Edfund Grants Major Animation Photography Suite To High School
We are thrilled to announce a fresh, exciting grant to the Hamilton Wenham High School that touches nearly every possible subject and prepares our students for a 21st Century work life. It's called "Frame by Frame: Connecting Art and Technology in the Classroom" and involves digital SLR cameras, animation software and the rich imaginations of our kids.
The grant, in animated detail: $24,806.88
Nikon D610 Digital SLR camera kit
This grant covers eight Nikon D610 Digital SLR camera kits, twenty-five licenses for DragonFrame 3.6 Animation software, and eight tripods to support a new Animation course at HamiltonWenham Regional High School.
All designed to enhance and support the already successful Digital Photography and Digital Imaging Curriculum that has been in place for over 8 years.
The grant was requested by Kirsten Losee, Fine Arts Curriculum Coordinator and Bill Melville, Visual Arts/New Media Teacher,
Animation isn't only for entertainment anymore.
Dragonframe 3.6 is the next generation of image capture software for stop motion animation. The features include a visual timeline editor, integrated lipsync, advanced DMX lighting, motion control and much more.
It was used in the production of award winning films produced by Disney and Aardman, including the movie Frankenweenie. Here's a clip of that film so you can see the sophistication of this equipment.
But animation is not only a medium for entertainment. It's also a wonderful way to communicate in business. For example, animation is an effective way for brands to communicate in our social-media, content-driven world. It helps engineers and scientists describe complex and complicated information visually. Animation can also help in general as a problem-solving method when no analytical methods are available in understanding certain complex topics.
It's physics, creativity, acting, problem solving, collaboration and art.
Imagine this. A class of students are divided into groups for a reverse video where students critically analyze an existing animated video. Then they have to collaborate and recreate the video by emulating every movement with their classmates using the equipment from this grant.
Students will come to appreciate the complexity of the body’s mechanics. In each clip, the students reproduce the timing, mannerisms, antics staging, camera moves, etc. as accurately as possible. This project encompasses building skills including risk-assessment, problem-solving new techniques and self-assessment.
And that's just one project. But it's the kind of rich learning that our students will be experiencing because of this grant.
Thank you for your donations to the Edfund. Know that your generosity goes directly to the schools, giving our students advantages like this "Frame By Frame" grant.
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