JASPER TAN

What do local musicians The Sam Willows, Gentle Bones and The Lion City Boy have in common? For one thing, they’ve all tapped on the 27-year-old Tan to direct their music videos. Not too shabby, especially for a one-man-show (he films, directs, edits and produces) who taught himself the craft entirely via Youtube. “Music was actually the thing that made me want to pursue film, and

it’ll always be special to me, which is why I always work with musicians,” he says. He cites Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson among his key influences, and it certainly shows in the rich, saturated colour palette of his videos: colour-grading (or the altering and enhancing of colour on video) being his self-professed forte. Couple that with a distinct lo-fi ’90s aesthetic and a propensity for campy humour, and it’s perfect madefor-social media material. It’s a formula that’s clearly worked: His clients include G-Shock, luxury labels, and even Singapore-based fashion plate Jamie Qian Qian, who discovered his work through Instagram (@vilecorpses). Up next: more music videos – this time for the nation’s new golden boy Charlie Lim.