Why This Music Company is Encouraging the Next Generation of Stop Motion Animators
One upside of the fact that the world is very much still in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic is that there’s still time for you to learn a lockdown skill. Sure, most people have now abandoned their sourdough starters in a smelly corner of their kitchens, but with the summer holidays in full swing in the UK, parents lucky enough to have even more time with their beloved offspring still have to keep the young ones occupied. Thankfully, music and sound company Adelphoi Music is here to inspire and engage them with the Kids Stop Motion Animation Challenge.
LBB’s Alex Reeves caught up with Adelphoi’s Lacyn clarke to find out more.
LBB> Where did the idea for the Kids Stop Motion Animation Challenge begin?
Lacyn> The idea was born out of lockdown, when like many companies, we were adjusting to the drastic shift in productivity. We started brainstorming some self-initiated projects, driven by our privileged position in being able to work from home through the crisis - we wanted to use the rare time to support those less fortunate or struggling during the lockdown. One route that resonated across our team was the enormous pressures on working parents to adapt to their new roles as teachers from the constraints of home. Our composers have kids, so it was a great sounding board for ideas that would be fun and engaging for the children whilst utilising our skillset and hopefully offering the parents some respite in the process.
LBB> Why did you decide stop motion was the right medium for the challenge?
Lacyn> Stop motion was the perfect medium for this challenge given the constraints of lockdown. Children are encouraged to use their imagination, problem solve and experiment with objects easily found around the house. That teamed with an abundance of easy to use stop motion apps available to download for free, animation has been made super accessible for people of all ages.
A massive shout out to our composers Andy and Stephen and their daughters Dulcie and Suki who kickstarted the project with some brilliantly creative films. From there, Andy was able to tie in his strengths in sound design to create a bespoke composition for each film.
LBB> Why are you so excited about it?
Lacyn> We have had such a great response from the project with submissions coming in from as far as Sri Lanka to Trinidad, Amsterdam and London! And now as we have moved out of lockdown and into the summer holidays the project offers even more opportunity for families to get creative together from the safety of their homes. Plus, what kid doesn’t want to win a Nintendo or GoPro?!
LBB> Have there been any surprises so far?
Lacyn> Yes! It's not only kids that need to escape the cycle of boredom! We have been getting some wonderful creations sent in from adults too! It’s been brilliant seeing some of the creativity out there but adults be warned, prizes will only be awarded to children - sorry.
LBB> What have you learned / what do you hope to learn?
Lacyn> Collectively we have really enjoyed the process of working on these self-initiated projects; there is a wonderful renewed spirit and pride amongst the team. For many of us it has refuelled or unearthed certain passions and given us a sense of community and purpose at a time when we were all feeling a bit lost.
With the world opening up again, it’s important for us to continue to carve the time out of our billable hours to find ways to connect with communities and organisations we wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to work with. Since this initiation started, we have created a free audio picture book for children born with clubfoot (with foreign language versions coming soon), we are working with a music industry-focused mental health recovery charity, developing a VR project aimed at amplifying the conversation around climate change, released the first in a new series of audio branding podcasts, and we will be launching the first mental health podcast focussed on supporting the advertising industry in the upcoming weeks!
LBB> What do you hope will come from it?
Lacyn> In these moments of isolation and tedium, simplistically we hope it can bring some fun and creativity into family households over the summer holidays but most importantly we hope we get to unearth some talented mini directors out there! If any animation companies out there would like to get involved in the judging process, get in touch ;)
Find out more details about the Stop Motion Challenge here.
Enter to be in with the chance to WIN a Nintendo Switch or a GoPro HERO 8. Runners up will receive a stop motion animation kit plus the top three films will receive their own personal music or sound design for their film by Adelphoi’s award-winning composers.
