Primaped
Animation as a creative pedagogical tool
Animation Funzone & Caravan
We are witnessing that it is becoming increasingly difficult to encourage children who have grown up on TV, smartphone apps and video games to engage in creative activities. Also the traditional drawing classes are unable to appeal to those with more modest drawing skills. However, the rich and varied world of animated filmmaking is a powerful source of inspiration for children's creative abilities. During our sessions, the children are not just passive spectators, but they become creators themselves. One idea behind the experiential activities is that participants learn the basics of animation techniques and, armed with the skills acquired during the workshop, can start making short films at home.
How do we integrate animation into our educational projects?
The process of animation filmmaking can not only develop drawing skills, but also a range of other skills and competences (e.g. storytelling, visual world building, sound creation and digital literacy). Children often seem to connect to the digital world solely through computer games, where they become consumers of an end product, but during our sessions they learn to use digital tools (camera, digital drawing board, animation and editing softwares) in a conscious and creative way with the help of our trainers. At the same time, they will be "reintroduced" to the non-virtual world by using traditional, tangible materials.
One of the things that makes animation special is that it is not about making the most beautiful and precise drawings, but about making a movement "expressive", through which children can tell a story they have invented. Animation is a kind of "patience game", so it can be used to help develop a wide number of skills, such as concentration, attention and focusing, in addition to digital and cultural competence. Children need to study each sequence of movements in detail, to fragment them into several poses and then recreate them through the use of animation. We have also found that for children with learning difficulties, attention deficit disorders or Asperger's syndrome, being involved in the creation process from start to finish is a great sense of achievement. The intense concentration required also makes them more receptive to the small things happening around them.The attention to detail in animation also makes children aware of the amount of work that goes into even a single second of moving image, developing their visual understanding and appreciation, which is crucial for them to properly navigate the massive visual content around them.
Even a short session can help children to become more equipped media users, after learning how frames move and still images come to life. And this could support them to recognize how images can cheat, how to show a story from different perspectives, and also to experience the manipulative power of moving images.In addition, filmmaking, including animation, is a team work, where everyone can work on the part that best suits their own personality. During each process, children have to make decisions together in cooperation with each other. The role of our trainers is to help each kid in finding the task that best suits their age, interests and personality.
In the creative workshops we combine traditional analogue techniques with digital tools. The former is important for developing manual skills, while the latter allows children's creations to come to life in almost real time, in front of their eyes, thanks to computer programmes. Many people associate animation exclusively with cartoons, but it is also possible to create unique moving creations with clay, puppets, a wide variety of objects and natural materials. With the help of our experienced animators and art teachers, children will also learn about traditional techniques such as flip books, zoetrope, paper cut-outs, object animation, sand-animation and pixilation. These age-old techniques form the basis of the technical foundations of modern animation, enabling the children involved to become more competent and active viewers of contemporary moving images.
Primanima Animation FunZone and its animated travelling orchestra, the Caravan, try to plan all their activities around these themes for the youngest and the oldest. For many years now, we have been taking our caravan on a spring "tour" to bring the wonder of animation to places where there are not as many opportunities to see it in Hungary. We also tune in the orchestra at other festivals, cultural institutions and cinemas, where we prepare thematic sessions.
