Handmade Animation Workshop

On the 26th of January, I attended a handmade animation workshop in Dowlais Library for four hours. In this workshop, we were taught how to make basic handmade animation.

Firstly, we created an optical illusion based animation. This created two different images, depending on what angle the piece is viewed from. I tried to create the effect that the character was moving closer. The process is displayed below:

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Next, we made contraptions which merged two images together when spun quickly:

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Unfortunately, WordPress will not let me upload the video of this happening due to an error.

Next, we made a similar contraption but with string instead of a bamboo stick to spin it.

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I feel that I gained a lot from this workshop, as I now have a much deeper understanding of the basics of animation. I deeply enjoyed creating these simple line illustrations and then watching them turn into animated pieces. I needed to use my artistic skills to create the illustrations, and when I left the workshop I felt that I had bettered my creative skills immensely. I learnt to think outside of the box, and had to view my art differently than I usually do. I am incredibly pleased with the results, as I definitely would not have created anything like this prior to the workshop. I found it inspiring that the process of making these animations was surprisingly simple when broken down, as I thought that it would be more complicated. The man in charge of the workshop also showed us some of his own animation and illustrations, that have featured in music videos and stage design for concerts. This was incredibly inspiring, as it demonstrated how animation can be used as part of a career.

My participation in this workshop has greatly helped me understand the origins of moving image and illustration. My participation inspired me greatly, as I was actually surprised by how successful my pieces were, considering this was my first time creating handmade animation. I found the process incredibly relaxing and enjoyable, which is inspiring as I know that I would like to try something like this again. The workshop helped give me new ideas into what I could create in the future; I could perhaps use short handmade animation clips in a short film, or as part of a film reel.

I would not have changed anything about this workshop, as I feel that it broke down the basics very well, and was interesting without being overcomplicated. However, in the future I would like to attend further animation workshops in order to better my new skills. For example, I would like to try creating digital animation.