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ILLUSTRATION SAMPLES MovingForwardbyAndrewTanwww.singaporememory.sg/showcases/40/contents

MyMemoryBookbyFleeCircuswww.singaporememory.sg/showcases/6/contents

TraditionalToyMakingbyLimQixuanwww.singaporememory.sg/showcases/24/contents

MORE ON PICTURE JOURNALLING/ILLUSTRATION

Learnthebasicsofdrawingfrombooks,websitesandillustrators.Readupaboutillustrationstyles,compositionandcolours.

Don’tworryaboutwhetheryour

sketchesare“beautiful”;whatismoreimportantisthestoryyouwanttotell.

Drawwithapermanentink—withamarkerorpen,sothatyouwillnotbepreoccupiedwithmakingchanges.

Ifyougetstuck,tryoneofthesedrawingprompts:drawinacontinuousline,drawwithonlydotsanddrawpatterns.Focusonwordsandbeinspiredbythem.

Youcanenrichyourjournalwithacollageormontage.Seekoutandaddsmallobjects,printedmatterandoldphotosthatenhancethememoryorstory.

Youwillgetbetteratdrawingifyoudopractisemore.Whenyoufeelmoreconfidentaboutdrawing,begintothinkabouthowyouwanttocomposeapagewithyourdrawingsandtext.

BooksDrawingfortheAbsoluteBeginner:AClear&EasyGuidetoSuccessfulDrawingbyMarkandMaryWillenbrink

Artist’sJournalWorkshop:CreatingYourLifeinWordsandPicturesbyCathyJohnson

TheCreativeLicense:GivingYourselfPermissiontoBetheArtistYouTrulyArebyDannyGregory

UrbanSketchersSingaporeVolume01:ABookofOn-LocationSketchesandDrawingsDocumentingtheSingaporeanUrbanLandscapebyUrbanSketchersSingapore

OnlineUrbanSketchersSingaporeblogurbansketchers-singapore.blogspot.sg

OIC@SingaporeCableCaranngee.sg

Drewscape’sblogwww.drewscape.blogspot.sg

DonLow’sblogwww.donlowillustration.com/blog

ListofillustratorsfromOrganisationofIllustratorsCouncilSingaporewww.oicsingapore.com

MarcusLim’sblogwww.marcuslim.com

FromMyMemoryBookbyFleeCircus.

Photos courtesy of Lee Wai Leng

36 37

DOMINIQUE FAMDragon playgrounds were typically found in Singapore housing estates in the 1970s and 1980s. Dominique Fam’s comic, Once Upon A Dragon, tells the story of what one such playground means to a boy at different stages of his life. Dominique, an illustrator by profession, illustrates for advertisements, print and web publications. Check out the comic at www.singaporememory.sg/showcases/29/contents.

Why did you choose illustration to document your memory?I’manillustratorandIliketodrawcomics,somyinclinationistousethemediumIamfamiliarwith.Couldthestorybetoldinwrittenformorwithaphotomontage?Perhaps.ButIfeltmostconfidenttellingthestoryusingthemethodthatIambestat,sothat’swhatIdid.

Can you tell us about your experience in producing Once Upon a Dragon?  Theillustrationprocesstookafewweeks,butittooklongertorecalltheevents,andresearchandplanthescenes.Therecallingstagecouldn’tbedoneinjustafewhoursorafewdays.Itriedtorecallbylookingatsomeitemsfromthepastorbythinkingaboutthem.ButsometimesIjusthadtowaitforthememoriestocomeback.

What was most difficult about the process?Itwasn’tdifficulttryingtorecallthememories.Itwashoweverachallengedecidingwhattoexclude.Mystorycentresonthedragonplayground,sothathadtoremainthefocus.Andbecauseit’sastoryspanning20yearsbuttoldinonly20pages,whateverdidn’thelptomovethestoryalonghadtobeeditedout.

