Artist in School Residency 2013: "Penny And The Big Top"

Over the course of several months I had been collaborating with twenty-eight pupils in Scoil Choca Naofa in a stop motion animation group project funded by the Kildare Arts Office. The project involved all students in a third and fourth class mix, and seen pupils learn the art of stop motion animation. Pupils explored the theme of “A Trip To The Circus.” They took inspiration from Alice Maher, Kara Walker and Shaun The Sheep! Learning about all elements of animation, from scriptwriting, storyboarding, character design, set design to final production shooting. Pupils collaborated their idea’s, stories, characters and imaginations to create one final stop motion animation production. The result of which was a seven minute short.

          The first phase was writing a group story and developing a script, from here each student was assigned a scene to sketch the storyboard, then they designed and made a character and a prop or set piece. The collaboration of each pupils work began in the next phase, when shooting began, taking reference from previous storyboards produced. Each pupil gained hands on experience of animating characters, adjusting lighting, managing sets and deciding on camera angles, alternatively referred to as “Lights, Camera, Action!!” Pupils also recorded narrating the script, known as a “voice over.”          Once all the production photography had been shot, I digitally combined the audio with the visual imagery, then added a musical soundtrack, with sound effects.

          A great hype was created around the school on the day “Penny And The Big Top” premiered for the first time pupils seen their hard work come to life. Each pupil got a certificate of participation and a DVD copy of the animation.

          During my time in Scoil Choca, I hope that I have made an impact on the pupils perception of art and it’s limitless possibilities. All pupils were alert, smart, imaginative and keen to learn. They enjoyed all activities and the school and class teachers were continually supportive. The skills they have learnt will last them much longer and they have experienced the power of collaboration, working as part of one team.
          The finished animation is viewable on the school website or is available for viewing in the school.
https://vimeo.com/85248709