Coleg Ceredigion’s IT students were recently given an exclusive access to one of Aardman Animations’ creative talents.

Laurie Sitzia, who has almost 10 years’ experience at the four times Academy Award-winning studio, visited the new state-of-the-art animation studio on the Cardigan campus to speak to students.

Laurie has been involved in many of Aardman’s celebrated productions including the Academy Award-winning Creature Comforts, Shaun the Sheep, Timmy Time and more recently the Academy Award nominated, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

Students were given an opportunity to see at first-hand the skills and techniques used to create full feature length and claymation shorts from a professional animator.

“It was great to meet the students at Coleg Ceredigion and to give them an insight into the world of stop motion animation”, Laurie said. “I hope they have been inspired and look forward to seeing how their personal projects develop this year.”

Marion Phillips, IT tutor at Coleg Ceredigion, said: “Aardman Studios are without doubt the biggest success story in the new wave of British animation and it’s been a fantastic experience for our students to learn from someone who works at the very pinnacle of this industry. We are very grateful to Laurie for giving up her time and sharing her considerable experience with us and we look forward to continuing our links with her in future.

“Our animation units, offered within the Level 2 Diploma and Level 3 Extended Diploma courses, are incredibly popular, with many of our 2D digital animation projects being highlighted as excellent practice by our awarding body. I’m very excited that we have been able to build on this success by further expanding our provision through the development of a new animation studio."