What did you enjoy most about the experience?Itwastheopportunitytolookatthingsfromhindsight.Aswegothroughexperiences,ourperspectiveisoftenlimited,especiallywhenframedbyouremotions.Butwhenwelookback,wecanseethingsfromawiderangle.Beingabletowriteaboutthemyearslaterwasaninterestingwaytorevisitthepast.

Can you tell us more about Once Upon a Dragon?OnceUponaDragonisacomicaboutmymemoriesassociatedwithadragonplayground.Ihopereaderscanidentifywiththeexperiencesinthestory;andiftheyareabletoidentifywiththecharacters,that’sevenbetter.Keepingtheartstylesimpleandgenericisaneffectivewaytodothis.Ialsothoughtsequentialartisagoodwaytomovethestoryalong.

Excerptsfrom

OnceUponADragon.

Illustrations courtesy of Dominique Fam

38 39

INTRODUCTIONAnimation is a technique involving filming or photographing drawings, models (such as clay and paper cut-outs) or objects in sequence. The drawings, models and objects are slightly moved or changed in each successive frame so that when the frames are played back in rapid succession (24 frames per second), an illusion of continuous motion is created. Animated sequences can be presented as videos or motion pictures.

Combining storytelling with visual entertainment, animation is an excellent medium for documenting and presenting memories. Stories and experiences are brought to life with action, sound and visual impact.

There are three types of basic animation, namely:• Cel animation, where pictures are hand-drawn on transparent sheets called celluloids• Computer animation, which uses computer graphics in 2D or 3D formats to create moving images • Stop-motion animation, which uses models or objects manipulated and photographed frame by frame

Stop-motion is a suitable animation style for beginners, as the resources and tools needed for it are readily available. Stop-motion techniques are also easy to learn and practise. This chapter provides a guide to making stop-motion animation using cut-out models.

This section is contributed by Ho Wei Siong, who is among the pioneer group of animators trained in Singapore.

He co-founded Animagine, a leading provider of animation-based training to both students and adults in Singapore.

Animagine has developed proprietary software and solutions to support learning through animation.

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WHAT YOU NEEDStop-motionanimationwithcut-outmodelsusesflatcharacters,propsandbackgroundscutfrommaterialssuchaspaper,cardboard,stifffabricandphotographs.Tofilmorphotographtheindividualframes,youmayuseawebcam,digitalcamera,videocameraorevenasmartphone.

Theprocessofmakingananimationcanbedividedintothreestages,namelypre-production,productionandpost-production.

Equipment and tools checklist

Markers

Bluetack

Scissors

Paper,cardboard,stifffabric,

photographs

Camera(webcam,digital

camera,videocameraor

smartphone)

Tripod

Computer

Stop-motionanimationsoftware

suchasAnimaker(PC)[trial

versionavailableatwww.

animagine.com.sg/products/

animaker]oriMovie(Mac)

PRE-PRODUCTION1 Choose a topic Allgreatstoriesbeginwithanidea.

Beforeyoudecideonthememoryyouwanttocapture,askyourselfsomequestions:Whose memories or what kind of memories are you interested in?Aretherepeoplearoundyouwithinterestingstoriestoshareaboutplaces,peopleoreventsfromthepast?

2 Research Onceyouhavedecidedonyour

idea,researchdeeperintoit.Interview people for their recollections. Fleshoutthedetailswithbackgroundresearchatthelibraryorontheinternet.

3 Write the outline Youmaywishtouse the classic

storyline with three main parts: beginning (set-up), middle (confrontation) and end (resolution). Theset-upintroducesthemaincharacters,andtheirsituationsandgoals;inthemiddlepart,themaincharactersconfronttheirobstacles;thefinaleseesaclimaxinwhichthemaincharactersovercometheirfinalobstacleandreacharesolution.

4 Make a storyboard Prepareastoryboardusingyour

outline.Astoryboardisaseriesofdrawingsorsketches(stickfiguresarefine)thattell the story visually and help you organise your animation shot by shot. Yourstoryboardshouldrevealinformationsuchasthecharactersandhowtheyaremovingineachframe,dialogue,andthetypesofshotsandcameraangles.

