Realiti - Episode 7 notes

• Because it's my episode, here's the script.


• Finally, the first elimination episode. It's taken so long to get here just because we love all our characters and didn't want them to disappear so early. We actually spent a fair amount of time trying to decide who would be eliminated when, and were changing it around even during the episode 9/episode 10 drafts. And the winner? Heck, there were three names in the air up to the very end. The rule of thumb is this: if a character still has a story to tell, he/she doesn't get eliminated. Or not really eliminated anyway, as the "Next Week..." clips demonstrate this week.


• Talking about the "Next Week..." clips, I feel that it spoils the surprises. My advice is to not watch it for the next few episodes.


• Notice how Baby's wound shifts from the center of her head to the side. And then later on disappears. This indeed is the magic of television.


• There are some problems in timing. When exactly is the showdown? Baby says it's in two more days. The next day, both Juliana and Mac say that it's in two more days. What they obviously mean, because the showdown is in the evening, they have two more days to prepare. Anyway, when they say "two days", what they mean is "tomorrow".


• I wish I had written a rehearsal scene for them, but this episode has so much story in it, there isn't really much space left for anything else. The dialogue that Mac has just before the show was initially meant to be during rehearsals, but it's all talk and no sing.


• Early on in the episode, as they are meeting the fans, Nickson says something like, "ikan kat pasar tu kan, dia potong dengan laser, tahu", which is definitely not something I had written. That's Alvin for you. Ad-libber. Scene-stealer.


• In the original draft, Burn palms the drugs when Mac barges into the bathroom. Mac then grabs hold of Burn's wrist, not Melody's. I still prefer the original version. But because I don't have the word 'Producer' next to my name, they went with the other one.


• I'm actually quite happy with how the Nickson storyline works in this episode. It's not so direct about Nickson's gayness, but I hope that it's clear that that is one of the sticking points in his relationship with his father. Anyway, it's a lot more obvious next episode.


• I like the scene where Mac, Jay and David argue about whether Melody should stay in. First draft by me, and then lots of rewrites, and Ping had a strong hand in the final version, I think. Does David want Melody to stay in because it's what's is best for her? I tried to at least make you believe that he thinks he's doing the right thing.





• The scene on the roof: classic. I have no idea whether it was Ping or me who first came up with it, but it's the big scene I was waiting to write. I'm going to say it was my idea, and that I set it on the roof. It's a classic love scene where two people say they love each other, without actually using those words.


• It's one of those few scenes that didn't actually change very much from the first to the final draft. Ironically, Ping changed the scene because it was too long at the beginning. (And maybe he thought the dialogue sucked, but he didn't really say that, and I don't think that was the case either.) It ended up running a little longer, split up across two scenes.


• The line about the Twin Towers? Originally came from Ping. It's okay to use cheese if you point out it's very Drama Minggu Ini-ish in the dialogue. And when you can get a rooftop with the Twin Towers in the background. It has my blessings anyway, and I edited to keep it in with full gusto. And relish.


• One thing that did change for the rooftop scene was the song that Melody sings. Originally it was All By Myself, and I wrote the dialogue so that the lyrics really fit in with what Melody wanted to say ("Hard to be sure / Sometimes I feel so insecure / And love so distant and obscure / Remains the cure"). When Ping switched songs, he paid scant attention to the words. Who can blame him, he's just the director. I pointed this out to him, but he didn't feel moved enough by my impassionate plea to change it back. Gah. Producers.


• You do realise that all the songs the kids perform are by local artists? The simple reason is because the license to use is much cheaper than for foreign artists. I did a fair amount of research, trying to get just the right song to fit a scene, and all of it - all of it - got thrown down the drain.


• SMS competition time: SMS 'real' to 33838 for a chance to win Swatch watches and a Phil Collins CD.


• The Jay/Amir scene is really long, and surprisingly holds up, I think. Basically, long scenes with long dialogue is Dzof, shorter scenes are from Ping. He says the actors get angry with me because my dialogue so tough to say. I like the West Wing and am living proof that without skill, wordy dialogue comes out less clever, and more difficult.


• A lot of the stage preparation shots came from season 2 Malaysian Idol grand final in Genting.


• I think that in one of my earlier drafts, the kids have to force their way through a swathe of fans, and we have Burn and Amir fans fighting each other. This boils over to Burn and Amir actually fighting themselves. But it's out, probably because of budget and because it's not directly relevant to the story.





• "Ingat lirik, ya Burn" - I don't remember writing it, but it's in one of my early drafts, so it must have been my line. It gets confusing sometimes remembering which work Ping did and which I did. I want the credit, but TV writing so much a collaboration. Even the actors ad-lib a lot of the time. At the end of the day, it's a huge messy ramli-burger like thing that you hope is still edible despite the irritating undigestible bits in them.


• Aishah Sinclair (Ashraf's sister) is the host for the showdown. The judges are Fat Fabes, Carmen Soo and Fly Guy. I had a chance to watch the Carmen Soo shoot, but somebody forced me to go floating in the Klang harbour instead. (He obviously isn't a fan of Carmen Soo.)


• Songs this week: Baby by Douglas Lim (specially written for Baby), Detik Bersamamu by VE (Nickson), Venusia by OAG (Amir), Ratu Hati by Innuendo (Melody), Tiada Lagi Cinta by Ruffedge (Burn).


• The thing is, I have absolutely no idea how the kids will sing when I write the script. So, I put in the judges to make comments, so you'd have a clue of how well or badly they perform. After that, it's out of my hands, baby. Pun intended.


• One thing I almost forgot: Ping and I had a loooong discussion/argument about how Burn was going to exit the studio. I originally had him storming out before the announcer finished speaking, and then he got violent in the lobby, punching out Mac, and ended up on the back of a big black motorbike driven by Joe. And then, in the next draft, I had him punching out David. And then Amir. And then Mac again (I think). And the bike turned into a car. But, all the while, Ping kept cutting all the good stuff now, so all you get is Burn pushing away the camera in disgust. I still think a good fight would have been better.


• So Melody has a stash of drugs in her diary, and a big one at that. I liked the idea that something so personal, would also be where she hid her sin. Makes you think again why she was angry when Burn read her diary in episode 5.

Labels: realiti, tv