Pupils in schools throughout Wales are being urged to get creative this week as the World Book Day Story Animation Competition deadline draws near.
The competition, part of the celebrations for World Book Day 2012 (which falls on 1 March), is open to pupils in primary and secondary schools. All schools in Wales have been invited to submit stories for a chance to win animation workshops. The best story in the primary sector will win a 3-day workshop, with the best story in the secondary sector winning a 5-day workshop. Professional animators Turnip Starfish from Cardiff will help the budding young authors to turn their stories into short animated films.
Delyth Humphreys from the Welsh Books Council said: “The deadline for the animation competition is fast approaching and all stories should be submitted by 2 December. It’s a very exciting competition – after all, it’s not every day that pupils get an opportunity of working alongside professional animators and see their stories come to life.
“There’s no limit to the number of stories that any one school can submit to this competition. Together with the story itself we just need the name, phone number and e-mail address of the school, and the names of the pupils who have created the story. I’m looking forward very much to February 2012 when the winning stories will have been animated and shown to audiences throughout Wales. Who knows, we may have the next generation’s Nick Park – of Wallace and Gromit fame – waiting to be discovered here in Wales!”
Turnip Starfish, an animation studio based in Cardiff, produces award-winning workshops throughout Wales. During the last year the company has worked with numerous clients including Save the Children, Tŷ Hafan, South Wales Police, University of Glamorgan and Swansea University. Films produced at their workshops have been nominated for, and have won, the Best Animation Category at the Zoom Festival – Wales’s International Young People’s Film Festival.
Nick Price, Director of Turnip Starfish, said: ‘We are delighted to be working with the Welsh Books Council to provide this fantastic opportunity for young people across Wales to work with industry professionals in order to bring their stories to life through the medium of animation.’
The deadline for applications is 2 December, and the names of the prize-winning schools will be announced in January 2012.
For more information about the competition, please contact the Welsh Books Council on 01970 624151.
