THE PARTICIPANTS
Front row (from left to right): Tan Suang Suang, Michael Lee, Ang Qing Sheng (Instructor), Andy Teo, Fiona Lim, Joy Low
Back row (from left to right): Tee Pei Chen, Angelina Choy, Tan Guan Fan, Shamimah Mujtaba, Tan Yan Hui, Heng Seng Keong, Francisca Cho, Jasmine Toh
Absent from photo: Ong Hwee Ngo
IntroductionOur Animation Journey is an inter-generational Community Arts Project
(CAP) that brings seniors and youths together to learn and create basic
2D animation. Eleven seniors and three youths took their leaps of faith,
embarking on a challenging but fulfilling journey that saw them explore
hand-drawn drawings and computer animation.
Over the course of eight sessions, the participants learnt some principles
of animation, including the frame-by-frame animation process. They got
to familiarise themselves with the basics of using TV Paint, an entry-level
professional animation software, and were exposed to award-winning
international and local animated shorts. An industry professional from
Lucasfilm Animation Singapore was also invited to speak on working in the
field of animation and visual effects.
Armed with electronic drawing tablets and styluses, the participants tapped
onto their memories, imagination, and their inner childhood, as they let their
creative juices flow to produce fantastical characters and surreal settings on
their screens. This booklet profiles all the participants, with each person
contributing to the final animated short through his or her own unique
creations and drawing styles.
Our Animation Journey was commissioned by the National Arts Council
from May to June 2016 as part of Silver Arts, which aims to celebrate active
ageing through the arts. The workshop is organized by The Filmic Eye, a
film education initiative that promotes film literacy, in collaboration with the
LASALLE College of the Arts (Animation).
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NATIONAL ARTS COUNCILARTS & COMMUNITIES
ABOUT SILVER ARTS
In Arts & Communities, we collaborate with artists, corporations and
communities to bring the arts to where people live, work and play. We aim
to engage everyone through the arts to promote self-expression, creativity,
and bonding.
The National Arts Council’s Silver Arts Programme advocates the meaningful
possibilities seniors have in the arts. We believe that seniors can age
creatively and surprise the public and themselves with blooming artistic
contributions. We develop programmes with artists and community
partners that celebrate arts and ageing.
Artist-led community-based projects galvanise the community to contribute
their own experiences and creativity to the arts-making process. Such a
project can empower people of different backgrounds to share their
perspectives, turning diversity into a collectively unique experience for all.
It provides participants with an enjoyable and meaningful arts engagement;
bonding them and deepening their understanding and appreciation of the arts.
silverarts.nac.gov.sg
CURATOR’S STATEMENTAnimation is indeed a medium where anything is possible—there’s no limit
to one’s imagination. It is also a medium that brings back memories of
childhood for the seniors. By providing a platform to engage with their
memories and imagination, and opportunities to interact with youths, Our
Animation Journey has not only uncovered many hidden artistic talents, but
also inspired them to view animation in a whole new light—they are not just
colourful and entertaining cartoons, but also painstakingly-conceived works
of art.
Ang Qing Sheng, who teaches at LASALLE College of the Arts (Animation),
was the main instructor of Our Animation Journey. Together with technical
instructor Fanny Bratahalim, and four other animation student assistants
(from LASALLE), the workshop was organised over four weeks, making sure
that it was fun and accessible for the participants.
Eternality Tan & David Lee
Co-Founders
The Filmic Eye
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THE 4-STEP ANIMATION ROADMAP
Step 1: Paper Sketching - Brainstorming Ideas
Step 2: Digital Sketching -Developing Aesthetics
Step 3: Frame-By-Frame -Sketching Animating Process
Step 4: Piecing Together -Combining Everyone’s Animation
Animation is a painstaking process, but highly rewarding. In the workshop, the
participants followed a basic 4-Step Animation Roadmap which helped them
to better understand the fundamentals of the craft and develop their aesthetic
and creative skills.
The first step was to draw shapes, objects
and creatures organically with a physical
pencil, marker or crayon on paper. This
stage gave the participants free reign
to explore sketching objects that were
related to the theme of ‘journey’.
The second step was to experience drawing
similar objects and creatures using the
tablet and stylus that were connected
to the computer. The participants were
encouraged to mimic the organic motions
of sketching while being acquainted with
digital tools that helped them to develop
their artwork aesthetically.
This was the most challenging stage as
the participants had to learn to make their
sketches come alive by drawing numerous
frames of the same character or object with
minute changes in their position, size and
shape. When put together and played, the
character or object would be ‘animated’
and move across the screen.
