My School Life – CLISS STUDIOS

Hello fellow readers, this is a school life blog post compiled by a group of current Y3 students doing their capstone project in ICT. They are from CLISS Studios, a group of students who are keen in making better public spaces for human interaction. A formidable group with a unique blend of IMGD and A3DA students in one.

For more information about this studio, feel free to follow their Instagram @clissstudio or even their own developed website, thankfully supported by amphibistudios for the time being (20 May 2020)!

Today, we asked all the members of CLISS Studios to tell us their memorable time that they’ve had during their years in Ngee Ann Polytechnic and in the School of InfoComm Technology. Well here’s what they have to say about their school life…

Lin Jie’s Journey

I like to draw and design. Thus, the fondest memory I have was in modules that are involved in art and design. For example, modules like anatomy drawing, character design, prop and environment design. So, I can’t really say I had bad memories during my time in school. Additionally, I felt that these modules were really enriching, and I get to do the things that I love. It feels like the level of happiness is the same when it comes to going to school every day since I get to go to a place where it lets me explore and learn the things I like.

Last year, the people in my course got to go to USA for their field trip during the school break, I guess that could be a very fun memory if I had gone but it was okay though, I get to do the things that I wanted during that time and enjoy my break!

Another memory that I remembered was the time I was involved in World Robot Olympia and CCA Open house. For these events, I was supposed to create banners and graphic posters. Apparently, it turned out to be kind of a rush as there is a lot of things to pick out and change. To add on, one of the person that was supposed to help out for the posters said that she got some urgent matter to attend to. Hence, I had to take over her work half way.

This was a challenging time for me as I had to stay up all night. But, the end product was satisfying, I felt accomplished and the teacher was happy with the work. So, I think it was a good time despite the challenge.

All in all, I joined the course because I like what I get to do in the course. Hence, I wouldn’t complain because I loved every moment of it!

Lin Jie
A3DA AY 18/19

Choong Seng’s Journey

My favourite memory during my school life was our lessons involving 3D modelling. The classes were tough and personally, I had some foundation on 3D modelling before this. However, the class was still challenging for me. Halfway during one of the lessons, I started hearing some laughter from behind me in class. When I turned around, it was my friend.

Apparently, there were some rigging issues with his 3D character. Hence, when he started making animations with his character, it got deformed. The deformity of the model was so unexplainable that it made me laugh non-stop. After a good laugh with my friend, we started to brainstorm on how we could fix it. In the end, no one could figure out why and how. So, we went to ask the lecturer for help. All in all, the lesson was quite hilarious and memorable for me.

Another favourite memory of mine in school was the time where my class was tasked to take graduation photos for our seniors. After setting up before the first photoshoot session, we came up with an idea. We had decided to use this extra time to take an unofficial mini class photo. Subsequently, everyone had fun and we did a few photos and poses. I think that the photos really held some memory. And, I know we will have fun looking back at these photos in the future even though I looked ridiculous in the photos.

The only thing I would like to do before my school time ends is to know everyone in my course, besides my class. It was many moments like these that made me realized most of the time we had are busy rushing for assignments and clearing deadlines. We should always treasure every moment, laugh at the face of adversity and make the best out of our days in school too!

Choong Seng
IMGD AY 18/19

Sow Ying’s Journey

IMGD was my first choice because I wanted to learn both design and programming. Furthermore, Ngee Ann Polytechnic was one of the few schools that offered it. I was actually hesitant to put IMGD first. Reason being that I studied IT in ITE where I learned programming. Hence, this course was covering a bit of what I’ve already learnt there. However, this did gave me some comfort to know that I will be able to adapt well for this course. So, I decided to join it because I really did want to learn more about design.

When I first joined the school, we had to go through a compulsory orientation. I was actually quite excited as I heard that poly orientations were really fun. I was glad that the orientation we had for my batch indeed turned out to be fun and interesting.

So far my favourite school life memory would be the beach bonding activity. It was an unofficial event organized by our very own ICT seniors form the society. I was really thankful. Reason being that after our orientation, our seniors took their time off from their busy school schedules to plan this. I really enjoyed every minute of it.

Although it started raining and delayed things for us, we still had fun playing frisbee and mingling that day. We also talk to our seniors about school stuff and got to understand how life was being in ICT. All in all, I do not regret my choice of choosing IMGD. I managed to learn a lot of new skills and knowledge throughout the course.

Sow Ying
IMGD AY 18/19

Stephanie’s Journey

One of my favourite memory in school would be the times I’ve went out to have lunch together with my friends. And, the other would be my classmates and I taking random selfies or pictures during our class breaks.

There were many moments in school where my friends and I would struggle trying to understand the lessons being taught. Especially when it comes to programming lessons (Sorry Mr. Malcolm :P) and design lessons. Reason being that our computers were either crashing or just lagging behind. Despite all these hardships we faced, these were the most memorable moments that I’ve had. We were able to put on a smile and carry on and adapting to every situation.

One of the challenging assignments my classmates and I had, was to create a reflective talk show video using sock puppets. We literally spent the entire day till 10pm in school just to create the props. However, filming ourselves as the puppets was way harder. After this segment, I actually had a new profound respect for puppet masters. Especially, those who are involved in this kind of filming method. We spent long hours hiding ourselves under the bench whilst making sure our sock puppets were in sync to the audio record that we have. Additionally, we had to maintain our sock puppet’s image within the camera frame for the entire time.

Besides the programming lessons, I’ve enjoyed getting exposed to different events that was related to our course. For example, the Polyfintech Festival and DesignUp Conference in Asia in 2019. I got to actually see what our industry was like in person. To be frank, it was a very eye-opening experience. I am glad that I got to do this with my friends in class together.

Besides the struggles, I really enjoyed our social media branding (SMB) and digital, video and audio (DVA) lessons. Reason being that I get to mingle with my classmates more to finish up our class tasks. One fond school life memory I had was getting to visit the green room in Studio 27 with my classmates for lesson.

We had to film a “live show” talk with the green screen backdrop. I obtained the role to act as the TV host for the film and I enjoyed every minute of it. From understanding the light positioning and commands from director to the ground floor’s duties between the recording room and the main stage. It really gave me a small glimpse of how our shows and films are made today. Furthermore, not forgetting how we all had to work together as a team for this lesson. I got to know everyone even more during this period of time.

Another reason why I remembered this lesson so well was because I recalled messing up a few times while being filmed. In addition, I had to keep a straight face and act like I did not make any mistake when everyone knew I did. I had to do 5 retakes to get it right. To my classmates who are reading this now, I just want to say thank you for being patient with me and for making it a fond school life memory.

Stephanie
IMGD AY 18/19

In Conclusion

That is all from CLISS Studios! It seems like they are making the most out of their busy days in school. How about you? What were some of your favourite school life memories back when you were a student? Feel free to share with us! As always, take care and remember to enjoy and appreciate your days and life!

Best wishes from the team!:)

CLISS Studios!