Cinetig News: 29//10//08

Animation short completed

Posted on 21/01/2010

Jane Hubbard’s short film Twenty Four Dollars is now completed. The film was funded by a small grant from the Welsh Arts Council and gave Jane an opportunity to further her skills in Adobe After FX to combine film techniques such as sand and drawn animation and live action. The three minute film is about how the Dutch bought Manhattan Island from the American Indians for $24.  Jane now plans to publicise and market the film to be shown in a variety of venues and to enter it for festivals.

New film celebrates the work of Dylan Thomas

Posted on 18/12/2009

Cinetig have completed a new film based on one of Dylan Thomas’ most famous poems as part of the Cauldrons and Furnaces programme for the Cultural Olympiad in Wales. The film was made in Laugharne with Cinetig Filmmakers Jane Hubbard and Gerald Conn working with a group of young people in the local youth centre.

The work called ‘Poem in October’ was written on the poet’s thirtieth birthday when he was living in Laugharne and describes his thoughts as he walks around the town on an autumn morning. The film combines live-action and animation and follows the route taken by the poet. The animation was created by the young people using sand and drawings set to a reading of the poem by actor Richard Elfyn.

2012 Olympic Committee awards young film-makers

Posted on 18/12/2009

The Torch Theatre in Milford Haven was the venue for the recent premiere of The Travelling Harpists a Heritage Lottery Funded film made by young Travellers in West Wales. The young people from The Priory Leaning Centre at Monkton Priory Community Primary School and Bynea County Primary School produced the artwork and animation for the film exploring the Romany musical and cultural heritage of Wales. It tells the story of the Woods Family who were a famous Welsh Gypsy family of travelling storytellers and harpists.

The project has been awarded an Inspire Mark by the 2012 Olympic Committee for raising awareness of the cultural contribution made by Travelling communities, this is one of only eight awarded in Wales. The DVD of the film and the accompanying booklet will be distributed to schools by the Welsh Assembly Government in the new year.  Beverley Stephens head of the Gypsy/Traveller education service in Pembrokeshire said “They enjoyed learning about their heritage and it will have helped their self-esteem to see the high regard that the Gypsy harpists were held in Wales. Its been a great success all round”

Cinetig scoops award at prestigious Chicago International Children’s’ Film Festival

Posted on 18/12/2009

Cinetig film Skool Daze , has won 2nd prize in the Children’s Jury Prize category for the best Child Produced Short Film in the Chicago International Children's Film Festival (CICFF).

Skool Daze competed among films from 40 countries to win the award. The CICFF is the only children's film festival selected to be an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival. 

Cinetig animators Gerald Conn and Jane Hubbard, who directed and produced Skool Daze, said: “We are delighted that our film has won an award. This is the biggest showcase of films for children in the world and we had 3 films selected out of 200 in total. The film was funded by First Light Movies and Cinetig worked with a group of Year 5 pupils from a Welsh medium school, Ysgol Pwll Coch, from Cardiff. The film is about Maestir School, which is a typical Victorian School now situated in St Fagan’s Museum. The children, their teacher and head-teacher all dressed up and re-enacted a typical school day for a Victorian child in Wales.”

Pauline Burt, Chief Executive of the Film Agency commented “The Chicago International Children’s Film Festival is the largest annual festival of films for children in the world. It is therefore a fantastic achievement for all those involved in the project to be recognized with this award, and to profile their creative excellence internationally.”

The Stute wins Grand Prize

Posted on 18/12/2009

Cinetig film ‘The Stute’ has won the Grand prize for outstanding film in the 13 – 16 category in the Kids for Kids UK film festival 2009. The film was funded by First Light Movies and uses a blend of live-action, photographs and animation to bring a piece of social history to life. The festival is one of the largest in the UK specialising in films made by young people.

The professional jury commented on the film “This is a hugely accomplished film, by turns funny and touching – a fitting tribute to a much loved institution.”

Sand Animation on the National Mall

Posted on 21/07/2009

Cinetig’s work has recently been seen on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Gerald spent ten days animating under canvas in this festival celebrating the diversity of culture in Wales including poets, storytellers, musicians and craftspeople of every kind. Over the course of the festival Gerald made a short film about the story of the meeting between the Welsh and the indigenous people in Patagonia, an appropriate subject for an event bringing Wales and America closer together.

To view video from festival click here and scroll to the bottom of the page

Cinetig at Annecy Animation Festival

Posted on 05/06/2009

Gerald Conn will be attending MIFA in Annecy next week as part of the UK delegation organised by South West Screen. He will be taking a trailer seeking co-production finance, DVD/cinema distribution and broadcast interest in his animated feature film project, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, adapted from Conrad’s novel by writer Mark Jenkins. The trailer was recently nominated for a BAFTA Cymru for best animation.

