Animation call goes out to young aspiring film-makers
A Christchurch television show set in a prehistoric New Zealand forest is calling on budding film-makers to try their hand at stop-motion animation.
The production house responsible for children’s show Kiri and Lou is behind an animation competition and series of claymation workshops running during KidsFest, New Zealand’s biggest annual children’s festival running during the winter holidays.
Kiri and Lou follows unlikely best friends Kiri – a feisty little dinosaur struggling with her emotions – and Lou – a gentle, purple elephant-like creature – and touches on friendship troubles, sharing, speaking kindly and acceptance.
The series is animated in the Ferrymead studio of Antony Elworthy and includes songs by series writer and director Harry Sinclair and musician Don McGlashan, and the voices of half of the comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, Jemaine Clement, and actress Olivia Tennet.
Christchurch City Council head of libraries and information Carolyn Robertson said the show’s message of kindness and friendship was a perfect match for KidsFest activities.
City libraries will hold the claymation workshops during the
July school holidays for children aged eight to 17, while central library Tu¯ ranga will host a claymation display – a style made famous through the huge success of Britain’s Wallace and Gromit movies.
Films created in the workshops would then go into the competition – judged by the studio animators – to win a screening on the KidsFest online page and a behind-the-scenes tour of the animation studio in Ferrymead.
Meanwhile, a huge Kiri and Lou sand sculpture will take shape at New Brighton Beach on the opening weekend of KidsFest, from July 4.
Other out-of-the-box activities running during KidsFest include a cheese-making workshop at Riverside Market and a chance for animals lovers to discover what it takes to own a husky, learn about the sub-zero temperatures the wild dogs survive in, and ride a rig at the International Antarctic Centre.