itshylme

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GES1029 - The Void Deck

>> Filming this was one of the most interesting experience I ever had. The module, GES1029 - SINGAPORE FILM: PERFORMANCE OF IDENTITY, was basically about Singapore films. At the end of the module, we were tasked to film one ourselves. We titled the film, “The Void Deck.”

Brief summary:

The film will revolve around the same 4 characters, focusing on one girl, Nicole, in the main frame, with the other 3 in the background, interacting with this one girl. Throughout each stage (kid, teenage, adult, elderly), we will explore how her life transitions from one stage to the next, with the emphasis of each progression revolving around the same group of characters. We will explore how the social group changes over time, how interactions change, and how the girl reacts and responds to all of this.

Reflection:

With reference to planning, we did not include a bad weather plan. As such, when it started to rain during our shoot, our team was caught by surprise and was concerned with whether the filming could carry on without any problems as we were heavily reliant on natural lighting. Fortunately, the rain only lasted no longer than an hour; thereafter, the shoot proceeded smoothly. While the overall lighting was affected, we were lucky that the scenes left to shoot did not require a bright atmosphere. But had the rain not stopped, it would have proven a big problem as there were scenes where the background is unsheltered and we might have had to reschedule our shoot, sending back our casted actors who agreed to be part of our film out of goodwill. However, each shot was well thought out and planned in terms of the time. Specifically, filming the right the scenes at the right time, instead of just filming in chronological order and also having time checks. For example, we filmed scenes that were intended to be bright in the morning and the adult scenes later in the afternoon. It is also worth mentioning that, the time of our four casted actors aside from our own team was well spent as their scenes took no longer than two hours. Additionally, the whole filming process took one day. We feel that this shows the good time management of the team even though there were a considerable number of scenes we needed to shoot.

Furthermore, we felt that the film was able to address issues of the sound in the void deck which is that the diegetic sound of the void deck has always been neglected by people who spend a large portion of their lives in. The use of diegetic sound also drives realism and create a sense of nostalgia. In a way, we hope that the viewers would be able to appreciate the sounds of the void deck similar to Margaret Leng Tan’s performance of 4:33 in the void deck in Singapore Gaga. However, we felt that the audience may be able to be fully invested in the film had Nicole interacted with the environment more, with more backgrounds of the void deck and greater variety of activities. 

In conclusion, we enjoyed the entire process as it showed us that much thought and preparation is required to film a short 3-minute film. It made us appreciate films more than just what is shown on the screen. Additionally, we were able to understand some problems faced by filmmakers. After we wrapped up with the last scene we needed to shoot, we imagined how tough it would be as aspiring filmmakers with no experience or funding. But a series on Viddsee titled “Queen of Hearts” that was shot entirely on an iPhone X made us realized that while expensive equipment is a plus, it is not vital to make a successful short film. Ultimately, creativity and perseverance is key.

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RE:SERVED - Orbital 2019

>> Over the summer, I paired up with Keith Ho and participated in Orbital.

About Orbital (Abstracted from NUS Orbital Facebook Page):

Orbital is a School of Computing’s (SOC) self-driven programming summer experience. It is designed to give first-year students the opportunity to 1) self-learn and 2) build something useful.

As we had little to no development experienced, we decided to try our hands at building an Android application from scratch. We decided to build a restaurant booking application.

Interestingly, it was my first time taking lead in the UI/UX of the application. I was proud of how the initial design was able to translate over to actual code. I was also responsible for designing relevant publicity materials.

Milestone Two - Wireframe Video:

I was so proud that I was able to churn out this video! During the summer, I ran into some problems with my laptop and had to send it in for servicing. I had to ask for a favour from a friend of mine, Jeffrey (Thanks, friend!), who allowed me to use his laptop. I don’t want to come across as ungrateful, but his laptop was OLD, had low ram and processing power and he didn’t have any Adobe software installed.

With what I had, I made the video using only Mircosoft Powerpoint. I took half a day to do up and render.

