Bagaimana Menerbitkan Video? Entah.

"Fill in a circular hole with a peg that's square," Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair by Arctic Monkeys.

Saya diberitahu oleh bapak saya tentang

Pertandingan Mencipta Video Merdeka bagi Pelajar-pelajar Sekolah Seluruh Malaysia

anjuran Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia.

( http://www.skmm.gov.my/index.php?c=public&v=art_view&art_id=887 )

Pertandingan ini terbuka untuk semua pelajar SEKOLAH MENENGAH seluruh Malaysia. Walaupun saya bukanlah orang yang paling layak untuk bercakap tentang ini, saya tetap ingin berkongsi idea, pengalaman dan pendapat tentang

“Bagaimana Menerbitkan Video”

kerana saya percaya ramai yang mampu mencipta sesuatu yang berkualiti tinggi dengan hanya sedikit galakan dan panduan. Saya tahu apa yang saya kongsi ini bukanlah seratus peratus tepat dan boleh diterima untuk semua keadaan, namun saya harap perkongsian ini dapat membantu rakan-rakan disekolah sekurang-kurangnya buat permulaan. Tentunya adik-adik terperasan yang artikel ini ditulis dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Ini dibuat agar dapat membantu menarik minat lebih ramai pelajar untuk mengambil bahagian.

Seperti menulis resipi memasak, mula-mula kita senaraikan ramuannya dahulu. Keperluan-keperluan asas bagi penerbitan sebuah video ialah kamera video dan komputer. Kamera ini boleh saja samada jenis HD atau SD, SLR atau automatic. Yang penting memory card yang besar (atau cukup besar bagi jumlah rakaman yang di rancang). Komputer yang digunakan juga boleh saja samada desktop atau laptop asalkan ada program mengedit seperti MovieMaker, Dreamweaver, iMovie atau Sony Vegas (yang saya gunakan). Kemudian kita perlukan model atau pelakon (kalau hampa nak buat sketsa) atau gambar/dokumen dan suara latar dan/atau muzik sekiranya ia jenis kolaj dokumentari. Dan ramuan yang paling penting dalam penerbitan video (pada pendapat saya) ialah skrip yang baik.

Langkah-langkah mudah:

1. Bincang nak buat apa. Bincang elok-elok. Lantik seorang untuk catat apa yang penting, atau semua pakat catat apa yang di rasa penting. Boleh saja kalau nak buat video ‘narative’ (bercerita) atau sketsa. Atau boleh jugak kalau nak buat montage atau kolaj beberapa ratus gambar yang membawa makna diselang seli dengan ‘naration’. Kalau berbentuk sketsa pendek, boleh dibuat secara komedi, slapstick, sarcasm, polemic, dramatic, sedih, surprise ending, misteri atau spoof. Fikirkan tentang video-video atau movie yang hampa suka. Lepas tu, fikirkan “apa yang saya suka tentangnya?” baik dari sudut dialog, penceritaan, camera angle, directing, tempo dan sebagainya. Berusaha untuk buat apa yang kamu suka tu. Fikirkan juga tentang video-video atau movie yang hampa tak suka dan fikirkan juga “apa yang saya tak suka tentangnya?” dan berusaha untuk tidak membuat apa yang kamu tak suka tu. Simple pimple tak?

2. Membuat story board untuk video. Story board ialah rangka kasar tentang cerita beserta kaedah penceritaan mengikut rangka masa dan sumber yang ada. Story board biar tak cantik asalkan senang di fahami dan menyeluruh. Kalau dalam penceritaan itu perlukan skrip maka hendaklah dibuat skrip. Tak perlu dibuat terlalu detail. Berikan ruang untuk improvisasi (dialog spontan). Contoh storyboard yang saya cari dari laman web ialah seperti di bawah:

Diambil dari sini.

Kalau dah diisi ia akan kelihatan seperti ini:

Diambil dari sini.

