Virtual connections

As the sun set on the Marina Bay floating platform, a sea of bright and colourful lights, in sync with the music beat, flooded the mostly empty stands.

These "smart lights" were secured to the back of the seats, which were largely vacant owing to Covid-19 restrictions. It was almost as if the performers were dancing and singing to a capacity crowd.

Such technology was relied upon at this year's National Day Parade (NDP) to overcome group size limitations imposed due to the pandemic.

In place of mass dance numbers usually seen at the parade show, there were pre-recorded virtual participation from community groups, animated films and augmented reality effects to cater to the bulk of viewers who watched the show on television at home.

About 600 performers took to the stage in the show segment, down from more than 3,000 performers in 2018, when the NDP was last held at the floating platform.

The show integrated virtual performances by nearly 600 other participants from schools, community groups such as People's Association, the National University of Singapore and Republic Polytechnic.

These pre-recorded routines were shot at four satellite sites - Jewel Changi Airport, National University of Singapore, Marina Barrage and Yio Chu Kang Stadium - to reduce physical contact among the performers.

For the first time, the show featured fully animated films and augmented reality, which refers to special effects seen only on screen.

These effects included a disco ball hovering above the stage, and an animated bird flying across the floating platform.

The animated films weaved various acts of the show together.

One of these animated films was a 14-minute feature film that illustrated stories based on the real-life experiences of people in Singapore, such as Bukit Ho Swee fire survivor Tan Geok Hak and Majulah Singapura composer Zubir Said.

Robot Playground Media co-founder Ervin Han said Mr Boo Junfeng, the NDP's creative director and award-winning film-maker, had long wanted to cater this year's parade to viewers at home and "have a strong animation focus".

"Because it's animation, our process allows production essentially to be done 100 per cent at home," said Mr Han, 46, adding that even so, this was not ideal.

Production manager Elaine Chan added: "It was challenging but also very rewarding when you see the final picture."