Storyboardframesfortheanimation

LittleGestures.

Illustrations courtesy of Animagine

iMOVIE

ANIMAKER

43

42

PRODUCTION5 Create the scenes and characters Set up the first scene. Draw the

characters on paper, cut out and piece togetherthedifferentpartswithBlueTacktocreatefigureswithmoveablejoints.Rememberalsotoincludeabackgroundwithcut-outobjectsforthescene.

7 Capture the frames Move the artwork bit by bit

and capture the images frame by frame. Foreachadjustment,capturetwoframes.Continuemakingadjustmentsandcapturingframesuntilyouhavecapturedalltheframesneededforthefirstscene.Refertoyourstoryboardandmoveontocompletethesubsequentscenes.

6 Begin filming or photography Setupyourdigitalcameraonthe

tripodsothatitfacesthescene.IfyouareusingananimationsoftwaresuchasAnimaker,connectyourweborvideocameratothecomputerandlaunchthesoftware.Begin by taking 24 frames as the establishing shot.[ForatutorialonAnimaker,logontowww.animagine.com.sg/products/animaker]

Cut-out models and props used for Little Gestures.

Using Animaker, a software for stop-motion animation.

Photos courtesy of Animagine Photos courtesy of Animagine

44 45

SAMPLE ANIMATIONS Stop-motionvideoswww.youtube.com/user/AnimagineOnline

LittleGestureswww.youtube.com/watch?v=N0sForRN47c

N.E.Mation!nemation.sg

Itiscrucialtoplanaheadwhenproducingananimationbecauseitistime-consumingandsometimesdifficulttofixmistakesduringediting.That’swhyitisimportanttohaveascriptoroutlineandtofollowyourstoryboard.

Keepyourcamerasteadyonatripod.Don’tstandtoonearthecameraoryoumayaccidentallyknockormoveit.

Keepthelightingbrightandconsistent.Useelectriclightssuchastablelamps,anddon’tfilmorphotographnearawindow.

Beawareofshadows,especiallythosecreatedbypeoplewalkingpast.Anyshadowscastwillcreateaflickerinthefinalsequence.

Alwayschecktomakesurethatthehandsthatareadjustingthecut-outsandobjectsarenotcaughtintheshots.Don’trushtocapturetheframes.

Varythetypesofshots(suchaswideshots,mediumshots,close-ups)andcameraangles(frontal,low,high)—thiswillmakeyouranimationmoreinterestingvisually.

MORE ON ANIMATION BooksBeginner’sGuidetoAnimation:EverythingYouNeedtoKnowtoGetStartedbyMaryMurphy

Frame-by-FrameStopMotion:TheGuidetoNon-TraditionalAnimationTechniquesbyTomGasek

OnlineAnimakertutorialswww.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB5682B0F21867354

iMovietutorialswww.apple.com/support/imovie/

Still from Little Gestures.

POST-PRODUCTION8 Editing IfyouareusingaMac,importthe

imagesfirstintoiPhotoandtheniMovietoreviewtheframesandanimatethemasasequence.Aftercreatingtheanimation,add any desired dialogue recording, music and sound effectsaswellastitles,transitionsandcredits.IfyouareusingAnimaker,theframeswouldalreadyhavebeencapturedbytheprogram.Reviewtheframesandrendertheframesasananimationsequencebyclicking“MakeMovie”.

9 Upload your animation Ensurethatyouranimationisin

oneoftheseformats:AVI,MOV,MP4,WMV(20MBperfile).Followthestep-by-stepinstructionsandupload your video directly onto the singaporememory.sg portal.

Alternatively,youcansaveyourvideosintoaDVDandmail it to:

Singapore Memory Project100VictoriaStreet#14-01NationalLibraryBuildingSingapore188064Attention:AzlinAziz

Photo courtesy of Nexus

46 47

JANICE LOW EARN QINGJanice Low Earn Qing, Sumithri Rekha Venketasubramanian, Sheryl Teng Swee Sim and Felicia Koh Xiao Jie, from National Junior College, took part in the 2013 N.E.mation!, a digital animation competition organised by Nexus for youths to express their thoughts on Total Defence in Singapore. Their animation, Little Gestures, was a top 10 finalist and can be viewed on YouTube.

theendofouranimation,ourmaincharacterthanksanursefortakingcareofhermotherwhohascontractedSARS.

