Titoudao 剃头刀 / Promotional Video
Titoudao, inspired by the real-life journey of Singaporean Wayang star Madam Oon Ah Chiam, tells the story of a small woman with immense dreams. She overcomes poverty, sexism, and marital troubles to achieve her goals and carve out her space in the world. This inspiring biography is interwoven with significant moments in Singapore's history, reflecting how our lives have changed dramatically over the past five decades.
Client: Toy Factory Productions Ltd
Celebrating 30 years, Titoudao returns to the stage! To mark this milestone, Toy Factory is proud to present a fresh take on the beloved play featuring a brand new cast.
Toy Factory requires a dynamic promotional video that blends modern aesthetics with the captivating spirit of wayang. Expect a fast-paced glimpse that will tug at your heartstrings and leave you eager to experience the magic live.
This video comes in two cuts: a captivating 1-minute showcase and a punchy 30-second teaser.
Get ready to be transported by the enduring power of Titoudao.
Our Approach
Brainstorming & Ideation
Originally, we planned to film the scene in a Chinese temple to reflect the wayang theme. However, due to time limitations and needing to shoot both video and photos simultaneously on the same day, we opted for a studio setting. Thankfully, Toy Factory has a 3 storey shooting space available for this.
With seven actors switching between modern and wayang costumes, efficiency was crucial without sacrificing quality.
Printed backdrops were used
Warm tone lights to complement the setting
Projection was used as well to create more textures on the screens, giving it more visual excitement as there weren’t much art design around the characters themselves.
To give the characters more depth, the previous plays were projected on the screens and key phrases of Titoudao were used to make it uniquely theirs.
Revised Storyboard
Production Considerations
The initial storyboard was to have the cast transition from a “dark to light” theme, playing on the idea that a brand new set of casts enter the space and discover the characters they are portraying.
However, the client required a concept that was overall a little brighter, happier, and cheeky even as Titoudao is meant to be a jester. Thus we got to the drawing board, changed up the themes and gave everything a lighter tone.
Outcome
Landing page + Marketing collateral:
https://toyfactory.com.sg/titoudao/
Television Commercial on Channel 8:
Honouring 30 years of stage, revealing of the next Titoudao, quotes appearing on-screen, Contemporary > Wayang, Titoudao is a Jester (notes taken during initial discussion)
Big, backdrop cloths from previous productions were used to line up the walls, giving the illusion of a stage play as the casts wander and experience.
Lighting was an important consideration as well, giving the set its iconic orange, sunset look
Inspired from an advertising poster for Final Fantasy 15. It was a strong way to feature all of the cast and their distinct featues.
Produced by Cottage Collective
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Produced by Cottage Collective ~
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Storytelling Strategy
As this restage will feature a brand new cast, the idea was to have the cast “step into a new space”, venturing upon new grounds in their own character’s flair.
The characters have 2 outfits, modern & wayang. We knew the contrast was going to be big and we wanted there to be a transition of some sort thus we had the characters do some motions that were similar throughout the filming to be able to transit.
Props were also required to add more variation to the amount of movement they could do on screen. We decided to select items that resonated with their characters to add a second layer of visual interest on screen.