The project is currently in development and Gerald has produced a three minute pilot and character designs with development funding from the Film Agency for Wales. The film brings together a creative team including artist Derek Mawudoku, animators Jeremy Roberts and Virginia Head and producer Naomi Jones.

Cinetig BAFTA nominations

Posted on 28/04/2009

Two Cinetig films have been nominated for BAFTA Cymru Awards 2009. Gerald Conn’s short animation Heart of Darkness is up for a BAFTA  for Best Animation, while the short film he made with artist Carlos Pinatti, Bara, Plu a Mate is up for a BAFTA for best short film. The ceremony will be held on 17th May in the Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

Cinetig films in Screening at St Fagans

Posted on 28/04/2009

Three of Cinetig’s latest films have been screened at an event at St Fagans; National History Museum. Two of the films, Skool Daze and One Stop Shop were funded by First Light Movies, while Rhyd-y-car – Back to the Future was funded by the Welsh Arts Council.

The slate of films tell the stories behind Ysgol Maestir, Gwalia Stores and Rhyd-y-car cottages which are all buildings at St Fagans. The films will now be used as part of The People's Collection website,  funded by the Welsh Assembly Government that will be launched this year.  The day was a great success as the  teachers spoke movingly about the positive impact making the films had had on the children from Merthyr and Cardiff.

Cinetig film 'Skool Daze' up for top award

Posted on 06/02/2009

Cinetig film 'Skool Daze' has been shortlisted for a major award by First Light Movies. Children from Ysgol Pwll Coch in Cardiff will attend the awards which will take place in London on  17th March in the Odeon, Leicester Square. The awards are a star studded event and the films are shortlisted by using an industry panel and youth jury and the winning film has been judged by a group of celebrity judges which will include: Daniel Craig, Joseph Fiennes, Josh Hartnett, Orlando Bloom, Kate Beckinsale, Emilia Fox, Sienna Miller, Marc Forster, David Harewood, Freddie Highmore, Juliet Stevenson, Dakota Blue Richards, Nicholas Hoult, Ben Miller and many many more!. Skool Daze is in the category of 'Best film by under 12's' and last year Cinetig scooped the top First Light award  'Best film over 13' with The 'Stute, which was presented to pupils of Ysgol Plasmawr by actor Keven Spacey. You can view Skool Daze on the First Light website www.firstlightmovies.com

Supported by the Lottery through the UK Film Council's First Light Movies initiative

‘Stute youngsters visit the BBC...

Posted on 06/11/2008

Youngsters who took part in making Cinetig’s highly successful film 'The ‘Stute' were given an in depth tour of BBC Wales recently. The tour was organised to show the how a programme is screened, and specifically leading up to when 'The ‘Stute' was screened on BB2W later in the month (as well as being available on BBC i-player).

The pupils from Ysgol Plasmawr met Ian Pratt,  who is a manager for planning, scheduling and presentation at the BBC. Ian showed them around the new multi-million pound TV play out area, from where 'The ‘Stute' and Cinetig’s latest documentary, 'Merthyr War Memorial - Behind the Stone' would be broadcast. The kids had a unique opportunity to try out the equipment for themselves, as they each had a turn at voicing the links between programmes. They had a chat with Glyn Lewis, who is a channel director for BBC Wales, and watched as he did live links on air. They also had the opportunity to take over from Derek Brockway in the weather room, as they had a go at reading the weather from the auto-queue.

The pupils then went on to studio C1 to look at the Pobl y Cwm studios and set, and saw the control room to see the mixing desks and the sound area where the soap is recorded and edited.

They then went on to the BBC Wales News studio where they had the opportunity to sit in the presenter’s desk and check out how the news is broadcast. They were also given a tour of the news control room to see how news items are put together.

New film about indigenous people to be exhibited in Patagonia

Posted on 06/11/2008

A little known aspect of the history of the Welsh settlers in Patagonia and their contacts with the indigenous people of that region, the Tehuelche, has been the subject of a film collaboration between Gerald Conn and Welsh based Argentine artist Carlos Pinatti.

The film Bara, Plu a Maté takes the form of a video triptych made up of video footage gathered on a two week trip to Patagonia in 2007. The film is part of an exhibition at the National Gallery in Trelew, Patagonia this December.

History of Milton Keynes explored in new Cinetig film

Posted on 06/11/2008

Over the summer 2008 Cinetig directors Gerald Conn and Chris Elliott worked with young people from across Milton Keynes on a project devised and delivered by MK Arts for Health in partnership with Milton Keynes City Orchestra.

This film was the outcome of three days of music and animation workshops and was inspired by the 'Out of Clay' exhibition, a collection of archaeological and contemporary pottery on loan from Buckinghamshire County Museum.

BBC broadcast Cinetig films...

