On a completely different topic… here is a film I made this back in 2005, working with the kids at Natimuk primary school. The older kids did the interviewed some of the older people in the town and then the prep/grade one kids illustrated the stories. The interviews were actually done in the same old school building that they had done their schooling in some 70 years prior.
All of the drawings were done by the the kids … I talked to them a bit about walk cycles, lip sync etc and then they interpreted that just as loosely as they did the interview material.

I was surprised and delighted when this film went on to win “Best Animation” at the Melbourne Film Festival that year and “Best Australian Animation” at the Melbourne Animation Festival the next.

I love the drawings of kids at the age where they’ve just mastered the use of a pencil. They always seem to produce these very raw, very honest, very original designs. It seems that once they get a little bit older and develop a little bit more control over a pencil, the drawings start to become a lot more derivative. You start to see lots of Bart Simpsons, Spongebobs or whatever else happens to be on telly at the time. But right at the start, when they’re just getting the hang of it all, they seem to consistently come out with these amazing drawings. I’ve made about 5 films in this style across the country and it seems to be the case everywhere. 5 year old kids do great stuff.

I have been meaning to upload for years now… And when I get a chance I’ll upload some of the other films in this series.