Wonderful World - Best Animation Nomination

Signals Media Arts Centre is proud to announce that a short animated film made by the pupils of Colchester’s Cherry Tree Primary School and Speech and Language Centre has been nominated for ‘Best Animation’ at this year’s First Light Movies national awards.

The nomination means that the young filmmakers have been invited to the glittering awards ceremony at the Odeon, Leicester Square in March where their film will be watched by hundreds of other children, industry professionals including film Director Alan Parker and celebrities including David Walliams and Dick and Dom.

The film, ‘Wonderful World’ made by 23 children from year 5, used found objects in a stop- frame animation to show the changing of the seasons. The young filmmakers learnt how to script, storyboard, produce and edit their film over a number of weeks.

The young filmmakers from Cherry Tree Primary School and Speech and Language Centre visited Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve to collect natural objects that they brought back to the temporary animation studio at the school. The children were helped to make their film by the Signals team and media professionals, Kate Beckwith, Rob Sparkes, Gary Leach and Lisa Wright.

‘”Wonderful World’ has humour, charm and a sense of wonder. It is a great achievement for all those who worked on it” said Rachel Hipkiss Director of Signals Media Arts Centre.

Sharon Short, headteacher at the Cherry Tree Primary School had this to say,

“Cherry Tree Primary School and Signals Media Arts are delighted that Wonderful World has received this prestigious nomination. The group of children who designed and created the film were very committed to the project, so we are thrilled that their hard work and achievements have been noticed and rewarded. We are all very excited about attending the ceremony and hope this experience will inspire other schools and groups to get involved in filmmaking and media projects.”

First Light provides funding and expertise to enable five to nineteen-year-olds, from all backgrounds throughout the UK, to make their own short digital films and media projects. First Light is supported by the National Lottery, through the UK Film Council and by DCSF. This year, the organisation will distribute £5.3 million. Since launching in 2001, First Light has funded over 30,000 young people to produce more than 1,000 films and media projects.

Through First Light, young people are given the opportunity to work alongside industry professionals and are involved with every aspect of the creative and technical process. This Signals project was also supported through funding from Heart Essex and Colchester and Ipswich Museums.

Wonderful World from SignalsMedia on Vimeo.