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Singapore, 28 July 2009 – Hewlett-Packard (HP) today launched a week-long digital art, animation and photography showcase – ‘City of Dreams’ HP Digital Festival – to celebrate award-winning and local creative works in conjunction with Singapore’s 44th National Day. Held in partnership with ION Orchard and supported by ACM SIGGRAPH Singapore, ITE College Central and Objectifs (Centre for Photography and Filmmaking), this festival will run from the 7-13th of August on Basement 4 at ION Orchard.

‘City of Dreams’ is open to public from 11am to 9pm daily and will feature a selection of award-winning animation shorts from SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 Electronic Theatre Showcase presented by ACM SIGGRAPH Singapore Chapter, multimedia and animation works from ITE School of Design & Media and HP Lightropolis contest creations at scheduled timings throughout the day at the projection area. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience the graphics, power and performance of the HP Z-series Workstations through these creative works. Budding young animators between the age of 6 and 14 will be provided with an interactive platform on www.ToonCreatorAwards.com where they can create their own 25-second ending using Ben 10: Alien Force characters. In addition, witness the collaboration of photography, art and print, where photography comes to life with HP Designjet printers at the photography exhibition by Objectifs.

Creative digital dialogue sessions will also be available for aspiring professionals to learn from guest speakers from the digital and animation industry, where they will share their knowledge and expertise on topics such as “Gesture-based Interaction” and “An Introduction to 3D Content Generation”.


Summary of Festival Highlights:

ACM SIGGRAPH Singapore Chapter Presents SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 Electronic Theatre Showcase
Take advantage of this unique showcase to celebrate the latest and greatest cream of animation shorts submitted from all around the world. Be awed by a collection of international works including "Blind Spot" by Gobelins, l'école de l'image, Harmonix 'Rockband' by Passion Pictures and Blizzard Entertainment®'s StarCraft® II announcement teaser.

Digital Dialogues: Creative Exchange By Industry Experts
Guest speakers from the digital and animation industry share their knowledge and expertise during lunchtime talks. This is by registration only. Seats are limited and on a first-come-first-served basis.

Topic: ”Gesture-based Interaction”
Speaker: Dr. Corey Manson Manders, Senior Researcher, Institute for Inforcomm Research
Date: 12 Aug 2009 (Wed), 1pm – 2pm

Topic: “An Introduction to 3D Content Generation”
Speaker: Speaker from ACM SIGGRAPH Singapore Chapter
Date: 13 Aug 2009 (Thu), 1pm – 2pm

ITE School of Design & Media – Digital Showcase
Be inspired by animation works, illustrations, architectural and 3D product renders created by students from ITE School of Design and Media comprising Digital Media Design, Digital Animation, Product Design & Architectural, and Space Design

Ben 10 Appearance and Toon Creator Awards
HP and Cartoon Network have teamed up to present the Toon Creator Awards – a new interactive platform to inspire creativity in kids through the use of technology. During the festival, children and their families can visit the www.ToonCreatorAwards.com using the HP TouchSmart PCs on-site and create their own 25-second ending after viewing a five-second mini-cliffhanger using Ben 10: Alien Force characters.

The entries will be judged by a combination of online votes and a professional judging panel from HP and Cartoon Network. A winner from Singapore will be awarded a HP TouchSmart PC and automatically qualify for the regional competition to win a HP Connected Home grand prize. The ultimate regional winner's project will be broadcast on Cartoon Network in November 2009.

The popular cartoon character Ben 10 will also make an appearance from 7-10 Aug at the following times:

7 Aug (Fri): 4.30pm, 6pm and 7.30pm
8-9 Aug (Sat- Sun): 2pm, 3.30pm and 5pm
10 Aug (Mon): 3.30pm, 5pm and 6pm

HP Photography Gallery
HP is excited to collaborate with Objectifs and present the works of eight local, budding photographers in the “City of Dreams”. In celebration with the theme of dreams and aspirations, the selected exhibits portray the photographers' vision of a City of Dreams in various forms, including the arts, scenery and personalities.

Visitors will be able to see first-hand how these photography works are being accurately reproduced into gallery-quality photographs using the HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer, which industry photographers and graphic designers work with to create long-lasting color and black and white prints.

HP Lightropolis Contest Showcase
Winning entries from the HP Lightropolis contest will be showcased on ION Orchard’s exterior multimedia facade facing Orchard Road as well as various screens within the mall. The winners of the contest include Pauline Tan for the architecture category, Louis Teo for the design category, Aung Soe Thant for the engineering category and Winona Hwang for the animation category.

For more details, please visit www.hp.com.sg/cityofdreams