Hardworking front-liners inspire poly team for N.E.mation! film
In end-October last year, Nanyang Polytechnic student Charmaine Koh thought she contracted Covid-19 while working on her team's entry for this year's edition of the annual national digital animation and storyboard competition N.E.mation!.
She was "so scared", but it turned out to be dengue fever instead.
Miss Koh, 21, told The New Paper: "I went to the hospital and saw how hard the doctors and nurses worked. This experience motivated me to make our film better."
Back for its 15th edition, N.E.mation! encourages young people to express their sentiments on Total Defence.
Guided by the theme Together We Keep Singapore Strong, and in light of the pandemic, many teams have taken on issues relating to the different Total Defence pillars.
Miss Koh's team Cocomelon's interpretation of social defence features everyday heroes like doctors, nurses, food delivery riders and supermarket staff, alongside Singaporean citizens who play a part in ensuring that Singapore is kept safe, even in small ways such as putting on their mask.
It is one of N.E.mation!'s top nine shortlisted teams in the Youth category, which showcased their entries at the N.E.mation! 2021 Open House held at the Singapore Discovery Centre yesterday.
INSPIRE
The team was given eight weeks in mid-September to produce its entry, all while dealing with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and learning how to use software such as Photoshop to animate for the first time.
Member Ng Yuan Yuan, 19, said: "Going forward, we hope that our animation can inspire people - that there doesn't need to be a crisis to motivate people to play their part to be socially responsible."
Putting its spin on digital defence is Dragon Fruit, another team from Nanyang Polytechnic.
The members are studying digital animation at the School of Interactive and Digital Media.
Its entry likens fake news to a virus and features people getting infected by fake news and becoming mindless zombies.
Team leader Alicia Lim, 20, told TNP: "When people believe in fake news, the news will spread, just like the coronavirus.
"I remember I was trying to buy masks and they were all out of stock because people started panic-buying and (may have been trying) to hoard. This made me realise that fake news messages and articles can cause panic and affect Singapore. The cure is to not spread information without fact-checking it first."
The public can vote for their favourite N.E.mation! 2021 clips online from today to Feb 12 at sweetspot.straitstimes.com/nemation/.
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