Press Releases
Lights, camera and action! Students win big at Schools Digital Media Awards 2009
From 3D animated comedy to high-definition video documentary, budding filmmakers in schools proved that no genre or medium was too difficult for them to tackle at the Schools Digital Media Awards (SDMA).
More than 300 students and teachers received recognition for their creativity in the production of video, animation and audio at the SDMA 2009 presentation ceremony on 3 March 2009. Co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Ngee Ann Polytechnic (School of Film and Media Studies), SDMA 2009 attracted 548 student entries, a jump from 423 in the previous year. Mr Kenneth Tan, Chief Operating Officer, Media Development Authority and Director, Singapore Film Commission, was the guest of honour for the event.
The 10th edition of the annual competition collaborated with Nexus, Speak Good English Movement, Singapore Civil Defence Force and Singapore Heart Foundation to provide materials and information for the development of stories under their respective themes. Participants were invited to express their views through different genres such as documentary, drama and advertisement. More details of the entries and background information are given in Annex A.
A total of 65 awards for the Students’ Competition (two Platinum Awards, 20 Gold Awards, 17 Silver Awards and 26 Merit Awards) and six awards for the Teachers’ Competition (one Platinum Award, one Gold Award, two Silver Awards and two Merit Awards) were given out at the ceremony. Winners can accumulate points from this competition to vie for the National Infocomm Competition (NIC) championship title. Three entries were awarded Viewers’ Choice Awards and 41 entries were recognised for the use of High Definition (HD) formats in video production.
In all, 215 schools comprising 100 primary schools, 105 secondary schools, nine junior colleges and Millennia Institute participated in this event. 33 entries were also received in the Teachers’ Competition.
“I’m heartened by the enthusiasm displayed by our students and teachers,” noted MOE’s Director of Educational Technology, Dr Cheah Horn Mun. He added, “The rich resources developed through this competition can be shared and further enhanced for use in learning and teaching through platforms such as learning communities that are established within and across schools. This is another important step forward to encourage a culture of co-ownership of learning and sharing.”
In the lead up to the competition, SDMA 2009 also provided teachers and students with Media-in-Education workshops conducted by industry partners on various production techniques and story development.