FUNN workshops create range of optical illusions

On the occasion of Emirati Children’s Day, FUNN, the Sharjah-based foundation dedicated to promoting media arts among children and young people in the UAE, organised an array of activities with special workshops and programmes, that made it a fun-filled day for children.

Children were invited to a lineup of creatively curated events that included a stop motion workshop, scanography, comic arts and make up drawings along with film screenings.

As part of Emirati Children’s Day events, FUNN participated in the event organised by the General Directorate of Amiri Guards at their office by organising a stop motion workshop.

The workshop targeted children aged 8-13 years who were taught the art of bringing inanimate objects to life. Children were given props and different items to trial how moving objects in small increments between each photographed frame, created an impression of movement.

Considered to be a most dedicated form of animation, children were trained on a stop motion studio app, accentuating effects by adding sound to their final video. Thus, it enabled them to create beautiful stop motion animated movies, instantly on their devices.

The next stop for children aged between 7 to 17, was FUNN’s own office at the Supreme Council of Family Affairs. The workshop there was held for children of prisoners in collaboration with Sharjah Police, as part of Sharjah Police’s “Giving Hope” initiative.

The workshop taught children how to capture digitised images to create printable art. Often referred to as scanography or scanner photography, the activity was not only fun and beautiful but also intriguing and gimmicky. Children then scanned different things, to create their own artistic image.

For comic fans who loved dabbling in cartoons, the next workshop was purposed to teach artworks that comic books, graphic novel, manga and anime industries deploy. Children learnt the basics of comic book art by conveying humour, recent trends or current events. A face chart was then distributed to implement the illustrations.

Speaking about the event Sheikha Jawaher Bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, Director of FUNN and SICFF said, “Children are the nation’s most cherished and valuable asset. Each one of them is talented in their unique ways and can be honed through such specialised workshops. The workshops align with our approach to stimulate children’s critical thinking and nurture their imaginations. Through such curated workshops we are focused on imparting vocational knowledge that will help them to express themselves and build their creative skills”.

She further added, “Keeping this in mind, we will continue to partner with different entities in order to support and keep delivering hope to all the children in the UAE. Organising these workshops is in line with FUNN’s vision and with the objectives of the Sharjah Child-Friendly initiative, which seek to empower all youngsters, including children from all segments of the society. We believe these continued efforts will help to build a generation of creative innovators in all fields”.

FUNN aims to nurture a future generation of creative artists in media and film industry, and promotes new media works and films made by children and young filmmakers in the UAE at international film festivals and conferences worldwide. Its larger goal is to foster talent through these festivals, conferences and workshops locally and internationally.

Recently, to celebrate the World Happiness Day, FUNN has launched the ‘Best Animation Video Competition’ for children aged 6 to 19. The winners of the competition will be announced on 20th March 2019.

According to FUNN, applicants must meet the industry-standards for animation videos and the artworks must be original and created by the participants themselves. The videos should not exceed time limit of 10 seconds and should be themed around what represents happiness for the participants.

To apply for the competition, applicants should follow FUNN’s social media account @funnshj, and the videos should be uploaded using the applicant’s personal account with the hashtag #happyfunn.