Hi Folks! A couple months ago I was invited by my good friend Gosia who teaches at a primary school, to come in & visit her class of year 6's (11yr olds) to give a talk on 'following your dreams' + a little workshop on animation... I shall now boldly admit that instantly, the thought of giving any kind of talk to a bunch of 11yr olds scared the c**p out of me!
Questions like, "What would I say?", "How much would they understand?", "What if they don't listen?", "What if they get bored & start hurling insults or objects at me?" began to crop into my head... That was till I received a bunch of heart-warming personal letters from a each of them...*wipes single tear from eye*... I of course accepted & went over to see them last week Friday... & it was amazing!
Prior to my arrival, I decided to set them a little assignment, which was to design a character & present it in front of the class on the day; afterwards followed by their first ever crash course in animation! Little did I know how serious they'd end up taking the assignment; I was told by Gosia, some even stayed back after school to add extra detail & make sure they had it all finished before I came... & sure enough, their designs were BRILLIANT!!!
Questions like, "What would I say?", "How much would they understand?", "What if they don't listen?", "What if they get bored & start hurling insults or objects at me?" began to crop into my head... That was till I received a bunch of heart-warming personal letters from a each of them...*wipes single tear from eye*... I of course accepted & went over to see them last week Friday... & it was amazing!
Prior to my arrival, I decided to set them a little assignment, which was to design a character & present it in front of the class on the day; afterwards followed by their first ever crash course in animation! Little did I know how serious they'd end up taking the assignment; I was told by Gosia, some even stayed back after school to add extra detail & make sure they had it all finished before I came... & sure enough, their designs were BRILLIANT!!!
Here they are; have a look & let me know which one is your fave.
(best enjoyed in full screen).
Ok, so the assignment was actually a competition too, & to the winner was a prize of me "bringing their character to life" by doing a very short clip of animation using their actual design! And for the runners up, I'll be rounding up some of my animator/ illustrator pals to design their own versions of those characters; & have them sent to the kids as high-res digital files they can have printed out! There are 8 runners-up, so if you're an illustrator & would like to contribute to re-designing one of the 8 runner-up characters, pls feel free to drop me a message below or an email at: max@maximajination.com ... It's for a great cause, so ALL are welcome ;)
Without further adieu though, here's the one I selected as WINNER!!!
The ever glamorous Hollywood actress by day/ super heroine by night, Miss 'Lazy Pants'.
I thought this design was brilliant! Loved the colours, costume & personality shown... Her hair-doo had me in stitches too! Not too sure how she got her "powers" but I really liked the Hollywood actress back-story... be interesting to see how she'd manage to deal with the pressures of her responsibility & identity whilst being a big shot on the big screen perhaps, haha.
The kids absolutely loved the assignment & took so well to the animation workshop. After a quick demonstration on making a 'flipbook', I had them create their own & honestly couldn't believe how fast they picked it up...*gasp* & how GOOD they were! I filmed some of the day on my camera so once I have approval from parents etc, I'll be sure to post up a video montage of the workshop, so look out for that!
I'd like to thank my friend Gosia once again for inviting me to the school, & also the wonderful children for their lovely letters & warm welcome throughout my day there... Here's to the next generation... Let's inspire them!
Have a great weekend y'all ;)
-M-
(best enjoyed in full screen).
Ok, so the assignment was actually a competition too, & to the winner was a prize of me "bringing their character to life" by doing a very short clip of animation using their actual design! And for the runners up, I'll be rounding up some of my animator/ illustrator pals to design their own versions of those characters; & have them sent to the kids as high-res digital files they can have printed out! There are 8 runners-up, so if you're an illustrator & would like to contribute to re-designing one of the 8 runner-up characters, pls feel free to drop me a message below or an email at: max@maximajination.com ... It's for a great cause, so ALL are welcome ;)
Without further adieu though, here's the one I selected as WINNER!!!
The ever glamorous Hollywood actress by day/ super heroine by night, Miss 'Lazy Pants'.
I thought this design was brilliant! Loved the colours, costume & personality shown... Her hair-doo had me in stitches too! Not too sure how she got her "powers" but I really liked the Hollywood actress back-story... be interesting to see how she'd manage to deal with the pressures of her responsibility & identity whilst being a big shot on the big screen perhaps, haha.
The kids absolutely loved the assignment & took so well to the animation workshop. After a quick demonstration on making a 'flipbook', I had them create their own & honestly couldn't believe how fast they picked it up...*gasp* & how GOOD they were! I filmed some of the day on my camera so once I have approval from parents etc, I'll be sure to post up a video montage of the workshop, so look out for that!
I'd like to thank my friend Gosia once again for inviting me to the school, & also the wonderful children for their lovely letters & warm welcome throughout my day there... Here's to the next generation... Let's inspire them!
Have a great weekend y'all ;)
-M-
