Gateway inspires young film makers
SCHOOLCHILDREN from two Runcorn primary schools have produced films about bridge-building after being inspired by the Mersey Gateway project.
Year 4 pupils from Bridgewater Park Primary School and Gorsewood Primary School worked with Liverpoolbased Handstand Productions to create their short films about bridge design and construction.
The budding Steven Spielbergs took part in filmmaking workshops where they learned about bridges from around the world and conducted field research to understand how bridges are made.
The youngsters then designed and built their own models using materials including paper, cardboard, sticky tape, glue, plasticine, polystyrene cups, plastic bricks and old books.
Both schools produced a five-minute documentary style film with pupils in charge of operating the camera, setting the lights, recording sound, and working together as a film crew.
Ged Philbin, Halton mayor, led a celebration of the children’s films, as well as a range of projects in sculpture, relief panels, willow and book art, at The Brindley Theatre.
Their work is being featured within the Creative Connections Two art exhi- ● bition running at The Brindley until February 18.
In total, six local primary schools from Widnes and Runcorn – Brookfields School, St Bede’s Catholic Infant School, St Edward’s Catholic Primary School, The Brow Community Primary, and Bridgewater and Gorsewood – are involved in the exhibition.
The schoolchildren worked with artists Kate Bufton, Jojo Gleave, Handstand Films, One Red Shoe and Angela Sidwell, to explore and create new work across artistic disciplines.
Han Duijvendak, Handstand Films director, said: “The children really enjoyed the mixture of filmmaking work and bridge-building.
“It was great to see how the different groups all found their own ways of making the bridges and how they wanted to show the process on camera.
“The short films are great fun and give the viewer a good idea of how enthusiastically the children – and the teachers – worked on the project.
“They should all be proud of what they achieved. We were really happy to be able to be part of this project.”
Neil Wilcock, Merseylink employment and skills co-ordinator at, said: “This is another great example of how the Mersey Gateway project is inspiring the next generation in Halton.
“It really is fantastic to see the children learning new skills and developing their creative ideas with the support of professional artists.”