South Africa: Helping Refugee Children Tell Their Stories

A small group of die-hards spent their afternoons bunkered down in a makeshift basement studio helping to bring life to the characters one frame at a time,

A small group of die-hards spent their afternoons bunkered down in a makeshift basement studio helping to bring life to the characters one frame at a time,

Stop frame animation is a notoriously fiddly business. Add a bunch of (young) school kids and… the whole business becomes exponentially more difficult? Having used the time in a holiday programme last year to develop a book telling the story of refugee children in South Africa we decided to set our sights higher and attempt this difficult task.

Around 75 refugee children between the ages of 6 and 14 from the 326 project participated in the making of puppets and sets; they performed the narration, sound effects and songs to make this a reality. Under André Croucamp’s skillful facilitation the children pieced together the story from their own individual experiences. It all began to take shape.

Hours were spent rummaging in back yards, foraging in the plumbing and electrical sections of hardware stores and gathering unlikely “decorations” from the local art shop. Children brought in a large collection of bottles, plastic cups, egg boxes and the like made up our raw material.

Volunteers from the high school helped facilitate the children’s construction efforts. A small group of die-hards spent their afternoons bunkered down in a makeshift basement studio helping to bring life to the characters one frame at a time, not to mention the frequent reconstructive surgery needed to cope with the rigours of frame by frame manipulation.

Maintaining the integrity of the children’s story and their unique aesthetic was tempered with the knowledge that ultimately we had to deliver a professionally executed and watchable piece of work. It is not often one has the privilege to “curate” and be personally creative simultaneously to the extent we were able to in this project. You can see the fruits of their efforts on YouTube type Prescieuse in the search box or follow this link.

For more information about 326 go to www.sacredheart.co.za

 

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