Joey Leong - Video Editor

Chapter 1: BeGinningS

My professional career began as a humble Video Editor.

I joined Edge Media Consultancy Pte Ltd fresh out of serving the mandatory two-year term as an NSF. You may have wondered why a diploma graduate in the Arts and Theatre would choose a career in media.

To put (perhaps, over-)simplistically: I needed to put food on the table, and graduates in the arts and theatre usually do not have the luxury of a steady income within the confines of sensible working hours.

I also love the medium of film and video.

A pivot is, therefore, required - One that I can use in a corporate sense, yet still allows me to exercise some form of creativity.

I still remember the interview with Edge Media's Creative Director:-

"What brings you here today?"

"I have no experience. I just need money, and I would like to pursue a career as a video editor. Let me edit videos for you."

"I don't know if I can trust you, but I'm betting on your promise to grow. Don't disappoint."

Probably not the optimal, most sensible way to answer interview questions, but I'm glad someone took that bet on me.

Being in Edge Media Pte Ltd was not easy. My days were filled with the chastisement of lacking ' the fundamental eye of creative design', and spending hours learning the tools of the trade, like Googling and meddling with the Adobe suite.

I also learnt the basics of corporate storytelling, including how to write video scripts and juxtapose sound bites to present the different narratives our client (DBS) desired.

My capacity at Edge Media supports DBS and its initiatives to go digital and to develop thought-innovation leaders from universities through its DigiFY and UNI.CORN programmes, respectively, alongside some other ad-hoc video projects.

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What is Edge Media Consultancy Pte Ltd?

Edge Media Consultancy Pte. Ltd. is a media firm that creates engaging content through visual storytelling. It has collaborated with companies such as L'Oreal, Microsoft, and AIA.

During my employment, Edge Media was the acting vendor for DBS, producing corporate videos for them as the bank undertook a company-wide drive to digitise its operations and train its staff to focus on digitisation.

How was I Involved?

Video Editor

2017 - 2018

I edited videos for clients such as DBS Bank and apprenticed under the Creative Director to develop skills in corporate video editing, storytelling, website development, and light graphic design.

More About DBS Bank

DBS Bank is a multinational banking corporation with its headquarters in Singapore They are present in many markets including Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, and Indonesia.

In my opinion, they were the trailblazers for digitisation, bringing their consumers and staff to online digital banking before COVID.

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My First Completed Video

Much is considered when creating videos. The very first task for my first video was to conceptualise the presentation of the title, which I failed terribly (I did not manage to document the mock-up, but it was an ugly rendition of a giant rectangular memo pad in purple and an oversized pencil with the words "KIDS AT DAX" layered between the visuals).

"...Good, um, attempt" was my Creative Director's reaction before he delegated my task to thinking about how the video should begin instead.

This became my first foray into 'telling the story'.

I had all of these files, these snippets of kids giving their two cents about what "innovation" and "technology" mean. About what they think they're "going to do today".

I learnt that every video starts with a 'hook'; the first three seconds are important to a) set the context or scene for what the video should be, and b) entice the viewer to watch on.

I haven't even gotten around to thinking about what the video should 'say', i.e., what the captions should be. But I definitely started something along the lines of: "Kids gathered at DAX to create makeshift robots with their family. It was a fun and fulfilling day".

"That won't do. Lacks story."

I did not possess the experience - the acumen - to suggest sneaking in the snippets/responses in the beginning for the viewer to wonder, "What was the question?" That was my Creative Director's idea.

So, what did I achieve personally with this video? Nothing much except for the subtitles. Most of the other aspects of this video, even the transitions, how the words are animated in, and even the title, were finalised by my Creative Director. He had to step in to finish what he assigned me to do.

Thought I was going to get fired on my first day, but left home tired and with a lesson that I've got a long way to go.

Creating your first video is clumsy work, yet the 'clumsy' must be accomplished. The first ugly draft video must be done, even if it's shoddy.

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What is DigiFY?

DigiFY is an internal company-wide initiative with the vision to train and prepare DBS employees for digital transformation. The initiative involves 7 special, individual "pillars" related to the aspects of the digitally savvy: From an Agile way of working to compliance and big data handling, empowering employees to create new digital solutions that improve the experience of every DBS customer.

