IAACA Gold Award

Corrupt Practice Investigation Bureau (CPIB), Singapore 
Anti-Corruption Public Service Announcement Video
Produced by Little Red Ants Creative Studio, Singapore.
Winner of Gold Award in the International Anti-Corruption Public Service Announcement Awards 2011, organised by the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA). 

This 30 second clip took us a whole day to shoot, starting from the wee hours of the morning at 2 am, at the wholesale fish market by the Port of Sembawang, north of Singapore. The fish market scene took us longer than we expected, as we were in a live, and often disruptive environment, amid the busy background of a fish market, where there were the ordered chaos of moving trolleys of fishes passing in between the camera and the actors; and the odd incident of large fishes violently slapped down in front of us without warning splattering the wet scales and fishy sprays all over!!

The fish market scene took us till 5am, and then we had a recess and were to resume at 9am at Republic Polytechnic. With barely a few hours in between, it was pointless for me to go home to get refreshed and rushed back to the set, so I chose to go to next location directly. There, I found a canteen bench, laid down for a few hours and then drifted into slumberland. In my dream then, I was on a soft bed in a Hollywood trailer.

The shoot resumed in a student training kitchen at Republic Polytechnic. It was neat and comfortable, complete with air-conditioning, we were comfortable compared to the commercial kitchen at Joo Chiat where it was hot and sticky. Therefore, I was quite surprised that we could display our winning and sleazy smiles  with the discomfort. It goes to prove that discomfort and sleaze are not mutually exclusive.

We had a long day and wrapped at 7pm. For the crew, they have to pack and lug their equipment up three floors to their charming, but rather impractical studio at Joo Chiat, which is without an elevator. Unfortunately, charms often don't come with efficiency.

I think the CPIB script is brave to challenge the acceptance of subtle corrupt practices disguised amid  traditional customs and goodwill during festive seasons.

The editing was excellent. It exudes the salient points with surgical precision - packing all the exciting bits in 30 seconds. Kudos to the Little Red Ants! Lastly, we actors must have done well and given enough good material for the editor to pick up and make a good job out of it right?  So, hip-hip-hurray to all!