ANIMATION CONTEST BAGS JURONG JC STUDENTS CHANCE OF A LIFETIME

Four students from Jurong Junior College will be traveling to California this summer to visit the world-renowned Pixar Animation Studios.

The quartet, Team JJ AVAC, had won this rare invitation in the N.E. Mation! II competition.

Now in its second year, the competition aims to promote National Education through the creative use of animation.

And Team JJ AVAC's project - a clever use of mixed media - knocked the socks off the judges. Entitled 'Nation Moulders', Team JJ AVAC's piece combined claymation and pixilation, where an actor moved and clay was painstakingly moulded for every single frame of animation.

Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, Minister of State for Defence Koo Tsai Kee congratulated all the participating teams for their effort and performance in the competition.

"All of you have experienced resilience first-hand, learning how to cope with setbacks, to persevere and to push on till you have completed your project," Associate Professor Koo told the participants.

He added that the lessons they learnt from the competition were also applicable in Total Defence.

"It is only when you see the big picture, share a common vision, and pull together as a team, that can you achieve what you have achieved in these animation clips."

N.E. Mation! II was a tough competition. Since its inception last year, participation had gone up by 50 per cent. In total, about 220 entries from 380 students were submitted.

Speaking to cyberpioneer after the prize presentation, Ng Wei Lun of Team JJ AVAC shared the thrust of his team s clip: "We wanted to show how people from all walks of life mould the nation, so our animation covered the entirety of Total Defence."

His team-mate Sunny Chua was "pretty surprised" to have won the competition. Still, he was thankful for the opportunity to have taken part.

He said: "Other than learning animation, I also learnt a lot about Total Defence".