We have just spent a stopmotiontastic time with members of the North Devon Forum for Autistic Spectrum Conditions & ADHD creating some Incredible Inventions!  

Mandi and Dotty from North Devon Moving Image (NDMI) delivered the three day claymation animation workshop in the bright and spacious Kingsley Room at The Burton Art Gallery and Museum in Bideford (thanks for looking after us Burton at Bideford people).

We delivered a brief to the workshop participants to create a short animated story solving an environmental problem (or come up with their own idea to make the world a better place).  They worked in parent/child and individual/enabler pairs to come up with an invention, write a story and script, create characters, sets and props.  We had a huge pile of fabulous resources from North Devon's WOW Scrapstore (£7 a bin bagful for members) and lots of colourful Newplast modelling clay to ignite their imaginations and then each team animated their films using iPads and iMotion or iStopmotion apps.  We think the results are quite wonderful!  Take a look at the video clip below.

If you know a group who would like to take part in a workshop like this please do get in touch.

We have had a busy two weeks here in Instow with our first ever NDMI Academy summer schools.  Week 1 was a live action drama film making workshop for 5 young film makers aged between 10 and 13.  The creative team devised their own story and with our support they wrote, directed, acted in, shot and edited the film He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (see below to view the film).  The crew learned loads of new skills and worked together perfectly, coming up with great ideas and making time to listen to each other and let everyone's voice be heard with a brilliant result!  

NOTE: The technical kit used was our Sony NX3 camcorder, Rode microphone with boom pole and deadcat and Sony Vegas to edit.  Additional film making exercises were carried out with the use of our iPad Air, iOgrapher case, iRig pre amp and the professional Rode microphone.

NDMI Academy Summer School week 2 was an animation workshop for 5 talented youngsters aged between 7 and 11.  This was great fun and we were so impressed by the creativity and patience of all our young film makers.  They began the week getting to grips with the technical equipment and then recorded interviews with each other to form the basis of the film sound track.  They went on to design and create their characters, props and sets.  The animating was a great challenge as the audio was already recorded and the characters needed to move to fit the voices - we don't take the easy route here - and it definitely paid off as the result, with authentic interviews is really entertaining and the animation is brilliant!  Take a look at the film below.

NOTE: The technical kit used was our iPad Air in an iOgrapher case, iMotion app, Rode microphone, iRig pre amp, Newplast modelling clay and Magneflash LED lights (great because they don't get hot and dangerous!)

If you are interested in film making workshops for your family, group, school or yourself please do get in touch.

A North Devon teenager has produced a captivating short film about local surf forecaster Trev "Toes" Lumley during his work experience week at North Devon Moving Image (NDMI). 

Fifteen year old Tom Taylor, who is a student at Pilton Community College in Barnstaple, says "When I saw the work experience blog on the North Devon Moving Image website I knew that this was the right place to go. Film making is a career I want to go into when I'm older so this was the perfect opportunity to see what it involves and what it takes to do film making."

"I chose to make a film about the North Devon surfer and owner of Eyeball Surfcheck Trevor Lumley. Surfing is a much loved sport locally as much as it is around the world so I felt it would be interesting to make a film about it."

Tom shot his film at Putsborough Beach where Eyeball Surfcheck have one of their webcams.  In the film Trev describes his passion for surfing "It's like a really strong drug, it's like being addicted to something that you just can't let go."  He also talks about the dilemmas he sometimes has with the surf reporting which brings surfers from far and wide to catch North Devon's waves, saying "I feel like Dr Frankenstein sometimes, like I've created a monster."

Amanda McCormack, Creative Director of North Devon Moving Image enjoys working with enthusiastic students like Tom  "Outreach and skills sharing is a big part of what we do here at NDMI.  It is really rewarding enabling young people to achieve their dreams.  Tom really threw himself into the project and showed a lot of creativity and quick thinking which is essential in documentary film making.  He even co-produced the music which has turned out to be a really key element in this film's success."

"This was a real experience of the community film making business for Tom. As well as researching and producing his own film, Tom found out what it is like to run a small business and juggle time and money to maximise output." 

Amanda thanked North Devon Councillors Brian Moores, Colin Payne and Chris Turner who are all supporting the NDMI Outreach programmes with funding from their community grants this year "Without these generous contributions we would struggle to offer opportunities like this to North Devon's next generation of documentary film makers."

Tom summed up his week at NDMI "Working at North Devon Moving Image has been brilliant. I have had a real insight into what film making is about."

Tom's film is now part of the North Devon Moving Image collection and available to watch on the NDMI websitehttp://www.northdevonmovingimage.org.uk/ and Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpBF315n8us

Thanks to funding from Devon County Councillors last year we have been able to use our iPad Air for film making out in the community.

This weekend, as part of our Northern Devon Nature Improvement Area (NIA) project with the Devon Wildlife Trust we used the Ipad to record some interviews.  

With a fabulous little gadget called an iRig (a preamp especially for iPads and iPhones) we were able to plug in our professional microphone and record crystal clear sound - even in Meeth's echoey old village hall.  Using the iPad in its iOgrapher case makes working with little ones a piece of cake.

On Saturday 13 September a team of NDMI film making volunteers set up a 'virtual guest book' at St Anne's Chapel in Barnstaple for Heritage Open Days 2014.

The volunteers used our iPad, which was bought with generous donations from Devon County and Torridge District Councillors, to interview visitors to St Anne's and find out what they enjoyed on their visit.

The keen film makers developed new skills in interviewing, recording video and sound and enjoyed using the iPad with its handy iOgrapher case which makes film making easy whatever your ability.

The video clips were then assembled and produced two short films for the St Anne's Oral History Project.  The films, along with the rest of the series will be available to view at St Anne's Arts and Community Centre in Paternoster Row, Barnstaple on their new touch screen video panel.  You can watch the clips below.