From 19th to 23rd of April we participated in Animacikl – a animation workshop in Banja Luka as part of a festival in which we had 48 hours to make a 1 minute animated short. Students from all over Europe got mixed into groups with other foreign students and in the 48 hours had to get to know each other, get familiar with each other’s skills, and think of and make a film based on the workshop’s theme.
The main rule of the workshop was that at least one person from the group needs to be on the premises working at all times, so we had to arrange shifts and separate the work well. However, the students weren’t the only ones awake as the organisers and representatives of the hosting school were providing us with food, drinks and snacks, and checking up on us no matter the hours. We were also located on a campus, so there was a cafe nearby and places to rest and hang out in between work.
The time before and after the workshop we spent exploring around the city and the campus. Upon arrival there was a collective lunch, and in the evening an organized gathering where we got the chance to mingle and talk to other students in a fun and pleasant atmosphere. We enjoyed discussing experiences because, in reality, not all students had worked in animation before, but actually came from other backgrounds (new media, contemporary arts, etc).
At the closing ceremony we received certificates for participation. Afterwards we walked around the city behind two student representatives of the Bosnian school who were biking with a projector and a DJ booth, playing music and projecting animations onto buildings around Banja Luka, for the public to see as well.
This intense experience, in some ways, also made us closer to our teammates enough to keep in contact even now, and our colleagues from Croatia are even planning a visit to Ljubljana soon 🙂
It was definitely one of the more interesting and most challenging experiences we got an opportunity to participate in. We had to combine our advantages and make up for each other’s disadvantages in the most efficient way in order to finish by the deadline. Brainstorming and arriving on the same page with complete strangers was a semi-stressful new obstacle, but a very useful experience as it forced us to confront our communication, problem solving and cooperation skills.
Overall, as a person who likes to test my own limits and push myself to improve as much as possible also in the field of animation, I think this was a very useful and unforgettable experience that I would encourage anyone to try at least once, even if not in the field of animated film 🙂
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