The animation of creatures, natural settings and other objects from each
participant were put together and edited to form a 1-minute animated video.
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Andy Teo, 61
Angelina Choy, 55Encouraged by his wife, Fiona (pg. 10), Andy decided to
take the plunge to try animation. Whenever he came to
class, he would immediately hook up the tablet to the
computer and start drawing. Such enthusiasm came
from having learnt a bit about film editing before, though
as he would claim, he had almost forgotten all the
basics. Growing up with cartoon characters like Mickey
Mouse, and his favourite yellow canary, Tweety Bird,
Andy has since developed an eclectic taste for movies.
His favourite genres are horror and action, while he also
appreciates anything that is historical in nature.
What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon then
to binge on cartoons like ‘Scooby Doo’ or ‘Casper the
Friendly Ghost’, well that is according to Angelina,
who wanted to learn something completely new, and
animation, not surprisingly, caught her eye. Drawing
had been her weakest subject in school, and despite
some initial trepidation, she found that animation wasn’t
as intimidating as she had thought. Angelina is also very
fond of tennis, having travelled to countries like France
and China to see Rafael Nadal compete in tournaments.
“While putting a drawing to life, I learnt the most
important thing: patience!”
“I always knew animation was a very labourious affair, but actually doing it, frame by frame, was quite therapeutic!”
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Fiona Lim, 58
Francisca Cho, 64Having dabbled with software like Photoshop and
Flash in the past, the opportunity to learn another new
software—TV Paint, did not escape Fiona, who quickly
signed up for the workshop. The challenge for her was
to get used to drawing with a stylus and tablet, which
mimicked the qualities and organic touch of hand-drawn
images. A lover of arts and craft, Fiona also likes reading
and dancing. She is also a food enthusiast—some of her
favourite dishes include nasi lemak, laksa and yong tau
foo. She remembers most fondly of watching Disney
animations, particularly the 1940 classic ‘Fantasia’.
Although very much in love with ‘Kungfu Panda’,
whose humour and cute mannerisms have proved to
be endearing for her, Francisca grew up with ‘Tom &
Jerry’ and ‘Tweety Bird’, three of her favourite cartoon
characters. With a zest for always trying new things in
life, she decided to join the workshop to learn something
that is entirely different. In the process, she discovered
that animating required a lot of hard work and focus,
but if one is patient enough, it is possible to complete it.
“Being able to see my drawings
come to life in animated form
is very exciting!”
“I’ve always liked to push the boundary of my comfort zone.”
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Heng Seng Keong, 58
Jasmine Toh, 52Heng, as she liked to be called, watches ‘Doraemon’ every
Sunday morning. She also likes Tom & Jerry and Mickey
Mouse. Through the workshop, she found her hidden
talent in drawing and animating, though that came with
plenty of effort. She was especially interactive with the
youth participants, and was impressed by the patience of
the instructor and student assistants. In her free time, she
loves travelling and trying new cuisines.
Jasmine has always been fascinated by animation
on television. When she was a child, as there was no
television at home, she would go to her neighbour’s
place to watch cartoons like ‘Ultraman’ and ‘Little Green
Frog’. Her favourite part of the workshop was during
production when everybody had free reign to draw and
animate anything related to the theme of journey. She
also likes dancing, and is currently into line dancing. She
believes in living life to the fullest, and tries to occupy
herself by signing up for workshops and doing volunteer
work.
“It was very interesting to
gather different age groups to
learn animation at the same time.”
“I’m bad at drawing, so the instructor said that I could draw stick figures. But after some practice, I realized I could draw more than just stick figures… I drew the sunset, bridge over flowing water, flowers on the mountain!”
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Joy Low, 57
Michael Lee, 58Wanting to learn something new, and keen to explore
different kinds of art, music and places, Joy signed up for
the animation workshop. Through the eight sessions,
she was generous in offering everyone biscuits—useful
when participants were hungry at night. She also
discovered that she could draw if she really wanted to.
She last seen ‘Finding Dory’ in theatres, impressed by
the colourful characters and the humour. Her favourite
cartoons include ‘Popeye the Sailor Man’, ‘Ultraman’ and
‘Mickey Mouse’.
One of Michael’s favourite pastimes is to go for nature or heritage walks. He’s also an avid sports volunteer, helping with the Singapore Youth Olympic Games and South East Asian Games. Just like sports, he overcame the challenge of animating with patience and determination. Despite his unfamiliarity with art, Michael created drawings based on his imagination. He also watches movies in his free time, and is a member of the Singapore Film Society.
