Small Talk

 

link: https://youtu.be/vOfJDj5w2w4

Small Talk
Just talk. Is there any more to it ?
Written and Directed by Jeannette Teo

2nd RUNNER UP WINNER

"TIGER CLASSICS NEW DIRECTOR'S SHOWCASE 

SHORT FILM COMPETITION 1999"

Small Talk was also screened on Premier TV12 Singapore between July to October 1999.

SMALL TALK

CAST

Kelly - Lillian Yong
Clare - Michelle Chang

CREW
Scriptwriter Jeannette Teo
Director Jeannette Teo
Producer Fee Mei Feng
Assistant Producer Jeanne Chong
Camera Fee Mei Feng
Sound Engineer/Recordist D@ve Loh
Sound Engineer Roger Phua
Editor Gek Li San

SPECIAL THANKS
Sky Media Pte Ltd
Parco Bugis Junction (BCH Retail Investments)
Joey Cheung
Lim Kian Seng

Running time: 3 min 45 sec
COPYRIGHT Jeannette Teo 1999

SYNOPSIS

Have you ever wondered what lies behind every mundane, everyday small talk that you
encounter?

Small Talk, written and directed by Jeannette Teo, is about the everyday conversations that
occur with everyday people, small talks that have underlying tones of hypocrisy and pretense.
Small Talk is based on the premise that while polite conversations may be exchanged between people, their true thoughts, sometimes rude, may not be verbally expressed.
Small Talk is not just about talk. There is more to it than you think.

SCRIPTWRITER'S / DIRECTOR'S NOTE:

I personally hate making small talks. It may be an everyday necessity of life, but it holds no
meaning or purpose for me. Not until I’ve completed Small Talk, my second short film.
I’ve experienced and seen small talks happen to various people all the time, and I often wonder why people bother to “waste” time on conversations that say nothing or mean nothing. And then, I wonder if sometimes, small talks do mean something after all?

Small Talk was created to portray the hypocrisy and pretense of people’s conversations. I
wanted to say “Hey, look at ourselves. We do this sometimes.”

My original idea was to portray how people speak to each other. I wanted to explore the hidden meanings behind the words we say in conversations. I wanted to say that in the same
conversation, with a guided topic, one person can talk about oranges and the other apples, like how men and women communicate – in different frequencies, with different assumptions and projected meanings. However, the best way to explore conversations is to find something that relates to everyone – and that would be in small talk. That was how the script evolved.

When it came to actors, I originally planned for a male and a female actor to carry out small talks. But that would have too many implications in such a short conversation that the film may end up more confusing as a result. So I explored the way women talked (on familiar ground, I guess, me being an eccentric female specimen myself). At least two females would talk in similar frequencies except that they would only differ in personality and character. And that became an interesting (intriguing!) aspect in creating Small Talk.

Production was not as smooth. Due to rain and our original choice in location, we had to cancel a shoot and postpone the production. Looking back now, I can only call it a Blessing in Disguise.

We found a more suitable location, took more time to rehearse and relax (time constraint can
make a director or producer panicky and almost hysterical). By the time we were ready to shoot, it only took about 2 hours of “fun”, even with the weekend crowd at a busy shopping arcade. All in all, we can say we enjoyed ourselves in all stages of production, even with a minor setback.

My mother commented, “What!? You keep making films about people talking!”. But my reply can only be, “But mom, that’s what I’m good at!”

For my parents, family and friends who are my support, encouragement and inspiration... I can only be as good as it gets, and that is by doing what I do – what I do best.