Layout 2 - University of Central Lancashire

Stunning animation
soars to great heights
Creative arts courses within the School of Art,
Design and Performance rank amongst the best in
the UK and every year many of the School’s
students gain prestigious national and
international awards. 2011 was no different with
one graduate’s eye-catching knitted animated film
being named the best in the country.
Charlotte Blacker scooped the Royal Television
Society Undergraduate Animation Award for The
Little Red Plane, a short ‘knitted’ adventure story
about a boy and his cat who travel far and wide
delivering parcels in their little red plane.
The 22-year-old, who graduated with a First in
BA(Hons) Animation, received her award at the
National Media Museum in Bradford.
She said: “I was totally shocked but extremely
happy to have won such a fantastic prize. I can’t
thank my family, friends and tutors enough for
their support and encouragement.”
The animation enthusiast, whose
grandmother taught her knitting
skills when she was aged seven,
said: “I wanted to create an
animation aimed at children
aged two to six but hoped it would also have a
universal appeal and everyone would find it
enjoyable. I’d got a plan of how I wanted it to
look so it was just a case of knitting all the
characters and props.”
Charlotte also won the Royal Television Society’s
North West Award earlier in 2011. She was the
third UCLan student to have won the prize in the
past three years.
“When I started filming I was in the studio for
12 hours a day and then I’d knit until 2am,” she
said. “As knitting is such a social thing to do I
would often get my needles and wool out over
lunch with friends or even take them down to
the pub. It took me six months to complete as I
managed to film between three and six seconds
of footage every day but I was delighted with the
final result.”
She now works as a production assistant for
Loose Moose Animations in London and has
returned to UCLan part-time to study on
the MA Animation.
Glenda Brindle, Dean, School of Art, Design and
Performance, said: “It’s a fantastic achievement for
Charlotte to be crowned best undergraduate
animation student in the country. The Animation
team is delighted and proud of Charlotte's welldeserved
success. It’s a tribute to the staff that we
have won this national award following our
success in the regional competition.”
The jury of the Royal Television Society praised
Charlotte’s work and said it was “a beautifully
crafted film that achieves its goal of entertaining
a pre-school audience. The use of knitting was
inspired! It is a fully rounded film that excels in
design, pace, editing and storytelling.”
Edward Pugh, Chairman of Royal Television
Society North West Student Events, added: “The
jury of TV professionals were hugely impressed by
the calibre of work which was both diverse and
creative; therefore tough decisions were made in
choosing the nominations and final winners.”
You can watch the Little Red
Plane on YouTube and to date
the film has received over
70,000 viewings.
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