Digital Creations
Aireys Inlet Primary School was one of the selected schools to participate in Regional Arts Victoria’s Creative Workers in Schools Program initiative in 2021. Over 6 months students at the school worked with Artists, Rebecca Hosking and Scarlet Sykes Hsterman, on a variety of projects focusing on Stop Motion Animation and Film Making processes to explore analogue and digital skills including animation, frame rates, movement, camera and lighting set up, storyboarding, editing, sound recording, character design and augmented reality. Many of the projects were thematically linked to the school’s inquiry topic of the term, sustainability.
Students in Grades 5 and 6 worked to produce a creative response to the Boardriders Sustainability Challenge 2021 by creating a series of stop-motion clips inspired by local marine species using collected plastics as their materials. They researched the local environment, the creatures that live here, learnt about the making of plastics, researched and discussed issues relating to environmental health, and chose a local species they wanted to raise awareness of.
The short Stop-Motion Animation film “Plastic RipTide” is the combined vision of the students with the documentary film “Behind The Scenes of Plastic RipTide” being a further important insight into the project, methods, processes and how the Augmented Reality placement of the film into the community will share their message. Through art and film, students discovered more methods of how to tell the story of what is important to them and raise awareness of the issue of pollution.
The Grade 4 and 5 students also researched and learnt about the marine environment, issues related to the environment such as plastic pollution being a focus, worked with claymation and modelling clay to create dramatic and humorous narratives with quirky characters. They also explored some alternative stop-motion techniques such as pixilation animation (using their own bodies), engaging with materials of the unique environment by animating with sand, shells and seaweed at the local beach.
The Grade 2 and 3’s researched environmental issues affecting the local area as well with a focus on the local flora. They created a series of plant based characters or ‘Environmental Warriors’ directly inspired from the Mangowak Native Reserve at the school. Members from ANGAIR visited the reserve for an incursion and took students on a creative ramble to engage and transfer their passion and knowledge of plants with students. The characters were drawn on paper, cut out, animated then uploaded digitally to be presented back in the reserve where the public can view them virtually through Augmented Reality.
“Plastic RipTide” Short Film
“Behind The Scenes - Plastic RipTide” Documentary
