global digital creativity research & workshops

I had the pleasure of working Friday the 15th and Saturday the 16th of February in Northern Ireland with our friends at BBC Blast Northern Ireland in Belfast working with NIDYA (Northern Ireland Deaf Youth Association) to create a film about a monkey escaping from the zoo.

My role was to work with the mixed group of teenagers to film the animation section of the film. Working through interpretors we had a great two days animating in a television studio.

The young people involved in the project lived locally, some were deaf. Filming also took part at Belfast Zoo, and the team were challenged to integrate real filming with cuts to animation.

We used a Sony Z1 camera linked up to an Apple computer running the brilliant iStopMotion.

The young people involved in the project demonstrated clear animation talent with lots of ideas and ways of overcoming challenges with the story and continuity. The final animation sequences were quite simply brilliant, well done gang. Big thanks to Sue Barry and her team from NIDYA and also to Emma, Emma and John from Blast.

Here are the pictures I took over the two day project.

I’ll link here the completed film when the BBC have finished putting together the final edit.

Here are the other projects I’ve been involved in Northern Ireland:

• October 2006: BBC Northern Ireland Mental Health Campaign.
• June 2006: BBC Blast Truck, Belfast.
• June 2006: BBC Blast Truck, Derry.
• July 2003: Peace Project Film Project, Belfast.

I spent today (Friday 27th October) and yesterday at BBC Northern Ireland in Belfast working with the BBC Blast team on a new pilot project for BBC One NI’s Mental Health Campaign.

I worked closely with Emma Majury and Rod from the local college to create a 90 second animation which followed a soundbite story of a person who had recovered from depression.

We spent Thursday planning, Friday morning buliding sets and the afternoon animating. We filmed the entire sequence in reverse scene order, then strung it together in iMovie and added the sound.

I have previously worked in Northern Ireland on the BBC Blast Truck in 2006 with Emma and the team, in 2003 Richard Millwood, Anthony Russell, Martin Doherty and myself undertook a cross-community summer school programme.

 View the first draft of the movie with sound: Play Now | Play in Popup
 View the completed movie with sound and music: Play Now | Play in Popup

For the first time ever the Ultralab Digital Creativity Summer School programme went international. The project went to Northern Ireland, working as part of the peace process with Catholic and Protestant children to see what could be created using the Summer School model over a three day period within a community environment. The results were excellent. The group were the very first to undertake the ‘Points of View 2 (Squared) challenge. The project lasted three days.

Five excellent movies were created in just three days. The majority of the Summer School Researchers in Belfast had never used video equipment and Apple computers before. The movies are fantastic, the films being about bullying, being a young child, the view of a motorcyclist, a mouse and a blade of grass.

“As youth leaders from across the community divide we knew each other but we had never worked together. Ultralab’s summer school gave us that opportunity.” Stuart (Youth Leader)

“The kids were together, focused on making films rather on what divides them” Kelly (Youth Leader).

View some of the pictures taken during the event.

Watch the completed movies here:

 Why Me?: Play Now | Play in Popup
 Biker Boy: Play Now | Play in Popup
 Kiss my Grass: Play Now | Play in Popup
 Mouse View: Play Now | Play in Popup
 Child: Play Now | Play in Popup