A Story
Storytelling was born with humanity. Ever since the first human could speak, the human species has told stories to each other: stories of who we are, stories of what we do, of how to make fire, how to hunt, how to tell what’s poisonous and what’s edible, of spectacular occurrences, heroes and villains, angels and monsters, of how the world came to be, of why things are the way they are. We tell stories to capture the imagination and to share our experience and knowledge.
Over time, methods of storytelling grew more advanced - from the first spoken language, to scrolls and books, to spectacular operas and plays, songs, sonnets, movies, games - each iteration and innovation bringing the audience ever closer to seeing through the eyes of the author.
However, there are some things that simply cannot be captured with our silly inventions. Love, grief, joy, anguish; ironically, we humans struggle to capture precisely what makes us human. The human experience is a beautiful exotic animal; something we want to see and admire. But the moment we spring upon it with our cages, trying to capture it to show our peers, it escapes. A person can look at the most compelling painting of a sunset on a beach, but they’ll never truly know the sound of waves crashing against the sand, feel the wind blowing on their face, and breath the crisp ocean air, until they experience it themself.
Likewise, Ladue Animation Club is something that simply cannot be defined with mere words ;). True, it’s possible to describe it as a group of high-school animation enthusiasts excited to collaborate with each other. It’s a chill place to animate, learn about animation, and discuss animation. But you’ll never understand these words’ real meaning - what Animation Club is… That is, of course, until you experience it for yourself! We meet on Wednesdays from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in room 1186, open to any skill or knowledge level. See you there!
Quick Details
If you’re interested in joining, please drop by during one of our meetings. We’re always happy when new members join and we’d love to see you there. There are no prerequisites or anything - anyone who’s interested in animation regardless of experience or knowledge can (and should) join.
- When: Every Wednesday, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Where: Room 1186 (Hogan). It’s on the hallway next to the cafeteria.
If you can’t make it at that exact time, don’t worry. Still feel free to be part of the community by joining our Discord server or becoming part of our e-mail list to receive occasional newsletters with the latest updates. More info is on our contact page.
What We Do
Animation club is all about… well, making animations. We’re open to all kinds of different mediums, and so far we’ve already tried out a variety, like 3D and digital animation with Blender as well as paper and pencil traditional animation. The meeting format is very flexible and laid back. Right now, with the recent change in management (see more under the history section), we’re experimenting with our meetings to see what works. We’ve done quick slide presentations, demonstrations, worked on projects, and done individual free animation time, just to name a few. You can see examples of projects we’ve done together on the projects page (work in progress), and on the shared Google Drive folder, or see other things members have made on our Discord server, in our weekly e-mail newsletter (see above), or on the gallery page (coming soon). So if you like being an early-adopter and like to have fun with changing projects and activities then you’ll love Animation Club. And if you don’t… you’ll still love Animation Club because it’s always fun anyway.
History
Animation Club was founded in 2019 by Camille. Since then, we’ve worked on a multitude of projects for different clients - the Recycling project, the Robotics Team animation, and more. However, the founding alumni eventually graduated, and the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing Animation Club to go on hiatus for a while. Now we’ve entered a new “generation” of Animation Club, so to speak. A couple of students (Jacob and Franklyn) who were involved with Animation Club in its earlier days decided to try and pick it up again. Since the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, Animation Club has been meeting again. We hope to continue bringing the same collaboration and enthusiasm for animation to LHWHS that the original Animation Club did.