3-2-1, ACTION!

As the line from The Wizard of Oz goes: There's no place like home. And that's exactly how budding director Lieutenant (LTA) Noel Ng, feels about Singapore.

"So where did you come from?"

"The States. I'm only here for National Service (NS)."

Cool and detached, the opening conversation with a taxi-driver in Homebound exemplifies the sense of ennui felt by a young man who returns for NS after many years abroad.

An interest in photography, however, leads him to create a photo montage of the people in his neighbourhood, and he becomes friends with many of them in the process.

Drawing inspiration from the real-life example of photographer Sam Kang Li, the story explores the idea of what home means for Singaporeans, explained LTA Ng, whose team topped the student category at the inaugural ciNE65 Short Film Competition last year.

"We often complain that we don't feel any sense of Singapore identity, but building a home for ourselves should not be the job of our government or grassroots leaders. The onus lies with us - we have to take the initiative to make this place our home."

A Local Study Award holder from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, the 22-year-old is currently pursuing a degree in Linguistics and Multilingual studies at Nanyang Technological University.

PNR: How was your experience working on this film?

LTA Ng: We started from nothing, no experience, no film-making background, yet everyone has been supportive. We thought it was going to be a huge challenge getting ad-hoc actors for the last scene, but it ended up being a very enriching experience. After explaining to the HDB residents what our film was about, they immediately came on board and asked their friends and children to join in. This made up a big part of the "Singapore identity" for us: the fact that we are always there for one other, and that you can count on your neighbours if you need help.

What's it like being a director?

My training as an Air Warfare Officer (Command, Control and Communication) has prepared me in some ways for my role as a director, because as a controller, I have to make quick and timely decisions to ensure the safe launch and recovery of aircraft.

Being a director is more than just saying "cut" and commanding people around. A large part of it tests my Public Relation skills, and I have to make sure that I remain calm and level-headed when making decisions.

Any other productions in the works?

Nexus (the ciNE65 organiser) will be submitting Homebound to the Hong Kong International Film Festival 2012. My team has also just submitted another short film for MediaCorp's Creative Video Awards, and we're doing some story pitching for this year's NS45 video, so we're certainly very excited and looking forward to working on our next film!