Mesocafe

This is an indie film based in London that I worked on as location sound recordist back in 2008.

Synopsis

With its Arab, Assyrian, Jewish and Kurdish heritage, the Iraqi community of London forms a backdrop for the story of Bisan and Yusif as they negotiate a courtship in the run-up to the 2003 war.

Yusif is an underground blogger opposing the regime of Saddam Hussain from within Iraq. He arrives in London in February 2003 with a view to helping highlight the brutality of this regime and the painful consequences upon the Iraqi nation of UN imposed economic sanctions. He dreams of a liberated homeland. Yusif's short stay in London brings him into contact with an array of individuals from the vibrant community: There is Zaynab - owner of Mesocafe and purveyor of advice for marriage and love, and for work and business. There is Tawfiq, a young Iraqi refugee spending the little money he has on phone cards calling his wife in Syria; there is Suad, a successful PR executive unable to come to terms with the death of her young husband at the end of the 1991 war; and there is the beautiful Bisan who, in between translating books from Arabic to English, relives her childhood memories Iraq.

Head Over Heels making waves in Malaysia.

Two days before I left for LA, I met up with Asohan Aryaduray, a journalist from Digital News Asia. We talked about how I got involved in Head Over Heels and the path I'd taken in my career as a sound designer.

Asohan was very friendly and nice so it was easy for me to talk to him about 'sound' stuff. I think I was even talking nonstop at one point.

To read the article in full, please click on the link below:

www.digitalnewsasia.com/digital-economy/the-hidden-art-of-sound-design-from-an-award-winning-malaysian

The national news channel Astro Awani has also caught up on the hype of the Golden Reel and Head Over Heels's nomination in this year's Academy Awards.

http://youtu.be/fSLpUoyopyc

As this is the national news channel, the content will be in Bahasa. I'll try to subtitle it at some point for all my English-speaking friends in UK.

Head Over Heels grabs the Golden Reel awards

A short animated film that I worked on has picked up a Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award - recognised as the sound world's equivalent of the Oscars.

Head Over Heels was nominated in the Verna Fields Award for Best Sound Editing by a Student Filmmaker.

The film is also in contention at The Oscars in the Best Short Animated Film category.

"It is a great honour to receive this award and be recognised by the finest sound and music editing professionals. Not everyone understands the importance of sound and music in a film or video because it is designed to be seamless and subtle. If you have the passion and love for it, I believe you can thrive and be proud of your work."

'Volume' in Sundance 2013

'Volume' a short film from the NFTS, directed by Mahalia Belo.

Synopsis:

'WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW, TRUTH IS JUST WHAT YOU DECIDE IT IS'

Sam lives is a place where everything is polished and secrets are cleaned up and kept. So when Georgina goes missing, everyone acts like nothing happened. But Sam can't stop thinking about her, the enigma who lived next door, swimming daily in her pool. As Sam drifts back into his memories of Georgina, he comes to realise he may know more than he wants to remember.

The 2013 SUNDANCE Short Film program is comprised of 65 short films selected from a record 8,102 submissions.

VOLUME has been selected. Three cheers for VOLUME. Well done to the team.

Most of the key heads of department on VOLUME were women. The sense of loyalty and friendship between us gave the entire crew a sense of community, and a shared drive to achieve something extraordinary. The team are already planning future collaborations and hope that VOLUME is just the first film of many we make together.

Underwater filming.

The script for VOLUME was extremely ambitious for a short film - luxury houses, desolate landscape and multiple extras. Oh, have I mentioned the underwater filming yet?

The film was shot in 35mm and the end result is stunning. The music is filled with subtlety and beauty working incredibly well with my sound design to draw out suspense and mystery.

Screen International says of VOLUME..."It is a stunning, take-notice debut in which the London born director creates an exquisite, haunting suburban world and marries it to a dreamy but always menacing drama."

Watch the trailer here:

http://volumethefilm.com/#807/custom_plain

Or you can check us out on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/VolumeTheFilm?fref=ts

Long Awaited Release...

Almost four years ago, I went on a 'journey' that helped shape my career in sound today. I applied to be sound recordist for a low budget film Do Elephants Pray directed by Paul Hills and produced by Jonnie Hurn. At a meeting with the director, I was told I am not experienced enough to be the sound recordist and was offered the position as boom operator instead. I took the offer.

First day of shooting began in London and I arrived on time to the set. I was introduced to the sound recordist and we began setting up for camera roll. Due to the film being a low budget production, we can only afford two tracks recording onto a DAT. (Let's be honest, four years back recording onto DAT is still a pretty decent format although it is on its last shout of glory)

The cumbersome DAT machine,four-track mixer and myself .

We had some sound issues before camera roll and it was only resolved after a frantic round of checking and testing all the equipment. Eventually we found out that it was actually an input button on the DAT machine that needed to be pressed (No wonder people think sound is just a press of a button). The rest of the day and day two went well after the minor hitch.

On the third day, on my way to London in the train I got a call from the line producer asking me if I can handle the location sound for the rest of the production. I wasn't sure what was asked of me and upon arriving on set they told me that the sound recordist has left together with all his equipment. They hired some audio equipment quickly and was told that when it arrives I have to check it. Right, so I guess I will be the sound recordist from now on then.

I never looked back since and I was part of a one-man sound crew that will be heading to France for a month because the film is set in Brittany, a cultural region in the north-west of France. We will be living in caravans and shooting in the forest of Brittany. It was here that I made a lot of friends and also experienced hypothermia. It was October and we were doing a night shoot. Temperature dropped really quickly and I was caught out by the coldness. Towards the end of the night, I fainted and had to be hospitalised.

The caravan park which is also the production base.

It was tough then but looking back now it was a lot of fun and I will not change a thing. As it happens, I also did the sound design for the film on my laptop in my tiny room. The director told me that the film will be mixed at Synxspeed by Nic Le Messurier (3 times Oscar nominee for Best Sound) and Foley will be recorded at Universal Studios in Amersham. It felt like the sky had opened up and I have been flown to sound heaven.

Four years on, I am delighted to know that the film will have its UK release in February 2013. I will not be there in person for the screening but I hope it will get a good response from the audience. Like a saying in the film, ''It doesn't matter where you are or where you come from, what matter is that you made the journey.''