ElectroFantasticMinutes

An educational platform equipping people with creative skills to tell their own stories.

To visit ElectroFantasticMinutes on YouTube click this link: https://tinyurl.com/y32urcka

Introduction: Every human being is a born artist.

Richard suggests looking at artistic creativity as a means of keeping a personal creative journal. From this perspective, each artwork created, whether it's a story, song, painting, dance or any other form of artistic expression, can be viewed as a journal entry into the book of one’s life experiences.

1. How to write prose based on a short video clip

In this episode, author-musician Richard Philip shares with you tips on how you can interact with a 70-second clip of an ocean to write a short piece of prose.

1a (Prose Prompt) Ocean beach, Raglan, New Zealand. One-minute inspiration for writing prose

The ocean speaks volumes to humanity. It has inspired stories, art and music whenever people have stood on its shores and listened to their hearts. This 70-second footage of the ocean as viewed from the coastal town of Raglan in New Zealand is part of the content offered on ElectroFantasticMinutes, a channel dedicated to providing lessons, guidance and inspiration for those who seek to nurture the artist within them as a means of discovering meaning, beauty and truth in life.

2. How to improvise songs from prose

In this episode, Richard Philip shows you how to write a song based on a piece of prose. Writing a song usually starts with a process called improvisation during which you make up tunes and lyrics that will act as the raw material from which you build your final composition. Richard shows you how he uses improvisation to interact with the ideas and feelings in a piece of prose in order to discover melodies, words and phrases for a song.

3. How to compose a song based on ideas from an improvisation

Richard Philip demonstrates how he extracts melodies and phrases from the improvisational phase of songwriting to compose a full song.

4. How to improvise movements from a short video clip of the ocean

In this episode, artist and choreographer Soo-Leng shares her process of improvising movements based on a short video clip of the ocean. There are two parts to choreographing a dance. The first part is the improvisational phase and the second is the developmental phase. This video deals with improvisation. Soo-Leng shares tips on how to creatively engage with the images and feelings evoked by the video (titled Ocean Beach 2) in order to discover movement motifs and impetus for a dance composition.

4a. (Movement Prompt) Ocean Beach 2: The ocean viewed from Raglan, New Zealand

The ocean speaks volumes to humanity. It has inspired stories, art and music whenever people have stood on its shores and listened to their hearts. This 3-minute footage of the ocean as viewed from the coastal town of Raglan in New Zealand is part of the content offered on ElectroFantasticMinutes, a channel dedicated to providing lessons, guidance and inspiration for those who seek to nurture the artist within them as a means of discovering meaning, beauty and truth in life.

Songs from Stories | Tunnel of Darkness by Richard Philip

In the video series Songs from Stories, author and singer-songwriter Richard Philip performs songs that he has composed based on books. In this video he performs Tunnel of Darkness, which he wrote after reading the Gospel of John.

Songs from Stories | No Walls Between Us by Richard Philip

A song about how we tend to love and betray ourselves at the same time. Richard composed this song after reading the story of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus. At the heart of this song is the idea that all barriers between people dissolve when we realise that deep down we’re different kinds of light, but, light, nonetheless.

Paintings on Video | A meeting in Alwyn Seeley Gully by Soo-Leng Law

In the YouTube video series, Paintings on Video, the medium of film is used to showcase artist Soo-Leng Law's paintings. Each 2-3 minute clip draws the viewer's attention into the world of a painting. In the age of short attention spans and numerous distractions, a concerted effort to stand and stare at a painting for a few minutes invariably puts one in a state of mindfulness. These videos do just that. Enjoy meditating on paintings!

Paintings on Video | A home toward home by Soo-Leng Law

“Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” is the title of an essay in Henry David Thoreau's book, Walden. This painting is a response to that essay.

Paintings on Video | Flowers and fences by Soo-Leng Law

This scene-from-a-window piece was painted during the Covid-19 lockdown in Hamilton, New Zealand. As infectious diseases change the way we live, making isolation and social distancing necessary measures for human survival, the faculty of the imagination becomes vital in helping us see beyond the physical barriers between us.

Paintings on Video | It's meant to be by Soo-Leng Law

When you arrive at a place you’ve never been to before and realise that you had it with you all along, that’s when you know it’s meant to be.

Songs from Stories | Mr Mystery by Richard Philip

Mr Mystery is a song Richard composed for a performance art piece titled Poverty, which he wrote and co-directed with his wife Soo-Leng Law. The song is about a creator who made the world and forgot about it. You can find out more about Poverty here: https://www.richardphilip.net/extras

Songs from Stories | Lively As It Comes by Richard Philip

Lively As It Comes was composed based on a short story titled Friends that Richard wrote. The story deals with near-death experiences, or NDEs, as they are commonly referred to. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines an NDE as a spiritual experience encountered by a person who comes very close to dying. Having written the story, Richard felt that it was important enough to warrant a retelling in song.

Introduction: Every human being is a born artist.

1. How to write prose based on a short video clip

1a (Prose Prompt) Ocean beach, Raglan, New Zealand. One-minute inspiration for writing prose

3. How to compose a song based on ideas from an improvisation

4. How to improvise movements from a short video clip of the ocean

4a. (Movement Prompt) Ocean Beach 2: The ocean viewed from Raglan, New Zealand

Songs from Stories | Tunnel of Darkness by Richard Philip

Songs from Stories | No Walls Between Us by Richard Philip

Paintings on Video | A meeting in Alwyn Seeley Gully by Soo-Leng Law

Paintings on Video | A home toward home by Soo-Leng Law

Paintings on Video | Flowers and fences by Soo-Leng Law

Paintings on Video | It's meant to be by Soo-Leng Law

Songs from Stories | Mr Mystery by Richard Philip

Songs from Stories | Lively As It Comes by Richard Philip

ElectroFantasticMinutes is a YouTube channel that provides learning materials for anyone interested in living the meaningful and productive life of an artist. The guidances on this channel are meant to encourage and inspire those who've always suspected that there’s an artist in them but felt they lacked the proper training, time or talent to achieve their artistic goals.

This platform starts from the premise that while it's useful to have an Arts degree or to be a full-time artist, the absence of those attainments and privileges need not discourage or prevent any human being from immersing themselves in artistic practice. The Arts aren't an exclusive club. No one can be kept out if they’re willing to set aside some time each day to master their favourite mode of expression. All that’s needed is imagination, patience, perseverance and commitment, and they’re good to go!

All creative and intellectual content on ElectroFantasticMinutes is created and produced by Richard Philip and Soo-Leng Law.

Richard Philip is a writer and musician currently based in Singapore. He holds a Master of Arts (with Distinction) from the Waikato Institute of Technology in Hamilton, New Zealand, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Communication from the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Richard is a writer of both non-fiction and fiction. His published work includes current affairs and medical news. In terms of fiction, his short story Mutton Curry was shortlisted for the Fish Short Story Prize 2017/18, and placed on the Honorary Mentions list of the 2018 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. He has also written scripts for dramatic works, and his music has been featured in a compilation album released in Los Angeles in 2007.

Soo-Leng Law is experienced in the field of psychology, specifically in behavioural intervention and trauma support for individuals with disabilities. She is also an artist and choreographer currently based in Singapore. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma (with Distinction) in Psychology from the University of Waikato, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the Singapore University of Social Sciences. She has also received a Diploma in Dance from Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts. Soo-Leng has choreographed and co-directed several stage performances in Singapore.