N.E.mation! 11 : Spotlight on N.E. HEH HEH (#NE11C09)

We met with one of the Top Ten teams for this year’s N.E.mation! competition – N.E. HEH HEH from the Singapore Chinese Girls School (SCGS). Erin Tan reports.

Update (14 January, 2017):

N.E. HEH HEH’s animation, “Just A Little Something”, is now available for viewing and voting. You can find out the four methods of voting your three favourite clips here.

A photo posted by John Tan (@tech4tea) on

N.E.mation! 11 Team “N.E. HEH HEH” from Singapore Chinese Girls School (SCGS). From left: Wang Lei, Sarah Mak, Karen Nakajima and Michelle Khor.

N.E. HEH HEH is the only team from SCGS in the Top Ten teams in this year’s N.E.mation! 11.

Wang Lei, the Secondary Three team leader of N.E. HEH HEH, a bubbly art student who also drew life-like portraits of the entire team - see below.

Wang Lei, the Secondary Three team leader of N.E. HEH HEH, a bubbly art student who also drew life-like portraits of the entire team – see below.

The team members consist of two Secondary Three ladies, who keep the team anchored, and two Secondary Ones, who keep things light-hearted and fun.

The two Sec Three girls – Wang Lei and Sarah Mak – are veterans from the school’s N.E.mation! 9 Top Ten team two years ago!

They told me that their team name is a play on the evil laughter of the character Pap from the video game Undertale, and the name “N.E.mation”.

The product of these three weeks of production will be a 60-second animation, to bring to life the ideas and storyline they proposed during the earlier pitching and selection rounds.

Caricatures of the team and their mentor, drawn by Wang Lei. Photo credit: N.E. HEH HEH.

Caricatures of the team and their mentor, drawn by Wang Lei. Photo credit: N.E. HEH HEH.

N.E. HEH HEH is planning to create an stop-motion animation revolving around the different ways every citizen can contribute to our nation’s defence, from serving National Service to stepping forward to join the SAF Volunteer Corps.

The story title is “Just a Little Something” and the tagline is “A little something can go a long way”.

Secondary Three student Sarah Mak, who loves Studio Ghibli films with a passion because, according to her, “HAYAO MIYAZAKI IS THE BEST ANIMATOR EVER”.

Secondary Three student Sarah Mak, who loves Studio Ghibli films with a passion because, according to her, “HAYAO MIYAZAKI IS THE BEST ANIMATOR EVER”.

Although the girls originally intended to use folded origami for their stop-motion animation, the team has since decided to use the innovative method of using hand-painted designs on cups as the props.

When I visited them, the ladies showed us some of their work so far, they are ahead of schedule and making good progress, even though one of their members was absent.

I find that their work is quite unique, since it combines both digital and physical mediums to make the final animation, and the quality of the work produced is really professional.

I look forward to seeing how far this creative team progresses, and wish them all the best for N.E.mation! 11.

Check out their journey through the competition by following their Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, where you can see interesting posts like a time-lapse video of their work.

N.E.mation! 11

N.E.mation! Is an annual inter-school digital animation competition organised by Nexus for youths (aged 13-17) to express their thoughts on Total Defence (TD).

This is the 11th iteration of the N.E.mation! series of animation competition in Singapore.

This is the 11th iteration of the N.E.mation! series of animation competition in Singapore.

More than 15,000 students from secondary schools, junior colleges and centralised institutes have participated in N.E.mation! since its inauguration in 2007.

Karen Nakajima, also Secondary One, who enjoys anime, sleeping, and trapping insects in cups. “I like cats and collecting unglam photos of friends to save them as their contacts. Everyone in this group is my victims,” Karen confesses.

Karen Nakajima, also Secondary One, who enjoys anime, sleeping, and trapping insects in cups. “I like cats and collecting unglam photos of friends to save them as their contacts. Everyone in this group is my victims,” Karen confesses.

This is the 11th iteration of the N.E.mation! series of animation competition in Singapore.

For N.E.mation! 11, students are asked to use their creativity and share stories centered on the theme “Together We Keep Singapore Strong”.

The animation clips produced by the top 10 finalist teams will be judged by a panel comprising industry professionals.

In addition, the public can show their support by voting for their three favourite clips come January 2017 via website (www.nemation.sg), Facebook or SMS.

The winning team will win a coveted trip to visit renowned animation studios in the USA.

Michelle Khor, Secondary One, who gave the group its unique name. “I like to doodle things,” Michelle shares.

Michelle Khor, Secondary One, who gave the group its unique name. “I like to doodle things,” Michelle shares.

Prior experience or knowledge in animation is not required as training and guidance in story creation and development, animation techniques and presentation skills will be provided for the shortlisted teams.

The clips will be of broadcast quality and will be viewed by more than 1.3 million audiences on both television and in cinemas across the island.

Some of these clips have gone on to win awards in prestigious international animation festivals.

Through the learning journey of the competition, student participants acquire TD knowledge and gain useful skills that they can apply to future endeavours.

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2 Responses to “N.E.mation! 11 : Spotlight on N.E. HEH HEH (#NE11C09)”

  1. […] outer cup to get different facial expressions or different stages of a chin-up exercise. Prop by N.E. HEH HEH […]

  2. […] C09 N.E. HEH HEH: “Just A Little Something” (Singapore Chinese Girls’ School) […]

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