16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business News Wales
Students Create Winning Idents for Cardiff Animation Festival
Animation students at the University of South Wales (USW) have stepped back in time to create nostalgic idents for the Cardiff Animation Festival.
As part of the festival at Chapter Arts Centre, six students from the Animation (2D and Stop Motion) course at USW have produced idents – a short, animated video clip – inspired by this year's theme of nostalgia and cult classics from the world of film and TV.
Oliwia Sydry, Perci Orkney, Adiee Romans, Rory Cairns, April Shakehseff and Owen Williams will all see their work shown at the Weekender event, with the idents available online for the duration of the festival until 1 June.
April created a cartoon-style ident inspired by 1920s and 30s favourites, Betty Boop and Steamboat Willie (pictured).
She said:
'I was particularly influenced by my sister, who has a deep love for Disney and often revisits those classic cartoons. Her enthusiasm sparked the concept for this project.
'The process of making this animation was fun and fulfilling; it was exciting to have the creative freedom to bring my own ideas to life through animation.'
Adiee created a 1980s-themed ident, inspired by the retro wallpaper she has at home. The 28-year-old, from Newport, decided to study Animation at USW to follow her passion for the subject.
She said:
'I've always wanted to be an animator, but when I was younger I was told that lots of roles in the creative industries were not 'real jobs'. Then after working in so many jobs that I hated, I knew I needed a change, and the course at USW was perfect for me as it meant I could stay in Newport and commute to Cardiff for my studies.
'I love the colours and patterns of the 80s – especially the home décor – so the Cardiff Animation Weekender ident brief was a super fun one to work on. It has been an incredible experience and it's an amazing feeling to be part of such a big festival.
'The fact that my ident was chosen to be shown at the festival has made me feel that I'm in the right place at the right time. Coming back to education as a mature student was so scary, and I wasn't sure whether I had made the right decision, but little wins like this solidify that I'm where I'm supposed to be.'
Festival Director Lauren Orme, who graduated from USW in 2012, said:
'As an alumna of USW, I'm so thrilled to be working with the University on the Cardiff Animation Weekender idents this year.
'We've been absolutely blown away by the idents the students have created – from CG performance and epic stop motion, to 2D idents inspired by anime, early Disney, video games and more; they're all so different and all brilliant.
'Live brief opportunities during my time on the USW BA Animation course really helped me to boost my portfolio and gain experience working with real clients, which gave me a head start getting into freelancing when I graduated.
'We're really pleased to be able to offer the same opportunity to current students, and to give them what for many will be their first experience seeing their work on the big screen, in front of lovely audiences full of industry professionals and international guests.'
