It’s no secret that Singapore is the secret hidden base for many things Star Wars. It was here that Lucasfilm set up its Southeast Asia office, where Lucasarts had a mini resurgence, and where Dave Filoni kickstarted the early seasons of The Clone Wars animated series.

So it’s no surprise that hidden in the Glasgow School of Art Singapore is a communication design teacher who is, among the local Star Wars community at least, better known for his Star Wars artwork featuring some of the most iconic characters from the franchise.

And with Star Wars Day on May 4th (May the Fourth) fast approaching, what better way to celebrate a nation’s love for a galaxy far far away, than with artist Jon Chan’s upcoming exhibition of his Star Wars art pieces at the ArtScience Museum. 

Never strictly copying what he sees, Chan’s Star Wars art teases and questions other possibilities should a character or a scene go differently. His decision to stray off-canon and play with possibilities is to give added punk rock values and tinge of uniqueness to his works. 

“I do use references to get accuracy, but I have a rule: Never just copy a thing straight, but change it up and take it out into a different context. That can be done simply by changing the pose of angle or lighting, but never just the image copied. There is very little of the elect of your own interpretation to the character or subject otherwise,” said Chan in an interview with Geek Culture. 

Few examples would be what if Din Djarin had Han Solo by his side throughout his adventures in The Mandalorian, or what if Bo-Katan Kyrze, Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett and Cara Dune and Din Djarin had teamed up all together to fight off Moff Gideon and his crew? In fact, it has become an expectation of the local Singapore Star Wars Facebook group, where Chan would drop new artwork after almost every new episode of The Mandalorian Season 2.

To the untrained eye, Chan’s works look like they’re done on paper, especially with how detailed and textured they look. Each stroke is visible and the colours meld into each other beautifully. Is it paint? Crayon? No, says Chan. Because they’re all done digitally. 

Despite having a background in fine art, the artist finds an affinity with digital art “because it helps me get the stuff out as quickly as I need or as slowly as I need,”.

“I happen to have a background in Fine Art, so organic paint like acrylic was my comfort zone. Digital mediums were actually me getting challenged by my dad to try something different. Even now I occasionally do some pencil stuff because to be honest I like the plain-ness of monochrome still.”

And what makes it even more extraordinary is that the 46-year-old is not using the latest iPad or software to create his art. His weapons of choice are what some might consider to be the Millenium Falcon, hunk of junk and all – an old copy of Adobe Photoshop (2015’s CS6 to be exact) and a Wacom Intuos tablet, with what he calls “basic old school gear on a MacBook Pro”.

Each portrait takes a few days to complete, especially since Chan focuses on delivering life-like portraits that tell stories, and isn’t looking at merely recreating a stagnant carbon copy of scenes from the films and series. Of course, this varies from portrait to portrait. 

“If I were to actually just want to do a reproduction of something small, it wouldn’t be too long,” shared Chan.

“But the likelihood is that I would experiment with backgrounds because they help to frame the story for the characters.”

“That usually means I will have maybe three failed backgrounds for every successful piece I put up. They could be a case of being either too pedestrian or literal, maybe not dynamic enough. Those would take quite a few days to finish because of my tinkering.” 

Prior to making Star Wars portraits, the artist was a freelance illustrator who tackled themes like culture, martial arts and pop-culture. Even then, his works were inspired by other things aside from the subject matter he was bringing to paper, or in this case pixels. Chan takes inspiration from 1960s chanbara (samurai cinema), jigaigeki (Japanese period dramas) and even old monster movies, and adds them into his drawings to convey messages, stories or metaphors on the human condition or social stigma. 

Of course, nothing quite owned his heart like Star Wars. Chan was first introduced to Star Wars at a tender age of 5, after The Empire Strikes Back was released. Ever since then, destiny demanded that his love for the franchise would remain all the way till adulthood.

Recalling his first interaction with Star Wars, Chan said: “I was a little too young to understand when A New Hope was released but after Empire, I was hooked and wore out the VHS. From then on, any large cardboard boxes were turned into either the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon, or a SnowSpeeder with the help of magic markers. Empty spaces in textbooks became battlegrounds or the interior of Cloud City.”

And a few years after his introduction to Star Wars, Chan moved from role-playing and started going down his path as an artist. 

“Oh pretty much as far as I can tell, from the age of 7. If I could find those old textbooks, you’d probably find a lot of Chewbacca or Stormtroopers in the empty spaces around the pages, I think most kids would be like that,” shared Chan. 

Now, decades later, Chan finds himself drawing more and more portraits and sharing them in forums locally and overseas, and on his own Facebook and Instagram accounts. Now that the artist is slowly gaining popularity within the Star Wars community in Singapore, Chan is slowly considering starting up a strictly art account – that is, if he stops procrastinating. 

“I have been too lazy to start my own artstation account but I will do that really soon. At this point, if I could do this full-time I totally would, but I’m too busy having fun with the challenge to think too far ahead otherwise,” laughed Chan. 

Currently, Chan has a few art pieces in the pipeline. Without giving away too much, the artist revealed that he’s completing a few more Star Wars projects for ArtScience Museum’s May the 4th Be With You Event, and would like to explore other themes that aren’t based on the battle between good and evil in a galaxy far, far away. 

“I’m planning to re-enter the martial arts and chanbara themes. I am also planning to explore more regional mythology and characters like (legendary Malay martial artists) Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat at some stage.”

Until then, fans can catch a glimpse of Jon Chan in action, as well as adore the work he’s done on 2 May 2021 at the ArtScience Museum Singapore. More details here. 

Fans can also follow Jon Chan on his Instagram and Artstation account.

A'bidah Zaid

Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.

The post Geek Spotlight: Singapore Star Wars Artist, Jon Chan appeared first on Geek Culture.

Pictures, more often than not, can paint a thousand words, but they can convey even more, simply due to how the subject is framed, how the scene is lit, and how the image has been processed in post. It’s one thing to simply take a picture of something, and another to really consider what makes good photography. 

Even when toys – a hobby many often dismiss as childish – come into the (heh) picture, the soul of good photography isn’t lost. In fact, it’s one of the more accessible forms of the art, which is why many folks like James Xie find it so easy to geek out and hone their craft at the same time.

Together with Sunny Ang, Johnson Foon, Joel “Tiger” Magno, and Ken Loh, James is working to take professional-grade photos of their action figures of choice as part of Geek Culture’s Charity Auction 2020 to raise funds for the less fortunate in Singapore through Give.Asia, a local non-profit platform that supports donations to organisations.

While most of his other contemporaries chose to do solo or duo shots of their favourite Marvel Legends/Star Wars Black Series figures (sponsored by Hasbro Singapore), James instead decided to try something a little different with his project. 

His piece, titled “Night of the Sentinels”, comprises figures from the Marvel Legends X-Men 20th Anniversary figures, consisting of Magneto, Professor X, Wolverine and Mystique. Using the theme of forced perspective, he depicted the latter three standing on high alert in the background, while Magneto hovers ominously over them.

“With Hasbro’s release of the X-Men 20th Anniversary series, it was the perfect opportunity to re-create a shot of how mutants work together against their common enemy – the Sentinels. The inspiration behind my shot was taken from a two-part episode of the 1990s X-Men animated series, with the same title ‘Night of the Sentinels’,” James explains to Geek Culture.

While there are no actual action figures of the Sentinels, James manages to capture the foreboding nature of the shot, as if the four protagonists are anticipating the looming threat of the massive anti-Mutant machines ready to strike at any point in time. And as a fan of the live-action movie franchise, which is now 20 years old, James made it a point to depict his favourite versions of the X-Men in arguably one of the greatest X-Men stories of the past 30 years, in a spectacular shot.

While his shot seems rather simple to produce, it’s much, much more complex than that. When Geek Culture assigned the theme of forced perspective to James, he tooks some time to do extensive research on the Internet on how best to set up a “unique” angle to make the shot work. 

