Games art and animation learners light up Tamworth Castle 

Learners studying on the games art and animation course at Lichfield College have been offered a fantastic work experience opportunity by New Urban Era. 

The brief was to create a 10 second Christmas themed 2D or 3D animation which would be considered for inclusion as part of the Tamworth town centre annual Christmas light switch on light show display which takes place on Sunday 26th November 2023.

To design and create the required animations, learners used their concept art and planning skills by creating mood boards and rough ideas before the animation process began. Learners submitted a mix 0f 2D and 3D submissions which had been created using a range of software such as Adobe Photoshop & Animate, Procreate and Blender. Many of the 3D submissions showcased the learners’ developments with Blender which they had only been introduced to the week before the brief was set!  

New Urban Era had detailed within the brief that due to the tight timescale of the project, the animations produced by learners were not guaranteed to make it into the final reel. However, every completed animation submitted by our learners made the final cut and will be projected onto Tamworth Castle during the light switch on event on Sunday 26th November, which is a huge achievement!  

Games art and animation lecturer, Jennifer Wynn at South Staffordshire College said “We have thoroughly enjoyed producing work for New Urban Era, and we are extremely excited for future opportunities and briefs! I am very proud of the Game Art and Animation learners’ submissions and the dedication they have shown in producing great work for the New Urban Era project! These animations showed the learners range of skills, along with their great imaginations, creativity, and talents. I can’t wait to see the learners’ hard work being projected onto the castle and celebrate their achievements so far this year!” 

Victor Brown from New Era said ““New Urban Era have been working with South Staffordshire College offering students work experience since 2019 and have expanded the offering to two further departments in 2023. It has been a pleasure to work with the college this year, that has seen art students deliver multiple community workshop, media students document our Art of Tamworth weekend and ending the year working with students from the colleges new games and digital arts department has been the icing on the cake with professional artwork submitted to be projected onto Tamworth Castle. The project was delivered remotely and demonstrated how successful remote working can be, especially within arts and design. We look forward to building on our partnership with the college and working with more departments in future years.” 

The games art and animation course has only been introduced at the college this year. So far, the reception from industry and the work experience opportunities offered to our learners to date has been fantastic. This further demonstrates the skills learners develop on this course are in demand by local employers in the region. 

South Staffordshire College is keen to find relevant work experience opportunities for learners studying with us on all courses. If your company might be able to offer an opportunity to one of our learners, please do get in touch using: work.experience@southstaffs.ac.uk