Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine August 2016 | Page 81

Explore | Interview

77

RADITYA DIKA:

CLOSE TO
THE HEART
Interview by Arya Arditya

The book’s publication was a new direction
for Radit; he has been a prolific author since
with titles including Cinta Brontosaurus,
Radikus Makankakus: Bukan Binatang Biasa,
Babi Ngesot, Marmut Merah Jambu and
Manusia Setengah Salmon.
His first venture into filmmaking was
when Kambing Jantan was made into
a feature film. The writer played himself
as the main character in the 2009 movie.
His subsequent books were also picked up
for cinematic adaptation and he continued
as the lead actor in them.
Despite, or probably because of, his
unfortunate love life, Radit has amassed
millions of fans by making films based
on his disastrous dating stories.
His latest film, in which he stars, writes
and directs, Koala Kumal (Dingy Koala),
tells about Radit being left by his
fiancée just before their planned wedding.
The film’s release coincided with
with the Idul Fitri holiday in July.
While his works are all inspired by things
that make him feel restless and troubled,
Radit has employed a similar process
when writing them.
“I use systematised structure, goals
and techniques of writing,” Radit says,
mentioning the well-known writing
theories of the three-act and
eight-sequence structure.
“I start my stories with a premise; I start
the essence of the story with one or two
sentences. I then develop it into a story
with three acts; each act contains sequences
and each sequence contains bits,” he says,
referring to the formula of dividing

stories into three sections: set-up, conflict,
and resolution.
Utilising this system, Radit can complete
a screenplay in three months in planned
writing sessions. “I don’t believe in waiting
for inspiration from the sky or waiting for a
certain mood to write,” he emphasises.
“Writing is not magical. We can create and
break down stories like an engineer creates
or breaks down a robot,” says Radit, who
loves spending leisure time with his pet cats.
Radit has also learned and sharpened his
skills in filmmaking since writing, directing
and starring in the web series Malam Minggu
Miko in 2012, which was later picked up
for a TV series and then a feature film.

Writing is not magical.
We can create and break
down stories like an
engineer creates or
breaks down a robot.
“I practically learned filmmaking by
necessity, because no one was interested
in Malam Minggu Miko initially, so I had
to do it myself,” he explains.
As a budding filmmaker, Radit is
currently learning by analysing the work
of renowned filmmakers David Fincher
and Jason Reitman.
“From Fincher, I am learning about the way
he shoots; while from Reitman,

I’m learning his indie way of moviemaking
and working with a limited budget,”
Radit shares.
While looking up to stellar writers such as
Neil Gaiman, Hilman Hariwijaya and Dewi
Lestari for his literary works, for his comedic
approach Radit looks up to Louis CK
and Jerry Seinfeld.
“CK is very honest with his stand-up; he
brings up things close to his heart. Seinfeld's
comedy is about observation and clean
content. CK’s comedy is very raw, while
Seinfeld’s is refined.
“I’m looking for a nice place between th e
two, between the raw and the refined.
I’m still looking.”