He relished the challenge of framing all four X-Men into a single shot from the view of the Sentinels towering over them. Using a combination of mood lighting and the stringent, calculated use of fog spray, he managed to successfully recreate the feeling of foreboding and ominousness in the scene.

“The illusion of forced perspective is achieved by varying the subject’s depth on a horizontal plane. As an indoor toy photographer I find this rather restrictive due to my small working desk. Shooting from a top-down angle helps in giving the illusion of depth as well,” James explains with regards to the challenges he faced in producing this piece.

Having worked with Marvel Legends action figures in the past, knowing just how the joints articulate, their intricate detailing, and their sheer durability, James certainly feels at an advantage when working with these figures.

With just one shot, James has put in a ton of thought and effort in making it happen, and taking that time to mull through and discern the nitty gritty details of a shoot is what makes it so fun for him. Though he concedes that toy photography is still a relatively small hobby in Singapore, he hopes that this charity auction will not only benefit the less fortunate in Singapore, but also raise more public awareness and reach for the hobby.

“The charity auction is a very meaningful and innovative initiative on Geek Culture’s part,” says James. “Thank you guys for the effort in making this happen! Much appreciated!”

The curated photos that James and the other toy photographers will then be printed and framed in A2 size, and then auctioned off to the highest bidder by the end of the Charity Auction that will take place on Give.Asia’s website. All proceeds will go to the local non-profit organisation Blessings in a Bag, which is aimed at assisting low opportunity, under-resourced youths, as well as empowering the community to help support one another.  The posters and postcards are all printed by Fotohub.

The charity organisation first started as a volunteer-powered community with the goal of providing every child and their families in need of help with the essentials they need to not only survive, but thrive. Blessings in a Bag partners with social-service organisations to help serve communities in need through donations or incentivised programmes to better empower them to take charge of their lives. 

They have previously collaborated with companies such as Amazon Singapore whereby the e-commerce cooperation encouraged members of the public to donate to the non-profit organisation by purchasing items that BIAB needs through its wishlist on Amazon.sg.

Geek Culture’s inaugural Charity Auction is running from 30 October till 30 November 2020, and will be held on the campaign’s Give.asia page. 

Marion Frayna

Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.

The post Geek Culture Charity Auction Spotlight: James Xie appeared first on Geek Culture.

It’s easy to form the notion that toys are meant for kids but that assumption misses out on the many features of toys as engaging tools, and denies the therapeutic benefits of owning and playing with them, even for adults. 

For Singaporean toy photographers such as Johnson Foon, such action figures have transcended the social stigma attached to them, and are now part of something much bigger. In fact, his work will be featured in Geek Culture’s very own Charity Auction 2020 as part of our combined efforts to give back to the community during these strange times.

Alongside other Singaporean toy photographers such as Sunny Ang, Joel “Tiger” Magno, James Xie, and Ken Loh, Johnson has been hard at work scouring the island for the best spots to showcase Marvel Legends action figures to capture these figures in their most epic moments. 

Each photographer has picked from a pool of Marvel Legends action figures sponsored by Hasbro Singapore before embarking on their respective shoots in late September and early October. As a massive fan of 2005’s Fantastic Four movie (y’know, the good one), Johnson was inspired to pick Ben Grimm/The Thing as his muse. 

“I like the rock details on The Thing, as he looks mean and angry. It gives him a more outstanding look,” says Johnson, speaking to Geek Culture about his creative process behind the shots. 

Primarily a photographer who is more familiar with toy brands such as S.H. Figurarts, NECA, and LEGO, Johnson actually found the articulation on the Marvel Legends figures not as “flexible” and the alternate accessories such as hands and weapons “not as many” as what he’s used to. Thankfully, their robustness made up for their lack of flexibility, which made posing them much more bearable during shoots as they would drop from time to time due to a lack of balance. Also, he commends Hasbro for doing a great job in improving the detail and overall quality of the action figures over the years.

And though it might not look it, Johnson actually endured a bit of Singapore’s tumultuous weather to achieve the above shot. It was “raining cats and dogs” on the day he went to shoot at Fort Canning Park, and so he had to wait for the right timing for the sun to come out once more to get the perfect lighting conditions. 

This was slightly more challenging (and fun) as he wanted to capture the reflections of the sunlight onto the broken glass lying around The Thing (and with a couple more bits falling over his head, thanks to Sunny’s help)) to simulate the effect of him crashing onto the broken mirror. And the result is a scintillating piece of work that perfectly captures how Ben Grimm loathes his Thing alter ego as a result of the Fantastic Four going through the freak accident in their spaceship that transformed them into the iconic superheroes we know and love today.

“I recalled when I first saw Fantastic Four in 2005 when Ben Grimm was transformed into a large rock-like creature. I could see that the character didn’t like the appearance of what he had become. When I was given the ‘Shattered’ theme by Geek Culture, I immediately thought of placing him against bits of broken glass to project that he doesn’t like how he looks in the mirror and goes on to break it,” Johnson explained.

He also brought with him Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Josh Brolin’s Cable from 2018’s Deadpool 2. And capturing the affable love/hate relationship between the two Mutants, he had Cable cradle Deadpool in his arms in loving and comical fashion.

“I got this idea from [Deadpool 2], in the final battle scene when Cable sacrificed his last charge on his time-traveling device to save Deadpool from a bullet. Deadpool appreciated [the gesture] and thanked him. This gave me an idea of using Deadpool’s hilarious character to craft my own scene by imagining how Cable would have saved Deadpool from an exploding vehicle. Hence, the title of this shot is called ‘Deadpool’s Hero’,” explains Johnson.

The best part about this whole process is that Johnson got to do what he loves most, while being able to give back to society with his works. And with most folks staying at home these days, he hopes that more will try out toy photography while finding inspiration to shoot in the comfort of their own home, and see that it “can also become one of the trending hobbies in Singapore.”

“I am happy that we can use toy photography as a hobby to help raise funds for charity,” said a proud Johnson when asked about how he feels being part of the Charity Auction. And indeed, one can tell just by the painstaking process he went through just to get these stellar shots.

The curated photos that Johnson and the other toy photographers will then be printed and framed in A2 size, and then auctioned off to buyers as part of the auction. All proceeds will go to the local non-profit organisation Blessings in a Bag, which is aimed at assisting low opportunity, under-resourced youths, as well as empowering the community to help support one another. The posters and postcards are all printed by Fotohub.

The charity organisation first started as a volunteer-powered community with the goal of providing every child and their families in need of help with the essentials they need to not only survive, but thrive. Blessings in a Bag partners with social-service organisations to help serve communities in need through donations or incentivised programmes to better empower them to take charge of their lives. 

They have previously collaborated with companies such as Amazon Singapore whereby the e-commerce cooperation encouraged members of the public to donate to the non-profit organisation by purchasing items that BIAB needs through its wishlist on Amazon.sg.

Geek Culture’s inaugural Charity Auction is running from 30 October till 30 November 2020, and will be held on the campaign’s Give.asia page. 

Marion Frayna

Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.

The post Geek Culture Charity Auction Spotlight: Johnson Foon appeared first on Geek Culture.

When one mentions photography, images of fashion runways, wedding photos or studio shots come to mind, and toy photographer Joel “Tiger” Magno is working towards changing that. 

What first started as a hobby in 2011 has grown into a massive endeavor that quite literally appreciates the smaller things in life. Tiger’s impressive collage of toy photography spans action figures across Marvel, DC, Pokemon and Disney, culminating into an impressive Instagram account that boasts a whopping 18,000 followers, all for the desire to cultivate an increased appreciation of the art form that is toy photography.

In fact, Tiger’s work will be featured in Geek Culture’s very own Charity Auction 2020 as part of our combined efforts to give back to the community during this trying time. Alongside other Singaporean toy photographers such as Sunny Ang, Johnson Foon, Ken Loh and James Xie, each photographer was tasked to embark on a shoot to showcase their action figures of choice sponsored Hasbro Singapore, in the most creative and epic manner possible.

