Moving Pictures is an arts organisation based in Brighton. We run animation workshops for children, supplying all necessary equipment and materials. We use animation to aid creative development and promote both personal and collaborative skills.

Animation is great to teach and fun to learn: almost all children are avid animation fans and are amazed to discover how easily and quickly it can be created. Every child is happy drawing and we combine their drawing skills with simple animation techniques to make short animation sequences, using our own digital animation systems that we provide as part of our workshops. The big bonus of using digital animation over traditional film-based animation is that participants can instantly see the results of their work, making the process both accessible and rewarding.

Having mastered the basic production processes, participants can engage with more complex film-making skills such as narrative and character development, resource management and generally developing an understanding of the language of the moving image. This can be done on an individual basis or working in groups, making animation appropriate for groups with mixed abilities or ages.

There are many forms of animation children of all ages can experiment with, and many wonderful examples of animations made by artists over the last century for them to admire and be inspired by. We often highlight the rich history of the development of animation to illustrate techniques and help pupils develop a deeper appreciation of animation and its place in the modern world.