‘881’ by award winning director Royston Tan, is a raucous musical set against the backdrop of ‘getai’ performers during the Chinese ‘Hungry Ghost Festival’. ‘Getai’ is well known for its loud colours, tacky lighting effects and elaborately costumed singers on a make-shift stage performing mainly in Hokkien dialect to entertain the living as well as the souls of the ancestral dead.
All of this was duly considered in designing the film’s titleblock. The colours and typefaces combined to create a suitably loud look complete with detailed textures and stardust, evoking a magical feeling with tacky nostalgia.
Astute locals will notice that the colours used are those commonly found on ersatz household goods that Chinese folks burn as sacrificial offerings during the festival.
All of this was duly considered in designing the film’s titleblock. The colours and typefaces combined to create a suitably loud look complete with detailed textures and stardust, evoking a magical feeling with tacky nostalgia.
Astute locals will notice that the colours used are those commonly found on ersatz household goods that Chinese folks burn as sacrificial offerings during the festival.
The poster complements the titleblock design with the cast posing dramatically to highlight the glitz and glamour of ‘getai’, even as the movie goes on to reveal the hardship that they go through to become successful ‘getai’ singers.
The sadder undertones of the story have been eschewed to present the film as a fun comedy, the better to reach out to the movie’s main audience: salt-of-the-earth heartlanders of Singapore.
The sadder undertones of the story have been eschewed to present the film as a fun comedy, the better to reach out to the movie’s main audience: salt-of-the-earth heartlanders of Singapore.
