News
A Nightcaps music teacher's songs, written nearly two decades ago and largely sitting in a drawer, are now animated videos watched by children across the country — thanks to a collaboration with SIT's screen arts programme in Invercargill.
Nicky Fryer, a teacher aide and music teacher at Takitimu Primary School in Nightcaps, first wrote the songs in 2007. She recorded a CD, staged a small show, and then life moved on. The animations never happened. Until now.
"I had written some kids' songs back in 2007," Fryer said. "I'd written a stage show, recorded a CD and done a little mini tour. I'd always had an ambition of getting animations created for the songs."
The catalyst was unexpected. One song, The Unicorn, started picking up streams after being added to a playlist by an Australian children's entertainment company called Bounce Patrol. "I thought this is actually starting to take off, so I approached Ruby to see if it would be possible to animate it," Fryer said.
Ruby Meades, a screen arts tutor at SIT, took the project on. Former SIT student Eyessa Gentle built the characters from scratch — starting with a rough cartoon fairy Fryer had drawn years earlier as a logo. "Eyessa turned her into an animated character and we went from there. We drew the unicorn, created other fairy characters, developed an animatic and worked together on the story," Fryer said.
A second video, Let's Move It, followed earlier this year. It features Aarush Shrestha, a pupil from Fryer's own school, filmed against a green screen in SIT's studio before being dropped into an animated world. Graduate diploma students Desirée Head and Reuben Leslie handled the filming and production work, building portfolio material they can actually use.
For Fryer — who spent 11 years running a music school in Christchurch for preschool and primary-aged children — getting kids off the couch has always been the point. "I've always been passionate about getting kids up and moving, not just sitting at a screen," she said. "I've tried to make the moves very easy for children to follow and the words repetitive so they can sing along. A lot of content online is designed for adults. Even now on the internet, it's actually quite difficult to find material pitched specifically for children."
The real test was her own class. "They loved it. They were all up and dancing, so that made my little heart sing," she said. "All my colleagues have been using the videos as well. They're the sort of thing teachers can use in class to give children a break and a chance to have a wriggle between lessons."
For Meades, the project does double duty. Real work for a real client. Practical experience for graduates trying to close the gap between finishing a qualification and getting hired. "Everything they work on becomes part of their portfolio. It's published work that they can use in CVs, showreels and future job applications," she said. "The projects function to help bridge that gap between graduating and then getting enough experience to gain employment."
More is coming. Fryer has Christmas-themed songs she wrote years ago but never finished recording. "This project has absolutely inspired me to keep going and finish off some things that I'd started," she said.
Some people, Fryer notes, have been surprised that something like this is coming out of rural Southland. She isn't. "There's a real creative community out here," she said.
Both videos are on YouTube now. Let's Move It is at youtu.be/R3M4j7n4aE4.