman
setujuh
geblek
23 Nov 08 at 6:08 pm
That’s a very human perspective on Sing to the Dawn, without all local media propaganda on how fucking good the movie is and a two cents’ worth without the cheap CGI wizardry.
In short, I haven’t caught the movie, and I frankly still think it sucks. I’ll wait for the DVD though…
Brennan
23 Nov 08 at 8:25 pm
[...] latest Singapore-funded CGI flop movie “Sing to the Dawn” awhile back, and I received a blog post from an Indonesian who apparently worked on this production. What he mentioned in his blog post [...]
One “Sing to the Dawn” production crew Speaks Up | brennan.speaking
23 Nov 08 at 8:43 pm
Hi Achmadi, from the time of my review till today, I had encountered a few folks from the local animation to explain to me how mis-represented it was to label Sing to the Dawn as a “Singapore” film, only because it was heavily financed by 2 local major media companies.
Nonetheless I have since understood the constraint that the production team had to work under. But such is the competition out there, that the big guys dominate the landscape with their bigger Budgets and with that, a lot of expertise they can pump into their production.
But one thing that you cannot take away from Sing to the Dawn, is the experience that everyone in the production house has gained. That will definitely stay with you guys, and I hope to see your crew scale greater heights!
Cheers!
Stefan S
23 Nov 08 at 9:43 pm
Hi Stefan, thanks for the notes. I do believe so, about the budget. 100% agree.
But there’s always a niche market on building a products, and right now I’m talking not just about entertainment industries.
For me, the key is back to basic:
Concept, Story, Execution and Marketing
This is what real creativity means. One good example is “SAW”
Anyway, although some damn good people are working with the major player, there’s always a chance to find some new talents, fresh one, who still figure out on how to build their careers.
achmadi
24 Nov 08 at 12:06 am
buat pilem ini?!? makan makan
didut
26 Nov 08 at 7:11 am
Dukung mas didik jadi lurah singapore !!!
H4rs
26 Nov 08 at 7:35 am
setujuh sama didut!
wiwikwae
26 Nov 08 at 9:22 am
dooh.. ra mudeng boso kromo inggris…
jojo
27 Nov 08 at 10:05 pm
*buka google translate*
memble
28 Nov 08 at 8:48 am
panjenengan kondur Semarang kapan Mas???
ampun kesupen ngasta dipidinipun nggih…
kula badhe ngampiL…
^_^
TyasHKiT
1 Dec 08 at 12:41 pm
Hello Achmadi,
I’m so glad I happened upon your blog, and have a chance to tell you directly, how very VERY much I like and respect the work that you and the other Indonesian artists have done to make my book come alive on screen. Even though my visit to your studio in Batam was very brief, I did get a sense of the incredible talent and dedication that you all, as a team, put into making “Sing to the Dawn”. It was truly magical – what you did.
I too have seen some of the critical reviews and comments about the movie – but hey, SO WHAT? It’s always easy for critics to sneer – it only takes a few minutes of their time to type out a few dismissive words, while stoking their own frail egos by tamping down the efforts of artists to create something new. If we listened to them, we’d just be sitting on our hands all our lives, afraid to try anything!
I’m glad and grateful that you all tried to make the story of “Sing to the Dawn” come alive on the big screen – especially to children too young to read the book. I know that if I was still a little girl, I would have found the images you created in the film, absolutely enchanting.
As it is, here I am, a middle-aged woman sitting in upstate New York, looking out on the bleak grey winter, already missing the vibrancy of the tropical greens and golds, but now I can just click on to the STTD trailer on you-tube, and feel like I can come home again.
You have all done a wonderful, wonderful job. I thank you all so much!
Perhaps we will have the chance to work together again in the future. I hope so.
All the best ,
Minfong Ho
minfong@gmail.com
Minfong Ho
4 Dec 08 at 2:53 am
Wow, I never expect you’ll visit my place Ms. Minfong.
Thanks for the HUGE support to all of us
achmadi
4 Dec 08 at 10:28 am
Wew. Ms.Minfong Ho it self gave support for all of us…hehehhe.
(, awakmu tok harapanku 
…yah di 
Di, gawakke DIPIDI NE DIiiii, nek wes metu, wingi aku nitip kancaku durung oleh soale
Danang Setiawan
14 Dec 08 at 3:19 pm
[...] Yang tersisa dari balik panggung Sing to the dawn, Waktu gak sengaja blog walking, baca postingan temen gw, gw menemukan suatu komen yang sangat menarik, gw sudah minta ijin untuk copy paste, nah ini [...]
Yang tersisa dari balik panggung « si Gendut Hideout
16 Dec 08 at 11:49 am
Haven’t watched it yet, so I don’t know. But it’s awesome still
wahyu
16 Dec 08 at 12:01 pm
Hey achmadi, I totally agree on what you said. I am one of the only few REAL singaporean (Pure Citizenship, not PR mind you) who work on this. I know I posted late late late, but I just want to to say despite the low budget and the media politics going on, I am glad we finish the film. I have no regrets as I know we have put in all our hard work, long hours on this. Even throughout the production, there is some many changes on the management level, the animation director come and go, same as the art director, supervisors come and go as well. And in the midst, we have to cut cost like saving the electricity. Can you imagine that? I am not saying we are wasting electricity, but it shows how tight the budget is. Nonetheless, I will still buy a copy of the dvd when it is out and say proudly that I was part of the team that produced the movie. I think singaporeans should learn how to appreciate the learning process. Not everything can come up in a split instant, especially something that relates creativity and artistic. We are definitely not there. The level of the teaching in schools as well. We are not artistic incline as most of our studies are drill in mathematics and science. Our culture is only just beginning to accept art as a career. Thus, it will be a long and difficult road ahead. I am not surprise if we have to fund more money in it, but the level and standard of education in the creative field as to be increase significantly.
Just Guess.
25 Jan 09 at 12:01 am