Animation Education!
Over 40 educators, from primary and secondary school teachers to designers and community workers, have explored the potential for animation within their classrooms and communities.
As part of a unique partnership between V&A Dundee and Aardman, the makers of Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and Shaun the Sheep, the event provided a morning of animation-inspired activities, including an insight into the Animate with Aardman video series and free app.
In a practical session, over 40 educators, from primary and secondary school teachers to designers and community workers, have explored the potential for animation within their classrooms and communities.
Gavin Strange, Director and Designer for Aardman shared stories from his own creative journey and tips for learners looking to explore a career in animation. Educators also had the chance to get hands-on with a range of playful stop-frame animation activities, from storyboarding to character design.
Aardman is a multi-award-winning, independent studio and a world leader in animation. For almost 50 years, they have entertained and charmed audiences across the world, creating unforgettable characters and stories, including family favourites Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run and Shaun the Sheep.
The Animate with Aardman six-part edutainment experience guides learners through the key stages of creating an animated film, exploring the wonderful world of stop motion filmmaking (Ideas & Story, Characters & Props, Storyboarding, Lights & Camera, Animation, Sound & Foley).
Gavin commented, “Animation is all about bringing things to life. The opportunities are endless – you can draw, doodle, make origami or form characters out of plasticine, whatever you want! As well as being such a joyous and limitless medium, animation is also really accessible. You can get instant gratification from simply experimenting, whatever your age or ability.
“I’m fortunate to have landed my dream job, but when I was a kid, I had no idea what I would do or could do. It wasn’t until I started experimenting and making stuff, making it again, making it better, that I started to see what I loved.”
After leaving school, Gavin chose a college design course over university. In search of independence and a creative vibe, he moved to Bristol, a city that became both his home and the home of Aardman. After freelancing as a graphic designer, he was taken on as a Senior Interactive Designer but continued filmmaking via self-initiated passion projects, that grew in ambition over time. Aardman encouraged and supported those projects until eventually promoting Gavin to Director in 2018.
Gavin continued, “As well as highlighting the raft of educational and social aspects of animation, I’m determined to highlight the myriad of jobs within animation. You just need to go through the credits on a film to see the sheer range of jobs and the real people behind them, whether you’re a rigger, prop maker, writer, runner or lighting engineer. There’s so much more to the sector than being an animator alone, and so many STEM roles too. We need experts in computing and maths, making things to scale, metalwork, the list goes on. We have to get kids away from the idea that if you can’t draw or you’re not arty, you can’t get into these creative sectors. There’s so much more to it than that.”
But, with the increasing use of AI, could the role of humans within animation be coming to an end?
According to Gavin, absolutely not. He added, “There’s no doubt that artificial intelligence has a role to play, but I’m interested in human intelligence and people with a passion. By all means, animation integrates with technology, but what about the bit where you get it wrong, where you mess up? I don’t want to skip to the end, I want to grow and make mistakes. That’s where the magic happens, and that’s why we need people. There are some brilliant and beautiful careers to be had, and people should have access to them and be encouraged to get on that path.”
Describing himself as an ‘unremarkable’ child, Gavin also reminded educators not to ignore the quiet kids, who may well be the ones with the fire and the passion.
He explained, “I was neither remarkably good nor bad at school. I was just inspired by people doing great things. I started making and doing. Sometimes, the quality in those early years was debatable, but I wanted to learn and grow, and I always had that fire to try again. Twenty-five years on, and I still do. But some children and young people slip through the net because they’re not so visible; they get written off. They’re the ones who need support in unlocking their potential, that encouragement to learn and grow, to find their passion.”
Kerry Stitchell, a primary teacher from Glebelands Primary School in Dundee enjoyed the session along with three of her teacher colleagues. She said, “As a teacher and parent, Gavin’s talk really resonated with me – encouraging young people to pursue and embrace their passion and doing more of what they love is so important. The Aardman app is brilliant, easy to navigate and no signing into an account is always a bonus!
“Animation is a great tool for learning across multiple areas of the curriculum which I plan to implement across all levels in school. I’m also hoping to train older learners to help with younger learners so they can collaborate on ideas. Animation engages learners in creating and telling stories, develops their skills using technology and creativity and is good for developing relationships through collaborative working with their peers. It also allows learners to have the freedom to express themselves through creating characters and settings for their animations.”
Julie Muir, Learning Manager for Schools, Young People and Families at V&A Dundee, added, “V&A Dundee are working hard to offer creative opportunities from design experts for ALL! We are so grateful to work with Gav and Aardman Animation who align with our ambition to embed creative problem-solving skills in all learning opportunities. By championing creative industries as potential future careers we want to inspire the next generation to become agents of change. I can’t wait to see what our visitors create during the holidays in our studios and at home – when your creativity is unleashed there are no limits!’
V&A Dundee is also hosting 16 days of showstopping Spring holiday fun, inspired by Aardman.
The free, family-friendly activities will run from Saturday 29 March to Sunday 13 April 2025 inclusive 12.30-4.30pm daily). For more information, https://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/whatson/events/spring-into-animation
ENDS