Saturday 21st September was the day of the Fresh Flix animation workshops we’d organised for children at the Arnolfini, inspired by the Children’s Jury film Selection for Encounters Short film and Animation festival. My role on the day was to assist in the workshop, ensuring that it ran smoothly. The other assistants and I arrived promptly at the Arnolfini to find an enthusiastic Will (Aardman animator, facilitator) with an array of craft materials, sets, props and equipment readily prepared, and little to set up ourselves. I was a little anxious at the start, but as the first workshop was announced and more and more families entered the room, I became more confident that the workshops would be a success.
The workshops began with introductions, and Will’s inspiring examples of animations featuring journeys – the theme of the workshops – such as his animation The Weatherman. This led to the children creating story boards.
In the first workshop for ages 5-8, some of the children were a little uncertain at first, but with some encouragement, they came up with boundless imaginative ideas including adventures of animals, ghosts, Star Wars and mushroom lands. They then build models and sets using the craft materials provided. A small amount of guidance from Will and assistants meant the children could easily animate their characters. This contrasted with the second workshop for 9-11 year olds – all of the children in this second group had animated before and with great alacrity began to storyboard, model make and animate with little input from the facilitator and assistants. The children in this second group seemed fascinated by mythical and fictional creatures, so zombies, monsters and cyclops’s were incorporated into most of their animations. Due to the disparity between the age groups, in their interests and animation experience, the two groups were appropriately divided.
The result was completed animations with numerous characters and exciting journeys, children unwilling to leave the studio space and parents enquiring into opportunities for their children to animate again and so by the end of the workshops, I was both content and a little wearied. I haven’t worked with or cared for children for a long time, and I’d forgotten how wonderfully exhausting it can be.
It goes without saying really, but I enjoyed organising and assisting in the workshops and would definitely like to get involved with similar projects in the future.