During the summer, Richard Haynes, Senior Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Animation Production course, returned to Aardman in Bristol for a six-week industry secondment as an animator.

Having previously worked at the company on popular projects including Shaun the Sheep and The Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists in 2009 and 2012, this time, Haynes worked on his third feature film, Early Man, due for released in January 2018.

On the Nick Park directed project (who he also got to work beside), Haynes was tasked with bringing various puppet characters to life, frame by frame. Haynes would capture every movement on the screen in that moment.

Of his experience, Haynes noted:

“A tremendous level of patience and concentration is required, especially when there is down-time between setups and you are expected to be proactive with your time (e.g. preparing puppets, the set, planning your animation, discussing requirements with riggers and model makers, etc.)

One of the ways I teach stresses this high level of working, particularly at Levels 5 and 6 (the other way being the ‘TV series’ method of favouring quantity over quality).”

You can read more about Richard’s experience here.

You can also find out more about the BA (Hons) Animation Production course here.

Image copyright of Aardman Animations and Lionsgate.