Given Tiger’s natural attraction to all things small and cute, he went ahead with three of The Mandalorian’s The Child figurines from Hasbro’s The Bounty Collection. Standing at 2.2 inches tall, Tiger tries to capture the tiny being’s facial expressions and emotions to tell a story of its own.

“I chose The Child Bounty Collection because that’s the best fit for my kind of toy photography – small, simple and cute,” shared Tiger. “For my photos, I wanted to show The Child in all (his) different moods.” 

Since shooting tiny figures is up Tiger’s alley, most of the photographer’s challenges deal with external factors, like creating the smoke effects as seen in his photos for example. Shooting at a lush greenscape in Singapore, Tiger shared his difficulties: “It took me a while to think (about) how I’m going to recreate a smoke effect with limited resources. I can’t just burn something to create the effect.” 

Tiger eventually settled with using baby powder to create the effect. The photographer had stacked up chopped tree logs on top of one another to create an outdoor adventurous setting for The Child. He then got a friend to sit beside the logs and press on a bottle of baby powder, effectively creating a smoke-like effect that dramatically surrounded the toys. Tiger too lightly mist the figurines with water, further making The Child appear more lifelike and emotive. 

These efforts are a new approach for the seasoned content creator. “I love the effect of the powder and mist in my photo. This is my first time doing some practical effects for my toy photography and I am happy with the result,” said Tiger. 

This exploration of new and creative elements with his photography serves as icing on the cake, with the ability to help the needy with a hobby he loves most as the cherry on top. For aspiring toy photographers, Tiger asserts that location plays a big role in photography and that one should always make use of their surroundings to further amplify their images. 

“The figures should fit well into the whole picture; the backgrounds, the scene, the props and the colours too. This will set the tone of the photo. It might be a challenge but if you look around there are certainly some things you can use for your toy photograph,” Tiger advised. 

The curated photos that Tiger and the other toy photographers will then be printed and framed in A2 size, and then auctioned off to buyers as part of the auction. All proceeds will go to the local non-profit organisation Blessings in a Bag, which is aimed at assisting low opportunity, under-resourced youths, as well as empowering the community to help support one another. The posters and postcards are all printed by Fotohub.

The charity organisation first started as a volunteer-powered community with the goal of providing every child and their families in need of help with the essentials they need to not only survive, but thrive. Blessings in a Bag partners with social-service organisations to help serve communities in need through donations or incentivised programmes to better empower them to take charge of their lives. 

They have previously collaborated with companies such as Amazon Singapore whereby the e-commerce cooperation encouraged members of the public to donate to the non-profit organisation by purchasing items that BIAB needs through its wishlist on Amazon.sg.

Geek Culture’s inaugural Charity Auction is running from 30 October till 30 November 2020, and will be held on the campaign’s Give.asia page. 

A'bidah Zaid

Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.

The post Geek Culture Charity Auction Spotlight: Tigermiyaw appeared first on Geek Culture.

What does Halloween, action figures, charity and Deadpool have in common?

In reality not much, but under the watchful eyes and hands of toy photographer Ken Loh, who knows what fun mayhem can ensue? 

The 43-year-old lecturer, who teaches 3D animation in LASALLE College of the Arts, is using this opportunity to showcase his favourite Marvel Comics character decked out in a pirate costume, during the spooky season, to raise money for a good cause.

His work will be featured in Geek Culture’s very own Charity Auction 2020, as part of our combined efforts to give back to the community during this trying time. Alongside other Singaporean toy photographers such as Sunny Ang, Johnson Foon, Joel ‘Tiger’ Magno and James Xie, each photographer was tasked to embark on a shoot to showcase their action figures of choice sponsored by leading toymaker Hasbro, in the most creative and epic manner possible.

Each photographer has picked from a pool of Marvel Legends action figures sponsored by Hasbro Singapore before embarking on their respective shoots in late September and early October. 

In the spirit of Halloween, Ken was assigned the theme ‘Hello Halloween’, but instead of celebrating the horrors of the holiday, Ken decided to frame it around celebration, house decorating and getting all dressed up in crazy costumes, and who better to do so, than Deadpool. Ken created a set for the toys he’s picked – Pumpkin lanterns adorn the streets and spider web peek through dusty corners, and even used atmosphere aerosol spray to create a foggy atmosphere and give the set a mysterious mood. 

Ken’s expertise, as seen in his photos is the use of lights to tell a story. The lighting, according to Ken, was inspired by the animosity between Deadpool and Cable when they first met in the film, Deadpool 2. 

“My favourite thing about the shots I took is the use of colourful lightings to drive the narratives and visual aesthetics. And also the work that was put into dressing up the diorama, in creating a believable world for the characters to reside in. Not forgetting the interplay between the camera angles and the clear silhouettes of the figures’ poses to show their different personalities and intentions,” said Ken. 

As seen in the photo, Cable is seen posing walking towards the camera with his head slightly turned and fist clenched, signalling that he’s sensed Deadpool’s presence. Blue light shined onto Cable was specifically chosen to reflect his personality, as the orange light on Deadpool. 

“Deadpool being showy and flamboyant, was lighted with warm orange lighting whereas Cable, who has a calmer exterior was lighted with blue colour lighting. The blue lighting also indicates that the scene is set at night time. Furthermore, the warm and cool colours create a nice visual contrast,” shared Ken. 

Despite Ken being a professional in a field, the 43-year-old still found the shoot challenging. For starters, Ken found difficulties in getting the Deadpool figure to stand in a myriad of poses given how the outfit he wore restricted his movements. Being unfamiliar with bad boy Cable, the photographer rewatched the Deadpool movies so that he could pose the action figures in ways that would better showcase their personalities. 

Like the saying goes, ‘you learn something new everyday’ and for Ken this shoot was his first time using atmosphere aerosol to create fog in his images. It might have taken him a number of attempts to figure out the right amount to spray and the best camera settings to capture the effect, but it was incredibly worth it in the end. Take a look at the photos itself, the proof is in the pudding. 

The curated photos that Ken and the other toy photographers will then be printed and framed in A2 size, and then auctioned off to buyers as part of the auction. All proceeds will go to the local non-profit organisation Blessings in a Bag, which is aimed at assisting low opportunity, under-resourced youths, as well as empowering the community to help support one another. The posters and postcards are all printed by Fotohub.

The charity organisation first started as a volunteer-powered community with the goal of providing every child and their families in need of help with the essentials they need to not only survive, but thrive. Blessings in a Bag partners with social-service organisations to help serve communities in need through donations or incentivised programmes to better empower them to take charge of their lives. 

They have previously collaborated with companies such as Amazon Singapore whereby the e-commerce cooperation encouraged members of the public to donate to the non-profit organisation by purchasing items that BIAB needs through its wishlist on Amazon.sg.

Geek Culture’s inaugural Charity Auction is running from 30 October till 30 November 2020, and will be held on the campaign’s Give.asia page. 

A'bidah Zaid

Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.

The post Geek Culture Charity Auction Spotlight: Ken Loh appeared first on Geek Culture.

One of the best things about playing with toys is that there are no boundaries – building blocks can mix with action figures, and dolls can interact with miniature cars – and the limits are your imagination. Now imagine having that sort of mash-up creativity, with the aesthetics of a photographer. 

Such is the case for Singaporean toy photographer Sunny Ang, a hobbyist toy photographer who has spent five years perfecting his craft. Now, Sunny, along with four other photographers, will be using their skills in toy photography to help give back to society through Geek Culture’s very first Charity Auction 2020.

Alongside fellow local toy photographers Joel “Tiger” Magno, James Xie, Ken Loh, and Johnson Foon, Sunny was given the task to showcase their action figure of choice (courtesy of Hasbro Singapore) in as epic a fashion as possible, while sticking to their given theme. Which in Sunny’s case, happened to be “Levitation”.

Prior to shooting their photos, the photographers were all given a chance to pick their preferred action figures and for Sunny, he immediately took this chance to pick Deadpool, a character he has always wanted to shoot a photo of.

