Estonian Animation Project

On October 30, Estonian Kinobuss (Cinema Bus) and Nukufilm (Puppet Film Studio) came to E.L. Haynes to create an animated film with a group of fourth through seventh grade students.  The visit was arranged through the EuroKids Festival team and the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia.  This is the video they created:

Students were chosen through an essay contest in which they described why they wanted to participate in the animation project.  Here are a few excerpts from their essays:

"I love animation and I am planning to be an animation artist so this can be a great opportunity to start my career dream."   Aron, fifth grade.

"The reason I am interested in doing this project is because it would improve my drawing skills to a new level and a way to better myself when I'm older to become an architect." Demetrius, seventh grade.

"I was in film class and I think it was awesome and want to do it again." Mary, fifth grade.

"I love to draw very, very much, and this would be a, well, a dream come true!" George, sixth grade.

"I always wanted to make a film because when I grow up I am going to try to be a director." Elmer, seventh grade.

"I am really interested in animation and I have always wanted to make a movie... It really interests me how animation is made...I think I could come up with a really cool animation character." Dashiell, fourth grade.

"I think I could make a cartoon because I want to try something different for a change. The reason I want to do it is because I want to learn how to make the sounds and learn how to make the characters because I tried to make one but I gave up. So I want to learn how to stick to this one because this is my dream to do one and if I can do this I can do anything." Alaunte, fourth grade.

"One of the reasons I think I should be part of the movie is because I think I am a good actor and think it would be a great opportunity to work with a real filmmaker...It would be a fun experience to work with my classmates and do an animated movie." Yalemwork, fifth grade.

All of these students were given an opportunity to participate in the animation project. The visiting animation team showed students some stop animation videos and then demonstrated the animation process by taking a few pictures of puppets, changing the poses slightly each time to create movement when the pictures were linked together in a video.  Then each student drew and colored a sea creature to star in their own video.  Students posed for hundreds of photographs, where they began as seeds curled up on the floor and then made small incremental movements as they "grew" into trees. Then they posed around their sea creatures and moved them just a bit for each photograph to give the appearance that the sea creatures were swimming through the water. 
 
Melissa Saint-Amour, E.L. Haynes' Dance Teacher, said of the project, "It was great!  The students had incredible patience, posing for hundreds of photographs to create the video.  When they saw the end result they were so excited.  They saw how much work went into animation." 
 
Demetrius, a seventh grader who participated in the project, said "It was fun.  Everything was made by us."  He was surprised by how short the film was after taking so many pictures to create it.  He says the project gave him a lot of ideas for drawing and that his favorite part of their film is when all the chairs move around in a circle.

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