Where Creativity Meets Cinematic Storytelling
At 15, the Singapore-based creator behind @ash_the_magician is turning tech, products and live performances into visual stories that feel bigger than the screen.
Meet Asher Leong, a 15-year-old tech content creator and filmmaker based in Singapore. Online, he is known as @ash_the_magician, where he shares cinematic short-form videos, filmmaking experiments and stories built around technology.
His work is clean, carefully considered and just cinematic enough to make an everyday object feel like the beginning of a film. Yet behind all the polished frames is a simple habit that started years ago: Asher wanted to see his own magic tricks from the audience’s point of view.
“I discovered that I was just as interested in how the story was captured as the performance itself.”
A Little Magic Started It All
Before cameras became the focus, there was magic.
Asher began performing tricks when he was young. He filmed himself so he could watch the performances again, spot what worked and improve what did not. But somewhere between pressing record and playing the clips back, his attention began to shift.
The trick was still important. So was the way it appeared on screen.
He began noticing timing, angles and the difference a carefully chosen frame could make. Recording a performance slowly became an interest in creating one for the camera. From there came filmmaking, then technology content, and eventually a style of visual storytelling that could move comfortably between product films, talking-head videos and photography.
His early experience with magic still shows up in the way he thinks. Both magic and filmmaking depend on timing. Both guide the audience’s attention. Both ask a creator to decide what should be revealed, what should be held back and what a viewer should feel at exactly the right moment.
- Where Creativity Meets Cinematic Storytelling
- A Little Magic Started It All
- Making The Everyday Feel Cinematic
- From One Frame To The Finished Film
- Growing Beyond The Unboxing
- Tamron 50-400mm: One Lens For The Whole Stage
- Finding The Detail Inside The Performance
- The Project That Raised The Bar
- The Pressure Behind The Polished Frame
- Bigger Stages, Wider Horizons
- His advice? Just start.
Making The Everyday Feel Cinematic
He is especially drawn to product-focused storytelling. A keyboard, a camera or another familiar piece of technology may look ordinary at first. His challenge is to find the detail, movement or mood that makes it feel worth a second look.
“I enjoy taking something ordinary and presenting it in a way that feels interesting or cinematic.”
That does not mean making everything loud or overly dramatic. His best ideas often begin with a small feeling or a single shot in his head. The goal is to make a product feel premium and immersive while keeping the story relatable.
From One Frame To The Finished Film
Asher’s creative process begins before the camera comes out.
First, he decides what the piece should communicate. Sometimes that starts as a clear concept; sometimes it is simply a mood. He then imagines the finished look – the lighting, movement and atmosphere – and works backwards to plan the shots that can take him there.
The amount of planning changes with the project. Some shoots need a structured list. Others leave room to improvise. On set, he experiments and reacts to what is happening in front of the lens. In post-production, the separate pieces finally become one story through editing, sound design and colour-grading.
“From there, I think about how I want the final visuals to look: lighting, mood and movement.”
It is a process built on intention, but not rigidity. Planning gives the idea a direction; experimentation keeps it alive.
Growing Beyond The Unboxing
Asher’s style has changed as he has.
His earliest tech videos focused mainly on product unboxings. He loved the neat rhythm of the process and the ASMR-like satisfaction of every sound. Creators such as Gio San Pedro showed him how simple moments could become engaging when they were filmed with care.
Over time, however, presenting the product was no longer enough. Asher wanted to connect more directly with the people watching.
He began trying talking-head videos, more personal storytelling and formats that went beyond the unboxing table. The change helped him stop thinking of himself as someone tied to one type of content. Instead, he began choosing whichever visual language could communicate an idea most effectively.
The result is the approach he has today: more expressive, more cinematic and more interested in story than spectacle.
Tamron 50-400mm: One Lens For The Whole Stage
That instinct was tested at PHiesta, a large-scale school performance filled with dancers, musicians, changing light and moments that would not happen twice.
Asher covered the event with his Sony ZV-E1 and the Tamron 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD. From his position away from the stage, the lens gave him a remarkably broad range of choices. He could show the full scale of the ensemble, then quickly move into a tight frame of a gesture or expression without interrupting the performance.