What was the production experience like?Wehadonlythreeweekstoproduceouranimation,andwehadtoworkreallyfasttomeetthedeadlines.Ourcharactersandpropswerefirstcutfrompaperandpaintedwithwatercolours,whichgaveasoft,pastellookthatsuitedouremotionalstory.Wethentookmanypicturesandanimatedthemusingstop-motiontechniques.

What did you enjoy most about the experience?Producingananimationmaybeatediousprocess,butanimationisapowerfultooltoconveyideasandillustrateastory.Weanimatedmanycharactersandtookthousandsofpictures.Itwasreallysatisfyingtoseealltheimagescometolifeasananimation.

What advice do you have for someone telling a story using animation?Bedeterminedandnevergiveup.Continuetoreanimateasceneaslongasyouthinkthereisroomforimprovement.Itmaybetoolatetomakeanychangestoitatthelaterstage.

How did your team decide on the story for Little Gestures?ThethemeofN.E.mation!competitionwas“TogetherWeOvercome”.2013markedthe10thyearsinceSingaporeovercametheSARScrisis,sowethoughtthattheSARStopicwouldexpressthethemeverywell.Wewantedtoshowhowpeoplecouldhelpothersovercomeproblemswithsimplegestures.Thisseedideaguidedusinbuildingourstory.

Was Little Gestures based on a real-life story?LittleGesturesisfictional,butourideascamefromourobservations,experiencesandresearch.Forexample,welearntthatnurseshadcontributedalotduringtheSARScrisis,sowefeltthatitwasimportanttoincludetheminourstory.Towards

Still from Little Gestures.

From storyboard to animation.

Photo courtesy of Nexus Photos courtesy of Animagine

48 49

INTRODUCTION“Soundscape” refers to the sounds heard in a particular place that are considered as a whole. Even if we are not listening out for them, we hear these sounds and they help us identify locations and environments.

The soundscape of an MRT station in Singapore, for example, includes the sounds of fare gates opening and closing, trains rolling into the stations, and the warning beeps for closing train doors. In a local coffeeshop, you hear the clangs of glass coffee mugs and drink servers shouting beverage orders in a lingo that is unique to Singapore, such as kopi o ga dai (black coffee with extra sugar) and Milo peng (iced Milo).

We relate the sounds of everyday life to our community, identity and heritage. Often, they may be taken for granted until they have disappeared or are at risk of disappearing. By collecting and documenting random soundscapes, you can help preserve the aural memories that may come flooding back when someone hears them again.

Areas for soundscape projects could include the following:• Wet markets • Hawker centres • Conversations (dialects)• Festivals (e.g. getai)• Playgrounds• Train announcements• Bus doorbell

This section is contributed by Tan Pei Ling, a Singapore-based interdisciplinary artist. She began

to record and use sound as a medium in 2008 when she realised that she was beginning to lose aural memories of her grandmother. Her work Two Concrete Walls looks at

sounds as testimony to the demolition of Teban Gardens, while And They Gathered Them Together in Heaps,

examines Singapore’s constantly shifting landscape.

WHAT YOU NEEDForlong-termdocumentation,itisadvisabletorecordsoundscapesindigitalformat,suchaswithadigitalaudiorecorderoryoursmartphone’saudiorecordingfunction.Ifyouwishtomakeavisualrecordaswell,youcancapturethesoundscapelocationonvideowhilerecordingthesounds.

AUDACITY

SOUNDTRACKPRO

PROTOOLS

Equipment and tools checklist

Digitalaudiorecorder,orsmartphonewithaudiorecordingfunction.Foraslightlymoreadvancedorhigher-qualityaudio,tryaZoomaudiorecorder.(YoumayalsodownloadsmartphoneappslikeSoundcloudandChirbitforrecording).

