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-
3 comments:
Hi there my names Siddika I was in the 8 runners up thing and my cartoon was called fang grid i loved it. Wish i was in primary again
Hi Siddika. Great to hear from you, & sorry for such a late reply. Your design was excellent! Hope you're still in touch with your friends & are getting on well in secondary school.
I wish you all the very best!
-Max-
Hi, Siddika again, no its fine for the late reply. Sadly, I have no contact with my friends anymore, who I miss immensely and Primary Schoo. Yeah Secondary School is quite good, however not as good as Primary. Your workshop was the best! Something I'll never forget. Thank you once again for this xx
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