Hear it for the ACM-ERS

hello hi. i'm wailing and i'm doing the blogging for our SAC group. we're doing a video project for ASIAN CIVILISATION MUSEUM and i'll be blogging the progress of our group and also taking photos of all you guys. all the members in the group are Amanda, Zhi Yi, Guan Quan, Joshua, Marcus, Keren, Maybelle, Lyn, Megan, Hui Min, Phoebe, Daniel and me. hope you guys ~~like~~ love the blog :)	acm-ers Secretary: wailing Script/acting: zhiyi(I/C), marcus, keren, maybelle, joshua, guanquan Editing/filming: megan(I/C), amanda, joshua, lesley Props: guanquan(I/C), huimin, phoebe Music: joshua(I/C), lesley, daniel Lights: lyn(I/C)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 @ 7:35 PM CONFIRMED STORYLINE Scenario: A lesson conducted during a field trip to the ACM. Students make their way to the entrance of the ACM to begin the class. Teacher/tour guide: You are about to watch a Wayang Kulit performance. It is a shadow puppet play that is widely performed in South East Asian countries such as Indonesia. Students: Appear disinterested, cut to Marcus face. Puppeteers (Hui Min, Guan Quan, Phoebe, Amanda) manipulates the wayang kulit props to traditional Gamelan music. Cut to Joshua and Keren texting on iphones Keren text: I don't get it Joshua text: Same here Cut to Zhi Yi who nudges Keren and Joshua to stop texting Zoom into Zhi Yi who looks intriged by the Wayang Kulit performance. (Music changes from traditional gamelan music to catchy contemporary music) Camera toggles quickly between wayang kulit screen and Zhi Yi's face. Disinterested students notice that Zhi Yi is keen on the performance and follows the example. Traditional warm light flickers to neon. Wayang Kulit dances to correspond to catchy contemporary music. (Lyrics to appers as subtitles) Verse 1: There was a time Long long ago Before there was TV The hype was so low The only entertainment Was shadow puppets Known as Wayang Kulit Chorus: So do not sigh And take a seat And enjoy the uniqueness to Wayang Kulit With a stick in hand And a dalang holding it. Verse 2: They told many stories Across the centuries It was also considered A masterpiece Gamelan music Was played with it It is worth watching So please take a seat. Chorus: So do not sigh And take a seat And enjoy the uniqueness to Wayang Kulit With a stick in hand And a dalang holding it. Bridge: Seemingly plain With its black and white looks /appearance But look at it in a different light And you'll see How colourful it can really be. Hands of puppeters crash through with wayang kulit puppets and continue dancing Cut to suprised look of class Cut back to wayang kulit performance Chorus: So do not sigh And take a seat And enjoy the uniqueness to Wayang Kulit With a stick in hand And a dalang holding it. (Song ends with a bang) Class cheers wildly. Cut to class leaving ACM still talking excitedly about Wayang Kulit Cut to someone's iphone left behind Messages appears: "Get it now?" back to top?
Monday, March 29, 2010 @ 7:18 PM Lesley's Reflection of Wayang Kulit Reading - Arts of Southeast Asia *Kerlogue, Fiona. Arts of Southeast Asia. Singapore: Thames and Hudson, 2004.* This article tells us about the assimilation of traditions (mainly the Javanese and Balinese) in Asia. It all started when the Hindu Court of Majapahit was forced to abandon Java in the sixteenth century. The royal family and many members of the aristocracy took refuge in Bali, taking much of their artistic traditions with them. It was not log before the presence of Javanese traditions, religion in particular, became evident in Bali. Images carved on the walls of religious areas and structures of temples were soon reconstructed to resemble designs from Javanese architecture of the period. The spread of the Javanese narrative tradition soon followed. Although Bali already had its own legends, they started to spread even more during this period of assimilation. My Thoughts: I think it is amazing how rich Balinese culture is. It isn’t just one culture by itself. Instead, it is a mixture of many others, each with their own roots tracing back to the beginning of time. Learning about Indonesian Wayang Kulit is a part of this project. Let’s not stop at the surface. We should also look beyond and find out more about the traditions that lie behind it. I am sure that doing this will allow us to gain a better understanding of Indonesian Wayang Kulit. back to top?
Friday, March 26, 2010 @ 10:38 PM Lyn's Reflection of Wayang Kulit Readings - "Malaysian Shadow Play and Music" *Matusky, Patricia. Malaysian Shadow Play and Music: Continuity of an Oral Tradition. Malaysia: The Asian Centre, 1997.* The Malaysian Peninsular is the only part of Malaysia that has Wayang Kulit.There are two socio-economic patterns in the Malay Peninsula: the Urban Lifestyle, and the traditional, rural Kampong, which is highly agricultural-based. In the Kampong areas, Wayang Kulit was a popular form of entertainment, with roots in the rural villages. However with modernization, many new forms of entertainment appeared (such as portable cinemas), overshadowing the popularity of Wayang Kulit. In the Urban areas (west coast), many people understand what Wayang Kulit is, but few have seen Wayang Kulit before, because they have no exposure in the Urban territories. With the urbanization of the rural areas, I think that Wayang Kulit may soon disappear from the cultural scene in Malaysia, and there may be a dwindling amount of Dalang (puppeteers). Therefore, I think that it is a very good idea to have an SAC project to promote Wayang Kulit, as it is full of Culture and Personality, but it is also becoming extinct. back to top?
