Low-Budget Science Fiction Short Indie Film Produced in Singapore

Novice film-maker uses chromakey studio to produce a 6-minute indie science fiction film for educational purposes, as an experiment to understand the entire film-making process.

(PRWEB) December 22, 2005 -- A short 6-minute science fiction independent ("indie") film has been produced by a novice film-maker with the intention to inspire young film-makers and aspirants to think imaginatively outside the box.

The short film, titled "Peaceful Knights of BuZen - Return from Corruption", is produced by Seamus Phan, an Internet consultant, keynote speaker, and published author. The short film, titled "Peaceful Knights of BuZen - Return from Corruption", is produced by Seamus Phan, an Internet consultant, keynote speaker, and published author.The film is inspired by the many personalities and writers Phan has admired through his childhood, including Sir Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams, George Lucas, Gene Roddenberry, and Steven Spielberg. Phan grew up listening to Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" on BBC radio as a young child.

The short film is part of an opener to a 10-part feature story that will eventually be an education in charity, compassion and chivalry, and about the impact of non-violence and how that can bring about greater impact than violent aggression itself. In this opening story in the form of a short film, 2 monks in a distant planet wanted to warn of an imminent danger in a galactic temple, but were turned away. The younger monk turned to evil, but was ultimately brought back to the good side by the master. In between, the story told of how the master found the apprentice as a rogue trader, and subsequently trained him in the ways of defense and meditation.

Unlike many amateur productions which were either produced in real-life locations such as old buildings, mountains, and forests, Phan took the more difficult path of shooting on chromakey in a commercial chromakey studio ("bluescreen"). Phan designed the props himself, supervised the chromakey prop production, and acted as the master monk in the story as well. While the film did not pretend to be a commercial quality film, Phan reflected that the important point in this production was not to rival commercially produced films, but more as an educational tool for himself, and to inspire younger people.

"While some people still believe that movie making can be an expensive exercise in futility, many would rather relegate the process of making movies to much simpler exercises of simply capturing fleeting moments of their personal lives.," said Phan."While some people still believe that movie making can be an expensive exercise in futility, many would rather relegate the process of making movies to much simpler exercises of simply capturing fleeting moments of their personal lives.," said Phan. "I humbly believe that everyone has dreams, and have the capacity to learn and to dream. By stretching the capabilities of modern consumer video and computer equipment, and stretching one's own imagination, it can become a fulfilling, mentally rewarding, and deeply educational experience for anyone from the young to the mature."

Phan made numerous mistakes during prop construction, which resulted in his total budget of producing this film, including equipment, materials, studio rental, computer software, at around US$4,500. He believes that it is possible, if he knew about prop construction techniques, to have reduced his total spending to under US$3,000. He hopes to share his mistakes, his learning points, and any useful experience, at his film site, www.peacefulknights.com.

About Seamus Phan
Seamus Phan is an Internet pioneer in Asia, and is currently a keynote speaker, meeting facilitator, published author, and naturopathic philosopher. He has published several books, e-books, and training videos. His more recent works include the business leadership book "Dot Zen" (www.dotzen.com), which extracts some wisdom from the Buddhist Diamond Sutra, co-authored with publicist Ter Hui Peng. He also co-authored the health and fitness book "This Body This Life" (www.thisbodythislife.com) with younger brother CJ Phan, chronicling their struggles with medical and physical challenges, to emerge healthy and happy. Find out more about Seamus at www.SeamusPhan.com.