Documentary and Poetry — A project that adapted childhood interests

Photo Credit: Eunice Teo

It was the first day of February 2021 - things looked like it was going to be better than what had transcribed in 2020 (How wrong we were.)

I met with the folks over at Team Nila (the volunteering arm of ActiveSG/Sport Singapore) to produce a documentary that encapsulated the meaning of volunteerism. The client had a strong belief that this was an essential message for the new era, and with the backlog of sporting events caused by 2020, this year would be a timely year to tell such a story.

It was an opportunity I had yearned for as I would be commissioned to make what would be known as a branded documentary. It is an interesting concept that is fairly new to me - a pragmatic way to earn a living for Documentary Storytellers by being commissioned to make a documentary of their own style but with the consideration of the client's motivation to invest in such a project.

Naturally, there will be a little bit of conflict depending on how one balances the concerns of a paying client and the integrity of the stories within the work. After all, even if the intentions are mutual and positive, such a relationship is likely to see the creator cede some aspects of the final work to the commissioner.

That is why working with 'right' clients is essential - but that's a topic for another day.

Back to this story - it is now April and my character discovery process was well underway. The original proposal I had for Team Nila was to follow 3 people from diverse backgrounds, and intertwine their volunteering journeys and motivations into one cohesive narrative.

Such a process would take time - the client had no lack of volunteers to recommend, and it was a step that would be costly to correct if done wrongly.

Unfortunately, as the weeks progressed, it became clear that COVID-19 was about to tighten its grasp on Singapore, in many ways that made 2020 feel like a trial period.

We were disheartened - but there was still much of the year yet to unfold. So I kept reading and learning about Team Nila - interacting with some in the community when I could. This led to a one-time videography workshop, which was vital for learning about the community firsthand.

As the end of July neared, I geared up to work on this project once more. The National Day period is the most eventful week of Team Nila/Sport Singapore's calendar. And so if I were to document the experiences of the volunteers, I had to begin the production phase from August.

And then it happened. The National Day parade was postponed for the first time in our Nation's history. So too did all the plethora of activities that Team Nila had planned. I could feel their immense frustration at that time.

By late August, Sport Singapore was given the allowance to conduct smaller scaled sporting events, which provided a few volunteering opportunities for the eager Team Nila family. Unfortunately, with all the restrictions and short lead time to execute, none of the events could visually represent what volunteerism truly meant for the community I was tasked to feature.

By mid-September, I had only shot eight half-days worth of footage with four of my chosen cast. In the days that followed, restrictions were once again tightened.

This prompted an honest and long conversation with the client in November. It would be highly unlikely that I was able to produce the documentary with my original structure even if they allowed me more time to work on the project. The original deadline was December 5, International Volunteer Day.

But perhaps, with desperation comes inspiration. During the conversation, a comment was made to perhaps utilise the photos of Team Nila over the years that had been taken rather than videos, as there were little opportunities to capture such moments this year.

I did not favour that option at the time - the immediate thought of compromising my work by using photos of varying qualities to make up for the lack of filming opportunities irked me slightly, to be honest

But the conversation concluded with the continued affirmation that my client was comfortable with me exploring new ideas - they commissioned me specifically to make a work that they may not have yet envisioned but trusted me to do so.

And so, in the days since then, I pondered, "What could I do with the cards I was dealt with?"

This is where my marriage came in. You see, while documentaries had been a childhood interest of mine, so too were poems. I enjoyed works that rhymed, and I would like to think that I have a knack in writing them - though i have only written them to my then-girlfriend, now wife. My wedding vow featuring 30 lines of rhyme would probably be my best work!

It had never occured to me that I might perhaps be able to use poetry to channel the observations that I had made to my client's community throughout 2021 and accompany them with the photos they had given, the footage I had taken, and a visual concept to tie it all together.

I became excited, and true enough, within three weeks, we had a complete work that I believe had done justice to the collective story of Team Nila - told from the perspective of four of its volunteers and strung together by my poetry.

It was the first time that I had narrated a poem for a documentary, and definitely my first time being paid for it. But the building blocks that made it possible were a full year in the making.

Poetically, I started the year learning about my own voice having done a limited run of a podcast along with my growth in being in front of the camera for documentary works.

This was a special project to end the year on.

I am pleased to present to you, Team Nila: All The More (which intentionally has the exact same working title as the original project proposal when it was first conceptualised back in February)

And, if you are interested to learn more about what it took to make this project possible, here's a behind the scenes video that also featured Dino Ong, the Music Producer of the project, and Jingyun Ng, my vocal coach.