“I have always wanted to do a photo with Deadpool and didn’t own that figure yet at the time of the shoot, so this opportunity came at the right time,” explained Sunny. Aside from Deadpool, Sunny also decided to pick out a Wolverine and Yoda figurine, since he had the idea of mashing up different characters in one photo for his final piece. 

Sunny’s final piece ended up being a fun crossover between Star Wars and Marvel, with Jedi Master Yoda trying his best to mediate between Deadpool and Wolverine. 

“Along get, can we?” asks Yoda as he levitates both the Marvel superheroes. We have to say Wolverine looks extremely disgruntled to be levitated by Yoda.

“The idea for my shot came almost immediately when the toys given out by Hasbro were shown to the participants. The theme assigned to me was levitation. Whenever I receive a brief, one of the first few things I would do is to google the word and check out existing images as a springboard for ideas,” said Sunny, explaining the creative process behind his shoot. 

“In this case, when I saw the Yoda figure, I immediately had various possibilities in my mind. As he was the only one I know in the lot of figures to choose from that has magical powers of levitation, the only thing left was to figure out what or who he would levitate.”

For those who might be wondering just what argument is Yoda mediating, it turns out Sunny went full meta mash-up, and drew inspiration from Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds’ (the actors who played Wolverine and Deadpool in the movies) long-running real-life feud which dates back all the way to 2008. It features a mix of hilarious comments on social media, including one with Jackman calling security on Reynolds, Jackman/Reynolds face masks, and even had fellow actors such as Jake Gyllenhaal joining in the feud. 

Aside from the pair, Sunny also wanted to feature Yoda in his photo, so he “made him the mediator and separated the two combatants the only way Yoda would.”

Of course, taking a shot as elaborate as Sunny’s could not have been a walk in the park and as Sunny shares, he did face some difficulties with getting his photo just the way he wanted it.

“Getting just the right smoky atmosphere and trying to create dramatic lighting was a challenge,” said Sunny. As it turns out, the difficulties Sunny faced also happened to be some of the best things he liked about the photo. 

“I enjoy the humour of the photo of Yoda levitating Deadpool and Wolverine and also the small details like the sword sliding off halfway from Deadpool and the falling unicorn. The smoky atmosphere is also one of my favourite things about this shot.”

Having spent time working with these three toys by Hasbro Singapore, Sunny’s advice to others looking to try shooting with such figurines is to “take that extra time and check the [action figure’s] poses” before clicking the shutter button.

“Hasbro toys are pretty articulated and getting them into a realistic pose is pretty easy. The challenge is to make use of the great articulation and adjust the figures in such a way that the figures are interacting in a realistic matter. For example, when in a fight scene, to make sure the one throwing the punch and the one receiving it are posed as dynamically and realistically as possible,” explained Sunny.

The photos that Sunny and the four other toy photographers took are printed and framed in A2 size, and being auctioned off to the highest bidder by the end of the Charity Auction on Give.Asia’s website. 

All proceeds will be donated to the local non-profit organisation Blessings in a Bag that is aimed at assisting low opportunity, under-resourced youths, as well as empowering the community to help support one another. 

The charity organisation first started as a volunteer-powered community with the goal of providing every child and their families in need of help with the essentials they need to not only survive, but thrive. Blessings in a Bag partners with social-service organisations to help serve communities in need through donations or incentivised programmes to better empower them to take charge of their lives. 

They have previously collaborated with companies such as Amazon Singapore whereby the e-commerce cooperation encouraged members of the public to donate to the non-profit organisation by purchasing items that BIAB needs through its wishlist on Amazon.sg.

With regards to the Charity Auction, Sunny shared that he “has never really thought” of using his photos for charity and “this was certainly a great opportunity to showcase my toy photography works and do some good at the same time. Win Win!”

Through the charity, aside from giving back to the community, Sunny ultimately hopes that this will be a good opportunity for people outside of the toy community “to discover this niche genre of photography.”

Geek Culture’s inaugural Charity Auction is running from 30 October till 30 November 2020, and will be held on the campaign’s Give.asia page. 

Germaine Wong

Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.

The post Geek Culture Charity Auction Spotlight: Sunny Ang appeared first on Geek Culture.

As the adage goes, do what you love and you don’t have to work a single day in your life. That’s the community we serve, and the toy photographers who have turned their passion into a career, and we’re now sharing it with you.

Earlier this year, Geek Culture conducted its very first massive giveaway to encourage the community to stay indoors. Heartened by the number of participants that took part, we decided to hold something special with our very first Charity Auction 2020, to help those in need of assistance, and give back to the community, with the help from local toy photographers.

The Who’s Who of local toy photographers – Sunny Ang, James Xie, Ken Loh, Johnson Foon, and Joel “Tiger” Magno have agreed to take time off their busy schedule to support this good cause, where they will use their immense talents to snap some geek-tastic shots for us. 

Printed on canvas and framed in A2 size via FotoHub, these shots will be awarded to the highest bidder by the end of the auction. Thanks to our partner Hasbro Singapore, the five were given access to a variety of some of the latest and hottest Hasbro toys, to prepare for this. The range of toys used include action figures from across the Star Wars The Black Series, Marvel Legends Series as well as G.I. Joe Classified Series.

The photographers are all well known in the field of toy photography, with photographers like Sunny Ang serving as the co-founder of Plastic Singapore, a Facebook group filled with toy photographers who organises monthly outings with the objective of shooting toys. 

The photographers have each been given a theme and a selection of toys from our sponsor Hasbro to choose from. From there, they could shoot anything they want as long as it follows their given theme. Given what we’ve seen these famous five deliver in the last few years, we are definitely looking forward to seeing what amazing shots our local toy photographers will produce. 

Do note that the toy photos taken for the Charity Auction are all one of a kind, and will not be available anywhere else.

Here are the featured images that will be available for bidding:

Those interested in bidding for a framed toy photograph can do so on the Charity Auction’s Give.asia page.

Each toy photography canvas print will start off at S$100. Those participating in the auction will be required to indicate which photo they are bidding for. The highest bidders for each toy photograph by the end of the campaign will get to walk away with the photo of their choice. If you bid twice on the same photo, we will count the total amount you have donated. 

Please note that all bids collected will be considered as a contribution, and no refunds will be given if you do not win the toy photograph.

All contributions big or small are welcome! If you do not wish to bid for the massive print but still want to do your part to support our charity initiative, then you can simply donate to the campaign at a smaller value. Those who donate a minimum of S$10 will be entitled to receive a set of five A5 postcards (limited to one set per donor).

After the Charity Auction is over, all the proceeds earned will be donated to the local award-winning non-profit organisation Blessings in a Bag, which is aimed at assisting low opportunity, under-resourced youths, as well as empowering the community to help support one another. 

The award-winning charity organisation first started as a volunteer-powered community, with the goal of providing every child and their families in need of help with the essentials they need to not only survive, but thrive. Blessings in Bag partners with social-service organisations to help serve communities in need through donations or incentivised programmes to better empower them to take charge of their lives. 

They have previously collaborated with companies such as Amazon Singapore whereby members of the public were encouraged to donate to the non-profit organisation by purchasing items that BIAB needs through its wishlist on Amazon.sg. They are also currently running a fundraising campaign to fund initiatives to help nurture a community of volunteers through a mentorship program that encourages self-directed growth and development in individuals.

We are excited to be partnering with Geek Culture at such a critical time for so many. At Blessings in a Bag, we remain a volunteer-powered community determined to provide every child and their family navigating challenging circumstances with the essentials needed to thrive and to feel safe, valued and supported. The funds raised through this charity auction will go directly to meet the needs of our youth and resourcing for our classroom space. Thank you for your support.

Emily Teng, Founder of Blessings in a Bag

Geek Culture’s inaugural Charity Auction will take place from 30 October till 30 November 2020, and will be held via GIVE.ASIA.

Germaine Wong

Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.