Posted on 29/10/2008

Merthyr War Memorial – Behind the Stone

BBC Wales acquisitioned a half hour documentary based on Cinetig’s 'Behind the Stone' project. This film was originally funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Welsh Film Agency. Merthyr War Memorial - Behind the Stone is a re-edited version, also made by Cinetig, and focuses on Cinetig film makers working with children from Cyfarthfa Junior school in Merthyr. The film shows how children worked alongside professional film makers in making an animated film about World War One. The animation itself features as part of the half hour film. The documentary was screened on BB2 W on 10 November 2008 as part of the Armistice season and Cinetig have received fantastic feedback from the many people who watched it.

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The ‘Stute

BBC Wales also acquisitioned 'The ‘Stute'. This 5 minute animated film won a top award (best film category) from funders ‘First Light Movies’ in London in March 2008. It was also nominated for a BAFTA Cymru.

The film is about the reminiscences of people who lived and worked in Oakdale Miners Institute which has now been re-erected as part of St Fagans National History Museum near Cardiff. 'The 'Stute' was screened on BBC2W in November 2008.

Cinetig work with artist Bedwyr Williams...

Posted on 29/10/2008

In August 2008 International artist Bedwyr Williams worked with the Cinetig team with children aged 8-15 from Chester Avenue estate in Kinmel Bay. Bedwyr, who is from the area, worked with the young people to make a film about flooding which uses reminisces from local people about the flooding which affected the estate 17 years ago.

This short animation called ‘Flood’ was made with funding from the Arts Council of Wales, Communities First, and money from the Mostyn Gallery in Llandudno. Communities First hosted a screening of the film in February and the film will also be screened in the Mostyn Gallery as part of its re-opening celebrations later in 2009.

Travelling Harpists – film about history of travellers in Wales...

Posted by tim on 28/10/2008

This Heritage Lottery funded project is about the history of gypsy culture and traditions in Wales. Animation workshops took place in November in Bynea Primary School in Llanelli, and in January in Monkton Priory School in Pembrokeshire, both schools have a unit for traveller children. Children and staff from the two schools met up in November, where they visited a traditional Romany caravan. Other activities on the project include a visit from Teleri Jarman, who talked to the children about her descendants, the famous Wood’s gypsy family, who bought their music to Wales. Story teller Daniel Morden visited Monkton to do a workshop based on his collection of Wood’s family stories.  The film will be completed in April 2009. As well as the animation, there will be a short documentary about the making of the film and a booklet about romany language designed by the children at Bynea.

Cinetig making three films with St Fagan’s Museum...

Posted by Nigel on 28/10/2008

Cinetig have produced three films in collaboration with St Fagan’s National History Museum and schools across Wales. The films, together called Building Stories, are about the history of three of the buildings exhibited at the museum.

Skool Daze

This 10 minute film is a mixture of live action and animation and was funded by First Light Movies. In June 2008 Cinetig worked with a group of Year 5 pupils from a Welsh medium school, Ysgol Pwll Coch, from Cardiff. The children helped make a film about Maestir School, which is a typical Victorian School now situated in St Fagan’s. The children, their teacher and head-teacher all dressed up and re-enacted a typical school day for a Victorian child in Wales, notably that they were forbidden to speak Welsh! The film includes inserts of animation.

Rhyd Y Car – Back to the future

This film funded by the Arts Council of Wales, is about the row of miners cottages called Rhyd y Car at St Fagans, which were originally situated in Merthyr Tydfil. Cinetig worked with teenage boys from Cyfarthfa High School in Merthyr to produce this animated film, which uses a combination of photo-montage and original drawings. The film shows, in a humorous way, domestic incidents from different historical periods in the cottages, and then goes on to extend the idea by imaging what might happen in Rhyd y Car today, and then on into a virtual future, where the houses are powered by natural elements such as the sun and wind

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One Stop Shop

This film was funded by First Light Movies and is about the Gwalia Stores shop at St Fagan’s Museum, originally situated in Ogmore Vale. Gwalia Stores was one of the first convenience stores, with everything under one roof. Children from Ysgol Plasmawr, a Welsh medium secondary school, took part working with Cinetig to produce this film. The film uses oral archive from the museum to show how local people used the shop in its hey-day. The film also includes live-action where the children dress up in period costume to play customers and staff in the shop. Animation is used for flashbacks.

Pantomime film for Arts Active...

Posted on 27/10/2008

Cinetig have produced a short animation film for Arts Active in Cardiff, which is being shown in the foyer of the New Theatre during the run of Aladdin, the Pantomime this year.

Aladdin’s Journey takes snippets from the original story. Cinetig worked with Year 5 pupils from Oakfield Primary in St Mellon’s to produce the film which is in a Chinese shadow puppet style. Artwork from the film is also used as the cover for this year's programme.

Pop into the New Theatre to see the film!