1 Day of Fame

Shin Min journalist interviewed me abt my 3d animation course and how I coped with the course and blah....

The article came out on print as well as online ( which I am surprised.) 2 weeks ago. Had to wait for my sis to translate Chinese into English. I dun know Chinese at all.







Okay, here is the tranlated article.

Hearing-impaired girl pairs animation to music
A hearing impaired girl broke through her disability and bravely plunged into the world of animation, which not only involves creating moving characters, but also dubbing sound and music to the movements of the animation characters.

The forthright Jorena Tan, 26, says: "I will not be limited by my disability. In fact, I don't even treat it as a problem."

With her hearing aid, which helps her to hear some sounds, she says she can judge how to flow the music along to the characters' movements.

Although the sounds she hears are are not distinctly clear, she can sense the rhythm and beat of the music.

During this interview, Jorena shows the reporter some of her works. In one animation sequence, a girl dances in perfect sync to a lively beat. It was as if the animation character was Jorena herself, a person who professes a love for dancing. (Ya, I love dancing. )


A passion for animation
An engineering graduate from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Jorena tried her hand at web designing after graduation. Then she decided to further her studies in multimedia studies at Curtin University in Australia. There, she dabbled in animation and her interest in the art grew.

When she returned to Singapore, she decided to develop her interest by taking a course with Intense Animation Studio.

Jorena said: "I like to create animation, especially when it comes to designing characters. Animation makes me feel focused, and it makes me very happy at the same time."

Currently, the animation industry is taking off rapidly in Singapore and Jorena is also getting closer to her dream.

The manager of Intense Animation Studio said: "There are very few hearing impaired animation students and Jorena is the studio's first hearing impaired student."

She adds that the studio arranged for a class assistant to help Jorena record what the teacher said, after which, she will make her own notes.

Said Intense Animation Studio's manager: "The teachers and students communicate with Jorena through the computer."

She adds that everyone is treated equally; after class, Jorena, like any of the other students, is free ask the teacher any questions she might have.

Even though there are very little hearing impaired and physically disabled people taking up animation, the manager stressed that as long as these people have an interest in it, their physical impairment will not present a barrier to their aspirations.


Is a physically disabled person unfit to go on stage?
The hot topic of the day is whether Project Superstar Kelvin Tan is fit to perform on stage. Does Jorena have any comments about it?

Jorena says: "I feel that a physical impairment cannot be used to stop a person's dream. To say that he doesnt qualify because he is blind is ridiculous"

And this is Jorena's courage and motivation; if someone were to say the same thing to her, she wouldn't care or think twice about it.

"Why let ignorant people like these get you down? I won't let talk like this bother me."

However, Jorena says, if someone were to doubt her working ability because of her hearing impairment, she would be very disappointed.


Url: http://www.guangming.com.my/content.phtml?sec=193&sdate=&artid=200510071278

posted by Sleek Black @ 10/16/2005 08:37:00 PM