2359

music 晴天 [周杰伦]

星期一，巴黎深夜2359时分，晓湘将装载着思念的信投进被白雪覆盖的邮筒。这是她承诺要给上海男友阿飓的惊喜，预计三天后就会落在他手中。

同样星期一，新加坡2359时分，小玢直接向身在伦敦的男友阿黎的想念拼在网络清谈的视窗里。他向她承诺，三天后的2359时分会给她惊喜。

都市人的距离，被网络缩成咫尺而已。

星期四2358分59秒，小玢守在电脑前。迎接期待已久的2359时分的却是她的啜泣声，因为那一刻，全岛停电了，上不了网也打不了电话。

都市人的距离，被停电扯致天涯之远。

同样星期四，上海2359时分，阿飓接过晓湘夹着霜气的信，感动的热泪滴在温馨熟悉的字迹上，愈是模湖，愈是美丽。

2359的夜空，照耀着南北半球的月光分外朦胧。

2359时分，形同灰姑娘喜悦悲伤交替的分界。一样的承诺，却因传统的稳重和科技的副作用，成了欢喜忧伤的分界，以致有人欢喜，有人愁。

Music Video Production

music 閉上眼 默念三遍 [183 Club+7朵花/王子變青蛙原聲帶]

Just watched a series of MVs by Sweety, 同恩, 南拳媽媽 and 183 Club and I realised that their background settings looked so much better as compared to some of our local MV productions.

Is really a lack of good places in Singapore that are suitable for MV production?

Take a look at Taiwan produced MVs. At the very least they don't give people the impression of obselete and poor or bad taste. Their settings are often carefully chosen and the way they film the story or artistes singing mostly brings out the meaning and atmosphere of the song.

Take 183 Club's 《真愛》 for example. One wouldn't know that it is produced in Taiwan cos that white and contemporary bunglow, the metal spiral staircase, etc are available in almost all developed countries! Also, the director skilfully blended the story into that setting by illustrating a simple love story between 顏行書 and the female lead, successfully depicting the meaning of that song.

Another one: 同恩's 《直覺》. Band and actions were the main content of the song, which suit the song's style perfectly. There were a few scenes and settings but mainly it's about her running. Running will be boring without the addition of artistic objects for 同恩 to pass by. The splashing of water also makes it more worth watching. All these techniques might seem to be repetitive, but they're certainly not difficult to utilise..

Furnitures and clothings do matter. Take another look at 183 Club's 《迷魂計》. Royal-family-alike sofas and white outfit portray the elegance of 183 Club. The use of lightings, colours and zoom-ins featuring eye contact of 183 Club members create a gorgeous and resplendent atmosphere. With a simply decorated studio, nothing is impossible.

Perhaps, a myraid of different buildings ranging from old shophouses to high-rise Taipei 101 is a good reason for good settings. But Singapore's got Chinatown and Esplanade too, not forgetting East Coast park, where seas are favourite MV spots too.

If I were given a chance, I would want to be attached to a Taiwan crew and observe how an MV is produced, then apply it to Singapore. I won't want to let people recognise that oh, I'm shooting Orchard or Esplanade, extracting a small spot out of these well-known places its much much more challenging and interesting. But.. how to look for the chance?

Of cos, plain talking is not enough. Maybe our local MV production crew had encountered a lot of difficulties in their filming process, and that's maybe why that MVs are filmed in parks and grass patches with not-very-natural forest as background, with singers wearing so casually as though they're just attending a leisure activity...

MV's are equivalent to a really really short extract of a film and making a good job out of it is no easy, since they have the duty to portray the meaning of a song. This is why I admire 黃中平's works. =) His works are indeed a good showcase of the essence of a song.