Creating Bugis Street In The 70s

Aaahhhh yes, the "infamous" deleted Bugis Street-scene ... and NO, I have not forgiven Djinn (totally), but that's show-biz after all and let's move on shall we? :p

(*The "Lost Bugis Street" scene has since been included in the U.S./Region 1 pressing of the DVD, as a "Deleted Scene").

When I read the script calling for a recreation of a 1970's Bugis Street, I was both elated (a challenge!) and horrified (budget? what budget?). After the location recce, I sat down with Djinn to block his shots and to work out a feasible way to stretch both the set and the budget. (this was still the single most expensive setting in the entire movie @ SGD$1,000-odd)


Props were rented and scrounged from junk-dealers (untapped resource in Singapore, I might add), with some serious props money laid down for "hero items", specific to the era and for which the actors would be using (ie: drinking glasses, chopsticks, bowls with edible food)

"Authenticity" has a price to pay. Singapore does not have the infrastructure to support "below the line" prop-requirements, most dated items are shelf-warmers of Antique shops who'd balk at feature films, but embrace television commercials (higher budget rental!). And so for example, the old-school "Fanta" bottles I wanted ranged between a cleaned-one for SGD$18 rental and a musty unusable version at SGD$6 to buy. What you see is just for display (which I keep with me now muahahahaha)


My Music-Video-Moment turned Nightmare:
Of course I'd wanted the entire concrete floor to be wet (nice shimmer always the mood), as the old Bugis Street was prone to fellas pouring their unused water out on the side-streets. And of course we couldn't afford a water-truck. And of course we used buckets instead, And of course the only water-source was a Seven-Eleven store out back. Concrete is extremely porous, 'nuff said.

This location was actually out back below Harry's house location, along Balestier Road. (Proposed Drawings).

A Cuppa Down At The Coffeeshop

The coffeeshop was a sweet find in the middle of Little India along Serangoon Road. The blue-tiles provided the exact melancholy mood I had wanted (as did Djinn) and I loved the weird mixture of existing old-school marbled-top coffee-tables and the happy-go-brightly-colored fast-food chairs! And the marbled-table tops were different in textures and marbled-veins, so we chose the "hero table" and we were set!



Personally, I'd prefer the uncluttered location as well, reluctant to fill the walls with beer-posters (as most old-skool coffeeshops do) instead utilizing simple spot sponsor's posters (seen next to Ivy) - primarily because the sequences here are heavily filled with dialogue, most times one-on-one (Harry and Selvam) and i'd not want anything else to distract the viewers from what they are saying (most times when folks get bored, their eyes will wonder around the screen) ... and of cause the calming blue in itself is a sort of clinical institutionalized locale which i reckon helped in the tone of Harry's personal "prison" (ie: Harry's home with the green wall).



A recognizable coffee-shop typical to Singapore, while still retaining the
70's mood (hopefully the owners did renovate the place since then) ...
old-school coffeeshops are known as "Kopi Tiams" (literal Hokkien).

Down At The Docks

What would have been a simple setting turned out to be a nightmare for my crew and I (my Property Mistress Sharlynn Soomon, Set Dresser Mus, and myself) for I had wanted to "minimize" the location space (it was a sprawling yard where the lockers were at) Unfortunately the place was littered with greasy and dusty junk and parts, and we spent a whole night clearing it and setting up the shelve which was to divide the space. I had opted for a more monotonous tone for the setting, letting both Harry and AB Lee standout.


Recycled aluminium panels were used to block out the view (this shed looked out into the bust street) and cut out the sound a tad. I'd managed to find some assistance to do that tho, as we (my 3-man Art Dept) were tuckered out as the crew-call was the break of dawn! (we were only allowed a night's setting prior to shoot).


90% of the props used in this set were existing from this location. and all I can say is: "thank gawd for air-conditioned container-offices!" ... below-left is AB Lee's table-top in the office, peppered with naughty-girlie pics and details, which unfortunately, was not seen in the final screen (can't remember if it was actually shot or not tho, come to think of it) - someone's "precious" magazines were sacrificed for this set ... *heh*

The Motel Encounter

For something that would eventually be covered in darkness, we still tried to prop-up the otherwise monotonous setting of this "Love Motel" along Geylang. I'd wanted cheesy-pink satin "lurve-sheets", with the singular lamp as the light-motivation of the bed-area (while the faux neon-colored lights outside flooded the rest of the room's walls). What the audience do not see are the used condoms and shredded wrappers, as well as Tick-Tak sweets for drugs/pills.


Chanced upon the gigantor bag from a thrift-shop, which was placed in Harry's bedroom initially (but not seen on camera). The plastic-sheet was a drop-cloth for painter's use.


This scene was a "closed set" as there would lie in the middle of one of the beds, a dead naked prostitute (we get to see her bum), so we were working about hush-hush-like (don't think the hotel actually knew we were planning for that tho) ... A simple set-up, but with the rest of the hotel being used by other customers. I might be wrong but maybe there were "sounds" coming out from the other rooms ... weird shoot day. *cough*

Bloodied Backyard Of Alien Bar

After this feature, I had "swore" to myself: "No More Blood!" (which of course my next feature needed a bit of)


Rudimentary fake-blood was concocted from colored cordial/syrup, water-colored paints, Ribena and other food/beverage items I have plain forgotten. The trick was that they have to be washed out immediately after the shoot wrapped for that location, as well as pliable enough to be washed out in-between takes. The possibility of staining the existing floor tiles had to be kept to a minimal. No one concocts fake blood in Singapore, dammit.

