Third time's the charm for Cedar Girls' at N.E.mation!
Third time was the charm for a group of Cedar Girls' Secondary School students participating in this year's animation contest, N.E.mation!.
The quartet finally clinched top spot in the student category at yesterday's award ceremony at the Singapore Discovery Centre after coming in as first runner-up in last year's competition. The group was a finalist in their first try.
Chai Gien Lyn, 16, from the winning team, cedar3, said: "We tried so hard the last two times, and to win first place in our third and final try is great."
N.E.mation! is an annual inter-school contest organised by the Ministry of Defence's Central National Education Office, Nexus, for students to express their thoughts on Total Defence through digital animation.
Finalists created 30-second animation clips based on this year's Total Defence theme - Together We Keep Singapore Strong.
In the award ceremony's opening speech, the guest of honour - Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary - highlighted the importance of Total Defence.
"The reason the older generations worry is because they lived through very tough and turbulent times," he said.
"But they must be reassured that this generation, who can produce wonderful works of art... will demonstrate that grit and that resilience to do what Singapore needs."
There were a total of 643 entries from 1,328 participants.
The student category was open to 13- to 16-year-olds.
Cedar3's winning clip, It's In Your Hands, demonstrated how everyone can make a difference in contributing to the five pillars of Total Defence.
It showed soldiers helping one another and a firefighter saving someone from flames, among others.
The clip was made entirely using stop-motion animation software.
This year's contest also saw those aged 17 to 35 submit story ideas that were later developed into 30-second animation clips by students from Nanyang Polytechnic and the Institute of Education for the pilot Youth Crowdsource category.
A group of four from Nanyang Polytechnic's School of Interactive and Digital Media won first place with their clip, String Of Singapore.
The clip was made using 2D-animation software.
RACIAL RIOTS
It showed how Singaporeans stuck together through difficult times in history, such as the racial riots in 1964 and 2003's Sars outbreak.
"The clip gave me childhood vibes because of the stickman-like characters. Seeing it come together at the end was nice too," said Mr Tan Chuan Jee, 18, from the winning team Nacho Cheese.
Both winning teams won a fully sponsored trip to visit renowned animation studios in Japan.
Members of Nacho Cheese also won an internship with The New Paper.
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