“I was able to capture both wide moments and tight, expressive shots from a distance.”
For a young filmmaker used to working with controlled product setups, a live production offered a very different kind of creative energy. The action moved quickly. Lighting shifted. The next important moment could appear anywhere on stage.
The lens’ wide focal range meant Asher could stay responsive. Instead of changing lenses and risking a missed photograph, he could reframe and keep following the story as it unfolded.
“It allowed me to stay flexible and react quickly to what was happening on stage without missing key moments.”
The photographs show exactly why that mattered. Some hold the entire performance together in one frame: rows of guzheng players, dancers and a sweeping stage backdrop. Others find the detail inside the scale: a dancer suspended in motion, a hand lifted into the light, a carefully balanced formation or the stillness of a final bow.
Together, the images read less like isolated records and more like a sequence – a performance translated into photographs.
Finding The Detail Inside The Performance
Asher’s magic background has made him sensitive to timing and audience perception. On stage, that means watching for the instant when movement becomes meaning – when a gesture, expression and light briefly align.
Tamron 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD gave him the freedom to make that choice at different scales. He could describe the performance with a wide frame, then move closer visually without moving through the audience.
“It made a huge difference because I could react quickly to what was happening on stage.”
The Project That Raised The Bar
One of Asher’s proudest pieces is ASHER’S DREAM KEYBOARD, a cinematic short film about his first custom keyboard, created with @resonic.store.
It could have been a straightforward product showcase. Instead, he treated it as a narrative film about anticipation, creativity and the personal meaning attached to an object someone has imagined for a long time.
The project asked more of him technically. He experimented with lighting design, camera movement and visual effects, then pushed further in post-production to shape the pacing and visual flow. More importantly, it changed the way he thought about preparation.
“I realised how much stronger a project becomes when intention is present in every stage of the process.”
The Pressure Behind The Polished Frame
The finished work may look effortless, but Asher is honest about the pressure that comes with creating consistently.
The hardest part, he says, is wanting every new piece to improve on the one before it. That ambition can be motivating, but it can also make creativity feel like a test that never quite ends.
His response is not to force another idea. When he feels stuck, he steps away from making and returns to observing. He watches films and videos or simply pays closer attention to ordinary moments. The pause gives his eye time to reset.
This has also changed how he thinks about progress. Early on, comparing his work with other creators could make the distance between where he was and where he wanted to be feel enormous. Now, he puts more trust in consistency, experimentation and learning by doing.
“You don’t need to have everything figured out from the beginning.”
Bigger Stages, Wider Horizons
Asher may be best known today for technology and product content, but he does not want one category to define what comes next.
He is increasingly curious about experimental and abstract visual storytelling. Concert photography and filmmaking are high on his list: large-scale performances with the energy of K-pop acts such as BTS or international artists such as Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. He is drawn to the atmosphere and unpredictability of live shows – the same qualities that made photographing Phiesta so exciting.
Travel is another direction he hopes to explore. He imagines cinematic short films made in places such as the Maldives and Bali, using drone work, local environments and culture to tell stories that could not be made anywhere else.
These ambitions are broad, but that is part of the point. At 15, Asher is still discovering how far his creative identity can stretch.
“I think I’m still at the beginning of figuring out what my creative identity can become.”
His advice? Just start.
For anyone waiting until they feel ready, Asher’s advice is wonderfully direct:
“Just start. You don’t need to be ‘good enough’ at the beginning – no one is.”
The cameras, formats and ambitions may grow over time. The essential part remains the same as it was when he first recorded a magic trick: make something, watch closely, learn from it and try again.
That willingness to begin – and to keep looking for a better way to tell the story – may be Asher’s most useful piece of magic yet.
Follow Asher
Asher’s journey with Tamron lenses has further enriched his creative exploration, allowing him to capture the intricate details of his surroundings with remarkable clarity. The versatility of these lenses complements his vision, whether he’s filming breathtaking landscapes or intimate cultural moments. As he continues to evolve as a filmmaker, Asher remains dedicated to honing his craft, finding innovative ways to convey narratives that resonate on a deeper level. With each project, he not only refines his technical skills but also deepens his understanding of storytelling, paving the way for a promising future in the cinematic arts.