The post Singaporean Toy Photographers & Geek Culture Team Up For First-Ever Charity Auction appeared first on Geek Culture.

Like many in the LEGO MOC space, Tommy Tong’s transition from casual builder to brick enthusiast was as a result of a combination of two things: a childhood fascination with building things from scratch by connecting parts together, as well as chance encounters with like-minded individuals in their adult years.

“I told myself that when I grow up, I am going to earn that money to support this hobby”, the 40-year-old tells Geek Culture, who reminisced about playing with LASY System educational blocks as a kid. 

Two decades prior, he was exposed to LEGO through a childhood friend, who introduced the vintage LEGO Pirate and Castle series. But it wasn’t until 2011 that his passion truly took off, after meeting a group of AFOLs (Adult Fan of LEGO) at a LEGO Star Wars convention at the LEGOLAND in San Diego as a volunteer. He hasn’t looked back since.

“I did collect LEGO Technic [sets] when I was [studying] in Australia back in 2005, but it was more of buying the sets themselves that I love, especially Ferrari, and building them [from the box itself],” says Tommy. “If you ask about actively building new creations, it would be in 2012 [after the San Diego convention].”

It has been eight years since Tommy began his LEGO MOC journey, and hasn’t looked back since. A lecturer at Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by day, he ensures he spends about 3 hours a day on average working on his next project. 

Already, it is challenging to think up a custom build of your own and bring it to life, let alone incorporating interactive mechanics that give it a more hands-on experience. It’s one thing to build massive dioramas or replicas of characters or items, but for Tommy, it’s all about engaging the mind.

If anything, his passion of interacting with his students has also bled into his building philosophy, and hence focuses primarily on building MOC projects that involve a dynamic element (or elements) of interaction with which to engage audiences, especially children.

One of Tommy’s favourite such builds was his “Finding Emmet” diorama, a large-scale centerpiece featuring multiple minifigs of the main character from The LEGO Movie back in 2014. 

Treating it as a Where’s Wally? type of mini-game, he carefully hid the Emmet minifigs around the diorama. Children that counted the correct number of Emmet minifigs would win a small prize for a local LEGO store in San Diego. And the best thing of all? He submitted this diorama at the Bricks by the Bay LEGO building competition at San Francisco in 2014 and won the Best Movie Adaptation category).

Similarly, he built a LEGO Star Wars set that functioned as a memory game. Inspired by fellow AFOL Larry Lars, he built this set with a simple “Match-Two” mechanic in mind, where players have to guess two of the same LEGO Star Wars minifigs by rotating one of the twelve panels (where a minifig will be hidden behind) before the other does. Players keep track of their score by attaching mini lightsabers (found on the roof of the box) onto the red or blue lightsaber hilts. It’s a simple game, but presented in a way that would make most big-name toy manufacturers sweat.

“I find such interactive builds are a good way to stimulate the mind,” Tommy justifies, “and it also challenges me to incorporate these interactive features into the models.”

One look at Tommy’s works and you can tell his inner child is screaming for joy, having realised his childhood dream. But if there’s any one piece of advice he can give to those aiming to start their own LEGO MOC journey, it’s to surround yourself with the people who share this hobby. 

Of course, what got him started was his involvement in the SanDLUG (San Diego LEGO User Group) AFOL community back in 2011 when he was working as a researcher, where he rubbed shoulders with really experienced and talented brick builders, and was inspired enough to start building his own custom LEGO sets. By that rubric, he wagers reaching out to your local AFOL community might be a good place to start.

This segues nicely into Tommy’s other core principle of being an MOC creator: do not be afraid to seek help from others who have the experience. Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about starting out as an MOC builder is that one has to do everything by themselves. This is why Tommy, and many others like him, strongly recommend engaging the community, as the advice and suggestions one could receive from them will no doubt aid in improving one’s building techniques and experimenting with parts in ways never before seen.

“But of course, it is important to have spare cash to support this hobby because this is a long-term investment,” concludes Tommy. 

And he couldn’t have said it better.

Marion Frayna

Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.

The post LEGO MOC Geek Spotlight: Tommy Tong appeared first on Geek Culture.

In a world where toy photographers come out of the woodwork every other day, the more successful ones are those who give their creations more thought, and Indonesian toy photographer Fajar Billy Sandi has taken his hobby of toy collecting one step further, by merging it with his love for movies and presenting it via photos. 

His journey into the hobby started in the early 2010s when he first started using Instagram and stumbled upon photos by other toy photographers.

“I know this kind of photography existed long before social media, but then I didn’t know how to use or operate cameras (not even till now). So I grab my smartphone camera, an iPhone 4S, and start taking toy photography,” explains Billy. “It was challenging… but I’m happy with the result. Toy photography is like therapy to me, you can explore your imagination within.”

Billy has certainly come a long way since he first started his hobby, with his @fbillys having over 10,000 followers. It is evident that his photographs are certainly well liked by many. 

He mainly gets his inspiration from various films and we can see that from Billy’s Instagram which is filled with photos from a number of films, from Harry Potter, to Star Wars, Disney and even classics like Kill Bill and The Wizard of Oz. 

“If you see my Instagram page, I shoot a lot of reimagining posters or movie scenes with Lego,” says Billy. “I try to treat Lego as a piece of art. Sometimes I take a simple shot with only one part or a minifigure and then I create a minimalist poster, something like that.”

Of all the photos he has taken, Billy’s favourite piece is also his most popular one, which amassed more than 23,000 likes. It is a post showcasing everyone’s favourite bounty hunter The Mandalorian in all his masked glory being a babysitter to one adorable little Baby Yoda aka The Child. 

“I had no idea that this pic is gonna blow like that. I assume it’s maybe because at that time there was no Baby Yoda minifigure yet and I was one of few people that reimagined it into a photograph first. It’s just a simple shot, profiling the Mandalorian as a babysitter and Baby Yoda looking cute.”

As you can see, the photo was taken back in November 2019, long before a Baby Yoda minifigure was announced by LEGO. It certainly took some photo editing magic to turn a normal minifigure into Baby Yoda but Billy’s effort definitely paid off with how well received the photo was.

Speaking of photo editing, Billy mentions that his dream is to one day post a set of photos that was taken with purely practical effects, instead of having to rely on Photoshop to add his desired effects in post-production. 

“My dream photography is definitely to take it like it is, I mean with practical effects etc,” says Billy. “I always use Photoshop to create some effect, but other photographers are always challenging me. I respect all toy photographers that take some effort to do a shot.”

As he only shoots his toy photography using his phone, Billy notes that he faces a number of challenges not often faced by his fellow camera-wielding photographers.

“By using a smartphone camera, I have to do more than other photographers. Whenever the day gets dark, I can’t take a proper shot. That’s why I always rely on natural lighting for all my shots,” states Billy. 

“Thank God technology gets better every year, so does the quality of the smartphone camera. But I’ve always said this to myself, ‘If people can do it with their camera, I also can do it with my phone, it will just be a million times harder.’ I maximize all the features in my smartphone camera, from pro mode to live focus.”

As for toy photography tips, Billy says it is important to not compare yourself to other photographers but instead, take inspiration from them and use them to better your skills. He also mentions that you should never stop taking photos, even if it feels like you have hit a wall and run out of ideas for what to shoot. 

After all, sometimes the best way to confront a problem is not to take a step back but to face it head on. 

Germaine Wong

Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.

The post Toy Photography Geek Spotlight: Fajar Billy Sandi appeared first on Geek Culture.

While everyone has dreams of doing what they love most as their day job, not everyone is brave enough to actually take the leap of faith to turn their passion into a living, and keep going at it no matter what the situation.

For 36-year-old Xylvie Wong, the transition from LEGO enthusiast to full-time brick artist came at the behest of her husband, who wanted her to stop being a housewife, but not because of what some people might think.

