Designing for "THE TUBE" (1999-2000)
(I did not design the above logo)
Since leaving full-time employment with the Television Corporation of Singapore, and joining production house Monsterfilms - back in 1999 - I had “expanded” beyond my core career of "set designing for tv" and "art direction+production design for films", and widen my job-scope to include designing for broadcast tv, being involved in what can best be described as a hour’s worth of music programming, on local broadcast television, called “The Tube”.
The shows line-up included;
- “TUBETOP” (a Top-10 styled music video countdown)
- “RadioTV” (a comedy/skit-styled quasi-reality tv featuring radio DJs Glenn Ong and Jean Danker)
- “Music Walk” (A magazine / info-tainment style hosted program)
- “NCOTB” AKA “New Clips On The Block” (a selection of brand new music videos being released to the public).
I cannot remember what I was credited as (#truestory), but it was an opportunity to work with a team unlike running a “Art Department”, and had a chance to conceptualise, storyboard, co-create and design, run editorials (which I felt was a precursor to my current blogging sensibilities and the confidence), and essentially be exposed to, and actually being able to execute tasks beyond my IMDb credits - ALL of which was uber-exciting to me!
One of the main reasons - realising earlier on in my career - why I had enjoyed and stayed in my chosen profession then, was the opportunity to be involved in and execute different sets/settings/designs each time, and not necessarily be bogged down by familiarity. Sure, the job scope remained the same, but the challenges were always different - different design requirements, different budgets - and all that appealed greatly to my obvious short attention span.
And the opportunity to do/learn more? A no-brainer for the ambitious me then!
There was a literal "on-the-job" learning opportunities from a variety of roles within the team itself and external vendors, and even the client - for which I am always grateful for.
There are many stories of triumphs and tears to tell (Oh but for the endless nights spent transferring music videos), but at the end of the day, it is the music of the era I remembered dearly and clearly, and am smiling at the most, when during that time-period, ironically was a mind-numbing-chore, I will not lie.
And while I have zero moving visuals to share, featured here are a selection of storyboards and sketches (using only pencils, which showed how rushed it all had been), and some low-res visuals, a remanent of an experience I cherish in my memories.
Having done this program, it subsequently lead to me designing and creating "Opening Titles" to shows in my subsequent employment, for many years in fact, and very quickly became my "addiction" that I had never truly spoken about in public, but will continue to reminisce on this blog, thanks.
Cheers
Andy Heng