“I was able to use my own hands to create and make
the drawings come alive!”
“I play tennis and squash, but animation was a different ball game altogether.”
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Ong Hwee Ngo, 65
Shamimah Mujtaba, 60Curious about animation, Hwee Ngo found out from a
friend about the workshop. Even though the software
proved challenging to use at the start, she enjoyed utilising
the drawing and colouring tools the most, which helped
her to create intriguing character designs. She remembers
fondly of ‘Tom and Jerry’ in her childhood days, loves
travelling and is always on the hunt for good, tasty local
food such as laksa, satay and fried kway teow.
Shamimah used to hate art in school, but has since discovered that it could be fun too. Seeing her drawings and characters dancing across the screen in animated form was one of her favourite parts of the workshop. Back in the old days watching cartoons, the memory that struck her most vividly was when a new shop started selling television sets, she and her friends would stand in front of the shop to watch ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’.
“I didn’t feel any ‘generation gap’
between the seniors and youths
in the workshop.”
“Animation is all about layering… you can animate anything with just a couple of drawings.”
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Tan Suang Suang, 65
Tan Guan Fan, 18One could learn anything, but to learn “the process of
making” was liberating for Suang Suang in her animation
journey. That process involves not just imagination, but
also thinking skills, and a grounding in the technical aspect.
While devising characters was challenging for her, she came
to appreciate the process of individual creativity and how
collaboration helps the big picture to be realised. Suang
Suang enjoyed cartoons like ‘Donald Duck’ as a child, and
her favourite hobbies include music and travelling.
Together with his sister, Yan Hui (pg. 20), Guan Fan joined the workshop because he wanted to expose himself to more media-related arts. Through the process, he acquired a greater understanding of how timing is essential to the effectiveness of the animation. He is, however, most proud of his interactions with the seniors, whom bounced ideas and opinions off with him. Being a perfectionist, he also learnt to let go of minute details in service of the bigger picture. His favourite cartoon character is ‘Doraemon’, and on a random note, he dislikes coffee because it makes him go all-weird.
“Sharing with the youths was a great
experience. They were very helpful
to advise me on the technical
areas.”
“The seniors were awesome. They treated me like their child!”
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Tan Yan Hui, 20
Tee Pei Chen, 25Interaction is the name of the game for Yan Hui, who loves
to interact with people of all ages, from toddlers to seniors.
The fact that seniors were part of the workshop enticed
her to join. She found animation a tedious but greatly
satisfying process. But seeing everyone working together
to create art inspired her to engage with the medium and
the seniors around her. Her favourite childhood memory
was watching ‘Tom and Jerry’ on television.
Pei Chen loves drawing, so it was no surprise that she challenged herself to draw more complicated characters to animate, rather than settling for simpler ones. Through the process, she realised that by breaking down the characters into different, smaller parts, it became easier to animate. She last saw ‘The Angry Birds Movie’ in the cinema, but her all-time favourite animation is ‘The Prince of Egypt’.
“The seniors were very eager to learn animation, making me realise what it
really means to be a lifelong learner.”
“Creating animation requires me to possess the right attitude—patience, motivation and optimism!”
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About the Curator
About the instructors
Established since 2013, The Filmic Eye is a film education initiative that has been to
more than twenty schools, libraries and community centers with screenings, talks
and workshops to promote film literacy and appreciation, as well as dialogue with
filmmakers. The programmes have reached out to thousands of people, including
students and seniors, as well as working professionals.
Special ThanksLASALLE College of the ArtsChristopher Shaw (Head, Puttnam School of Film and Animation)
Amanda Chee (Assistant)
Mirza Jaafar (Assistant)
Geraldine Toh (Assistant)
Griselda Gabriele (Assistant)
Videography (Anchor Point Pictures)Kannan Vijayakumar
Lee Rahim
Tan Yuan Qing
PhotographyChrystal Ng
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Ang Qing Sheng
Qing Sheng is currently an independent animation filmmaker in
Singapore and teaches in the Animation programme at LASALLE
College of the Arts. He has received support from both LASALLE
Research Project Funding and National Arts Council (Singapore) to
produce animated short films that have been screened worldwide
at international festivals.
Fanny Bratahalim
Fanny graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2014 with First
Class Honours in Animation. Her graduation short film has been
screened in over fourteen international festivals and won several
awards. She is currently working as an Assistant Lecturer for the
animation course in LASALLE, while also studying for her Masters in
Arts Pedagogy and Practice.
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