Jan Edwards for Serangoon Road

Recently Jan Edwards worked on the HBO Asia and ABC co-production, Serangoon Road, as Set Decorator (episodes 6 -10).

The 10 part television drama series was shot in Indonesia, Batam Island and Singapore.  Directed by Peter Andrikidis and Tony Tilse.  Production Designer, Herbert Pinter.

Working with an Australian, Singaporean and Indonesian crew Jan decorated period Singapore streets, bars, fishing villages, various Chinese and Western interiors and more, shot on location in Batam and Singapore and the studio backlot and studios on Batam Island.  

Serangoon Road is a period piece set against the backdrop of 1964 - 65 colonial Singapore where political and racial tensions are escalating as the British pull out.  Serangoon Road unfolds as a mystery series but there are greater political overtones about the emergence of a culture from old to new.

Based around Aussie Sam Callaghan (Don Hany) who spends most of his time helping friend Patricia Cheng (Joan Chen) with the private detective agency she now runs after her husband was killed while working on a case.

Serangoon Road begins Sunday 22 September 2013 on ABC1, 8:30 pm.

Brief Us: The Wayside Chapel

The first of Contacts Photography Brief Us projects.

Earlier this year we did a call out to advertising agencies offering our services to shoot any personal initiative projects AD's might be been mulling over in their head. Contacts photographer Janyon and stylist Jan Edwards teamed up on the first brief that came from Denis Mamo at UrsaClemenger.  The campaign is for The Wayside Chapel and it highlights the good work of the Wayside Youth Employment Pathways Project, a project helping homeless youth find employment.

Janyon for MasterFoods

"The opportunity arose to submit a last minute treatment for what was originally a typographical execution with a simple hand-with-pack shot to overlay.

I couldn't think of much to make a hand more exciting, so I expanded upon the brief a little, suggesting we go for a bit more depth, and instead of doing the headline typographically, I thought of using a stencil on a wooden crate. This would give the type the genuine wood texture.The crate has relevance also, as it further suggests the use of fresh produce, and provided a tactile third dimension for the shot.

The creative team loved the idea, and sold it to the client, who was reluctant at first but happy to put their faith in us.

I stuck to my guns in my efforts to keep it "in camera", and our stylist, Jan Edwards found beautiful crates and painted stencils of varying sizes to suit the layout. We took it a step further by shooting the sauce splats on acetate so that they could be positioned in camera and required minimal comping. It also allowed us to ensure the message was not lost.

Our hand model was a pro, and was able to fine tune the amount of squeeze distortion on the pack. I had mentioned in the treatment that the squeeze is part of the fun, and wanted to portray a bit of bottle throttle, but needles to say we pulled back to a firm hold which yielded a more acceptable label distortion.

The team were stoked with the result, as was the client."

- Janyon



Clemenger BBDO. AD: Andrew Chu, Writer: Emily Lynch, CD: Luke Chess

Hungry Jacks new look shot by Janyon

Hungry Jacks hit the news (and Gruen World) recently as the first Australian fast food franchise to conform to the new legislation of displaying kilojoule value alongside price point for each of their menu items.

Clemenger BBDO senior creative Baz Baker and AD Sarah Parris wanted to break from the usual menuboard style and boost the food values by showcasing the hero items in an editorially inspired style alongside the fresh ingredients that go into the preparation of the items.

They got Janyon involved in the process from early on and together created a look and feel that's refreshingly different from the run-of-the-mill menuboard photography. His food experience in quick service restaurants (QSR) and love of food editorial made this the ideal challenge for that skill set.
After a mammoth shoot involving prop stylist Leesa O'Reilly and co-styled by Jan Edwards, and the unflappable food stylist Ben Masters, this team felt like family by the end of the project.