| Introduction | Gala Premiere Screening | How it all began | The Competition | Tales from the Pit | Sunniside Durham | John Marley Centre | The Lambton Worm | Village Arts Loftus | Washington Arts Centre

INTRODUCTION...

Throughout 1996, a unique and exciting
community based arts/media project
was underway in the North of England.

ANIMHA 96 was originated to raise awareness
and celebrate Cinema's 100th Birthday
by uniting people through the
magic of the moving image
and the universal language of film animation.


The ANIMHA 96 project linked communities
throughout the Northern Arts Region
by providing access to animated film making
through animation workshops
for scores of people of all ages and backgrounds.

Within ANIMHA 96 there were several sub projects
or small scale film productions,
each exploring the Northern Regions' heritage and culture
in diverse and original ways.
The common link between these mini productions
was a simple love and enthusiasm for film animation
among those taking part in the events.



HOW IT ALL BEGAN...

The idea of ANIMHA 96 was first conceived
during the midsummer madness of 1994.

The key people responsible for the ensuing mayhem
were the MAD ANIMHATTERS themselves
: film makers and animators
Dave Brunskill, Carl Harrison and Nick Daniel
with assistance from writer and therapist
Rebecca Brunskill.



THE MAD ANIMHATTER ANIMATION STORY COMPETITION...

An open competition was launched late in 1994
to promote the idea of ANIMHA 96 and raise awareness throughout the region
of the significance of animation in the birth and evolution of Cinema.

From scores of entries,
THE LAMBTON WORM
was chosen as the outright winner,
from Pearl Buglass and the children of Waterville Primary School.

The prize was to have their film made by the ANIMHA 96 team
and for the winners to be involved through animation workshops
in the whole exciting process of film making.



TALES FROM THE PIT...

The Centenary year began for ANIMHA 96
in a studio at Seaham by the North Sea Coast.

Here, in the heart of the famous East Durham Coalfield,
a group of ex miners
and members of the former colliery communities
were invited to come together to share their stories
about coal mining before the closure of the pits.


It was a poignant, humorous, and revealing time
for everybody involved in the
Tales from the Pit project.

The fundamental aim being to reflect and capture
something of the essence of colliery life as it used to be
through reminiscence, conversation, and story telling
and to bring these stories back to life through film animation.




SUNNISIDE WORKSHOP...

The first one day event of ANIMHA 96
took place at the Sunniside Community Centre
in the Wear Valley District of County Durham.

Here a large group turned out despite the deep snow
to enjoy a great day of animated fun and frolics.





THE JOHN MARLEY CENTRE...

At the John Marley Media Centre, in the West of Newcastle,
a series of five Saturday Animation Workshops were held during the spring.

A group of enthusiastic animators came together
to explore the technique of Pixilation,
a form of animation which combines live actors with inanimate objects.
Their resulting short films pay tribute to
the birth of cinema with spirit and imagination.



THE LAMBTON WORM...

A new musical arrangement for the Lambton Worm Film
was composed by THE ICING BUS,
a group of musicians who came together from all over the UK
especially to record their own version
of the traditional North East Folk Song.
The childrens choir from Waterville Primary School also sang along.


A series of production workshops took place
at the School during the summer term.
At these events children learned many new skills,
becoming both animators and performers,
they worked hard together to create the drawings for the animated part of the film
and rehearsing the dance routines for the live action part of the film.



VILLAGE ARTS WORKSHOPS...

The next main events took place in the southern part of the Northern Arts Region

at the Village Arts Stable House Centre
in Loftus, East Cleveland.
Here many local children took part
and the energy was amazing to behold.



WASHINGTON ARTS CENTRE...

As the ANIMHA 96 project enterd its final phase
it took up residency at The Biddick Arts Centre,
Washington.

The Mad Animhatters,
Dave, Nick and Carl,
beavered away finishing off the main body
of the film work and planning their final last fling...

an animation party!
It was a fitting finale.

GALA PREMIERE...

A date was arranged with the TYNESIDE CINEMA
for the GALA PREMIERE SCREENING
of the films created by ANIMHA 96.

This took place on Thursday 21 November at 6.30pm.

Some tickets were available to the public from the Box Office, and the evening was a sell out!
A great atmoshere and yet another lovely buffet!

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These events can be tailored to your groups requirements.
To find out more contact Animha :
mail@animha.co.uk