Deakin students shine in Melbourne International Animation Festival

Deakin animation students have hit the big screen at this year's Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF) with three innovative works screened to hundreds of visitors and members of the animation industry at ACMI Cinemas, Federation Square.

The Deakin works were selected from a record 3,550 entries from more than 40 countries for MIAF, the premier animation festival in Australia and one of the largest festivals in the world dedicated to independent auteur animation. MIAF will screen 450 short films during this year's festival.

Recent graduate Nathan Robinson's work Shamus the Seal was selected as part of the 'Best of the Next: Australian Student Animation Showcase'. A whimsical tale that showcases a 'retro' approach, Shamus is a seal at a cross-roads and unsure what his life really means and where he should be going.

Shamus the Seal from Nathan Robinson on Vimeo.

Abdullah Kökçe's third year film War Child was selected to screen among other outstanding works in the 'Australian Showcase' for the MIAF Official Opening. War Child is an extraordinary look at the way war is reported and how those images manipulate our sense of a world most of us see only on our screens.

WAR CHILD from Atlas Production on Vimeo.

A third work, History Lesson, is a collaborative project created by a group of second year students. A stinging rebuke against racism featuring an interview by former Prime Minister Paul Keating, it is part of the 'Australian Panorama' program.

Animation lecturer Rose Woodcock explains that selection for MIAF is a wonderful stepping stone for students.

"It's a huge boost to their confidence as creative practitioners and it also lets students see their own work in the perspective of the 'bigger picture' about the possibilities of animation, where the industry is heading, and what others are doing," she said.

"And we can't forget, too, what a great networking opportunity it is for them. They get to meet animation professionals, producers and other student animators from around the world. It's where their hard work really starts to pay off!"

Rose explains that once they reach third year, students can really start to see where their work is heading and the opportunity to screen at MIAF is a big motivator.

"From first year, our students have access to state-of-the-art facilities in the purpose-built Deakin Motion.Lab, where they get to use high-end technology and apply skills they've learned across the 2D animation units to how things work in the 3D 'virtual' space of computer-generated and motion capture domains," she said.

"This combination of 2D, 3D and motion capture creates a rich learning environment and takes the students through all the different possibilities - from hand-drawn character design, to visual effects, to building 3D characters and worlds - and thinking about how all their stories and images could work in different design contexts such as for video games, children's TV, or documentary."The course really demonstrates how animation sits at the intersection of art, science, technology, entertainment, and visual communication."