Hard work pays off for students
AFolded Wish, a computer-generated imagery animated short film by 19 students of The One Academy, was recently named the Malaysia Gold Winner in the 22nd DigiCon6 ASIA Awards — Asia’s supreme short movie contest.
The film, created by the students who majored in digital animation and illustration courses, was also chosen to represent the country in the final round of the competition.
It also won the “Excellent Works” title under the Division II: “CG Animation Theatre” category in Asiagraph 2020, an international event where Asian creators exhibited their works and competed for top honours.
Inspired by an ancient Japanese legend and set in the 1940s of the Showa era, A Folded Wish explores the tale of twin sisters who shared a wish, hoping for a miracle.
Referred to as Senbazuru, which literally means 1,000 cranes, the legend promises that anyone who does origami of a thousand cranes will be granted a wish by the gods.
The team of students, who called themselves Artmoeba Productions, showed skill and quality work in producing their film, which proved their passion for the arts. The film has amassed 15 million YouTube views.
The Artmoeba Productions team, led by Yeow Chien Huey (director), Nur Halimah Abdul Halim (co-director), Sion Ng Jia Shen (DG line producer), Shane Teng Xie Le (IL line producer), Siti Balqis Abdul Rahman (art director) and Philip Oh Ming Hui (lead animator), spoke about their journey.
“I felt surprised, touched and appreciative definitely! All members of the team worked hard to achieve what we wanted. We got to learn so much along the journey. I will always remember this as one of the best memories of my college days at The One Academy,” said Ng of their win.
Yeow said the idea for the story stemmed from her love for origami, and she learned about Senbazuru when she was young.
“I thought that it was such an incredibly precious and beautiful gesture, especially when one is dedicating it to a loved one for good health. My team members and I then incorporated this practice into a meaningful story of two twin sisters, who were sick but wished to be healthy together,” she said.
Nur Halimah said she was involved in both the story and concept department.
“It was a bit rocky in the beginning, having to manage such a large number of people. It helped that all of us were skilled, so we were satisfied with the roles we were given.”
Oh said the most challenging part was to finish the eight-minute short film.
“We were worried that we weren’t able to finish on time. We were stressed out and rushing to complete the shots. Luckily, our lecturer extended our submission deadline and told us to push ourselves. After six more months of hard work, we finally finished our animation with great quality,” he said.
“Brainstorming and creating believable characters with my fellow group mates was the best part. We were able to give room for creativity and express them wholeheartedly. It’s still one of the best group project experiences that I’ve ever had,” said Teng.
The One Academy is committed to providing the best programmes in art education and continues to nurture its students passionately through its “Masters Train Masters” coaching philosophy.