A Walk in Void Country

A Walk In Void Country is about my personal perception of the Singapore suburbs as a place of quiet, mysterious beauty. I love all the little things that make up my neighbourhood, even construction debris and weeds.

I wanted to make a simple film that would express my honest feelings towards my neighbourhood. I decided to name it A Walk In Void Country because walking creates a slow tempo that lets the surroundings unravel into our awareness. ‘Void country’ is how I think of Singapore – Government housing blocks are all over our island, and the empty ground floor of the blocks is called a void deck.

A Walk In Void Country was animated traditionally with a homemade lightbox. I decided to work using a loose, unrefined style of traditional pencil drawing on paper. This way, I could put in energy into different strokes and scribbles for more dynamic impressions in each frame. The monochromatic medium creates a focus on the compositions of light and shadow in each scene.
The rough, grainy texture also gives a pleasing intimate feel, appropriate for a film based on personal thoughts.

I drew freely, without forcing the subject, mostly from memory. Although I had made thousands of photographs, they were a different reality from what I felt. As I drew, a subconscious truth began to show itself. This resulted in each scene having its own border, instead of a uniform full-screen fit.

The neighbourhood at first appears nondescript, even cold. However, it is the simple things that make it a special and wonderfully interesting place. A Walk in Void Country is a handmade film, and I hope while watching it, you can feel the same sense of tenderness and wonder that I have for my home.