DigiFY Video Sample

Every new video project becomes an exercise in 'How can I make this one better?' and 'How can I streamline creating this without doing it from scratch?'. With DigiFY being an initiative with different pillars representing different colours, the concept of 'Branding' comes into play.

Soon, I discovered websites like Motion Array and animation tools like Motion V3 and Mister Horse, where I could browse Premiere Pro and After Effects templates, recognise the visual elements I wanted to use that are cohesive to the brand, and apply preset animations instead of painstakingly manipulating keyframes.

This overlay here, a text animation there, this font alongside how a particular transition works, and I learned to 'kitbash' various templates to serve the brand and the corporate storytelling.

By the time the DigiFY Launch n' Learn video is produced, I'm proud to say at least the opening intro and lower thirds were produced on my own without supervision.

At this stage, the Adobe Suite has become my playground. Integrating vector files into After Effects became an everyday task, and hand-remixing music in Adobe Audition and Premiere Pro took an hour out of my daily workflow.

I also managed to learn to piece together shots to create a cohesive narrative by drafting simple storyboards before commencing edits, identify key sound bites to include sensibly in the timeline, and familiarise myself with the key flow of any and every video, in that every video has a Hook, Content, and lastly, Call-to-Action.

As I learn to edit videos, I learn the fundamentals of marketing and communications.

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What is UNI.CORN?

UNI.CORN is a tech-driven university programme by DBS. It spans 12 weeks, as students immerse themselves in a tech-savvy environment and solve complex business problems by creating innovative digital solutions. Participants spend time working on projects with mentors from DBS and will 'graduate' by presenting their business solutions to a panel of Singapore's tech leaders.

UNI.CORN Video Sample

Projects from DigiFY served as a training ground for safe corporate video editing, while UNI.CORN videos served to push my understanding of how to apply creative concepts and storytelling to their limits.

Due to the nature of the UNI.CORN initiative involving university students undertaking high-energy, high-concept projects, the videos produced must capture the essence of the branding while telling the story of each university student's experience over their 12 weeks.

You would notice the lower thirds have this 'wobbly', almost liquid-like feel. This was a result of buying plugins from AE Scripts and incorporating them into my After Effects workflows.

By the time I completed the UNI.CORN Journey 2018, I was able to propose how each video flowed alongside its accompanying copy. This was also when the idea of pursuing copywriting full-time began to take root in my career planning.

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What is Imaginarium?

DBS' Imaginariums are a talk series encouraging innovation in DBS staff. The series invites professionals from the tech field to share ideas and solutions.

Imaginarium Excerpt

I'm sometimes assigned projects like Imaginariums, where I listen to full sessions of lectures from Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), write out salient titles/points and place them on placeholder frames, leaving empty space for the DBS production team to add their own slides.

These projects, although not as interesting, served as a reminder that we all need some form of mundanity. The brain must rest sometimes.

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Reflection

Working as a creative professional for the first time, especially for a creative media SME serving a mega bank like DBS, was quite daunting. Nevertheless, it was fulfilling and interesting to see that I was ultimately able to influence the quality of the company's visuals and videos.

Looking back, I count myself fortunate to witness a bank embrace a world moving towards the pinnacle of technology for the time, and that - thanks to the watchful eyes and mentorship of my Creative Director - my time creating quality, corporate-storytelling-worthy assets and videos had become the bedrock of my career as an effective Communications professional.

As the bank embraces the winds of technological change, so must the humble video editor embrace the idea that the only constant in anyone's life is change, and if my time of witnessing DBS' initiatives like DigiFY is any indication, technology is here to stay and should be the primary focus on how to ride the waves of this humble video editor's career. A mental note is thus made: he must be comfortable navigating technology and its developments.

Aside from the hard skills, I moved forward in my career knowing that great work comes from taking bets on people. If they believe they can do the work and you give them a chance to prove themselves, you might not only provide a springboard to launch their careers but also create favourable outcomes for the projects and work required.

Bet on Me

My Other Works