“When I quit my job to be a housewife [in 2013], I was doing such a bad job maintaining the house that my husband told me to go ‘find anything [else] to do please, because clearly you suck at housekeeping’. Hence, I decided to go into LEGO professionally with my AFOL friends,” said a chuckling Xylvie to Geek Culture.

And what kicked off her journey started back in 2012, where her last stint as a media relations officer for the annual National Day Parade saw her take on a community engagement project that involved building a miniature-scale Marina Bay Floating Platform for a fundraising event. It was there that she befriended the likes of Eugene Tan and Andy Goh, with whom now she works with on a regular basis to do commission-based work. 

As the local AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) community is pretty tight-knit and always growing, she saw the support the community had for each other, as well as how it was possible to kickstart their plans of building LEGO MOC sets as a full-time job, so it wasn’t as if she was new to the scene.

Her job as a brick artist ranges from building small-scale MOC sets to sell to individual clients under her co-founded business My Little Brick Shop, to undertaking massive group projects projects such as the Hill Street Fire Station, and the National Museum of Singapore, just to name a few.

It certainly helps that her office at Liang Seah Street is close by to a plethora of historical sites in the Little Red Dot. Even the shophouses around the area are enough to spark some inspiration and get those creative juices flowing.

“For me, this is full-time work,” Xylvie describes. “If I am not physically building with bricks, I am planning one thing or another or designing digitally. Also, I am quite the workaholic, so I have to say… all my waking hours?”

While she has built a reputation for building some painstakingly beautiful miniature replicas of historic structures and landmarks in Singapore, Xylvie takes the most pride in her specialty, of building 1:1 scale LEGOs of everyday items. This is simply due to the fact that they remind her the most about things that are close to her and remind her of things that surrounded her growing up.

Remember those LEGO Khong Guan biscuit tins and ice kacang machines that were selling like hotcakes at the start of the year (well, they technically still are, even with the social distancing measures in Singapore taking place)? Yup, she and her partners at My Little Brick Shop masterminded that masterpiece.

However, two of her favourite 1:1 models include the famous blue HDB void deck chess table, as well as a project called “That Day” (a 1:1 replica of a couple of local Singaporean items with the calendar dated 9 August, 1965, the day Singapore first gained its independence) that she built with Eugene back in 2015, for the SG50 Little Red Brick Show. Both models have garnered so much traction to the point of being exhibited in the USA and in Europe for various events.

“It was just one of those things that I built because I wanted to, not for any purpose, and not for a commission job either,” Xylvie recalls. “[Having them exhibited] also meant that I got to travel with them for work to set them up on site. So that was pretty sweet considering that I have no expectations whatsoever when planning those builds.”

Despite having tons of inspiration to draw from both everyday life and her creative friends from the AFOL community, Xylvie laments that there will always be challenges any LEGO MOC creator will face in their journey. The rarity of some brick designs, especially from discontinued LEGO sets, and their selling prices can certainly set one back, especially if they’re on a budget. It doesn’t help that, at the time of writing, the world has still been slowed to a crawl due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where shipping, especially from Europe, has practically halved in terms of availability.

As such, she has had to improvise by “compromising” on her designs, much to her dismay. Despite that, however, her creations still get lauded for their intricate detail and faithfulness to the original material.

That perseverance is essentially part of Xylvie’s mantra. She quotes Dory from Finding Nemo in her iconic “just keep swimming” line as her personal advice to all budding LEGO MOC creators. Constantly building and practicing is key to becoming a more skilled builder. More specifically, she personally recommends purchasing a few LEGO Creator Expert sets, especially the modular kinds, as it allows for the most flexibility in creating just about anything and everything on a small scale, and honing one’s fundamental building techniques.

“I think this applies to all creative outlets, not just LEGO,” Xylvie says. “If you are depressed, create. If you are angry, create. Just channel your emotions into your creations.”

Marion Frayna

Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.

The post LEGO MOC Geek Spotlight: Xylvie Wong appeared first on Geek Culture.

All was going well for Puerto Rican toy photographer Alvin Ramirez Ortiz – he met many like-minded people in the toy photography community at home, and they would host daily photo sharing sessions to share their best works. Unfortunately, disaster struck in 2017 when Hurricane Maria hit the coast of Puerto Rico, and Alvin had to quit both his day job and toy photography as a hobby, to focus on his personal life after the hurricane. 

It wouldn’t be till 2020 before the 33-year old properly picked up toy photography once again, after he got his life back on track following the natural disaster. Only this time, instead of his usual Funko Pop photoshoots, Alvin has found new love with shooting action figures, especially shoots that utilise practical effects such as water, sand, dirt, or fire. According to Alvin, the reason for his return was due to “the amazing and beautiful work that new and old photographers were doing on Instagram.”

“This triggered the passion I once had for this hobby again,” says Alvin. 

When he first picked up the hobby six years ago, it was entirely by accident.

“I remember one day I had a shooting with a client and he canceled at the last minute. So I had the afternoon free and nothing to do,” explained Alvin. “Then I remembered that I had a few Funko Pops that I started collecting earlier that year and it came to my mind “Wait I have my models now’’ and I grabbed my camera and shot a few photos.”

“At that moment I don’t know that toy photography was a thing until I uploaded my first photo on Instagram and I have to tell you it blew my mind. There are a lot of styles, talent and a great community.”

Since his return to toy photography, Alvin has posted numerous breathtaking photos for all kinds of figurines, such as anime figurines from shows like My Hero Academia and Dragon Ball Z, to Marvel movie characters, and even Harry Potter (which Alvin is a huge fan off and even professes to being a Slytherin by nature). 

As you can tell by his shots, Alvin loves to use special effects when taking his photos. 

For his photoshoot, Alvin says he gets inspiration from a number of places. It could be directly related to the character he is shooting, such as their powers and ability. 

Or even the environment he is shooting in. 

“I’m more an outdoor photographer so I think how the environments, colors, natural light, shadows, textures, patterns, etc can help me to tell the story and make the composition depend on the character,” says Alvin. “I also use the rules of photography composition to take my photos.” 

Of all the toy portraits he has taken, the one featuring Hot Toys Anakin remains Alvin’s favourite. 

“I have in my mind a clear vision about the shot. My goal was to showcase him turning to the dark side,” Alvin shares on the work that went behind that particular toy photoshoot. 

“That is the reason he had a red light saber typically associated with the Siths. I used the light painting technique to illuminate part of his head, shoulders and hands.” 

“I want that the main focus was his face. For that reason I chose that angle and the dramatic lighting and shadows on his face meanwhile his left hand was a little out of focus inviting Kenobi to fight.”

It is clear from Alvin’s description that he puts a lot of thought of effort into his photoshoots. He says that photo ended up being well received by others in the community.

Though not his favourite, Alvin says his most memorable shoot involves a Chucky doll killing his niece’s Bratz doll. Yes, you read that right. Back in 2016, Alvin wanted to shoot a Halloween photoshoot so badly that he got ready a Chucky doll, only to realise he had no victim for his Chucky doll to brutally “kill”. 

“So I asked and borrowed one of my niece Bratz dolls to make the picture. I don’t tell her what kind of photo I will be doing. Few days later, I showed her the picture and she started to laugh and she loved it. This put a smile on my face.”

Of course, Alvin bought his niece a new doll to replace the murdered Bratz doll. 

Like most outdoor toy photographers, Alvin was pretty affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, stating that he was unable to head out to shoot the many ideas he had in his head. Which led to him focusing more on indoor photography and using what resources he had at home.

As for Alvin’s tips for new burgeoning toy photographers, he has these three to share:

1. Read up and learn more about the basics of photography, such as aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Then read up more about basic photo composition to help make your photos look more interesting. 
2. Take photos every day. Alvin cited one of his professors who said, “The best photo is the one you take tomorrow.” In other words, practice makes perfect. Don’t be afraid to experiment and you can always ask other toy photographers for advice.
3. Use your imagination to tell a story and have fun. Don’t be afraid to get outside and take some pictures. Outdoor photography will definitely have its challenges but keep practising and you will eventually see the fruits of your effort.

