For cinematographer Christopher Tay, who runs award-winning wedding videography firm ICHIRO Films, there is little difference between conceptualising a video for a newlywed couple and a child with cancer.
The ingredients, after all, are the same - care, hope, and love. These are the emotions Christopher seeks to capture and portray, using moments to tell a moving story.
Often, the patients that he films move him too. Christopher, who has been a CCF volunteer since 2014, recalls a nine-year-old girl Eileen whom he filmed at CCF’s Place for Academic Learning and Support (PALS), a learning centre that helps children and youths bridge the gap between treatment and going back to school.
Despite being diagnosed with brain tumour and given a poor prognosis, Eileen was cheerful and determined to attend PALS every day, an attitude observed by both Christopher and her teachers.
“She wants to learn, even though she doesn’t know how long she will be around. Meeting her and other patients with poor prognosis made me realise that each time I see them could be the last, and that taught me to be more generous in complimenting and praising them,” he says.
Eileen’s video, which was produced under CCF’s Legacy Building Programme, was shared on CCF’s social media platforms. The programme aims to provide a positive, creative and artistic way for children with cancer and their families to make meaning of their tough journey.
“I hope to bring a little bit of joy to the family through what I do,” says Christopher.
The father of two, who first learnt about CCF when he sold tulips to the public to raise funds during his student days, is also a three-time shavee for Hair for Hope.
Before shaving in 2011 for the second time, he grew his hair for two years until it was past shoulder length, and was known among the wedding videography circle as the guy with the hair band or ponytail.
“I deliberately grew my hair long so that when I shaved it, there would be a visual impact. It would start conversations, and more people would come to know about CCF,” said Christopher, whose hair currently brushes the base of his collar.
He will shave it all off in 2017, and the conversations will start again.