City of Westminster Archives invited BFI animator, Tom Hillenbrand, to deliver seven animation sessions to over 132 children from Mundella Primary School in Folkestone, Kent. 

The children from years 3 to 6 designed and cut out the characters for the animation.  The animation characters were then taken to NCH Brunel Family Centre in Westminster where Rene, 8, Gideon, 11, and Lewis, 10, worked with Tom Hillenbrand over two days to create the animation.  Tom later worked with seventeen year old Chris Bennett-Grant (a professional footballer hopeful), who provided the voice over for the animation.

Participants' comments:

“My name is Rene and I am 8.  I’ve been studying Walter Tull and what he did in his life. I learnt animation with Tom.  It was fun and sad because Walter Tull died.”

"My name is Lewis-John.  We have been studying Walter Tull with Camilla and what Walter has done when he was younger.  We have done animation with Tom.  Animation is when you make a still picture move.  At the back of your eye is a retina, it plays tricks on your eye and makes the picture move.  I am 10 years old."

"The sessions of freeze frame animation were both enlightening and practical for all the children involved. The children were able to gain insight into a completely new medium. It was interesteing to observe how quickly they grasped the concept of this type of animation process."

 

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