Germaine Wong

Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.

The post Toy Photography Geek Spotlight: Alvin RO appeared first on Geek Culture.

In the world of LEGO MOC, there are two main camps of creators. The first includes simple hobbyists looking to create their own renditions of whatever the official sets couldn’t do, or improve upon existing sets to their own liking, for their own leisure. 

And then there are brick artists, who take the hobby to a more professional level, building bricks not just for themselves, but to fill up their rice bowl as an actual living.

Jeffrey Kong is one such individual. A full-time brick artist by trade, Jeffrey lives the geek dream of doing what he loves as a job. In a country like Singapore, where career over passion is considered the mainstream approach, it’s always a breath of fresh air to meet someone who has successfully combined that.

But getting to that point wasn’t exactly straightforward for the 40-year old.

“I got into this by chance,” Jeffrey recounts his experience with Geek Culture. “Many years ago I stumbled upon this software (LEGO Digital Designer) that enabled one to create without using physical bricks. Back then I was a freelance editor and writer, and I was working from hospital because of my dad. So I found comfort in the creative process at a low point in life.”

“Later on, I showed a few friends some of my creations, and they started asking me ‘How much are you selling this?’ and ‘Can you teach me how to build that?’, and I thought if this could bring me some joy, I could make people happy with my work.”

That was ten years ago, when the MOC life all started for him. But it was only until 2015 that he finally decided to embrace his true calling as a brick artist and monetise his work, going under the moniker Artisan Bricks. He receives commissions from clients and organisations, as well as hosting building workshops for eager first-timers on a regular basis.

Speaking of his work, Jeffrey’s inspiration for his builds mainly consists of things that filled his life growing up in the 1980s and 1990s. His miniature interpretations of various everyday aspects of Singapore culture ranges includes your typical road sign or recycling bins seen around HDB (Housing Development Board) blocks. 

He’s also worked with various government-owned corporations and community organisations to build iconic landmarks such as the Changi Airport Control Tower, and the Parliament House, just to name a few. 

But of course, he is also no stranger to pop culture either.

Among his works, Jeffrey picks the little balloon dog that he built back in 2013 to celebrate the Year of the Dog for Chinese New Year.

This build is striking as it doesn’t use the bricks in the traditional sense, but rather a combination of round studs, bars and hinges. To him, it is representative of his achievements as a brick artist, and as a reminder to “push the limits of this medium and to make people smile [through his work].”

And true enough, the fact that his builds are based on Singapore culture, including old landmarks, allows Jeffrey to connect with the people who are tied to these structures and places by memory or sentiment. 

One such instance is his interpretation of the old Forfar House in Queenstown during a workshop he conducted in 2017. For the uninitiated, the Forfar House was an old 14-storey residential block first built way back in 1956. Once declared the tallest residential building in Singapore, it was demolished in 1996 to make way for what Singaporeans now know as the Forfar Heights condominium.

“One of the participants told me this brought back so many memories for her because she actually stayed in the Forfar House, and she pointed me to the level and unit she stayed [on his model]. This meant a lot to me — to be able to express the intangible with the tangible,” recounts Jeffrey.

No doubt, being a brick artist is as tough as it is fulfilling. Despite getting a great deal of recognition from the public, government and media with his work, Jeffrey still gets the occasional misconception that he is simply one who builds bricks. On the contrary, he spends even more time doing research rather than messing around with LEGO bricks, designing drafts of the final build on LDD, before putting bricks together. 

It is because of his photographic memory (and also records of his builds on his social media pages) that gives him the ability to potentially start building from scratch once more should a fire break out in his home.

Jests aside, Jeffrey’s constant desire to learn and improve is one of the biggest factors for starting this business and maintaining it. “Even after ten years on the job I still find new things to discover all the time,” he says. “After a while you are your own teacher.”

But if there is any advice he can give to folks looking to begin their LEGO MOC journey, and perhaps even become a brick artist, it would be to simply be yourself in what you build. There is no better way to get into the hobby than building what you know and love, be it from memory, or from your favourite pieces of pop culture. For example, here’s one of Jeffrey’s earliest pieces, built in memory of an old friend:

Looking back, Jeffrey has absolutely no qualms about quitting his previous job and making the shift to be a brick artist.

 “I am grateful to be able to turn this hobby into a career, and the creative process helps keep me alive.”

Marion Frayna

Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.

The post LEGO MOC Geek Spotlight: Jeffrey Kong appeared first on Geek Culture.

How do you blend two things you love? For 43-year-old Singaporean Takahan Tan, there’s the passion for his toys, and there’s his love for Singapore, so why not have the best of both worlds? As Takahan puts it, he wants to have his audience “experience Singapore through a different perspective”, in his case its through the perspective of his lens and toys.

Being in the perpetually sunny island of Singapore, one of Takahan’s dream toy photography shoot is to be able to take more winter-themed shots. Though the lack of snow has certainly not impeded his ability to take a photo of Elsa in a cold winter forest. He even released a behind the scenes video showing his photoshoot process.

When he isn’t out taking photographs of his toys, Takahan works as a pop culture event organiser, best known for events such as the long-running Cosfest and Cosfest Sea which took place on a cruise.

Unlike some toy photographers who have indulged in their hobby for a while, Takahan has only been doing this for the past 2 years but he is no stranger to the medium of visual arts, having dabbled in traditional and digital art, illustration and comic drawing previously. However, it was not until he picked up toy photography that he found an outlet he could use to properly utilise all the skillsets he has picked up. 

“I could not find the direction to use all the skill I learnt in my life until I discovered toy photography,” said Takahan. “Originally I started it with another friend and my role was to draw the storyboard, while my photographer friend was to be doing the photo shooting as I did not really know anything about photography but along the way, I started picking it up and doing it alone.”

Takahan draws inspiration for his photos from scenes in movies based on DC Comics, and cites Zack Snyder and Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki as some of his biggest influences when it comes to toy photography. This is especially evident in a number of his photos starring DC Funko Pops. 

As mentioned, Takahan aims to introduce Singapore from a different perspective using his photos. Though a number of his photos feature photoshopped backgrounds such as the one with Superman flying around in space, he also has photos shot in Singapore, with the location used indicated in the caption for the audiences’ reference.

To Takahan, out of all the photographs he has taken, the one that remains the most special to him is the photograph featuring Superman flying towards supervillain General Zod.

“I think [that photo] is my first break-through as an artist. Despite practising art for more than a decade, I had never been successful as an artist. However this piece of photo managed to get about 300 over likes in a private Facebook group, the number may not actually be big, but it meant a lot to me, especially for someone who only got 2 to 3 likes per image for many years.”

As a predominantly outdoor photographer, Takahan notes that the quality of his photos have taken a bit of a beating as he was not prepared for indoor shoots following the Circuit Breaker measures implemented earlier this year. However, to him, the content of his photos are always the most important part of his photoshoot and he ended up finding ways around his limitations. 

As for photography tips for beginners, Takahan says it’s always important to pay attention to your light source and shadow and make sure you aren’t casting it on your subjects. 

He also notes that it can be difficult to use a diorama set up in Singapore due to space constraints, hence always be willing to explore new ideas on how to utilise a location or item in your toy photography. Lastly, always be sure to carry a water bottle with you when you are shooting outdoors to stay hydrated. After all, toy photography is fun and all but your safety and health always comes first. 

Germaine Wong

Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.

The post Toy Photography Geek Spotlight: Takahan Tan appeared first on Geek Culture.

Starting out small is the cornerstone to building a solid foundation to any hobby, and it’s especially so when your building blocks are also small to begin with. It’s the fundamentals for those building LEGO MOC sets from the ground up, having to think up and design the most extraordinary sets. No instruction manual – just a really good imagination, and some careful planning.

But of course, it’s all about practice, practice, practice, in order to get your aesthetic and proportions right for whatever build you’re working on. For Andy Goh a.k.a Crayon Bricks, the last eight years of doing just that has brought his skills to the forefront, of building LEGO versions of landmarks that are as iconic as the originals they were based on.

