Walking at Ashbrow with Benjamin Rabe
Project guest creative (Hamburg based) Benjamin Rabe writes about his time supporting young people at Ashbrow School.
This week I have the pleasure to join the Shoot Smart project and to work with 11 pupils from Ashbrow together with Fabric Lenny – and wow, are those kids great at … walking.
Yes. Walking.
That – from these days on – will be my answer, if anybody asks me what Stop Motion Animation is all about. You will be walking. A lot. For every small animation step, you will have to walk into the set, walk out of it again, make your shot. And repeat.
But of course, animation is about more than just walking: it's about the magic of bringing inanimate objects to life. "Are you magicians?", was of one of the questions the kids asked the first day. And yes, that is what they are now for a week, 11 little magicians, writing their own storyline (a car chase will be part of it), producing their own music (beeps and blips, from romance to drama; Kudos to Nick Lewis here for doing great work with the kids), creating an amazing 3 minute stop motion film – and all that using only and just iPads.
I was amazed by the commitment the kids showed in doing this sometimes tedious process, and the wow-moments we shared when they finally were able to hit the play button seeing all those objects come to life. I can't wait to see the final result that waits for us at the end of this week-long walk we are taking together.
All images by Yvonne Roberts
