Two students from the School of Creative Media (SCM) clinched the “Best Digital Effects” trophy in the 2nd Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Excellence Awards ( HKDEEA) Presentation Ceremony on 30 April. It was a joint event between the HKSAR Government and the digital entertainment industry.
, a one-minute animated film by final year undergraduate Creative Media students, Ms Cheng Pui-sze and Ms Mok Pui-yuk, stood out in the open category of this year’s HKDEEA due to its spectacular visual effects. The film tells the story of an encounter between a dancer and a blue phoenix. “We wanted to show the meeting of eastern and western cultures, which are symbolized respectively by the phoenix and the dancer,” Ms Cheng said. The dancer represents youth and vitality, while the phoenix symbolizes longevity and rebirth. The blue color produces a harmonious feeling. Special visual effects were created by merging a real-life dancer and a digital image of the blue phoenix.
The film arose originally as a student assignment for the SCM course, “Digital Visual Effects,” taught by Assistant Professor
Mr Mike Wong. Another SCM staff member,
Ms Koala Yip, Lecturer, also participated in the project by playing the role of the dancer. The students deftly fused the image of a real person with a digital image, a technique they learned from the course. “In fact the project is a result of the combination of the many skills, such as storytelling and animation, that we have learned thus far in the SCM,” Ms Mok said. “The digital effects in our work would not have been as good without the advanced technical setup provided by the School.”
HKDEEA recognizes innovative production
The HKDEEA, aimed at recognizing innovative local productions, promoting excellence and encouraging creativity in the digital entertainment industry, is organized by the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau, HKSAR, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), the Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association and the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association. Officiating at the presentation ceremony was
Mr Francis Ho, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (Communications and Technology) of the HKSAR,
Mr K K Yeung, Executive Director of HKPC, and
Mr Sin Chung-kai, Legislative Councillor (Information Technology).
The HKDEEA started as an industry event to recognize outstanding achievements by local professionals. This year it expanded to include budding talent, by introducing features such as the open category, the outstanding student award, and the outstanding start-up company award, in addition to the usual professional category. More than 80 entries competed for about a dozen prizes in computer animation, digital effects and entertainment software awards. Sponsoring this year’s HKDEEA were Centro Digital Pictures Ltd., Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Ltd., Hutchison Telecommunications (HK) Ltd., Jadason Technology Ltd., SGI, and Sony Computer Entertainment (HK) Ltd.
