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From the Animator’s Chair

by Yong Tsuey Ling

ITE is creating a buzz in the fascinating realm of animation. Four ITE students have produced their very own stop-motion animation, not unlike the Cadbury commercial one sees on television. Doing it for the sake of the 6th AsiaPac ComGraph Competition 2005, they competed with other student animators from Indonesia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore’s polytechnics.

Muhammad Fauzan bin Tarmizdi, Keith Chong, Nurhayati bte Dzuikeply and Derrick Loh, who hailed from ITE College Central (Bedok Campus), crafted their entry for ComGraph, using the technique of claymation to tell a story. Aspiring animators, the four came up with a two-minute storyline entitled Retribution to depict racial harmony.

When they started out in the competition, Muhammad Fauzan, 25, the leader of the group, confessed they were all clueless about animation. “We were only one month into our Nitec in Digital Media Design course then,” said he. But they persisted. Researching training videos on how to make stop-motion movies, the four learnt to churn out a storyline. That aside, the team also learnt to shoot on camcorder, edit and put together the sound effects.

Retribution: A Story and More
The making of the stop-motion animation for ComGraph has turned out to be a good learning experience for the students. They have managed to learn techniques well beyond their course syllabus. In producing Retribution, for instance, the foursome had to sculpture characters in clay to play the parts. “This was tedious work, as the different actions and expressions of each character had to be moulded bit by bit,” explained Ms Ng Lay Peng, the Lecturer in-charge.

“The students almost wanted to give up,” exclaimed Ms Ng. But they persevered, sacrificing their academic vacation to complete the production work through to editing. It took the four all of five months to get Retribution on screen.

Besides familiarising themselves with animation, they also learnt how to work as a team. Observed team member, Derrick Loh, 18: “When we started out, we barely knew each other. Now, we have a better understanding of our strengths and differences.”

It Pays to Compete
The stop-motion animation won a Merit Award for ITE College Central, surpassing 150 other entries garnered by the competition. Conferred upon the students recently, the award was significant given the priceless lessons.

Besides the Asia-Pacific Digital Art & Animation Competition, the ITE College Central students have also taken part in national-level competitions like AniMania 2005 and MTV for the Singapore Tourism Board. These participations had earned them more exposure, not to mention confidence and an impressive portfolio they could put together when they graduate. “Which is why I look out for competitions from my industry contacts so students could take part and learn more,” summed up Ms Ng.