Batteries

Computer

Sound-editingsoftwaresuchas

Audacity(freeforPCandMac),

SoundtrackProorProtools(Mac)

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Pei Ling‘s work Two Concrete Walls looks at sounds as testimony to the demolition of Teban Gardens.

segmentsduringediting.Youcanalsodocumentthesoundscapewithavideocamera,whichrecordsboththeaudioandthevisuals.

4 Edit your recordings Uploadyourrecordingstoa

computerwithasound-editingsoftwaresuchasAudacity(audacity.sourceforge.net)orProtools.Reviewyourrecordings,choose the segmentsthathavecapturedsignificantsounds,andputtogetherthevariousparts.

5 Upload your recording SaveyouraudiofileinMP3,WAV

orWMAformat.Email your audiofileofnotmorethan20MBtosingaporememory@nlb.gov.sg.Includeyourpersonaldetailssuchasnameandcontactnumberandasynopsisofyoursubmission.

Alternatively,saveyouraudiofileintoaCDandmail it to:

Singapore Memory Project100VictoriaStreet#14-01NationalLibraryBuildingSingapore188064Attention:AzlinAziz

1 Choose a location Begin by listing the

places you are familiar withorinterestedin.Takeawalkaroundtheseplacesandnotedownthesoundsfoundthere.Theycouldbetheschoolcanteen,thewetmarketoraMalayweddingreception,forexample.

2 Research Goonlineortothelibraryto read

up about the locationyouhavedecidedon.Highlightthesoundsyoushouldlistenoutfor,theirsignificanceandhowtheyhavechangedovertheyears.

Talktothepeopleatthelocation;theymaybeabletoshareimportantinformationabouttheplaceoraboutinterestingsoundsyoucancollect.Forexample,ifyourchosenlocationisthewetmarket,talktothestallholderstofindoutthebesttimestorecordcertainsounds(suchascustomersbargaining).

3 Begin recording Use a digital audio recorderto

recordthesoundscape.Lettherecordingfunctionrunwhileyoulistenoutforthekeysoundsyouwanttocapture.Notedownthetimingswhenthesesoundsoccur,sothatitiseasiertofindthese

MORE ON SOUNDSCAPE Check out some familiar local sound clips on the National Archives of Singapore’s portal (a2o.nas.sg).

Itisadvisabletokeeptrackofthedatesofrecordingeverytimeyouuploadyourrecordingstoyourcomputeroranaudio-sharingsiteasitistime-consumingtofigureoutafterwards.

Useatripodwhenrecording.Youwouldnotwanttoholdontoyourrecorderforlongrecordings.

Whereyoupointyourrecorderatdeterminesthetypeofsoundsyoucaptureandhowclearorloudthesoundsare.Also,getasclosetoyourspecificsubjectaspossible.

Soundissensitivetomovements.Ifyouintendtowalkandrecordatthesametime,wearshoesthatdonotmakeloudnoisesandremoveallaccessoriesthatmaycausedisturbanceinyourrecordings.

Thesoundscapesofaparticularplacemaynotbethesameatdifferenttimesoftheday.Tryrecordingatalocationatdifferenttimesinsuchsituations.

BooksTheBookofAudacity:Record,Edit,Mix,andMasterwiththeFreeAudioEditorbyCarlaShroder

RecordingonaBudget:HowtoMakeGreatAudioRecordingsWithoutBreakingtheBankbyBrentEdstrom

PracticalRecordingTechniques:theStep-by-StepApproachtoProfessionalAudioRecordingbyBruceBartlettandJennyBartlett

OnlineHowtoUseAudacitywww.wikihow.com/Use-Audacity

AudioEditing:TheBasicswww.howtogeek.com/howto/39681/the-how-to-geek-guide-to-audio-editing-the-basics

Aporeeaporee.org/maps

BritishLibrarySoundssounds.bl.uk

Photo courtesy of Tan Pei Ling