Milestone Three - Final Product Video:

As the deadline was drawing near and bugs (programming bugs) to squash, I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands and did up a quick video to explain how the application, RE:SERVED, works. I am not proud of the work I did this round, but I am putting this up here as a reminder to do better.

End results:

We won first place in our category! I was so pleasantly surprised and happy.

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Ezsofe

>> Ezsofe is a start-up development house which aims to enable SMEs to stay relevant and afloat in the digital landscape. In Ezsofe, I was part of the development team who where I was part of two website developement. One of which was Ezsofe’s website itself. Additionally, I was part of their marketing team where I conceptualised a monthly newsletter and designed multiple marketing materials for them.

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Radiopulze

>>  Currently in NUS, I am a broadcaster on for their on-campus radio under RadioPulze where I co-host weekly shows and aid with preparing some of their marketing material. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to have met and interviewed local musicians in Singapore!

If you’re interested in listening to some local hits, you can listen to some of my favourites on my Spotify playlist which mainly consists of local artists.

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Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) - Final Year Project

>> In my final year in NYP, I had the opportunity to pursue a venture where I was the Marketing and Tech Lead. Here’s the video I produced and edited for my Final Year Project in NYP. 

While the idea did not take off, I had firsthand experience in building a company brand from the ground up; something that not many people had the chance to do so.

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Grant A Wish (GAW) XVI 

>> GAW XVI was one of the best moments of my life. 

For GAW XVI, I was part of their Organising Committee (OC) as a Publicity Assistant, where I was responsible for conceptualizing marketing materials to raise awareness of the project’s vision and mission and photographed events as coverage for use in publicity draws and on social media platforms. I was mainly overseeing their Instagram Page, where I created materials for the “Faces of GAW” campaign. Additionally, I put together the Collection Tickets and “Thank You” Slips found above.

About GAW XVI (Abstracted from GAW’s Facebook Page):

Grant A Wish (GAW) is one of the 7 Special Projects undertaken by the NUS Students' Community Service Club (CSC) annually and this will be our sixteenth year organising this event. Since its introduction in 2004, it has been one of CSC's most eminent and popular projects.

As the name implies, Grant A Wish aims to fulfill the wishes of underprivileged children and elderly. These people may lack the opportunities and financial means to obtain gifts which they desire.

The beneficiaries' wishes are first collected; the NUS population and the general public are then encouraged to adopt these wishes. After receiving gifts from the donors, Grant A Wish will culminate in parties during which the children and elderly will revel in games, performances and receive the much awaited gifts. This project also aims to inculcate a spirit of giving among NUS students as well as the general public, and to cultivate compassion towards the less privileged.

I truly feel blessed to have been able to work with many kindhearted and lovely individuals and extremely grateful to be able to be under the guidance of very competent and compassionate Project Directors. The faces of euphoria when our beneficiaries had when opening their gifts was priceless and reminded me to always be grateful for what I have.

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LAC1201 (Level 1 Chinese NUS Module) - Interview Project

>> The project and video were fun to do and make and I was lucky enough to be grouped up with the most loveliest people! I enjoyed every bit of the time spent on editing this video. While there are some mistakes that are present in the video, I think my group and I did really well! Most importantly, we had fun.

List of mistakes:

Not 兄第, but 兄 弟 

Not 第第, but 弟弟

Not 没有, but 不住宿舍

Reflection:

This project and module has been an eye-opener for me. It is a very 有意思 mod and I love every second of it. While the interview went smoothly, the camera being out of focus was an oversight for us. I feel that we could have went another direction with the project and would have drawn inspiration from them if we all knew about the past projects earlier. 

It is really makes me help me happy to be able to converse with my friends in Chinese as it makes me feel much closer to them.

我要谢谢我的朋友，林莉莉. 谢谢你！Thank you for helping us out with the project. 说真的，认识你我真的很高兴. Also, thank you, 张老师 , for help us with our questions and teaching us Chinese. 我爱你.

Finally, I will like to thank my amazing group mates. 你们太好啦!

[itshylme]

Some photos from a family trip to Essex, Edinburgh, and Paris that were taken in December 2018.

>> Had an amazing time in Edinburgh. Will definitely visit again in the future.