For indie film company Feisk Productions, its approach to filmmaking has always been working with a “modest budget, skeleton crew and out-of-the-box resourcefulness”.
With those principles, the company didn't sit idle at any point during the movement control order (MCO)
Feisk's producer Iskander Azizuddin shares that it filmed one feature, Kabus, and three shorts in recent months. One of the shorts, titled We All Need Someone To Stay, was directed and produced remotely during the MCO.
In December 2020, Iskander and director Feisal Azizuddin shot sci-fi thriller Ceroboh, that’s co-produced by Kuman Pictures.
Ahead of the shoot, Feisal held four rounds of virtual rehearsals with the cast as well as virtual meetings with the crew to get everything ready before the actual on-location filming. He then continued with in-person rehearsals for a month.
The cast and crew were so prepared that the shoot went really well and quickly too.
"One of the challenges I faced was establishing the actors' chemistry in such a short amount of time," says director Feisal. "But since the first (physical) rehearsal, they clicked immediately that we completed filming in just 16 days!
"Everyone was housed at Rawang, so we could move faster and minimise the risk of Covid-19 seeping into our production. The area we filmed was at an abandoned building but we had the police and Rela come by to patrol at night."
Ceroboh is currently in pre-production stage, Feisal states. "We hope to complete the film by April or May for submission to film festivals.
"We're hoping to release the film in Malaysia this year as well, either in the middle or the end of the year, depending on how the situation is with cinemas here."
For Feisk, which has produced four features films and over 25 short films in the past three years (all under the budget of RM200,000), there are only small differences in how they work in current climate.
“I still keep my team to just essential members only. This practice has allowed me to seamlessly adapt to (new) guidelines to ensure my film environment is safe, ” explains Iskander.
“Once (the MCO) was eased and we could resume production, we knew that extra precautions were required when carrying out filming.
“We’re already used to working with a skeleton crew and filming in a single location. But we discussed further on location, filming duration, cast, crew, transport and food as all these items could spread the virus if we were not careful.
“For our feature film, Kabus, face masks, hand sanitisers were used on set and, meals were individually packed.”
He elaborates: “Our cast and crew stayed on set and had to take daily temperature checks. We had two actors only on set (at one time), and the third cast member was filmed separately.
“Our crew consisted of the director, the director of photography, our sound engineer and two production assistants.
“Cast and crew were strictly advised to avoid public places prior to filming and inform us if they had been in close contact with a positive case. Everything was filmed in six days.”
Should there be a positive case on set, Iskander says, they would stop filming and get everyone tested. Only when everyone is cleared will they resume filming.
“Safety and health will always come first, ” says Iskander.
“As much as I am a firm believer of the phrase ‘The show must go on’, as a producer, I have to put my team first.
“As an independent filmmaker, our pre-production is built upon mitigating risks. An unplanned stoppage will be more of an inconvenience rather than a costly obstacle.”
Although Iskander holds on to the belief that one can get past any hurdle, in this current climate, he admits he is doubtful of one aspect.
He states: “Every challenge has a workaround; every burden will sharpen your skills and make you stronger.
“But if I could name one challenge, it would be the fear of one of my production team members getting Covid-19.”
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