Thursday, March 25, 2010 @ 11:36 PM Some ideas for the script. Hi all (: Since I'm part of the script 'committee' (I'm part of most groups, except lighting and props), I'll be contributing to the script of our video. I'll also try to put in as many details as possible to prevent loopholes. I have included some of my ideas. Please don't hesitate to comment as harshly and frankly as you want. A class of students watch a Wayang Kulit and discover that it's actually quite exciting when they pay attention. Teacher/tour guide: You are about to watch a Wayang Kulit, which is a shadow puppet play which originates from Indonesia. Students: -_- (Traditional Wayang Kulit begins, showing from a projector screen) - are we going to include only 1 type (ie. Indonesian etc.) or all? Music: traditional Gamelan music, including ambience sounds eg. moving of puppets (Occasional cuts to students texting discreetly eg. "Omg this is so boring" "Yeah, tell me about it") Another student (Zhiyi??) whispers: Pay attention! (Students who are texting scowl) (Zoom into Zhiyi's face, looking slightly curious) (Very fast cuts between the Wayang Kulit and the Zhiyi's face) (Student slowly starts looking quite interested) (Light colours change to neon colours) Music: 'Single Ladies' fades in (Wayang Kulit characters dance to the Single Ladies choreography. Shadows should preferably look like Beyonce) (Cut to Zhiyi swaying to the music looking very enthu) (Cut to the traditional Wayang Kulit) - Music: Single ladies stops. Traditional Gamelan music resumes. (Students who were texting see Zhiyi swaying to the music and look confused. They decide to pay attention.) (Close up on a hand putting the phone on a table) (Fast cuts between the traditional Wayang Kulit and the other students faces, again) (Light colours change to neon colours again.) Music: Other pop music starts. (TiK ToK by Ke$ha?? or maybe a Lady GaGa song) (Cut to the whole class looking very enthusiastic and clapping to music) (When music ends, the whole class cheers) It's recess time, or, the field trip to the museum is over. (Everyone is talking about how cool and awesome the Wayang Kulit is) (Cut to the empty classroom and a handphone is left on a table) (Close up on the handphone screen showing the previous messages) (A new message received, saying "Still so boring?") (Camera zooms in on those words) (Screen suddenly goes blank) Logistics: For the handphone, preferably we should use an iPhone, because it shows the messages as a conversation. Also, because primary school students think the iPhone is 'cool'. LOL. Update from the music committee: Cherie has agreed to record the music for us. Yay (: Joshua. back to top?
Friday, March 12, 2010 @ 7:49 PM ACM session 2 Today was our first visit to ACM and we got to have a tour from one of the museum guides,Melissa. She showed us a few exhibitions of different cultures and of course Wayang Kulit items. We watched a video about Wayang Kulit and then brainstormed on ideas for the video. Each of us described how our video was supposedly going to be like - colourful,modern,comical,dramatic,musical and much more. We decided everyones' roles for the video and it is as proposed: Secretary: -Wai Ling Script/Acting: -Zhi Yi(I/C) -Marcus -Karen -Maybelle -Guan Quan Editing/Filming: -Megan(I/C) -Amanda -Lesley Props: -Guan Quan(I/C) -Hui Min(Assistant I/C) -Phoebe Music: -Joshua(I/C) -Lesley -Daniel Lights: -Lyn(I/C) We discussed more about the video and Ms Kwok took a few pictures too. Ms Kwok told me I had to do a group blog and blog about our progress for this SAC project. If you have any issues with the blog,please feel free to comment. back to top?
@ 7:07 PM First ACM session. It was the first SAC lesson in our chosen groups and I found out that i was in the group that I picked as first choice, together with Zhi Yi,Amanda,Marcus,Guan Quan,Joshua,Keren, Maybelle,Daniel,Lyn,Megan and Hui Min. Our teacher in charge was Ms Kwok and when the class started, she let each of us give a brief introduction of ourselves to get to know each other better. Then,she gave us a worksheet to do and when we were done we shared our answers and reasons with everyone else. After that, Ms Kwok told us we were going to make a video,which was supposed to promote the learning of history and cultures to primary school students. We had four choices to choose from for the topic of the video - 1)Chinese Opera - 2)Wayang Kulit -3)Indian Dance -4)Balanese Music Majority of us voted for Wayang Kulit,except for Zhi Yi and Joshua. Then we all shared how we could each contribute to the project and what benefit from it. Most people said they could contribute by giving ideas, making props, video editing/filming, acting/scripting and so on and so forth. Ms kwok told us the dates that we would be going to ACM and that was mostly the whole SAC lesson. Thats all for now! back to top?