Budding moviemakers who’ve yearned to follow in the footsteps of those unlikely heroes Wallace and Gromit are to get their chance in Swansea later this month.
For Aardman Animation, the Oscar-winning film-makers behind the plasticine pair, are heading for the city on August 17 as part of the UK tour of the Tate Movie Project.
Children aged between five and 13 will be able to take part in movie-making workshops in Castle Square in the Tate Movie Truck run by artists and film-makers from the Tate art gallery as well as experts from Aardman Animations.
The Tate Movie Project is a series of national road shows, gallery workshops and online activities designed to create an animated film completely made by and for children.
Swansea Council is helping organise the event in the city and Graham Thomas, Cabinet Member for Culture, Recreation and Tourism, said: “It’s a great and fun opportunity for young people in the city.
“When they go back to school in the Autumn and their teachers ask them what they did in the summer they’ll be able to tell them they helped create a movie.”
Using great artworks as inspiration, children will create every aspect of the film, from the hand-drawn characters and plot twists to costumes and comic sound effects.
The Tate Movie Truck is a state-of-the-art creative learning studio, complete with sound studio space, computers and a screening facility, and will offer youngsters a special insight into the movie making process.
Contact the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery on 01792 516900 to get on board and take part. Spaces will be limited so parents are advised to book as soon as possible. Parents or guardians will need to accompany children.
A professional team will then animate the children’s drawings at Aardman Animations in Bristol with the movie itself will be screened across the UK in 2011.
The Tate Movie Project is supported by Legacy Funding Trust, London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, BP, CBBC, Aardman Animations and Fallon Communications.