3. Kemudian sampailah ke peringkat pengambaran. Ambil beberapa “take” atau “shot” bagi setiap adegan kerana kadang-kadang kita akan sukai apa yang kita ingat rosak (bloopers) sebelum ini. Sekiranya tidak mempunyai memory card yang besar, pindahkan ke hard disk setiap sesi pengambaran dan di label dengan baik dan mudah diingat dan disusun. Semasa pengambaran, ingatlah supaya buat di masa cahaya semulajadi sedang baik (kalau nak guna cahaya semulajadi). Kalau tidak, perlu difikirkan macam mana menggunakan artificial lighting. Cari la torchlight ka table lamp ka apa ka supaya terang “shot” hampa tu. Begitu juga dengan latar bunyi. Elakkan juga gangguan dari segi suara, adegan dan kadang-kadang tetamu yang tidak diundang masuk ke dalam scene. Contohnya semasa berlakun adegan tahu 1957 kelihatan iPhone4 di atas meja Tunku Abdul Rahman (unless hampa memang nak buat lawak had stai camtu la kan?)

4. Kemudian masuklah ke peringkat editing. Berbagai program video editor yang berada di pasaran. Pilihlah yang bersesuaian. Antara teknik teknik editing yang boleh digunakan ialah menggunakan efek hitam-putih, filem klasik, cloning dan lain-lain. Jangan masukkan teknik teknik ini semata mata untuk menambah efek, tetapi mestilah kerana penggunaannya membantu kaedah penceritaan. Kemudian, masukkan teks dan credit di mana bersesuaian dan bila diperlukan.

5. Langkah terakhir sebelum menghantar video itu untuk pertandingan ialah membuat pra-tonton kepada rakan-rakan atau anggota keluarga untuk pendapat dan pandangan yang jujur. Sesudah itu buat perbincangan terakhir samada masih perlu membuat apa apa pertukaran atau suntingan kepada video tersebut. Sesudah itu, bolehlah dihantar ke alamat yang diberikan di sini dengan format yang telah ditetapkan.

6. Isi borang ini http://skmm.gov.my/attachment/pdf/Borang_Penyertaan.pdf

7. Semak sekali lagi samada kumpulan anda mengikut setiap peraturan yang dinyatakan di sini: http://skmm.gov.my/attachment/pdf/Syarat%20Penyertaan.pdf

8. Menang atau kalah penyertaan anda tidaklah sepenting mengambil bahagian. Pengalaman ini akan menjadi kenangan anda sepanjang hayat.

SELAMAT MENCUBA DAN SELAMAT BERJAYA!!!

May peace be upon all of you!

Cheers!

Relationships

"Terkubur hasrat ibu ke sorga," Jerayawara Orang Berjaur by The Venopian Solitude.

I've been meaning to share this with you guys sooner, but you know how it goes with procrastination and other work. They're always there. But alhamdulillah, I'm writing this now.

Taken from here.

In this life, we have all sorts of relationships. For instance, our relationship with God, with His Messenger SAW, with our parents, with our siblings, our relatives, our friends, even our girlfriends/boyfriends (ai, plural nampak? hehe), etc. Some we care about more than others. Some we spend more time with compared to others. Some we are reminded of while we visit certain places.

Those are some examples of the usual names that we have when we hear the word relationship.

But most (if not all) of us also have relationships with objects too. We have relationships with our phone(s), laptop, mp3 player, wallet, bed, camera, the list goes on. Each of these objects receive our attention in one way or another. Some we give more attention to, some less. Some we care about more than others. Each person has their own list, and the hierarchy in that list also differs from one person to another. Some spend more time with their phones than with their laptops. Some spend more time on their bed than on their books.

But let me ask you this. In that hierarchy of valuable objects, where do we put the Quran in our lives?

Miracles (mukjizat, as we call it) were given to all of Allah's Prophets (may Allah be pleased with them), but all of them could only be witnessed by the people who were around the Prophet at the time. Only people who attended that magic duel against Musa a.s. and the Pharoah's wizards were able to witness his staff turn into a huge snake (through Allah's will). Only those who were around Isa a.s. were able to see him make food appear out of nowhere (through Allah's will).

Taken from here.