In fact, the 37-year-old Singaporean prides himself in his ability to construct both simple and small pieces that can easily decorate one’s desktop, to painstakingly detailed large-scale ones based on real life structures or objects.

“My inspiration comes from everyday objects I see, be it an object, a building, or even [elements] from a festival,” explains Andy. “Whenever something catches my eyes, I will subconsciously try to think of ways to build it in brick form in my mind.”

In the years that he has been in the LEGO MOC scene, Andy has been building custom sets not just for himself, but for the community as well. He was even commissioned by the National Heritage Board in Singapore alongside Eugene Tan and Xylvie Wong to build miniature replicas of iconic Singaporean landmarks, including the Central Fire Station, the Sultan Mosque, and the former Nanyang University, to name a few. 

But which landmark work is his top favourite? It’s actually the Borobudur Temple Compounds commission, a group effort in which he was part of back in 2017. 

This replica of the Mahaynana Buddhist temple in Indonesia was built as part of the Piece of Peace World Tour back then, which meant he got to travel around the world and see audiences respond to his work as a LEGO MOC builder.

To think that he had started out collecting just the various series of Collectible Minifigures nearly a decade ago, before having this desire to combine “plain looking” sets and minifigs, and turn them into something more ultimately laid the foundations of his MOC hobby and eye for detail. That, and his background in Product and Industrial Design back in his Temasek Polytechnic days certainly allowed him to visualise things from a 3D perspective, using a combination of sketches and the LEGO Digital Designer in order to achieve his desired build.

His first real MOC experience came from redecorating the LEGO Winter Village series, which didn’t feel quite like the finished product in his eyes. As such, he felt the urge to give it the LEGO Modular Buildings series treatment, and connected various buildings of each set together like a makeshift puzzle to form his very own custom village.

“[The LEGO Winter Village series] was not that complete [to me] as the individual buildings feel rather solitary, and don’t combine naturally like the LEGO Modular Buldings series. So that brought me to “connect” all the different Winter Village buildings together to form a bigger diorama. And for each of the Winter Village buildings, I always feel that they are too small, thus I always enjoy combining them together and expanding them,” says Andy.

One of Andy’s biggest advice though, is exactly that of size and scale – don’t let expectations limit the possibilities. One such instance was his Chinese Street Opera a.k.a Wayang MOC build, which was built as part of the SG50 celebrations back in 2015, to celebrate the history of Chinese immigrants first settling down in Singapore. 

“When I was being invited to build an MOC to commemorate SG50, I did not expect the final scale of this MOC to be 80x80cm big,” Andy explains.

“When I initially visualised it in 3D, the scale was around 40x20cm, but as I started to add more details in, it exploded to the 80x80cm scale, which was quite exciting and worrying at the same time, as it was my first time building at this scale. And with the advice of other AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO), I added LED lights and wayang (Chinese street opera) background music for more effect. Thus, the MOC became more interactive.”

With a day job, it’s somewhat astonishing as to how he has managed to accomplish so much, despite only managing to spend just “1 to 2 hours a day” on his MOC builds. As a manager in a retail company, a dad and also husband, he has to make what little time he has count. Even if he has to resort to squeezing in pockets of time in between to hunt for ideas and inspiration on his phone, he does it religiously, in order to keep his mind sharp, even when his hands are not busy building.

And with such meagre time on his hands, Andy values being daring above all and trying out different combinations of bricks. This is also his primary advice for those who are keen on pursuing the MOC path. A good way to take on this approach is by modifying existing LEGO sets by mixing and matching parts, as Andy himself had done when he first started out. That way, when one has essentially gained enough experience to advance to larger-scale MOCs, it’s much easier to make the transition, with the ability to visualise and try out various aspects of the build with ease.

Andy also encourages budding MOC creators to continue creating. There is always something that can be adapted into LEGO bricks, as well as existing sets that can be improved upon, if one so chooses.

“Every build has a story”, as Andy likes to say, and such is true when one considers just what it takes to build something out of these iconic bricks, regardless of size, theme, or scope.

Marion Frayna

Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.

The post LEGO MOC Geek Spotlight: Andy Goh appeared first on Geek Culture.

Hobbies are not always fun and games.

You’ll first have to make sure you’ve done your research to find out more about the hobby, and then source the materials you will need to properly perform your hobby. After all, not everyone has friends or family that are already doing the hobby to help give tips or advice to help us improve.

Fortunately, there are many kind souls in the toy photography community who have taken some time to share invaluable tips to help burgeoning photographers, with the likes of Johnson Foon, Tigermiyaw, and James Xie, who is also known by his online moniker Plastic Resin Heroes.

James has been in the hobby for around five years now, and much like Ken Loh who could use skills and techniques he mastered in his day job for his hobby, James’ past stint as a wedding cinematographer also equipped him with skills he could easily transfer to toy photography. In fact, his history in cinematography can be easily seen in almost all his photos, with every shot looking incredibly cinematic and character poses dynamic.

“Coming from a wedding cinematography background has certainly influenced my toy photography style. I appreciate and emphasize on cinematic composition,” James explained.

“Oftentimes I find myself using unique angles or composition crops to recreate that cinematic look using toys.”

According to James, there are three easy tips that you should follow: 

#1. Always shoot with a concept in mind. Be it a backstory, a simple quote or caption, it will help to serve as something meaningful to help your audience connect more easily to the photo they are seeing. James himself takes inspiration from movies, games, and comic books and tries his best to reenact them through the medium of photography.

#2. Be sure to invest in a good light setup, camera upgrades can always come later. After all, it can be a pain to sometimes have a great photoshoot in mind, and you’re done setting up your toys, only to find out later that you don’t have to right light setup for the job.

#3. If you’re running out of ideas for a photo shoot, you can consider shooting a crossover of your toys. So say, for example, Scooby Doo and Shaggy could perhaps cross paths with the Avengers whilst solving a mystery, or in James’ case, he pitted Spider-Man against some Rebor Dinosaurs for an epic looking photo.

James first got into toy photography after his wife bought him an Iron Man figma back in 2015. It was the first action figure he had received in years and was suitably impressed by its improved articulation. It did not take long for James to start snapping photos of his toys using his phone after that and the rest is history.

Aside from doing photoshoots for his toys, James also manages both his Instagram which has over 9,000 followers and a Facebook community called Behind The Scenes Toy Photography (International) which aims to encourage and raise awareness for the hobby. 

Though he has shot numerous photos over these past five years, Jame’s favourite photo still remains the one he took featuring Ada Wong from Resident Evil.

“I had fun experimenting a slightly different approach for this one. To recreate the in-game flashlight effect, I had an LED cube cast directly on the zombie, with the rest of my room lights switched off,” James explained. “The zombie was a quick kitbash, using parts shipped from different sellers. Took me a couple of weeks to get everything in this shot together, but I felt it was worth the wait. I really enjoyed the execution process!”

Photos aside, one of James’ most prized possession is his Professor X sculpture, which he considers one of his “holy grail” toys. According to James, the toy also marked his first collaboration with a toy manufacturing company. “It brings back fond memories of the product shoot every time,” says James. 

When shooting his toys, instead of using dioramas which are oftentimes incredibly bulky and space-consuming, James instead chooses to use his desktop monitor or a green screen to ensure his photographs get to feature realistic-looking backgrounds. 

Though despite being more than comfortable with shooting his toys indoors, James does admit that he misses the monthly toy photography outings organised by Sunny Ang’s Facebook group, Plastic Singapore.

“In view of Circuit Breaker measures, I reckon it would take months before we can hang out again for toy shoots,” says James.

Fortunately, it seems the Circuit Breaker measures in Singapore have been gradually lifted so outdoor toy photography outings as a group might just be possible again in the coming months, or even weeks.

Germaine Wong

Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.

The post Toy Photography Geek Spotlight: James Xie appeared first on Geek Culture.