Anglia Ruskin students get animated for the BBC

Published: 25 July 2017 at 14:03

Listening Project dialogue inspires illustration and Animation students

Five BA (Hons) Illustration and Animation students from Cambridge School of Art have had an animation published online as part of the BBC’s Listening Project.

The Listening Project is a partnership between BBC Radio 4, BBC local and national radio stations, and the British Library.  Starting in 2012, it aims to ‘collect intimate conversations between friends or relatives, to build a unique picture of our lives today’.  Over a thousand have so far been collected, all of which have been archived by the British Library, preserving them for future generations.

Tara Wood, Katherine Thomas, Josephine Lingard, Phoenix Hall and Will Rochira – all second year students – created the animation ‘Claudia and Isabella – Sisterly Hierarchy’ especially for a dialogue in the project that inspired them.

 In their statement about the project, the students said “We chose this particular piece because we all found on some level that it resonated with us, as the majority of our team have siblings themselves.”

 “It was a fun and light-hearted theme to explore, and we enjoyed being experimental in our methods to reflect the playfulness of the scene. We wanted the audience to relate on some level to the two girls, either through their own siblings or the naive ways in which the girls discuss their future.”

Nanette Hoogslag, Course Leader for the Illustration and Animation course, contacted the BBC to establish the opportunity for her students. She said ‘The Listening Project is a very ‘visual radio’ program. For animators this program is ‘gold’ and for students it’s a great opportunity to use their imagination and visual storytelling skills. The Listening Project and its website is real young animator’s showcase.’