But one miracle stands out from all of them, and that is the Quran. It is the only miracle that is still with us today, even after more than a thousand years after the passing of our Prophet Muhammad SAW. It is the only miracle that the people of a Prophet may be able to witness so that they may feel the magic no matter where they're from or when they were born (as long as it's after the time of the Prophet SAW). Such is the privilege given to Muhammad's SAW people by Allah SWT.

So it's a miracle. So it's the only miracle still in existence. So yeah, it's a big deal.

Going back to my question earlier. Where in that hierarchy of worldly objects do we put the Quran? How's our relationship with it? Do we spend any time trying to develop our relationship with it? If we do, how much? Is that enough? Is our relationship with it just superficial? Or do we make the effort to have a deep relationship with it, where we don't just read it, we understand it? Where we don't just understand it, we apply it in our daily lives?

I ask myself these questions before I ask anyone else. Let us take this opportunity while we have the syaitan in chains during this month of Ramadhan to develop that relationship with the Quran. If we don't have one yet, go buy one, preferably one with translations and read those translations too.

It's too much of a loss to miss out on this miracle. Just too much.

May peace be upon all of you.

Cheers!

Ramadhan A Period of Reassessment?

"O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous," al-Baqarah [2:183]

Alhamdulillah, we are again blessed with the Holy month of Ramadhan.

As suggested in my previous video with brother Aiman Azlan, I am pretty stoked about getting another crack at Ramadhan. It's my favourite time of the year, really.

Imagine, a month every year that is reserved for us to reassess ourselves as Muslims, gauge our sincerity and demands us to be honest to ourselves more than any other month.

Why is this month of self-reassessment? I'm guessing that if 10 people answered this questions, we'd have 10 different answers, so I'll give mine.

In the month of Ramadhan, besides the "not being able to eat and drink during the daytime" part, we're urged to (among other things) do charity (monetary or otherwise), hold our anger and read the Quran.

But then, as Muslims, shouldn't we already be doing charity regularly? Shouldn't we be the most charitable people in the world all the time and not just during that one month of the year?

"Indeed, the men who practice charity and the women who practice charity and [they who] have loaned Allah a goodly loan - it will be multiplied for them, and they will have a noble reward." al-Hadid [57:18]

Isn't the promise of a "noble reward" (Paradise) a good enough motivator for us to do charity whenever the chance presents itself? "

But I DO give charity often!" I hear you cry. Well, that's great! Just super! Just make sure to keep it up (and maybe increase in your giving ways) during this holy month, yeah?

Holding our anger is another thing that we're urged to do. But again, Muslims should be the calmest people on the Earth, in my humble opinion. Why? Because we believe in Allah SWT. We believe in Qada' and Qadr. And also because Allah SWT loves those who control their anger, as said in the al-Quran:

“…those who control their anger and are forgiving toward mankind; Allah loves those who do good.” ali-'Imran [3:134]

Even our Prophet Muhammad SAW told us not to get angry, as recorded by Bukhari in his Sahih as saying:

"Don't get angry," and he repeated this several times. [Bukhari]

That's some advice from the very best of mankind, so we should probably heed it. But then I hear you shout the inquiry "But how can we jihad if we're not angry?" And to that I say, go ahead. Be angry. But only if it's for the sake of Allah SWT. If not, don't.

Next, we're urged to read the Quran during this holy month. A lot of people blow the dust off their household Qurans and read it during Ramadhan. Some would start tadarrus groups and strive to complete reading the Quran from cover to cover in 30 days or less.

But then, aren't we supposed to read it as regularly as possible?

"And recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. There is no changer of His words, and never will you find in other than Him a refuge." al-Kahf [18:27]

After all, isn't it the ultimate truth?

Ah, but you pout and mumble to the floor "But I already read it every single day!" If so, that's great! Awesome! Keep it up!

As I said earlier, to me, the month of Ramadhan is a month of self-reassessment. Are we really the best Muslims we can be? Or can some parts be improved? I know I definitely can do with a bit of self-fixing. How about you?

May this Ramadhan bring us plenty of rewards and make us better Muslims in the future, insyaAllah.

May peace be upon you.

Cheers!