Future Workplaces That Go Above and Beyond Imagination

It is without a doubt that we have entered the era of technology. From gadgets, lifestyle, apparel, even the food we eat have all had a brush with technology at some point or another. With all this technology amidst us, it has also brought along a substantial amount of change to the way we live. Ease, access, speed, and collaboration are all words that are used liberally when describing the effects of technology. Keeping in line with the theme of technology and all that it has to offer, The One Academy partnered up with Dell, Microsoft and M-Link to bring yet another opportunity for talented young individuals in the creative field.

The ‘Visions of the Future’ short film competition was organized and open to all The One Academy students. The students were asked to create a 3 minute-long short film showing how they imagined the future of workplaces to be like. The use of VFX and animation was encouraged to bring out the creative technological side in them. They were not only competing for their share of the prizes worth RM15,000 but also the opportunity to exhibit their talent and skills on a public platform as the winner’s work would be used at the company’s promotional events. The stakes were high and the scholars definitely delivered.

The first prize was won by the team led by Ruth Feby Carissa. She and her team mates Alison Loke, Eng Hui Qing, Leonie Albert, Liew Hui Xuan, Phang Kenie and Nicholas Ho walked away with the grand prize of vouchers worth RM10,000. When asked about their plans with the prize, Feby Carissa said “We will probably be saving it for the future after splitting it amongst ourselves”. The win evidently came as a surprise as the team did not expect the victory. They worked hard as a group but did not harbour hopes of winning as the competition was quite strong. “At the end, we just thought about doing our best to make the short film as presentable as possible to anyone who would watch it with a hope of still winning” said Ruth Feby Carissa who took on the role of Art Director for this project.

The team’s advice to future participants is to “do your best and just go for it”. They stated that competitions such as these are not all about winning but rather the experience one stands to gain from it. “As students, we are still learning and these projects give us a chance to learn and get valuable information from lecturers as well as their valuable guidance along the process”, said Ruth.

The second prize went to the talented team led by Chin Young. He and his team mates Chung Chin Hong, Shiew Hao Ze, Victor Chan, Go Zhin Yuen, Lee Chi Yuen and Teoh Yi Heng bagged shopping vouchers worth a whopping RM5000. Some of the challenges that the team faced while producing this project was rejection of ideas and budget issues. As this was a new type of project for them, they decided to come up with unique ideas, however many of their ideas were rejected before they settled on the winning one. Budget was also a concern as many of the locations that they planned to film at was too pricey to rent. “The One Academy helped us a lot in this matter as they provided us with locations as well as equipment to use”, said Chin. He also advised future participants to take into consideration the practical and technical issues that may occur during the production phase of a project such as this. “Things like location and budget can end up being a huge rock in the way”, he said.

Both team were all smiles as they received their prizes during the ceremony at The One Academy. They thanked the organisers as well as the sponsors for providing platforms such as this to help young talents to grow and experience the joys of working in the technological era as well as put forth their ideas for the future.

The One Academy is committed to providing the best art education programmes and continues to nurture its students passionately through its ‘Masters Train Masters’ coaching philosophy, which has been practised for the past 27 years, by providing diploma and degree courses namely Advertising & Graphic Design, Digital Animation, Digital Media Design, Film Visual Effects, Interior Architecture & Design, Illustration, Fine Arts and Paris Fashion Design & Pattern Making. For more information on The One Academy, visit www.toa.edu.my or call +603-5637 5510 or e-mail your enquiries to [email protected].