Digital Animation A Thrill For Students

27 October 2010, By IRDA

Iskandar Malaysia’s 1st Digital Storytelling Animation Project

WEDS, 27th OCT – It was three days of fun-filled education when 30 students from 10 different schools came together to learn basic animation skills in a bid to develop talent for the creative industry in Iskandar Malaysia.

During the full three-day workshop, the students, aged 13 and 14 years old, were trained on the art of animating images using a combination of images and text to create new, creative and exciting ways to tell a story.

G. Tamili, from SMK Sultan Ibrahim, said that the workshop was very interesting and had helped her gain much insight into animation works, adding she would even love the idea of having it as one of the subjects in school.

Another participant, Fatin Farhana, from SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman, said she had a lot of interest in animation because on top of being able to create very cute animations, she was also able to develop her creativity.

“This animation workshop has been great and really interesting. Even if someone does not know about animation, this workshop can help foster and develop that interest,” she said.

Cassandra Ling, from SMK Senai, said she hoped the relevant agencies would organise more of such workshops as she really gained a lot of knowledge on animation as well as computer tips.

IRDA Chief Executive Ismail Ibrahim said based on the Iskandar Malaysia Human Capital Blueprint analysis, one of the key talent issues in Iskandar Malaysia’s creative industry is the lack of advancement opportunity and low public awareness and exposure to the creative arts.

“As such, IRDA and the relevant agencies are committed to developing human capital in the creative industry through various initiatives such as this one especially as the creative sector is one of the nine sectors promoted in Iskandar Malaysia.

“In 2013, Iskandar Malaysia will become the location to Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios’ (PIMS). This filming studio famous for producing films such as James Bond, Batman, Lara Croft and Superman,” he said when launching the workshop.

Ismail said this investment had a very high social impact for Iskandar Malaysia as it would contribute to some RM1billion towards the economy in the next eight year and create 3,000 direct employment opportunities and 5,000 indirect opportunities a year.

“This is just the first group of schools to participate in this workshop. Our vision is to extend this initiative to all schools in Iskandar Malaysia,” he said, adding the next Creative workshop would be held in Pasir Gudang, this time revolving around Video.

The Digital Storytelling Project was initiated in 2004 by the Creative Multimedia Department of the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). The recent workshop here was organised by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) with the support of the MDeC and Johot State Education Department at SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra in Kulaijaya.

After the workshop, each participating school would be given three weeks to complete an animation project which involved coming up with characters and a storyline based on the state of Johor.

Every group which successfully finishes the animation project on time would stand a chance to visit the MDeC Creative Studio in Cyberjaya to gain hands on exposure to the animation industry.

The group with the best animation clip would win a visit to Universal Studio in Singapore.

#ENDS#

About IRDA
The Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) is the regulatory authority mandated to plan, promote and facilitate the development of Iskandar Malaysia into a strong and sustainable metropolis of international standing, where living, working, business and leisure converge seamlessly.

For media inquiries, kindly contact Puan Marsha Tan at 019-777 8475 or Encik Ahmad Ghazali Musa at 019-754 5115.