First Takes - 'Contemplation' by Clement Chua

Made as part of the Digital Homelands Project launched in 2008 by the National Museum of Singapore, this video seems more relevant when put in this framework. It is a virtually a series of 'point-of-view' images of Clement's neighborhood. Most of the time, it seems very voyeuristic due to the the peeking shots that wobbled from wall to wall. Sometimes, you see people lurking out from behind the walls, never sure of what they are engaged in. The soundtrack over the images also make it an rather odd concoction (The ones with sharp ears can tell where the music comes from). An concoction that lends a certain mismatched lyricism to a grey HDB neighbourhood. I think the typical HDB landscape has its right type of musical condiments. I think guitar, ballads, anthems (oops), national day song (oops :p)... well... erm, filmmakers like us who cannot get away from HDB-scapes have to crack our brains to redefine a HDB scene.

Clement himself is commonly seen in the production circle across a few media like film, television and videos. According to him, 'Contemplation' is a work-in-progress, perhaps like a little experiment. Quiet a distinction from the usual high-production value productions he's been involved in. He recently directed a short called 'The Release', do watch out for it!


0 cent worth