{"id":91812,"date":"2026-10-10T14:21:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T06:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=91812"},"modified":"2026-10-10T14:21:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T06:21:58","slug":"sph-media-launches-first-horror-comedy-microdrama-with-hybrid-vfx-and-tech-enhancements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=91812","title":{"rendered":"SPH Media launches first horror-comedy microdrama, with hybrid VFX and tech enhancements"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">Back in June, we asked our community to share their creepiest supernatural encounters with us, and we got plenty of great stories. This time, SPH Media is the one telling the ghost story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">Spearheaded by SPH\u2019s Content Lab, CONNECTED is SPH\u2019s first microdrama, which premiered at the SPH Auditorium on 8 October.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">Sponsored by Singtel, this project involved over 40 Singaporean actors, artists, filmmakers and production partners, with Fly Entertainment artistes Lim Yan Xin and Fauzi Azzhar playing the roles of two investigators chasing supernatural happenings throughout Singapore.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"_base_1pos7_1 _tiktok_1pos7_32\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed\/v2\/7694690717175713045\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.5625\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">Check out the rest of the episodes here!<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-the-connected-series-was-brought-to-life\" class=\"_subHeading1_1k87u_111 _base_1k87u_1\">How the CONNECTED Series was brought to life<\/h2>\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">Curious how the microdrama was made? Each \u201chantu\u201d started on a drawing board, with Content Lab\u2019s artists developing original sketches based on the story and cultural knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"_figure_wioo3_1\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"_base_1sb7q_1\" alt=\"harriet buckland animator connected microdrama animation\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto\" width=\"1600\" height=\"845\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/20d7c3410777f8bd2f4abfab2a381e3b787765b61e9169799e097ff322bfd2f1?w=500&amp;q=85 500w,https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/20d7c3410777f8bd2f4abfab2a381e3b787765b61e9169799e097ff322bfd2f1?w=800&amp;q=85 800w,https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/20d7c3410777f8bd2f4abfab2a381e3b787765b61e9169799e097ff322bfd2f1?w=1000&amp;q=85 1000w,https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/20d7c3410777f8bd2f4abfab2a381e3b787765b61e9169799e097ff322bfd2f1 1600w\" src=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/20d7c3410777f8bd2f4abfab2a381e3b787765b61e9169799e097ff322bfd2f1?w=1000&amp;q=85\" style=\"--custom-aspect-ratio:1.893491124260355;contain-intrinsic-size:1600px 845px\"\/><figcaption class=\"_figureCaptions_wioo3_158\">\n<p class=\"_imageCaption_wioo3_165\">Harriet Buckland, Senior Animator, hard at work creating the \u201chantu\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Photo: SPH Media<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">These drawings were then developed into creature designs using photographs of volunteer models from SPH Media or Singtel, before Content Lab partnered with Editlounge and Gengis AI, both Singapore companies, to develop a hybrid VFX workflow to bring these creatures to life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">AI-enabled techniques were combined with original artwork, live-action footage and more to build the final sequences seen in the episodes. Specific locations and objects were filmed then transformed with AI-assisted augmentation, with hybrid compositing allowing the teams to combine generated elements with live footage.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">Content Lab worked with Gengis AI\u2019s in-house YAM workflow for shot planning and prompt generation, while using software like Google Nano Banana for stills generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"_figure_wioo3_1\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"_base_1sb7q_1\" alt=\"Gengis AI\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto\" width=\"1600\" height=\"822\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/bbcedd72d4f0ab41756b0bfd844cef2b68fe516a32a3b11541112933f730f464?w=500&amp;q=85 500w,https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/bbcedd72d4f0ab41756b0bfd844cef2b68fe516a32a3b11541112933f730f464?w=800&amp;q=85 800w,https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/bbcedd72d4f0ab41756b0bfd844cef2b68fe516a32a3b11541112933f730f464?w=1000&amp;q=85 1000w,https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/bbcedd72d4f0ab41756b0bfd844cef2b68fe516a32a3b11541112933f730f464 1600w\" src=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/bbcedd72d4f0ab41756b0bfd844cef2b68fe516a32a3b11541112933f730f464?w=1000&amp;q=85\" style=\"--custom-aspect-ratio:1.9464720194647203;contain-intrinsic-size:1600px 822px\"\/><figcaption class=\"_figureCaptions_wioo3_158\">\n<p class=\"_imageCaption_wioo3_165\">AI-assistance was used to augment the scenes.<\/p>\n<p>Photo: SPH Media<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">Joel Lim, Gengis AI Creative Director, explained: \u201cAI didn\u2019t choose the shots \u2013 we did. Every camera position was set in 3D first, every frame was approved by a human, and only then did we animate it. That\u2019s what makes it feel like a drama and not a demo.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_base_1s8rd_1 _default_1s8rd_12\">There were also \u201cHantu Easter Eggs\u201d and on-screen scares, which contained both digital and practical effects. When asked how these effects were done, Phin Wong \u2013 Executive Producer of CONNECTED, and Head, Content &amp; Solutioning Division, SPH Media \u2013 only teased: \u201cThe goal was to keep audiences guessing, intentionally blurring that line between scripted drama and reality entertainment, what\u2019s \u2018real\u2019 and what was conjured up with VFX. Which is which? We\u2019ll never tell.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hardwarezone.com.sg\/entertainment\/tv-movies\/sph-media-connected-microdrama-vfx-tech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in June, we asked our community to share their creepiest supernatural encounters with us, and we got plenty of great stories. This time, SPH&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[25409,31406,6637,4131,20,30902,16866,1243,11443],"class_list":["post-91812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-enhancements","tag-horrorcomedy","tag-hybrid","tag-launches","tag-media","tag-microdrama","tag-sph","tag-tech","tag-vfx","wpcat-32-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}