So my initial idea was to film malik cooking roti john as I narrate in the background. However, things took a turn when he told me his stall is undergoing renovation and will not be operating the whole week. (the week I was supposed to film)

I asked him if he would still be there after the renovation as I was worried about my roti john, and he said no and that he will be leaving as soon as his father has found a new place. I felt so sad and disheartened and what more a mental breakdown as I have an assignment to complete.

I thought of ways I could make the story work.

• film a time-lapse of the renovation
• film malik cooking at my house

and these were all I could come up with. My boyfriend then offered that he could act as Malik and cook the roti john at my place. I did not like the “acting” idea as it was not genuine.

However, I did agree on him cooking the roti john, just that he is not “acting”. He is just him. That way it would make sense why the stall is under renovation and why someone else had to cook it for me and will it taste nice? who knows? The story seemed very real and very genuine as I have wanted it to be in the beginning. It showed the realness of the situation where the shop is no longer operating. It showed my desperation. And it showed a reason for me, almost a tribute, to do this video of the roti john story.

This is the final script:

*Comfort food:

noun

noun: comfort food; plural noun: comfort foods

1. food that provides consolation or a feeling of well-being, typically having a high sugar or carbohydrate content and associated with childhood or home cooking.*

*Blank*

(Nadia.. What do you want to eat?

umm roti johnnnn?

roti john? again? where? AL-MALIK?

yeah…….)

*Renovation Scene*

(LOUD KNIFE CHOP)

*Cooking scene*

Me and Malik are friends. Because of Roti John. The food that has brought happiness and comfort on tough, sad and especially no appetite sick days. It’s my go-to food- love at first taste. it never failed to do so every time i buy it. Malik makes my roti john and we are good friends.

The stall Al-Malik was named after him. It was the first stall Malik’s father had started up where Malik had suggested to include roti john into the menu.

Malik had been working in this industry since he was only primary 5 at his relative’s shop where had met lots of people. A Brazilian pilot for example had given Malik his contact so that when he graduates, he would come work for him. Another encounter was when he met upon middle aged identical twin sisters. He was quite shocked when they told him that they do not speak a common language. One was brought up by a malay family and the other, a chinese family. And of course, Malik would not have met me.

Malik started off by learning how to cook on the job. He says he prepares the food as and how he would prepare it for himself. He tells me, ”It is extremely satisfying when a customer praises the food I have cooked for them. Putting love into the dishes you prepare works like a salt. No matter how much ingredients of quality you put in, it is going to be tasteless without salt.

Working in this industry for such a long time, Malik had managed to pick up a couple of different languages. Just by taking orders from customers, in time, Malik is able start a basic conversation with the Malays. “nasi goreng satu pedas giler” “roti john satu bungkus”

And as for mandarin, Malik had picked up this language growing up in chinatown; his home at that time when his father was working there.

Planes and its operating principles interests Malik. He had been always curious to know how a massive piece of metal could  takeoff effortlessly into the air. This love for aviation led to his dream to be an aircraft engineer for SIA. Their requirements to be one was a diploma. However when he graduated from SP, with a diploma in aeronautical engineering, they required a degree instead.

Currently Malik is doing his part time degree at ntu studying mechanical engineering in hopes of becoming an aircraft engineer for SIA.

If all else fails Malik would want to open up his own restaurant and sell various roti johns.

I asked Malik, how bout both?

He replied, “insyaAllah(with god’s will) if i have enough manpower and capital, i surely will – to serve you the best roti john possible”

Malik tells me getting extremely tired is very normal. I quote, “sweat gives you the money.” Sometimes the number of orders get so overwhelming that Malik does not look at the customers but instead focuses on writing down the orders. He feels that the workforce will teach us a lot more that we cant find in a textbook. We can practice communication skills, problem solving skills and many more that we need to deal with people of different background.

As for his friends, they are very impressed when they get to know that he can prepare such types of food. They also praise him for his hard work and perseverance in juggling both work and study

He makes sure that his studies are never compromised. He gives greater priority to his studies.

Malik always feels tired but never feels like giving up. He says,”These are part and parcel of life. As the saying goes, ‘Life is not a bed of roses’. Diamonds are created under the worst of all pressures. I see life in a similar way”

*Renovation Scene*

Malik is leaving me. He has to move out soon to a new rented place with his family as they are not singaporean. And so the Al-Malik I once knew is no more. I did not have a last good look. A goodbye. A mental preparation to face what is in front of me. The last time I ordered roti john was a few weeks ago. The space feels extremely different.

My friendship with Malik will last as I continue to long for my beloved roti john. I had made Malik promise to give me the new addresses to his new stalls in the future as he shifts from place to place. And the next time I order for a roti john it will be from Malik and I’ll always be the “roti john girl”

*Serving scene*

 

As for filming wise, I had took the recipe from google as I did not want to ask Malik for family secret reasons. I wanted to show the deliciousness of the food, how the food transforms from individual ingredients and the end product.

My reference, Peaceful Cuisine, on youtube was my main inspirations for the shot angles and style. It helped me a lot with my storyboarding and visualising.

For this project, I took a dumpling video as reference.

 

So I literally took all the compositions of each shot to analyse how they frame their shots.

AND THIS IS MY STORY BOARD:

PROBLEMS FACED:

• Lighting changed from light to dark throughout the day (rain)

It worked to my advantage as it showed the mood in the outdoor scene when I was trying to say that Malik is leaving me. But it did not help in the indoor scene as the lighting was bad and I had to use my iPhone lighting which looks really ugly.

• Shaky shots

I had a hard time taking the top down shots as I was struggling to balance the tripod but I tried to solve with the stabiliser in iMovie.

• Weird audio pauses
• The proof of my relationship with Malik. Does he exist?

I didn’t managed to take much behind the scenes but I do have this photo and video in my kitchen.