Digi Ed has had a very busy start to the new financial year. We have had two presenters travelling from Moree to Bega as part of a Country Area Program Tour called LandsCAPe. We have worked with students on Claymation movies set in their home town and have developed quite an array of short films. The movies highlight how regional NSW is made up of different environments from the Desert to Sea and the Snow.
Welcome back and I hope the start to the new school year has gone smoothly. Digi Ed has over 200 school days booked for our Claymation Animation workshops in 2011. This is fantastic news and easily our best start to year in our 6 years of operation. With our increased capacity we still have over 400 days available and would love to work in your schools. So have a look at our newsletter or respond to our blog.
Digital Animation Workshop (Claymation Animation)
Digi Ed will run a Claymation Day at your school, in your classrooms. We will bring over $30000 worth of equipment to your school and teach your students to write a narrative, create clay characters, design backdrops, shoot footage, edit footage, add titles, add music, add sound effects and burn to a DVD. This five hour workshop has won the NSW Department of Education’s “Frater Award” for excellent performance feedback every year it has been on offer since 2005 and in 2010 won the new PinS or “Performers In Schools” Award. If the day is not the “best day your students have had at school” we will refund your money. Have a look at the website for more info and example movies created on the day.
Digi Ed is running some Holiday Workshops throughout January. We will offer 3 lots of 2 day workshops in our new studio in Norwest Sydney. We have 6 new iMacs and Canon 1000d Cameras ready to be utilised throughout the school holidays. Students can book in any of the three dates available or ring to arrange another suitable time to utilise the space.
Digi Ed won the “PinS” award for outstanding Feedback in 2011. The award is presented by the Performers in Schools Website and is given to performers who maintain outstanding feedback from schools throughout the year.
Christmas is not far away and as such we are offering parents the chance to buy up big at the Digi Ed Shop . We sell all your Stop Motion needs including software, cameras, clay, pastels, coloured paper and even backing boards. We are also offering a Holiday Workshop Gift Certificate that can be redeemed at any of the Three Holiday Workshops in January, or at our afternoon / evening workshops on Tuesdays during the Term.
Digi Ed has moved. We have relocated our office to suite A17, 24-32 Lexington Drive. Bella Vista 2153. We are on the second floor in the building at Norwest that Fitness First is in. Just below the Westpac Bank.
We are in a new building and have the space to do what has been asked often of us over the last six years. Where can we do more claymation? Parents, students and interested adults have asked us about claymation courses. So we have created some. Starting on the 12th October, adults and students can enrol in afternoon / evening claymation workshops. Both the 1 1/2 or 2 hour workshops will run for ten weeks and give participants the opportunity to develop their interest in a supportive environment. All aspects from storyboarding to the creation of music and sound effects will be explored over the 10 weeks. If you are interested in becoming the next Nick Park or just spending time learning a new skill why not enrol today? Places are limited with only twelve participants in each workshop. All equipment and materials are provided including Digital SLR Cameras and Computers. The course will be run by degree trained professionals who help students make movies every day for a living. Remember that at Digi Ed we believe that engagement is central to all learning so with this as the overriding factor in everything we do, you can bet that these courses will be enjoyable and hands on.
Digi Ed is proud to announce that we are a reseller for Dragon Stop Motion Software. This software is the industry standard in stop motion and claymation. It is used by many professional studios and is available for Windows and Mac platforms.
The Performers in Schools website is up and running and has been very well received by schools who like the idea of having a central location for performers that have “working with children checks” and valid insurance as well as a performance feedback system.
Digi Ed is launching Claymation 2. In response to customer demand we have developed an advanced claymation workshop that takes advantage of some of the many advanced features available in “Dragon Stop Motion 2” software. This workshop is ideal for High School customers that have participated in our claymation workshop in the past or are more interested in covering camera techniques as opposed to narrative outcomes. In the advanced workshop students use Digital SLR cameras instead of video to take their shots. This allows for a much higher quality image as well as focus and depth of field control. Please ring Steve Towell if you wish to discuss any aspects of the new workshop.
It’s Term Two already and Digi Ed is working flat out. We have only four or five days available in this term and Term 3 is filling fast. We advise any of our regular customers to book their workshops as soon as possible as we may be in the situation where we can’t fill demand for our product.
Digi Ed is pleased to announce the formation of the Performers in Schools website. The NSW Department of Education has recently cancelled its Performance in Schools Program. Digi Ed has decided to run its own program and at this early stage, has 26 performers signed up to take part. When we start we should have over 60 performances for you to explore. This website will allow teachers to find performers suitable for their classroom. All performers on the website will have completed working with children checks and have valid public liability insurance. They have also been assessed as suitable for the classroom in 2009 by the NSW’s Department of Education. We will run a performance feedback sheet that will help monitor the quality of each performer. This website should be up and running in a few weeks so stay tuned to this blog for details. Remember before you book any school performances make sure they are “Performance in Schools” certified.