Student Alice, with a claymation creature of the type used to make the school’s clip.
By Charlene Gatt
YARRAVILLE West Primary School students are getting a reputation as movie buffs after one of their clips was shortlisted in this year’s national Screen It competition.
Buzz Off is a two-minute claymation movie made by the school’s Grades 5 and 6 students that follows some beetles who are forced out of their home.
“They start looking for a new life somewhere else,” said Heather Britton, who runs the school’s claymation program.
“They’re sort of like refugees – they’ve left their home land and come somewhere else and hope they get accepted and respected.”
This year’s competition set a new record for the number of entries, with 499 submissions nation-wide across the live-action films, computer games and animations categories.
All movies were made around this year’s theme, Respect, intended as a trigger for students and teachers to investigate topical issues while learning film-making techniques along the way.
Australian Centre for the Moving Image screen education manager Christine Evely said the response this year had been impressive.
“It is exciting not only to see the number of entries double but also to witness the innovative and diverse ways in which the theme has been explored,” she said.
“By encouraging students to understand and practise respect, we are equipping a generation of young Australians for bright futures.”
Ms Britton said the school was thrilled to find out the movie was shortlisted.
“It’s really good that we’re doing so well.”
It’s not the first time the school has made headlines for their movie-making.
Earlier this year Yarraville West Primary School’s film A Duck out of Water was named the third-best Australian child-made film at the Little Big Shots Festival.
The school also took out the Little Big Shots top prize last year for their film Anna’s Doll.
Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image on 2 December.