At one point in the shoot, as Harry laid down on the ground, thoroughly soaked in sticky-fake-blood, while the crew did their next set-up, both Djinn and I were discussing how the blood-pool was going to flow, when we heard a slight snore. "Harry" (the poor chap) was so tired, he had actually fallen asleep! ... We hadn't the heart to wake him up, until of course when the camera was ready to roll.


(Above-right) The blood-orgy-shot. Both Djinn and I had wanted more blood, but reckon in the end it might've been over-kill. (which was a good thing, because I had only that one pail of blood we made! Yes, I made a PAIL'S WOTRTH OF BLOOD LOL) ... Imagine washing them away for the next shot ... before the rain poured - now, THAT'S another 'on-shoot superstition story' for another time!

About That Alien Bar Backroom Altar

Getting the Altar Table for the backyard of "Alien Bar" was quite a daunting task. The budget had not permitted the opportunity of purchasing one, at the same time props-rental houses were charging an exorbitant rate (once you mention "feature film", folks' eyes and cash registers light up). And "borrowing" from existing folks' homes was a superstitious no-no (where are they gonna put their deity as we shot our feature?).


I was insistant on having an altar table (foreshadowing-sequence), so second-hand furniture dealers (actually rubbish-collectors) was my final recourse. Managed to find one within a few days in decent condition and a great price. We darkened the wood-stain a tad and left the knocks and wonky bits in.


A bloodied Harry stumbles and knocks into the altar table, mayhap angering the Gods with his unintended action. A foreshadowing to the inevitable outcome, I reckon. On hindsight, the back of the wall of the altar should have been "dirtier", from all the smoke and soot from the joss-sticks.

BTW: the Altar with the Guan Gong-deity statue was actually from Harry's house! Small-budget feature = RECYCLE!

Aaaahhh yes, the "magic" of "movie-making" ... :p

Behind The Velvet Curtains / Back Of Alien Bar

This location shown is the Clan Association along Geylang, with exquisite pre-war Peranakan-styled floor mosaics, who could resist? Also from the script, there would be an intense fight/struggle between Harry and The Poet and the floor would be seen predominately. Again an image of both the figures and the floor harken back to the 1970's feel. The utilitarian plastic-moulded chairs is a staple in Singapore, be it for celebratory functions or funerals, ageless for us, IMHO.


We treat our sponsors well :). filled to the brim with "subtle" (NOT) posters and paraphenalia, including subliminal travel posters urging folks to go for a vacation in Perth (I have this peppered throughout the film, actually), instilling the dream-like state and desire for which lingers on the back of Harry's mind (Props goes out to Muse for creating those graphics).


The existing wooden-wall panelling was perfect for the "lost in 70's"-fell I was gunning for in the film ... We still haven't figured out what the poster says tho.

The crew mucking about on my set while i snap a continuity-image, waiting for a set-up. The dude grabbing his butt (gawd knows why) should be Simon, our Spark/Grip, with Kim (our 1st A/D) enjoying the floorshow.


Well, "when in Rome" ...

The Velvet Curtains Of Alien Bar

The "Alien Bar" (name in script) was actually two-locations-in-one, with the (sleazy) Karaoke-lounge actual in the middle of Little India, Singapore, whilst the "backyard and office" scenes set in a Clan Association in the middle of Singapore's famous "red light district"; Geylang (go figure).

The story had both Harry and Selvam passing thru the the KTV-Lounge to the office of the Big Boss out back and I had devised a velvet curtain as a faux transition between the two separate locations, complete with kitschy plastic-"crystal" curtains, in keeping within my hark-back to the 1970's feel i had planned and permeated throughout the film.

The curtain was then transported unto the following location at the Clan Association in Geylang. (which has since been defiled used by a coupla more features, including my 6th, Rice Rhapsody!)


The actual corridor here led to an emergency exit out back to an alley (which were used predominately for smoke-breaks) and the lockers were existing items, for which the staff had used. so all it needed was a bit of tidying up (the carpeting reeked tho). On the left-of-image were the restrooms/toilets and what you do not see were the muck that was left there (basically folks who'd had a tad too much to drink went and eased themselves, both ways...)

What Is "Perth Polaroids"?

"Perth Polaroids" features essentially scanned conti-polaroids (*continuity-pictures) taken during the production of the feature film, PERTH (by/for the Art Department's reference) - explained by myself, the Production Designer-cum-Art Director of said feature (*cough*). Apologies if I may go on a fair bit more than you'd want to read, but that's me anyways (ask any of my crew LOL)

This entire prrocess was initiated as a form of "online communication" over with the folks at Tartan Films, to faciliate the editing and production of a Art Direction Featurette in the Special Features section of the American-release DVD of PERTH (I'm jazzed, I am). This blog should not officially exist, so dun bust my chops, eh?

Go buy the DVD if you can find it, yeh?

Don't bother trying to find an illegal download or online streaming bootleg - there isn't any.
(But tell me if you find one *cough* - THANKS!)

Meanwhile, have fun going thru the images, as a pseudo-record of what we had gone thru the shoot/production :p

cheers
Andy Heng
Production Designer, PERTH.

btw - this is the Singapore Region-3 DVD Cover (for visual archive):