{"id":6249,"date":"2025-05-20T17:31:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T17:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/?p=6249"},"modified":"2025-05-20T17:36:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T17:36:14","slug":"animation-ba-making-everything-dance-at-strictly-stop-motion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/animation-ba-making-everything-dance-at-strictly-stop-motion\/","title":{"rendered":"Animation BA: Making Everything Dance at Strictly Stop-Motion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our Animation BA <\/a>course equips students with industry-ready skills through practical projects, expert-led workshops and exciting collaborations with leading professionals. Delivered in partnership with Aardman Animations, the studio behind Wallace and Gromit<\/em>, the course encourages students to showcase their work through national and international competitions and film festivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, our students participated in the launch of Westminster SkillShare, a new, student-led initiative supported by the Quintin Hogg Trust<\/a>. This project promotes creativity and collaboration across our Westminster community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We caught up with Ligia, one of the participating students, who submitted several animated shorts to the competition. Her work was screened at our historic Regent Street Cinema<\/a>, the birthplace of British cinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event was judged by Dan Gerhardt from Aardman Animations and Ligia proudly took home the top award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog post, Ligia reflects on her creative journey and the unforgettable experience of seeing her animation on the big screen at one of London\u2019s most iconic cinemas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Brief<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If someone had told me a year ago that I\u2019d end up animating a tea light romance, a glow stick ballet and a waltzing chair, I would have assumed they were joking. Watching them all on the big screen at Regent Street Cinema felt completely surreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few months ago, I entered the Strictly Stop-Motion Competition, organised by the University. The brief? Create a 10-second stop-frame animation synced to one of the provided music tracks. No digital effects. No post-production editing. Just raw, hands-on creativity and the freedom to make as many entries as we wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, I didn\u2019t stop at just one (don\u2019t judge me). I ended up making six. Once I got started, I couldn\u2019t help myself, each idea was sillier than the last and somehow, that only made it more fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, all six of my animations were screened at the historic Regent Street Cinema and to top it off, I was honoured with an award, now one of my most treasured possessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Origami Waltz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the film that started the chaos that would follow. I folded 5 paper swans and choreographed a waltz to Fox Tale Waltz by Kevin MacLeod. For the background, I just draped a blue bedsheet over cardboard to make it look like water. Out of the six films, this was the only one shot on an actual camera; the others were made using my phone, so the true challenge was animating without seeing the previous frames. It was probably the most \u201cnormal\u201d thing I made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Origami Waltz \u2013 Ligia-Petra Prejbeanu (Animation BA, 2025)<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy: Glowstick-Man Edition<\/strong>
For my second film, I taped glowsticks all over myself, turned off the lights and captured every tiny movement as I danced the Sugar Plum Fairy variation from the ballet, one frame at a time. Out of all the animations I created, this one was my absolute favourite to make, even if it did leave me with a case of muscle strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ligia-Petra Prejbeanu (Animation BA, 2025)<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Tea Light Tchaikovsky<\/strong>
Apparently, I couldn\u2019t get enough of the Sugar Plum Fairy. This time, I animated two tiny tea lights dancing together in a simple, elegant routine. It was a minimal setup, but somehow, those little lights had more chemistry than most movie couples, no dialogue needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Rolling Glowsticks<\/strong>
Next came a minimalist experiment: a single glowstick and a glowstick ring bouncing, spinning, and twirling to Satisfaction<\/em> by The Rolling Stones. It was essentially two shapes raving to a rock classic \u2014 it didn\u2019t make much sense, but it had serious vibes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Waltzing Walter\u2019s Time to Shine<\/strong>
This one starred none other than Waltzing Walter<\/em>, a dancing puppet created especially for the competition, giving it his all to Birdhouse in Your Soul<\/em>. He\u2019s full of personality, and I had a blast syncing his quirky little gestures to the rhythm and lyrics of the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ligia-Petra Prejbeanu(Animation BA, 2025)<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Chair Waltz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, it\u2019s exactly what you\u2019re imagining. This final piece came about when I spotted an empty chair. I thought, \u201cYou know what? That chair deserves to waltz.\u201d So, naturally, I made it happen \u2014 because sometimes, why not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Screening & Award Ceremony<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching all six of my animations alongside the incredible work of my peers, projected on the big screen at Regent Street Cinema was nothing short of thrilling. After countless hours hunched over quirky setups, painstakingly moving lights by millimetres, arranging tiny paper pieces and awkwardly posing in the dark, seeing those brief, 10-second bursts of creativity come to life on a screen steeped in cinematic history was surreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding to the excitement, Dan Gerhardt from Aardman Academy was there as a guest speaker, which made the experience even more memorable. Winning an award was the icing on the cake, but honestly, the best part was sharing that moment with other passionate animators, all celebrating the hard work and creativity behind their unique masterpieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ligia’s Strictly Stop-Motion Award <\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This project was a great reminder that you don\u2019t need high-end gear or a full production crew to create something meaningful or at the very least, entertaining. A bit of imagination, a camera, and a lot of patience can go a long way. I\u2019m already looking forward to entering again next year. Who knows? Maybe next time, I\u2019ll have the tables doing the Cha-Cha. You can check out my animations on my Instagram <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Course Leader Stephen Ryley<\/a> said ” Ligia has been a really proactive and enthusiastic part of our First Year animation group. She\u2019s made the most of every opportunity that\u2019s come her way\u2014from training as a mentor for the Aardman competition, to creating award-winning animation clips, visiting exhibitions and galleries, and even helping us break the world record for the largest zoetrope! She\u2019s now all set and ready for the next chapter in Second Year.”
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About Westminster<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one of the most diverse universities in the UK, we are a global university with London energy, with more than 19,000 students from 169 countries. To find out more about our Art, Design and Visual Culture courses,<\/a> visit\u202four website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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