Westminster students mentor each other to prepare for University’s Strictly Stop Motion competition

The event took place in the Forum on Harrow Campus where all Westminster students were welcome to join and learn how to create simple stop motion animation films. First and second-year students from the Animation BA Honours, Graphic Design BA Honours and Illustration BA Honours courses were previously trained in stop motion production and acted as mentors on the day, preparing other Westminster students for the dance competition integrated with stop motion animation. They were supported by Animation academic colleagues throughout.

The mentors also showed people how to dance the waltz, and the first 200 students to participate were able to pick up a goody bag, containing everything they needed to turn their phone into an animation studio. This included a selfie stick tripod so students could use their phone as a camera, a remote shutter button to easily make stop-frame films, puppet making materials and an instruction booklet.

Film BA Honours student Mika Lippelt said: “I had a blast, and we learnt a lot. I didn't expect to learn as much as we did. The fun thing I learnt about animation today is that giving inanimate objects emotions is actually quite easy, it's fun and you can just let your creativity go.”

Students have the opportunity to use this equipment to make a short stop motion dance animation from the comfort of their home and submit it to the competition for a chance to win an award. The deadline for submissions is 29 December. In the meantime, Animation students will aim to post demonstration films and other inspiring material on the Strictly Stop Motion YouTube channel.

The submitted films will be screened in Regent Street Cinema at 2pm on 29 January 2025, and Dan Gerhardt, the celebrity judge from the Aardman Animation Studios, will select the winners.

This is the launch event for a new project titled Westminster SkillShare, which is supported by the Quintin Hogg Trust. The project is run by students, for students, and allows the Westminster community to share their skills with each other.

About the launch event, Stephen Ryley, SkillShare Coordinator and Course Leader for Animation BA Honours, said: “I was delighted to see how our student mentors brilliantly coached their colleagues from other courses. Within moments, people were amazing themselves with their newly learnt skills. I hope that lots of students get involved now with our dancing competition, which they can do by subscribing to our Strictly Stop Motion YouTube channel.”

Click here to submit your stop motion dance animation.