Maxis 4G & YouTube Unveil Malaysia’s 1st 360° Film Series To Celebrate Merdeka 2016
To celebrate Merdeka and Malaysia Day 2016, Maxis 4G & YouTube today premiered Maxis Rojak 360°, Malaysia’s 1st 360° film series by five homegrown award-winning storytellers. Using YouTube’s 360° immersive video-on-mobile platform, each film invites the audience to move their phones around in all directions in order to “See Malaysia From All Angles.”
“With our phones, films can be more inclusive than ever before. After all, every one of us has an entire cinema in our pocket. The Rojak 360° project is our way of marrying classic storytelling, 360 video technology and the unmatched video streaming experience on Maxis 4G. So unlike previous Merdeka film festivals, the five Maxis Rojak 360° films will not be screened in the usual cinemas but instead on 15 million mobile screens across Malaysia starting 26 August,” said Bernard Lee, Maxis’ Head of Marketing Communications.
Maxis Rojak 360° film series is a multi-location, multi-lingual collaboration between Maxis 4G and YouTube superstars The Ming Thing and RED People, Tamil hit movie directors Veedu, Busan Film Festival-awarded short filmmaker Junad Mohd Nor, and award-winning commercial director Barney Chua. More than anything, the Rojak 360° project is a celebration of Malaysia’s colourful diversity - highlighting uniqueness of local dialects including Johor Hokkien and Kelate (Kelantanese Malay), celebrates little-known cultural traditions, and showcases the beauty of different corners of Malaysia including Batu Caves, Kota Bharu and Kota Kinabalu Park.
While each of the storylines, locations and languages featured are very different, every one of these Rojak films carries a common rojak-flavoured Malaysia Day narrative of “Cham Cham Lagi Best”.
Here’s what some of the writers, directors and actors have to say about collaborating on this ambitious Maxis Rojak 360° film series and working on a completely new format of 360° filmmaking and editing:
“Every year we continually focus on our festive and national celebration videos made in Peninsular Malaysia. So, this year, I thought we’d entirely embrace the theme of togetherness by involving both East and West Malaysia – both in story and in location,” said Ming Han, one half of YouTube superstar duo The Ming Thing.
“In Malaysia, when we see a person, no matter their skin colour, he or she can speak more than 2 languages. We Malaysians take that as normal. To those not from Malaysia, that might seem extraordinary, but our film aims to show that to us Malaysians, that’s very normal,” said leading Malaysian Chinese YouTube entertainment channel, RED People.
“Respecting each other's beliefs will lead to a better nation, one that is strong, diverse and united,” said Denes / Vimala of Veedu Productions, who were behind the Malaysian Tamil box office hit Vetti Pasanga.
“The film Gading Merah emphasises the importance of solidarity and unity. Because when we are united, nothing is impossible,” said writer/director Junad Md Nor, whose breakout film Ikal Mayang’s Odah showed at the world famous Busan International Film Festival.
Three of the films will be released on YouTube on 26 August in time for Hari Merdeka while the other remaining two films will be released in time for Hari Malaysia. Maxis Rojak 360° is Malaysia’s first 360° film series shot entirely using cutting edge 360° cameras, and can be viewed on any ordinary smartphone via YouTube. “YouTube first launched support for 360-degree video 18-months ago and it's been fantastic to see it being embraced by Malaysian creators and brands like Maxis to tell inspiring and awesome Malaysia Day stories through virtual reality. What’s especially exciting about this new mode of storytelling is that it removes the physical constraints we're so used to in two dimensions and lets creativity and experimentation soar even higher -- our heartiest congratulations to Maxis on the premier of #MaxisRojak360,” said Prashant Pathmanaban, Industry Head Google Malaysia. For the film premiere event, Samsung Malaysia also took this unique opportunity to preview their soon-to-be launched latest Virtual Reality (VR) Headset (Samsung Gear VR), which allowed the preview audience to pan, rotate and explore the films in every direction.
Links to each of the 1st 3 films are as below (best enjoyed on a mobile screen on Maxis 4G):
- “Rojak 360 Lost and Found” – by The Ming Thing
Focusing on our differences sometimes makes us lose our way but embracing them is how we can find it again.
Watch Rojak 360 Lost and Found here. - “Rojak 360 Cham Cham” – by RED People A day in the life of one anonymous Malaysian, shot uniquely in 360 from the 1st person point of view. A film about diversity and what makes us family.
Watch Rojak 360 Cham Cham here. - “Rojak Cow Cow” – by Veedu Productions
A film making our differences count. Set on a day a family is moving into their new home with a cow called Letchumi.
Watch Rojak Cow Cow here.
To find out more about Maxis Rojak 360°, visit www.maxis.com.my/rojak360
