Highland school previews animated film
An animated film made by pupils of Ferintosh Primary School on the Black Isle will be previewed on Thursday 2 October, 2008 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm at Kinkell House Hotel.
The culmination of a three-year long project created under the guidance of Art Project Worker, John McNaught, ‘Fiddlemouse of Ferintosh and The Far East Cousins’ is a short animation about a Scottish mouse (Fiddlemouse) who is visited by his Japanese Cousins – Aneka and Kendo Mousaki.
Head Teacher, Lynne Caddell said: “The idea for the story came about three years ago when our P5-7 class were doing a project on Japan. Under the careful direction of John McNaught, the children brought their ideas to reality. The children loved being part of this project. Although it took a long time to complete, the end result has been a great success.”
The film tells the tale of Fiddlemouse’s Japanese cousins who come to Scotland on a flying Japanese Carp. The cousins are terrified by a red kite which chases them because they are not Scottish. Fiddlemouse decides they should go sightseeing to make them feel more Scottish. So the three mice board the Japanese Carp and go on a whirlwind tour of the area over the Kessock Bridge and they have a close encounter with the Loch Ness Monster.
Later they join in a ceilidh and take part in the highly regarded Ross-shire cheese sniffing contest. The Far East cousins return to Japan and their Toyhatsu car factory with their new Scottish identity. Their tales of their adventure lead them to create a special new car – the Toyhatsu FR-TOSH.
The mouse characters were created by taking photographs of the people involved which were then animated using computer graphics to create mouse-like ears and elongated noses. Several photographs were taken in different poses and the scenery was made from artwork created by the pupils. Each frame was photographed individually, moving the artwork each time to give the idea of movement.
Primary 7 pupil, Fraser Hickson who narrates the voice of Kendo Mousaki said: “Speaking Gaelic in a Japanese accent was quite funny, but hard.”
The preview at Kinkell House Hotel is open to all (tickets £3 or £1.50 for 14 year olds or under), which includes one drink and some delicious award-winning Connage Cheese from Ardersier.
Artwork created during the making of the film will be on display at Kinkell House Hotel during the film preview. People who are animated in the film will also be in attendance. DVDs of the animation can be obtained for a donation.