An Exclusive Animation Workshop
Hedleys College student Grace had the incredible opportunity to have a 1-1 animation workshop with animator Chloe Rodham.
To gain a better understanding of roles within the creative industry, Grace underwent an animation workshop with animator Chloe Rodham. Chloe is a Newcastle based freelance animator and model maker, having worked on projects such as Newcastle Puppetry Festival, No Club Running Club and many more.
The workshop began with Chloe sharing some of her past projects, offering Grace a valuable glimpse into what a creative career can look like.
It was then Grace鈥檚 turn to start getting creative, drawing a 12-frame animation of a person turning their head. She enjoyed adding quirky hair and expressive facial features to her character, demonstrating a strong understanding of using different angles and positioning across each frame. Then using a stop motion technique, a photo was taken of each of these drawings and compiled into a fluid video.
Continuing with the stop motion technique, Grace used a figurine that Chloe had brought along and crafted her own plasticine cat to star alongside it. She animated a playful scene where the figure walks across the screen while the cat leaps up and down with joy. She then created a new plasticine model, depicting two people jumping up and down across the screen. Stop motion requires a lot of patience and attention to detail to create a fluid animation, and Grace grasped this expertly.
Reflecting on the workshop, Grace said:
鈥淚 really enjoyed the animation class today. It was fun, interesting and I learned a bit more about animation. I’d love to have a career like this in the future so I believe this would be a good step in the right direction for me. I’d be interested in any other lessons should they happen in the future.鈥�
Chloe added:
鈥淕race did a great job; I was really impressed with how patient she was doing the activities.鈥澛犅�
Opportunities like these are invaluable for enhancing our students鈥� employability skills, helping them explore their aspirations and gain meaningful, real-world insight into the careers they鈥檙e passionate about. Thank you to Chloe Rodham for kindly sharing her time and expertise and providing this amazing opportunity!
If your business or organisation is interested in providing a similar opportunity to our students, visit Hedley’s Beyond for more information.