From workshop to the big screen: inspired by the stop-motion animation Papergee and the Spider, a group of young filmmakers in North Lanarkshire have been crafting their own stories, building characters, and animating their heroes from scratch. After ten weeks of workshops, these creative journeys culminate in the much-anticipated Inspire Fest 2026 — a showcase of imagination, skill, and a whole lot of movie magic.
Project Overview
Animation workshops inspired by Papergee and the Spider, delivered in partnership between Visible Fictions and North Lanarkshire Council.
Papergee and the Spider is a charming, stop motion animation created by Visible Fictions and Clubhouse Animation (check out more of Clubhouse’s fabulous work here…)
Following the film’s international festival success, we shared Papergee and the Spider with aspiring filmmakers in North Lanarkshire and guided them in creating their own animations inspired by Papergee, her trusty sidekick Spider, and the timeless theme of A Hero’s Journey.
Workshop Process / What They Learned
Over a period of 10 weeks, 20 high school pupils came to Summerlee Photomedia Studio to work with our practitioners. Every Tuesday the participants would attend for 90 minutes to learn about:
- Storytelling – how to craft the story outline for a film
- Storyboarding – how to plan the shots required for film
- Model Making – creating the characters to appear on film
- Stop Motion Animation – the processes involved in creating a film
- Editing – when you have all your shots… what next!
- Sound scape – how to add music or sound effects to a film
At the end of the 10 week course, each participant created their own short animation, learning creative skills, meeting new people, and discovering a little more about themselves along the way.
The workshops provided learning directly linked to the Curriculum for Excellence – for more details on what CfE links were covered please click here [INSERT PDF TO DOWNLOAD].
Quotes / Testimonials
In the meantime here is what the participants had to say about their experience!
Outcome / Inspire Fest 2026
These films will be shared as part of North Lanarkshire Council’s Inspire Fest 2026. More information about this wonderful community event nearer the date.
We hope you will come along and enjoy the films.
Project Gallery
[Section TBC] Call to Action: Sign Up / Share the Magic / Follow Us on Socials
Insert buttons or links here — e.g. Follow Visible Fictions on social media, Watch Papergee and the Spider trailer.
