Animated Symbols

In this PhD thesis, I examine how designing one’s own films engenders reflection across the arts, media and other disciplines. The core in this thesis is a case study to determine how young people develop competences through their experiences with digital and physical media, specifically exploring how students design and produce short animated films. The data were collected from 21 students in a required art class. The students were approximately 18 years old and in their last year (2005-06) of upper secondary school in Copenhagen. The one-week program was set up expressly for this study in collaboration with an art teacher at Christianshavns Gymnasium and a guest teacher in animation. The case study concerns the filmmaking process, the resulting films and interviews with students about their art, media and general cultural background.