For those of you who know me, you might know that I am someone who's always been extremely politically active. I was student director of my high school's MUN CCA for 4 years, which we used as a platform to encourage young people to learn about world events, develop their public speaking and diplomacy, and their ability to draft effective formal documents whilst collaborating with others. On top of that, I have always been very outspoken about my political and personal beliefs, and have gone on many a rant about issues that range from the Malaysian constitution to the impacts of colonialism on modern day society and politics.
So when I got wind of an opportunity to contribute to an event based around the 2020 US Elections, I jumped at it. To cut to the chase, I eventually volunteered to write scripts for a series of satirical advertisements, poking fun at the current state of affairs in the US as well as other phenomenon unique to the US that I find frankly incredulous - frankly, there is a lot.
Once the drafts for those scripts were done, I was asked to direct the filming of the ads. Now, this was an experience wholly unique to me - I like to take part in creative work, with writing and music being two of the endeavours I have taken up as hobbies; however I have never directed the filming of anything. Being told your first go at something has to be done remotely, with little to no supervision, is a daunting prospect to say the least. I was extremely lucky to be able to work with three great people (Sandro, Maris and Abdi, if you're reading this, hi!), who tried their very best to make it worth, even though there wasn't a whole lot of advance notice.
After 4 hours of filming scenes, cutting them, re-filming them, and finally finding cuts we found acceptable, we were done with the filming process - ending up with something like 30 clips in total, of which we wound up using 5. Let's just say this process left me with a newfound appreciation for all the people out there who are involved in production of media of any kind - every time I watch a movie hereafter, I will probably be thinking about the amount of time it took for the production team to get the clips they needed, especially given the even higher standards professionals hold themselves to. With the amount of movies I've watched during 2020, I've probably consumed tens of thousands of hours of work - something simply staggering if you truly consider the magnitude of it.
And then came the part I dreaded.
Now you might be thinking: "Hey Leo, why were you dreading editing the clips? You've done it before, surely it must be pretty easy for you?" Yes, I've done video editing before. Yes, in theory, it should've been easier than the directing bit. However, I have a horrible habit of not being able to stop working on something once I have started it, until I deem it "complete".
And I was predictable as usual.
On Saturday morning, I woke up at 6am, made myself some tea, and sat down and set off to work. I cranked out one video, then another, and kept going until I had 6 videos done and ready to go. Lo and behold, it was 3pm - 9 hours had passed. Truth be told, I am pretty pleased with how they turned out - the lighting in the clips wasn't the easiest for the chromakey function to adjust to, and I think I did a pretty decent job. The final clips are attached at the end of this article, so feel free to have a look at them.
"Now what?", you say? These satirical ads will be played during the event online, broadcasted live to the attendees. Hopefully, it brings a few laughs on what will certainly be a tense and stressful night for all those involved. Hopefully, it does not cause a riot - nor for anyone to find my location and send me anthrax in an envelope.
My purpose in writing this article is partially to share a little of my experience throughout this journey, which has certainly been unique and out of my comfort zone - but also to encourage you, the reader, to step out of your comfort zone and try out something new. I would've been the last person I would expect to direct an ad; what with my sometimes rather abstract and distracted thought process when describing something I can clearly envision.
Yet I did. I enjoyed every minute of it; it was something that definitely gave me the creative release I craved and had been lacking for a while now; furthermore, it allowed me to express myself in a medium I had prior to this never considered. It allowed me to combine my practical and creative sides, in creating something I can be proud of and something that will hopefully encourage others to give some of the issues addressed some thought - which is really the goal of anyone creating content such as this.
So, if you needed a cue to go for that opportunity you had been dilly-dallying on, especially if it should be something you would normally never do, then this is it; step out of your comfort zone and express yourself! Be authentically, wholly you; and do something you'd always been intrigued by but had been too intimidated to pursue.
After all, opportunities often do not come knocking twice. You never know when you'll get another chance like that.
Alright, that's enough yammering from me for another chapter in my life. The process of writing, directing, and editing these ads, tiresome as they were, is not something I would've done differently had I had the opportunity of going back and redoing things. To end off this article, I hope that on the morning after the US Elections, there will be a new President. 2020 has been a wacky, off-beat year as it is , and we could really do with some good news for a change. Ciao!
2020 Themed Parody
Conspiracy Theory Parody
Televangelist Parody
Trumpy Bear Ad (this one is wholly unedited except for the text at the end, believe it or not. You can buy a Trumpy Bear plush toy. For real.)
Vote for Trump Pharmaceutical Parody
Vote for Biden Pharmaceutical Parody
This does put a smile on my face :) well done sir