War survivor among featured stories for a different National Day multimedia experience

SINGAPORE — Waking up at 4am to queue for food during World War II was just one of the experiences recounted by war survivor Madam Helen Joseph, 89, in an interview that is featured in this year’s National Day Parade’s multimedia segments.

“Sometimes, there is no more left, neighbours would share their food with us, aunts and cousins and all made kuehs and cakes. Then, we would go to the houses to share the cake, that is how we survived,” she recalls in the video, which was showcased at a media preview on Monday (July 15).

The compelling wartime tale was one of four stories that will be featured in Act Four of this year’s NDP, titled “Our Nation”. Others featured include retired healthcare advisor Iris Verghese Sim, 73, music producer and rapper Wheelsmith, 25, and social entrepreneur Anil David, 51.

The varying ages of the contributors are in line with the “generation to generation” theme for National Day this year. The four were selected from 50 shortlisted stories.

The music video for the NDP 2019 theme song “Our Singapore” also features an intergenerational cast of 300 Singaporeans from all walks to life to symbolise passing on the baton of nation-building from one generation to the next.

Major Wong Wai Keat, who is the chairman of the multimedia committee, said that the year-long preparation for the multimedia and animation sections was carefully focussed on the inter-generational theme.

“In Act One, we have people from different generations who are participating in this year’s NDP. Then in Act Two, we have the mobile column, which is unique to Padang. It showcases passing of the rifle, which signifies the passing of values and the commitment to defend,” Maj Wong said.

Alongside Maj Wong, local filmmaker Royston Tan takes on the role of its multimedia director. He is also the brains behind many of the ideas, from the NDP music video to the multimedia and animation segments at the parade itself.

Mr Tan has been hard at work since he was appointed last year, carefully weaving the multimedia elements into the show. Even now, less than a month before the event, Mr Tan is still editing the videos after each rehearsal “to bring the best visual experiences to the audience”.

“NDP is about position and timing, so every time there is an opportunity for us to make it even better, we will go back to reshoot and make it more holistic,” Mr Tan said.

He said that it is challenging because every change in the multimedia and animation segments will affect the entire show.

“For example, if one of my films is five seconds overshot, I have to trim the whole thing and it will affect the entire timeline. So every week, we have to make changes. It has been about 10 rehearsals already and I have made 10 different changes.”

Mr Tan acknowledged that putting together a show such as the NDP is rather different from producing a feature film, but said the experience was “rewarding”.

“If I was not involved in NDP, I would have completed perhaps about 10 feature films. But every one of us strives to work together and spend many hours together, sometimes even overnight to churn it out.”

Apart from the stories, the presentation will also feature animations, including one produced by a group of final year polytechnic students.

In Act Five, “Our dreams”, a group of 20 to 30 students from Nanyang Polytechnic School of Interactive & Digital Media worked with Mr Tan to complete an animated video.

The video is also a part of the students’ final year project. Mr Tan provided storyboards for the students, discussed the project with them, and went to their campus once every two to three weeks to provide feedback on their progress.

“We worked with students because we wanted a fresh take on their interpretation on certain decisions made by the pioneers and it is part of the intergenerational theme that we wanted to have,” he said.

A total of about 250 people are involved in the multimedia production.

For example, its multimedia committee includes a content team of 45 members. The content team is in charge of coordinating the production of the show’s multimedia products, the quality of the footage and ensuring that the final product supports the story-telling for each act. The committee also includes a 43-member live feed team, overseeing the set-up and dismantling of the professional cameras during the various rehearsals.