Viva Lewes Issue #161 February 2020

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UNDER 16s
Press Play Films
Making your own animations
“Kids really need a space to be creative,” says Lara
Leslie. “There’s very little time for it in the school
curriculum yet it’s so valuable.” It’s one of the reasons
the Fine Art graduate-turned-TV producer
set up Press Play Films – which offers animation
and film classes for children aged from seven to
13. “Animation is a great way for kids to explore
ideas and create their own worlds; it involves
drawing, storyboarding, performing and hands-on
making – and it’s a lot of fun.”
Lara spent her 20s working in TV and animation
– including a stint at Bristol’s famous Aardman
studios, where she helped make models for the
much-loved Wallace and Gromit films. (“It was
actually pretty formulaic,” she admits. “You had
to mix the clay to exactly the same formula and
quantities every day…”)
When she later had two sons, she found the long
hours and busy schedules of the film industry
incompatible with family life. “I wanted to carry
on doing something creative but where I could
still spend time with my children.” She struck on
the idea of animation classes and with the help of
a fellow animator held a sold-out pilot in Lewes.
A few years later, Press Play runs regular afterschool
clubs, workshops in libraries, galleries and
museums and even animation birthday parties
across Sussex. Lara covers everything from traditional
2D drawn animation to documentary film
production, as well as Lego animation, zoetropes
and claymation, better known as stop-motion. “I
particularly like claymation because it involves
so much hands-on making, which is really where
my interests lie, and it’s also really popular with
children.”
A typical class is a mix of study and practical work.
“We’ll usually look at some examples of animation
at the beginning, then do a story plan – an
essential part of good animation. From there we
make storyboards, then the models and set, before
photographing them to make the film. Finally,
we’ll record any voiceovers or sound effects.”
Examples of work made at Press Play workshops
show a huge variety of styles and interests, from
an animation devoted to biscuits to a brilliantly
surreal cooking sequence featuring Lego and
paper spaghetti. “We’re not prescriptive,” says
Lara. “The classes are really about kids having an
opportunity to try out whatever ideas are in their
brains and to experiment with different forms.”
She thinks boys in particular benefit from the
classes. “Boys between the ages of eight and 13
often stop wanting to create because it’s not seen
as ‘cool’. But because animation involves technology
they feel more comfortable giving it a go, and
then they end up learning all the creative, arty
stuff along the way.”
Many children come back term after term: “Animation
is kind of addictive,” says Lara, “and the
possibilities are endless.”
Nione Meakin
pressplayfilms.co.uk
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