Local Care Homes Get Creative With Animation Workshops

Residents at two local care homes were able to try their hands at stop-motion animation for the first-time during a creative workshop held by the Teesside University.

The Animex workshop was held at The Gables care home in Middlesbrough and was attended by residents from Ingleby care home in nearby Ingleby Barwick as part of Animex, The International Festival of Animation and Computer Games, which is organised by the University each year.

During the workshops residents were able to craft their own characters using plasticine, googly eyes and pipe cleaners to star in their very own stop-motion animation movies.

Artists from the Animex Festival showed residents how to film their characters a frame at a time, adjusting them in between each take to make it appear as though they were moving.

The residents were then able to edit these using an iMac and showcase their directorial debuts to one another at the end of the workshop.

Christine Wilson, Activities Co-ordinator from Ingleby care home, who helped organise the activity said: “The residents had a wonderful time during the Animex workshop, especially as they had never tried their hand at animation before.

“It was great to see the residents laughing and enjoying themselves as they created the leading characters for their films and planned the storylines for their films.

“Everyone commented on how much fun they had getting creative, and we hope that Animex will return when the festival takes place again next year.

“We always try and organise a range of interesting and original activities for our residents and these workshops certainly fit the bill!”