Student work gets better and better

There was a welcome freedom from boy's fantasies in this year's end of year show for the Diploma of Animation students at Yoobee (previously Natcoll).

That is almost certainly because, in a hugely welcome trend, there were far more women showing their work than previously. Indeed in previous years the course was often 100% male. This year there were four or five women, including some who presented computer generated models as their final work. (Modelling is usually a boy thing - they make monsters and machines of mind boggling complexity and ingenuity.)

Of the models my favourite was "Time Guardian" (by a girl) - a creature designed in three versions - good, neutral and evil. Models are usually presented as static images, shown from all angles and at various stages of development. "Time Guardian" was presented in an engaging way with narrative and poetic quotation on screen.

There was still a lot of "boy stuff" - but considering most of their job prospects are in the overwhelmingly male gaming industry, this is not surprising. Because I'm a girl I enjoy the girls' work more, but a boy produced the dear little dog creature running over to its mother and a cute tale about a little witch, so I hope I'm not too biased.

The Diploma of Digital Filmmaking filled the second half of the show. This course has always had more women in it and my favourites (below) are by men and women.

The films from this course were almost all excellent. Something new to the course was photo animation, where still photos are animated against background scenes. This is surprisingly effective, making a moving "collage" image.

Some of the films suffered from the undergraduate problem of starting with an abstract idea and then using the most obvious symbolism and images to portray it. A bit more brainstorming of ideas was required.

Favourites in this category "How to Get a Girl in 6 Days" - a gorgeous wee thing with heaps of humour and charm - and "The Fort" - well observed drama about childhood.