N.E.mation! helps keep S’pore strong
One team that snagged place in top 10 of contest came up with idea of sick Merlion who relies on flatmates from different walks of life
What can the Merlion do when it is sick and is struggling to put on its mask?
Rely on its helpful flatmates of course.
That is the premise of team Anonymous Platypie's storyboard, which snagged it a top 10 position in the student category of N.E.mation! 2021, the annual digital animation competition for young people to explore what Total Defence means to them.
The team from Kent Ridge Secondary School comprises Gracia Lim, Mazzel Koh and Faith Lim, all 14, who are friends from the school's media club.
They joined the competition after hearing from their seniors the positive experience they had when they took part in previous seasons.
The team members told The New Paper yesterday about the inspiration behind the story idea for their 30-second animation clip that is centred on this year's theme, Together We Keep Singapore Strong.
The students hoped to portray how different groups of people in Singapore are banding together during the Covid-19 situation with their depiction of Merlion's flatmates hailing from different walks of life.
264 TEAMS
Anonymous Platypie was among 264 teams that participated in the student category of N.E.mation! 2021, an increase from 256 teams last year.
The top 40 teams attended virtual storyboarding workshops conducted by industry experts between Sept 8 and 10.
Members of team Cereal Killers of New Town Secondary School, which also placed in the top 10, said through the workshops, they learnt how to formulate a captivating story and how to turn ideas into storyboards.
Their story centred on how the fear of Covid-19 resulted in actions such as panic buying and the shunning of front-line workers, and how it is important not to succumb to it.
Despite the challenges that came with the workshops being virtual such as not being able to see their trainers face to face, the students were able to take away useful tips like character design.
The team members - Rebecca Lim, Soon Kai Lin, Emerson Mclaren Kennedy and Annie Chain Ming Yu, all 15 - aspire to be artists and cinematographers and felt the experience had provided them with exposure.
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