S’pore Short Film Lets You Choose & Decide Characters’ Fate, Just Like Netflix’s Bandersnatch

Find Out What You Value Most With Singapore’s First Interactive YouTube Film Concept ‘Filterspell’

In 2018, Netflix’s Bandersnatch took the world by storm with its ‘choose your fate’, adventure-book-inspired film concept.

Hopping on the trend of 90s nostalgia, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) teamed up with local YouTube stars from TheSmartLocal (TSL) and Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) to produce Singapore’s first interactive YouTube film concept — FilterSpell.

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The entire journey is made up of a collection of 3-minute long clips that you decide on. It has up to 10 different combinations of how things could turn out, depending on the choices you make.

Here’s a little summary on what you can expect, but make sure you watch it here in full to find out how else things could’ve played out.

Things go awry during TSL & NOC’s shoot

The film opens in TSL’s office — they’re shooting a Singaporeans Try video, and the NOC crew is late.

They turn up eventually, exchanging pleasantries until they notice an extra voice pip in — Nina’s number 1 fan.

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Unfortunately, they’re already late for the shoot so they can’t spare any time to snap a selfie with the yellow-clad girl, leaving her heartbroken as her favourite YouTubers couldn’t even give her the time of day.

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The shoot starts begins, and they start trying out Instagram Filters.

Sylvia’s paired with Fauzi, Aiken with Zhin, and Adria with Aiman. It’s every Singaporean YouTube fans’ dream collaboration between the 2 organic content powerhouses.

Unfortunately, things start to go awry, starting with NOC’s feared bosslady, Sylvia.

It seems like she’s taking the challenge a little too seriously, but she’s actually been frozen by the Medusa filter.

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Next, Nina comes back from the toilet singing like Cinderella, dressed in blue with a feathered friend on her shoulder.

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What’s going on?

Decide the fates of NOC & TSL in Filterspell

At this point, the rest of the gang realises that the Instagram filters have manifested in real life.

They do a little brainstorming, then decide that it’d be best to split up and solve the mystery behind the fearsome filters separately, as NOC and TSL.

Here’s when you choose to follow Adria, Fauzi and Zhin from TSL, or Aiken, Aiman and Nina from NOC.

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Both teams lead you around Singapore on a wild goose chase to find out how and why they were cursed with the filters.

The NOC gang end up showing off their moves in a dance battle – that is, if you make the right decision for them.

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On the other hand, TSL’s terrific threesome takes on Bishan Park, meeting the doppelgängers of other personalities from NOC and TSL there too.

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Your role is basically to play god, and decide whether they’ll solve the mystery, or succumb to the ‘Filterspell’.

It all boils down to values in Filterspell

As TSL and NOC’s first collaboration, Filterspell made its mark on many of the 2 companies’ fans, comprising largely of Singaporean youths.

TSL’s managing director Bryan Choo shared that the interactive quality of the film pushes youths to contemplate their decisions, encouraging them to choose based on what they value the most.

This complements Youth Vision 2025, which aims to instil inclusiveness, fairness, care, sustainability, and progress in young Singaporeans.

Together, they hope to inspire the leading generation of the future to strive for their aspirations, and work hard to create the future they want, starting now.

It was a fresh take on learning how to make the right decisions — the twists and turns made us consider the repercussions of our choices and reflect on what could’ve been done better.

The million-over collective views the videos have garnered is a testament to its success. Hopefully the youths learn as much from the videos as they enjoyed them.

Disclosure: MS News and TheSmartLocal are companies under TSL Media.

Featured image adapted from TheSmartLocal.