Filmography

What the fuck? Someone actually replied? I hurriedly started to type more words on my phone.

To: +627777777

Message: Who the fuck is this? How are you replying?

And again, after only a few seconds, I received a reply.

From: +627777777

Message: Hey, no curse words. I'm your benevolent backer.

What? Is he....the one who donated money to my film? He did this?

To:+627777777

Message: You motherfucker! Send me back! Send me back to my world you fucking piece of shit!

He replied again.

From:+627777777

Message: That won't do. I already went the effort of sending you there. You'll have to continue to be a filmmaker.

Is he fucking insane? Did he send me here to be a filmmaker? Out of all the people on Earth you sent a bloody film director to another world?

From:+627777777

Message: Yes, I did. And no matter how much you complain, the reality is still the reality. You only have two choices; be a filmmaker or live the rest of your pitiful life in that world.

Huh? Can he read my mind?

From: +627777777

Message: I have the power to send you there. Of course, I can do something trivial liking reading your mind. So, what's your choice?

But how...? Didn't you hear what I said before? Why does this world need my film? And how the hell am I going to take care of those logistical issues I talked about before?

From:+627777777

Message: There are plenty of reasons why this world needs films. I'll let you discover that on your own. As for the issues you thought about, check out the app I just installed on your phone.

Suddenly, a pop-up message showed up on the top of my phone screen. "Otherworldly Filmmaker Has Finished Installing...". I got curious and opened the app. A black loading screen with a film clapperboard showed up. After a few seconds, I could see what's in the app.

Welcome, Brandon Budiman, The Otherworldly Filmmaker.

[SHOP] [STATUS] [FILMOGRAPHY] Heart Points: 1000

What is this? Curiously, I pressed status.

STATUS

Name: Brandon Budiman

Position: Film Director

Storytelling: 6/10

Cinematography: 4.4/10

Editing: 5.2/10

Special FX: 3.9/10

Sound Design: 4/10

Production Design: 3/10

This was my evaluation as a filmmaker? I expected something better...There was one thing I wasn't familiar about in that list though: Production Design. I think I may have missed some classes in film school. I clicked on it to see its description.

Production Design: Designing the overall look of the film. This includes set design, props, costume design, makeup, etcetera.

Ah, I see. I don't really specialize in that area. In fact, I don't specialize in a lot of the things mentioned in the status. For cinematography, I have my Director of Photography. For Editing, I have my team of editors. A director does not really need to be good at everything. But I guess now that I am alone in this world, I'll have to get better at those things as well.

I went back to the main menu and tried pressing filmography this time.

FILMOGRAPHY

1. "The Man Who Stole Everything"

Director: Brandon Budiman

Genre: Action Thriller

Budget:$5000

Synopsis: He lost everything. That man stole everything. He will find that man and make him pay.

Heart Points: 5

Overall Evaluation: 1/10

2. "Why?"

Director: Brandon Budiman

Genre: Drama

Budget:$2000

Synopsis: A girl who just graduated college must now learn the true meaning of adult life. The real reason why her parents were so adamant about guiding her trajectory in life.

Heart Points: 750

Overall Evaluation: 8/10

3. "You Who Sat Next to Me"

Director: Brandon Budiman

Genre: Romance

Budget:$4000

Synopsis: Rudy is now married with kids. His life isn't perfect but he's content with living with his wife and loving children. But recently, there was something that's always nagging the back of his mind; His high school sweetheart. The crush who sat on the bench next to him for three years straight who he never even struck a conversation with. One day, a new neighbor arrives at the house next door to him. It was his high school crush.

Heart Points: 245

Overall Evaluation: 4/10

So this is a list of every film I've done. But I was sure I made more films than this...but those were short films I made in film school. I guess the app only takes into account full-feature films rather than short films. However, I didn't expect "Why?" to be my best film yet. I did put my heart and soul into that project but that was the film that tanked the hardest financially. And yikes...my first film received quite a harsh evaluation. That film was made in the period of my life when I was too arrogant and thought I could become a master director from the get-go.

I noticed that other than evaluation, there's also something called 'heart points'. What is that? I also noticed that I had a total of 1000 of them, presumably from my previous films. Right as I was thinking about that, my phone received a message notification again.

From: +627777777

Message: Heart points stemmed from people who were affected by your film on a deep emotional level. You'll only receive heart points if someone genuinely likes your film and will take the message it has to their daily lives. You can buy various items from the shop if you spend heart points. Check the app again.

I did as he told me to do. I opened the 'Shop' option in the app.

SHOP

Category: [STORAGE] [COMPUTERS] [EDITING] [CAMERA] [AUDIO] [PROJECTOR]....

I tried pressing the camera options. There were a lot of options for filming camera available at different prices depending on their quality. Curious, I sorted the price to the most expensive first.

IMAX Camera

Price: 5.000.000 Heart Points

Holy shit! But I guess that's a given. Even on earth, you can't buy an Imax camera as there were only a few of them available worldwide. You'll have to rent them. And even then, if you're not some bigtime studios, they wouldn't let you rent one. And even if you got one in your hand, you'll have to also purchase specialized audio equipment, projectors, and the silver screen itself to play an Imax film. But the notion that I could own my personal Imax camera is certainly VERY enticing. The RED camera I'm working with right now already has quite a great quality though so I'm content with it for now.

From:+627777777

Message: So, are you interested in continuing making films? I'll send some other directors from your world if not. I can probably send some famous ones as well. I just spared my energy by sending some unknown indie filmmaker like you.

Fuck you! Alright, I'll fucking do it jeez. I'll prove to you that I'm the most worthy choice of introducing cinema to this world.

From:+627777777

Message: Great. Then enjoy your time in that world. I'm going to wait for your results...

Suddenly, all of the previous messages were deleted instantly from my phone. I guess this is it...

The world outside of my van has already turned dark. The streets were empty but some lights can be seen from inside some of the buildings. The dragon skull looked even more ominous under the night sky. I pulled the recliner of my seat so I can lay down. My mind started to wander off into the distance....what kind of film should I make?