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Learning Through Film

With aims to expose students to the industry and real-life film making processes, the School of Media, Arts and Design (SOMAD) recently hosted a Film Screening and Discussion Session with DOA MAMA Productions, Indonesia, who the production house behind the film titled “Lasagna”.



Apart from screening the movie at the session, under the moderation of Dr. Stephen Poon from SOMAD, Adi Victory, the Director of the film, spoke about his experience leading the production crew throughout the filming process pipeline, together with Daniel Victory, Bangga Ramadhan and Fabiana Alam, the Producers and Co-Producer of the movie. As independent filmmakers, they shared their hands-on experience going through crowdfunding, pre-production, post-production, distribution and screening processes of the independent short film. The film was the winner of the Europe On Screen Pitching Forum in Indonesia last August 2018, and the team has been collaborating with creative industries and public figures in Indonesia ever since.

The short film was compelling, as the storyline revolved around the issue of drug trafficking, death sentences, corruption and sexual exploitation that have been taking place in various countries in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. It was an eye-opening experience for students who attended the session, as they were inspired by the strong will and passion of the production team in using films to tell stories, that were previously untold. Although this was the first film screening organized by SOMAD, it was a successful one after all!

Synopsis of Lasagna – “Eve without Adam”:

The story begin when Rudi and Mirna had met in Italy and decided to get married. But everything changed when they went back to Indonesia, and Rudi was sentenced to death because of some reason.

Coming close to her husband’s executions, Mirna was asked to come with a piece of Lasagna to the prison. Rudi was arrested with the possession of 8kg of cocaine at Soekarno Hatta International Airport. He was accused of smuggling drugs from Italy to Indonesia. Lost in court, facing hard reality that he was sentenced to death. Rudi wished to enjoy his last Lasagna with Mirna. Mirna cooked the most delicious Lasagna for her husband. But when his eyes finally met hers, Rudi chose not to eat the Lasagna. He wanted the Lasagna to be a witness to their goodbyes. In the end, Mirna and Rudi dancing beautifully while Lasagna watched on them.

Lasagna was Rudi and Mirna’s favorite meal when they both went to the Pharmacy Faculty in the University of Naples, Italy. Lasagna isn’t only food for them, but also a witness of their love, rage and happiness.

Designing Transport Of The Future

After our victory for designing the Invictus at Proton-DRB HICOM Creative Car Challenge last year, our Transport Design students attained awards again for their outstanding designing skills, combined with futuristic and technology-centric thinking! At the recently concluded GML Bus Body & Interior Design Competition, we are proud to share that our students from the School of Media, Arts & Design (SoMAD) bagged the championship and the 3rd Place!

 
The competition was held in conjunction with Gemilang Coachwork (GML)’s 30th Anniversary, to encourage more talents to be involved in the design of buses which forms an integral part of our daily lives in Malaysia and around the world. Being amongst the industry leaders of bus manufacturers, Gemilang Coachworks has a clientele from more than 10 markets worldwide, including Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, China, India, Malaysia and more.
 
Participants were required to design a City Bus, while considering both the interior and exterior aspects, as well as the functionality, practicality and the safety of the design. From the research report to the sketches and final presentations, students went through an enriching 6-months journey as they applied their design skills and practical knowledge to develop concepts of modern city buses. Under the guidance of our lecturers of the programme - Mr. Safullizan Abdul Wahab & Ms. Christine Lim Pei Shin, our Champion student, Chandraguna Bandaralage Bertholameuz Dinidu Thejana Perera stood above the rest with his semi-electric concept bus design, whereas the 2nd Runner Up team, comprising Khoo Wen Sheong & Timothy Chow Tian Le excelled with a chameleon concept design, that embeds digital advertising on bus panels. Both teams were invited to attend GML’s 30th Anniversary celebration, where they also had the opportunity to tour around the factory, learning about how busses were assembled and made.
 

 

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Chandraguna, Wen Sheong & Timothy for their amazing success! Their ability to shine in another arena of transport design has again proven that our students have the capability to design and think for the future. We look forward to seeing a bus designed by our students moving around the city someday!