Update:March 22, 2023

Sapporo Animation Workshop

On the 14^th and 15^th of January 2023, the hands-on Sapporo Animation Workshop took place at the hands of the Sapporo Electronics and Industries Cultivation Foundation in an endeavour to teach junior high school students the art of animation and 3D computer graphics creation.

Participation was free and the workshops were led by industry experts Naomi Igarashi (ENGI Co., Ltd. Sapporo Studio) and Hiroki Matsukura (Kishida Co., Ltd. Studio BACU) inside the Sapporo College of Design and Technology.

On the first day, following an introductory lecture, the 20 participating students began to draw their own images using specialist software Clip Studio Paint. They then moved on to create 3D computer graphics on the second day of the workshop. Though the equipment was new to them and there was some confusion at first, participants soon grasped the basics and were able to produce plenty of distinctive fish and sea creatures of their own design.

Presentation

Shortly thereafter on the 11^th of February, the finished work was presented in a special session at the Intercross Creative Centre Cross Garden. Workshop leaders first gave a talk on the animation industry, then presented a feature video they had put together incorporating the students’ work. Finally, participants each received a certificate of completion.

"The Comet Aquarium," an animated feature compiled to showcase participants’ work, tells the story of humanity in the year 3000-and-something in which a floating aquarium disaplying Earth’s diverse new sea life has been built around the moon using water from a comet. It was evident that the students had not only worked hard on the technical aspects but had dug deep into their imagination. Amongst other designs were fish shaped like sushi, graceful mermaids, and creatures with glowing antennae.

The YouTube video can be watched below: