Ever wanted to bring a character to life through animation? Nga Sin Tse is studying Animation in the Institute of Technology Tralee and in this blog shares her experience…
When I was younger, I always looked at the sky and dreamt that I could make wonderful movies to help the people who felt lost. My childhood life was difficult at times and I would often watch animation when I was feeling bad, and Disney movies were (and still are) my favourite. I gained a lot of courage from those characters, such as Simba, Princess Ariel and Elsa and I feel lucky now that I can study animation now to fulfil my dream.
Animation as a course isn’t all fun and games though, we also study media concepts and notions of Benjamin, Plato and even Aristotle. I am not good at English, so I spend a lot of time studying to ensure I keep it. We also focus on film development and are required to submit a reflective journal each week.
I studied Physics and Chemistry as my elective subjects in secondary school and I was initially nervous about not being able to draw or perform well enough in class. Before I began the course, I did’t know how to use line to create a great picture and colouring was my weakness. But with small classes, great teaching and time, I can now draw wonderful pictures. My lecturers have told me that I am born to work in animation because I produce really interesting characters!
Sound effects were a nightmare to me and I am not good at technology. Protools is really useful and has a lot of functions, but it’s hard to use, and I’ve spent a lot of time to getting used to thsi software. Practice makes perfect though and I can now produce a song by myself! Sound effects are really interesting and cool.
Next semester, I will have the opportunity to focus on 2D animation, modelling and photography. I am really looking forward to it, I can’t wait!