Cinematic Architecture of Melaka - Romancing the City

Cinematic Architecture of Melaka – Romancing the City

02 to 05 February 2023

In early February, students from the AY 2022/23 Master of Architecture Options Design Studio II “The Alchemical Atelier” led by Dr Simone Shu-Yeng Chung and Ms Mary Ann Ng Yihui, and the Master of Arts in Architectural Conservation at the National University of Singapore, traveled to Melaka for a workshop at the Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre for Asian Architectural and Urban Heritage. Using the camera as the prosthetic for sight and sound, the participating students learnt how to construct a narrative and communicate the specificities of the urban milieu with the moving image medium. Over four days and through completing three individual short exercises, the participants applied and sedimented their understanding of principles of storyboarding, elementary film grammar and basic film editing.

One of the assignments, Architectural Expressions, required the participants to shoot and edit, using their digital video recording devices and editing suite. The resultant montage sequence exercise, between one and two minutes, is devised to encourage students haptically capture and communicate the character, properties and aesthetics of the space and building of the TTCL centred on a chosen architectural element.

 

	Storyboard and Film by Zhao Boxuan

 

Some of the other outputs on Architectural Expressions can be viewed here:

Shuang Jiawei (2023)

Manansala Danielle Bautista (2023)

Deng Ziyue (2023)

 

By pursuing deep dives on a chosen subject, the next assignment, An Urban Story, invited workshop participants to explore and critique various aspects of Melaka’s historic cosmopolitanism, such as the city’s transnational origins, cultural legacy, hybrid identities, and urban morphology. To kick off this assignment, Associate Professor Johannes Widodo brought the group out for a highly informative morning walk around the historic core on Friday 3 February 2023, and instructively contextualized local socio-economic developments alongside the maritime city’s evolution and current polemical issues. 

After developing their own narratives, shooting preparations necessitated the production of a shot list to accompany the storyboard, in order for them to plan how, where and what needs to be filmed, so that reshoots could be minimized at the editing stage. Key considerations included framing, shot scale, diegesis, editing in the camera and transitions between shots. 

Storyboard and sequence of stills by Cheng Siyuan (2023)

Some of the Urban Stories short films can be viewed here:

David Cheng (2023)

Joshua Ng Lee Han (2023)

Lionny Tai (2023)

Cheryl Xie (2023)

Liu Xuanyi (2023)

Shawn Lee (2023)

 

Our heartfelt thanks go to NUS Department of Architecture and the Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre for Asian Architectural and Urban Heritage in Melaka for supporting this workshop.

Workshop Team

Simone Shu-Yeng Chung

Mary Ann Ng Yihui

Sophia Tan Qi Ying

Mohd. Syazwan Menzies

Guest

Johannes Widodo

Workshop Participants

Cheng Siyuan

Cheng Yuxin, David

Deng Ziyue

Lionny Tai

Liu Xuanyi

Manansala Danielle Bautista

Ng Lee Han Joshua

Shawn Lee Soo Pang

Shuang Jiawei

Xie Yuwen Cheryl

Yap Ting Ting

Zhao Boxuan

Gong Yifen

Logistical Support

Philip Tay Keng Huat

Cindy Tan Puay Yong