Introduction to our shoot
For our documentary project, we decided to feature Jack Leow, the third generation owner of Anthony the Spice Maker.
Anthony the Spice Maker is a family run business and currently has 2 stores, one in Chinatown Complex and one in Mayflower Market in Ang Mo Kio where Jack is currently tending. This documentary looks more into Jack’s life, and how a 27 year old man was willing to put down a lifetime commitment to continue this family legacy.
We started off our documentary project by scheduling a meeting with Jack at his store on the 20th of October to learn more about his story and his life. At the same time, we wanted to take this chance to fully explain the cause of our project and understand how comfortable he is in front of a camera. Through this meeting, we learnt more about Jack’s life, and how he has come to terms with giving up his other dreams to takeover his family business. We also learned about Jack’s past as a young child and his position in the family as well as the past of the business. In this meeting, we also clarified with Jack what he was willing to put on screen and what he was not willing to put on screen.
Shoots
Our first shoot happened on the 6th of November where we filmed the whole interview with Jack. We expected to cover more than the interview, however, as the market was going through a series of construction and washing, we were unable to continue beyond the interview.
The camera used for the first shoot were Canon 7D Mark II, Lumix GH4 Camera, Nikon D5600. The Canon 7D Mark II was mounted on a Manfrotto Befree Carbon Fibre Travel Tripod with Ball Head and used as primary camera for the interview. Both the Lumix GH4 and Nikon D5600 were used as secondary camera.
For audio recording, we used a lapel and zoom GH5 to mic Jack up.
Our second shoot happened on 11th of November where we shadowed Jack for his day and took other b-rolls of the market.
The camera used for the second shoot were Canon 7D Mark II, Lumix GH4 Camera, Nikon D5600. To record background sound, we used a boom and zoom GH5.
For our third shoot, we headed down to Chinatown Complex on the 15th of November to shoot the secondary interview with Anthony, the second generation owner of Anthony the Spice Maker and Jack’s Dad. We shot both Interview and some B-rolls.
Similar to the first shoot, we used Canon 7D Mark II mounted on a Manfrotto Befree Carbon Fibre Travel Tripod with Ball Head as primary camera for the interview. And both the Lumix GH4 and Nikon D5600 were used as secondary camera.
For audio, we used a lapel and zoom GH5 to mic Anthony up.
For our last shoot, we headed down to Oracle on 16th of November to shoot some b-rolls of tattoo artists in order to cover parts of the interview where Jack talked about being a tattoo artist. For this shoot, we used only a Canon 550D.
Conclusion
Through this experience, we looked at the life of a market store owner, and heard the stories of the less told. We looked at how much efforts, time and dedication was put into the business just to deliver top-notch quality. Furthermore, through the shoots, we learnt how to handle our equipments and pique the curiosity of our audience. Many times, the shoot had to be disrupted because the market-goers would ask multiple questions or would not wish to be in the film. However, we also saw the community spirit that is often lost in our generation today. During the first filming, we were stopped due to the constructions happening, however the town council was willing to delay the construction for us. It was little things like that that reminded us of how a wet market is more than just a place for fresh food.
Through this documentary we hope that we managed to successfully convey the story of Jack and his family legacy. Please stay tuned for our next post where we will finally showcase our documentary. In the meantime, do head over to https://www.facebook.com/nmlife4883d to learn more about spices! Also follow @Anthonythespicemaker on Instagram if you’re looking for some Christmas Gifts to gift your mom!
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