Marking a decade of inspiring young writers, All In! returns with an expanded line-up of programmes

The All In! Young Writers Festival returned for its 10th edition on 16 March 2018 with a slew of workshops, panel sessions and fringe programmes lined up over the weekend.

New programme partners such as Mediacorp, Singapore Repertory Theatre and SGAG will be making their debut at the Festival. Held at *SCAPE over three days, this year’s Festival will also see the use of larger rooms to accommodate a larger crowd.

Launched in 2009, the Festival serves as a platform for industry professionals and partners to meet and share their expertise with young aspiring writers between the ages of 12 and 25.

Among those who appeared at the Festival for the first time was film and humanities educator Chrystal Ng, who conducted a film writing masterclass on March 16.

Ms Ng said she wanted to be a part of this event as she believes that learning should be conducted beyond their textbooks and classrooms. Ms Ng, who used to work with the Singapore International Film Festival but is now teaching Visual Communication and Film Theory at LASALLE College of the Arts and Nanyang Technology University, also wanted to share her own interest and experience about film.

“I feel that these masterclasses will help to broaden their perspective and give young people an idea of what is offered beyond their schools,” Ms Ng said.
The masterclass began on a light note as Ms Ng and delegates shared about their favourite film. She then gave a brief introduction on film language and the basic elements, such as light, sound, visuals, clothing, setting and props.

As film is very difficult to explain without visuals and videos, Ms Ng showed various short snippets from films. This included an iconic scene from the recent blockbuster Black Panther and went on to explain how other reviewers from various countries reviewed the film. Participants then got to put what was being learned to practice as they were tasked to review I’m Here, a short film by Spike Jonze.

Participants asked several questions Ms Ng at the end of the masterclass. Ashely, a student from Cedar Girls’ Secondary School, asked about the process of storyboarding when writing a film. “You’d be surprised that some famous film writers out there only have their story figured out after finishing the storyboard” Ms Ng replied.

Besides this film writing masterclass, there were also workshops conducted for picture book writing and illustration on the first day of the Festival. Many of the delegates said they took away useful insights from the sessions at the Festival.

“It is my first time attending this and I’ve learnt so many important tips on how to write better,” said Nur Qabilah, a student. The Festival ends on Sunday March 18.

This news story is written by Sabrina Keith Faith, a Republic Polytechnic Diploma in Mass Communication student.