Westbury schoolchildren get in touch with their inner animator through Aardman project (From Wiltshire Times)
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Westbury schoolchildren get in touch with their inner animator through Aardman project
9:50am Tuesday 17th July 2012 in Westbury
A Westbury Leigh Primary School pupil was among those to try model-making at the Black Swan Arts, Frome
Schoolchildren of all ages are getting the chance to explore the world of animation thanks to a schools project at Black Swan Arts in Frome.
As part of Aardman at Black Swan: The Art and Craft of Animation, pupils from Reception classes to A level Media, from the Frome and Westbury areas, are being guided through an exhibition and encouraged to get creative with workshop activities.
Schools from the Westbury area are learning more about Frome, by combining their visit to the Black Swan with exploring the Blue House and the Museum.
Westbury Infants and Westbury Leigh Primary made some fantastically creative models and storyboards, while older students from Frome Community College will be broadening their experiences, by offering animation guidance to younger pupils from other schools, and are being rewarded with some one-off workshops with a senior Aardman model maker.
The exhibition has been put together especially for the Black Swan gallery and will offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how Aardman Animations create their famous Oscar-winning films.
The Bristol-based animators will use designs, sets and characters from The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and A Matter of Loaf and Death to show how Wallace & Gromit are brought to life.
And it will uncover the wide range of skills that are needed to create their cracking adventures.
The exhibition runs until September 1 and so will also offer plenty of school holiday entertainment and inspiration for children.
Younger visitors will have their own kitchen table workshops where they can use modelling clay to create their own characters and plan their stories by drawing storyboards, just like Aardman.
The best model and storyboard will be judged by Aardman, and will win a Somerset Film animation workshop at the Engine Room in Bridgwater.
And if these taster tables leave young people wanting to explore animation further, there will also be some half-day workshops happening in the Round Tower during August.
The workshops run by Kidsart! will offer youngsters the opportunity to animate their models, by making a simple short film.
For more information, call Claire Yeoman on 07940 497848.
