Young Animators Draw up Gas Safety Tips
When Nanyang Polytechnic student Quek Yu Jie was 10, he came home to a strange smell and a hissing sound. He witnessed his mother’s quick reaction: she turned off a gas ring that had been left on, and opened all windows in the flat.
“My mother knew we needed to let the gas out quickly. But I don’t think we knew we had to shut the main gas valve and leave all other appliances untouched,” Yu Jie, now 25 and a Nanyang Polytechnic final year student, recalled.
Yu Jie and three other animation coursemates from NYP’s School of Interactive & Digital Media learnt this when they created a series of gas safety videos for SP Group as part of their Final Year Project.
The biggest learning for them was that, using a mobile phone during a gas leak can spark a fire due to the microwaves emitted from phones, said Yu Jie, who led the video’s post-production.
Statistics have shown that 42.5 per cent of the gas leaks attended to in the second half of 2018 were due to the misuse of gas appliances. The videos are part of a gas safety campaign that is rolled out in September this year.
The team used animation to highlight key safety tips: how to detect a leak, ways to prevent gas-related incidents, and the importance of engaging a Licensed Gas Service Worker to install gas appliances. Team-mates Koh Chiau Wen and Lim Shu Ming, both 19, took the lead in developing key characters, while Andrea Low, 20, focused on creating the backdrop.
The students worked closely with SP to decide on the best ways to drive home the key messages to a broad audience.
“We want to raise the level of gas safety awareness as many people overlook the correct and safe use of gas appliances and accessories,” said Nur Hafiza binte Mohd Zulkifli, Senior Engineer, Gas Operations, from SP’s gas safety committee, a workgroup on gas safety education.
Final Year Projects usually take about 480 hours, but project supervisor Bhakta Srini said that for this one, each put in up to 30 hours more, including over weekends and after school, to perfect the videos and capture the realism of human characters.
“One second of a film is 24 frames and requires 12 drawings. We created over 1,500 drawings in total,” explained Chiau Wen, who led the project team.
But the students all agreed that it was worth it, since the videos get the message across using everyday scenarios.
Head of Corporate Affairs, Amelia Champion said the collaboration with the polytechnic helped to bring across SP’s gas safety advice through the lens of the students.
“Anyone can potentially help detect or prevent a leak or be an advocate for safe practices. This series aims to make our safety messages easily understood and shared with others.”
— 24 September 2019
