The final school assembly at the end of the Autumn term provided Sixth Form student Lawrence Vincent with the opportunity to show fellow pupils his animation ‘Green Roots, Flying Crying Vegetables'. As those of you who have watched the Wallace and Gromit films of Prestonian Nick Park will know, these animations take endless amounts of time to produce, as each movement has to be photographed stage by stage, in order to create the desired effect. The pupils were suitably impressed with the film which provided Lawrence with the first chance to judge public opinion of his work.
Since then things have moved on. Lawrence has entered his work in the Leeds Young People's Film Festival and it has been accepted as one of 12 from aspiring film makers from across the UK. His shortlisted film will be screened at a special event in the 2010 Leeds Young People's Film Festival taking place at Easter and will be judged by a panel of industry experts including filmmakers, producers, journalists and funders. The winning filmmaker in each age category will win £250 towards their next project.
An excited Lawrence said, "My film will be shown on a cinema screen in front of a full audience and a panel of judges at the Leeds Picture House. On the 3rd of April all these films will be screened on the big screen and a winner will be announced! I will be competing against film makers in the age range 15-19. Last year over a thousand people attended the festival and so I am looking forward to trying to get my work recognised by professional film makers and production companies. Although winning would be great, I am looking forward to promoting myself and seeing what other young film makers have been making. My dream is to win a BAFTA or Oscar, so I am one step closer, this is just the beginning!"
So, watch out Gromit and Co, Lawrence is on his way!
The second episode of Green Roots, Flying Crying Vegetables is a funny, stop motion animation. It is Carrots birthday and he receives a very expensive RC plane! Behind the scenes pictures and more information can be found here.
Lawrence is not the only pupil in school who is developing his animation talent. Year 8 pupil Alistair Neill has also started producing short films and animations, and in his latest project he is hoping to combine the both aspects in one film. Samples of his work can be seen on www.youtube.com under Dinobot2468.
