Drama In a Snap

Checkpoint Theatre, a Singaporean theatre company committed to telling original Singaporean stories, has entered the weird and quirky world of SnapChat Lens.

Working with BBH Singapore, they’ve developed Drama In A Snap, a lens that uses neural network-powered object recognition to reveal the drama in everyday objects.

With Gen Z more willing to turn to social media for their daily dose of drama, Checkpoint Theatre hopes this filter can be a way to intrigue them in the potential drama of a theatrical experience.

The filter, built by BBH Singapore’s Innovation Lab entirely within SnapChat’s Lens Studio, is a snap to use. Simply point it at any object and tap your screen to reveal the hidden drama behind it, in the form of a flash fiction snippet.

Snap your coffee cup and discover the drama of caffeine-hungry zombies. Snap a car on the street and uncover a dark tale of what’s hidden within. Snap your cat and discover its inner thoughts about you. The filter contains over 500 stories and counting, curated and written by real human writers. It works on (almost) any object thanks to the power of computer vision and will identify more and more objects over time.

“We believe that everyone is a storyteller at heart, and that there is power in telling and owning our own Singapore stories. We loved the idea of revealing the stories that lie within mundane, everyday settings – the drama in a sandwich or a cup of tea – which reflects the way Checkpoint Theatre tells everyday stories, for everyone, so they feel seen, heard, and represented,” says Faith Ng, Associate Artistic Director at Checkpoint Theatre.

Sascha Kuntze, Chief Creative Officer at BBH Singapore, adds, “In a year where the dominant conversation has been about the danger of A.I. replacing artists, this collaboration demonstrates how A.I. – in this case, neural network powered computer vision – can help give artists a new avenue to share their work with the world.”

The campaign will go live globally from 13 June 2023 onwards to promote Checkpoint Theatre’s 2023 season. Highlights include Tender Submission, a play that bears witness to the unspooling of a decades-long marriage (17-23 August) and Session Zero, where an estranged couple attempt to reconnect over a game of Dungeons & Dragons (19-29 October).

BBH Innovation Lab is an in-house incubator at BBH Singapore, which supports ideas and prototypes that come to life through making and experimentation. This agile maker approach is ideal for Singaporean brands and organisations like Checkpoint Theatre that have the ambition and agenda to incorporate technology and innovate the ways they engage with their audiences.

Find out more: https://www.dramainasnap.com/