This series of designs were for a cover and section dividers of a final report about a short film, “Twobrush”, that I made with some friends for a film class. The work explores the “culture clash” between a couple and their habits of putting aside their toothbrushes.
Size: A4
For the second year running, the graduating students of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information held Filament ’08, an annual showcase of the students’ audio and visual projects. Just a little history for the uninitiated, the school does not have a strong tradition of showcasing student’s works. Other than a public screening held some years ago, most final-year showcases have been small affairs held in the school’s auditorium and largely attended by its own students. It was only last year that the graduating batch decided to organise a screening of a grander scale to better promote themselves to the public as well as industry players.
This year’s projects were generally of a much higher quality and one reason for this could be the willingness to engage external help to give the films a more professional touch to it. This included hiring equipment instead of depending on what was available in school as well as engaging crew and talent from the growing film industry here. A good production needs more than the maximum number of four students allowed in a final year project so kudos goes to the graduating batch for looking beyond themselves and the school for help.
The strength of the school lies in the area of journalism so it was no surprise to me that the better films were documentaries. These were some the films that stuck on my mind for various reasons:
Health, Peace, Happines
This documentary followed the dying days of two ladies diagnosed with cancer. Its biggest selling point was that it was actually filmed during the dying days of the ladies so they really died. It had all the elements to tear-jerk the audience, even scenes at one of the ladies funeral, but this was also where I thought it was set up to exploit the situation they had access to. I did not come away learning anything more about cancer or these two ladies. From the beginning to the end, it was set up such that here are two people dying and here is how it is going to happen – dying is sad. It would be interesting to hear the film-makers talk about the ethical dilemmas they had to contend with and how much effect it had on the making of the film.
H.O.P.E
The documentary was about kidney trading in the Philippines was the gem of the first night of the screening. The interviewees were engaging and its environment very layered. It even had a dose of reality-tv in it when a scene of a patient going for his kidney removal operation was furtively filmed entirely by the patient’s friend because no filming was allowed in the hospital. Some might argue that this film works because the subject matter is “exotic” to us as an audience, and I would add that it lacked other voices as it only contained the voices of the people selling their kidneys. However, I’ve been told that there was just too much footage to fit in the 24-minute limit but a feature-length of this documentary was in the making.
Platform 1932
This was a nostalgia film about the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and it being a “platform of memories” for its various users. While it was interesting to see how the lives of the railway personnel, former hotel owner, provision shop owner, railway enthusiasts and train users revolved around the station, a element totally left out of the film was its contentious place in the bilateral relations between Singapore and Malaysia. I thought this film had a lot more potential in connecting the people of these two countries if more attention was given to this aspect of the film. Alas, it went down a road of nostalgia, showing Singaporeans an interesting landmark that many might not be familiar with.
Love, Your Son
A very powerful film about the death penalty for drug trafficking in Singapore, this fictitious piece follows the live of a young Thai drug trafficker who writes letters to his mother while awaiting his turn to be hanged. The piece is set up to portray the drug trafficker as a victim of such a harsh policy and it even borrows a line from a similar film, “Dead Man Walking” to end it. This film did arouse me emotionally, but then I was left empty after, wondering “So what?”. I was disappointed that the film did not give me a hint of what to do but simply left me hanging, but maybe that was the point of the film?
downstairs
This documentary attempts to trace how the common space of a void deck holds different functions and meanings to different Singaporeans. To me, it came across as a corporate video for “Uniquely Singapore” or HDB, because it had more beautiful shots than substance. At times, it felt like the film-makers simply spent their day at different HDB areas to shoot whatever they could find, not knowing what to look out for. To some, it worked because it was simply a snapshot of what happens in a day at your HDB void deck, but I thought it lacked something more that could hold these snapshots together.
I have to say again that this year’s works was probably one of the best I’ve seen so far. I only hope that the respective filmmakers will work hard to push their works to other platforms that can showcase their works to more people. There is good work coming out of the school but it just needs to be seen!
Technology has made it possible and easy for us all to produce work that looks professional, I think we increasingly tend to forget that what really distinguishes something as meaningful and good is its concept. We all get caught up in creating projects of spectacle, that pander to a notions of professionalism, by using techniques and effects that recreate such a image, but looking a little deeper what you find instead is unmotivated actions that are just plain empty.
That was one major point I felt was missing in a lot of the films I saw tonight at NTU’s Arts, Design and Media (ADM) showcase tonight. Aesthetically speaking, most of these films were a pleasure to look at. Moreover, the filmmakers had professional equipment such as dollies and cranes to work with, but more often than not, they were not used to advance the film. The very important question of why was put aside.
Perhaps what was really sorely-lacking was the ability of story-telling. That is a problem I find myself having to come to grips with as well. Telling a story is often the best way to get a message across; it is one thing to have information, but presenting it in a form that is palatable is increasingly becoming an important tool in a world of information overload. I suppose one way that film-makers turn to is to create an aesthetically pleasing film, but how long and deep can the engagement with the viewer last? Moreover, it has become so easy now that this will become the domain of amateurism instead and one will need to find other ways to stay above the pack.
In a similar fashion, the government’s recent initiative to engage the public using new media formats such as the MDA rap video and the KPE Underground launch are really interesting because it shows their willingness to reach out to us using these new mediums. Perhaps, Marshall McLuhan was correct to say that the medium is the message and by using these platforms, the government believes its message will get to us. Indeed, these initiatives have generated that buzz and a spectacle such that people will take notice. However, I think at the end of the day, what is at the core of the message really matters. The question is how do people perceive it and is the effect as intended?
Thus, at the end of the day, its the story that really matters. A good one performs in all formats, but a bad one needs a good format to help it stand out.
INTER-SCHOOL COLLABORATIONS AND SHOWCASING WORK
On a separate note, I think ADM’s efforts to showcase its students’ works is really commendable. I wish my school, School of Communication and Information (SCI), would provide such support too. In this way, more critical education can follow because our works will be scrutinised by the general public and at least each other. Just as importantly, I think our parents and loved ones can see for themselves why we spend hours toiling in school perfecting out work.
Another interesting idea came out of seeing the showcase, that is inter-school collaboration between ADM and SCI. Perhaps, the schools can combine resources like equipment and staff to provide a more holistic environment for film production. After all, both are under NTU’s College of Arts, so there exists a basis of sorts for closer links. Maybe an bi-annual feature film production can happen, where students from both schools send in joint-proposals and funding will come from the school. Who knows, maybe in the near future, both will break away to form a film school?
Alas, we know there is a lot of red tape and politics involve. The easier route would just be for students from both sides to get to know each other and work on each other’s strengths to do films that you love.