Tag Archives: sojo

The Monster Who Lost His Heads Workshop

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We’ll be co-creating our very own animated film about a monster who has lost all of his heads.
As with all Sojo workshops, it will be a super relaxed fun day with a focus on trusting a child’s creative impulse. The children will be the bosses of this film and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!


8th February
10am – 4pm
Ages: 8 to 12 (there is some flexibility)
Venue: The beautiful Over The Wall Camp site in Ockbrook, Derby.

Kids will:
• Design characters
• Dream up their own scenes
• Perform the voices
• Create the sound fx

£65 includes the all day mini camp, a special online premiere of our film for friends and family, and, drumroll please…

…a special viewing of the finished film IN THE ACTUAL CINEMA at the Arc Cinema Beeston during the Beeston Film Festival Sojo Animation workshop.

It’s a wonderful bonus to know that the venue fee goes directly to Over The Wall Camp who create free residential camps and experiences for children and young people living with medical health challenges, their siblings and their families. ✨

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Thank you for your response. ✨

The Sojo Club

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I’ve created The Sojo Club for kids, families, home schoolers and educators to celebrate the brilliant ideas, thoughts, stories, drawings and animations that kids dream up. As always my focus is on encouraging creativity and avoiding manipulating.

Each course will be delivered in multiple ways:

• In Person

• Via Sojo hosted zoom sessions

&

• Online to be enjoyed whenever suits you

I can’t wait to see what you create!

Let’s Rewrite the Book on School

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Do You Feel Like School Just Isn’t For You? Well, Guess What—You’re Not Alone!

Hey you! Yeah, you—the one who feels like school is a never-ending cycle of boredom, tests, and “Stop doodling on your work!” sound familiar? 🙄

If you’re sitting in class wondering, “Why am I even here?” then you’re my kind of person. I get it. I was that kid too. The one always getting told off for laughing too much, being silly, or doodling on my work instead of focusing on “real” school stuff.

I remember teachers saying, “Errrrrr….Quiet please! You won’t get away with that behavior in the real world, Sophie Johnson-Hill!” Spoiler alert: They were wrong. 😏

Now, all those things that didn’t fit into the school system—my creativity, playfulness, and love for sketching—are exactly what I use every day in my business. So, here’s the good news: There’s hope for those of us who don’t fit in. 💡

Help Me Rewrite the Book on School (Literally)

I’m working on something BIG—a new book about how schools fail us. And this isn’t going to be your average school-related project. Nope. I need YOU, the kids who feel like school doesn’t work for them, to help me figure out how to make it better for people like us.

Forget boring research. This is your chance to be part of something creative, exciting, and—dare I say it—fun. 🤩

What’s in It for You?

• You get to share your voice and ideas about what really doesn’t work in school.

• You’ll be helping me design something that could actually make learning better for people like us.

• You’ll be part of a project that values creativity, playfulness, and thinking outside the box. 🎨🛠️

If you’re struggling to fit in, feel like school isn’t built for you, or just don’t see the point of all those tests, this is for you. It’s time to shake things up and make sure our voices get heard.

Join the Research Squad

If you’re ready to help us rethink school (and break a few rules along the way), then I want to hear from you! Fill out the form below and join our squad of creative thinkers and rule-breakers. 🚀

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Thank you for your response. ✨

You can be part of something that makes school suck a little less. Let’s do this together.

Small Steps Big Changes: The Moon

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Check out the corker of a Small Steps Big Changes episode. I feel like I’ve put the dream team together with this one. I’m performing along side the immensely talented Kieran Hardcastle, who plays both the Orange Monster and Blue Monster and the awesome Emily Taylor, who has been providing voiceovers for me since she was 4 years old and never fails to delight me with the oomph she puts into each line.

You can find all of my videos for Small Steps Big Changes here.

Sojo @ Nottstopping Festival

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Sojo invites you to dive into the imaginations of children through her world of animation. Learn some animation secrets and maybe even have a go yourself!

Big love to the whole of Notts for diving head first into this festival of awesomeness.

I mentioned a few organisations and people who are important to me in this film.

If you want to find out more about Small Steps Big Changes and  Open Water Education Network, here are their facebook pages.
You can also check out what Jayne Williams is up to at New Perspectives Theatre Company here.

Check out said awesomeness here:  
https://nottstoppingfestival.com/whats-on/

Donate to show some real love for the key workers in our community:
http://www.gofundme/nottstopping

Big ups to the organisations making this possible:
Creative Quarter, Nottingham, Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, It’s In Nottingham, Notts TV, Hockley Hustle, Inspire Arts and Culture

and Ben Welch for being some sort of festival ninja!

Sojo in LeftLion Magazine

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I do love LeftLion Magazine so very much! Each issue is bursting with everything that needs shouting about in Nottingham.  They champion awesomeness and help artists like me reach new eyes and ears.  I was so very chuffed to be invited in to LL HQ, along with some of Nottingham’s finest illustrators to discuss a new, mammoth collaborative project!  Let me tell about it…

The Goose is Loose

sojo-animation-the-goose-is-loose.jpg

See the whole cartoon

For each issue of LL magazine a new version of ‘The Goose is Loose’ would be taken on by a different illustrator (or illustrator/writer team).

Our brief was this…

You know that goose on the goose fair round about? Well he’s gone missing. Now make a cartoon about it. Make sure the first frame is two people in a pub discussing the fact that he’s missing.

My Sojo version was mostly made on my iPhone 6, with a cracked screen, using an app called Adobe Sketch. It hit the streets of Nottingham in the September issue, which of course is the big run up to Goose Fair.

And now that the Goose is actually back, I thought it was the perfect time to share a little Sojo post all about it.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Kids Tell the Best Stories!

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kids tell the best stories flyer.jpgI’m on a new mission.  I’m collecting stories.  Spontaneous stories told by children.

I am animating a few of them too!  Plus, once the animated series is out I will publish a beautiful book through Sojo Publishing Mouse, so you guys can read the stories every night!

Here is story number 1, written by a 3 year old called Morris.

“The Baby, the Sound and the Bird”

Hop Island @ The Curve: A crafty experience for the whole family.

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hop island The Spark Arts have invited me along (wearing my ‘visual artist’ hat, rather than ‘animator’) to contribute to a Family Day at The Curve on Saturday 23rd May 10am-6pm.  There will be lots of wonderful workshops happening throughout the building so pop it in your diary! For those of you that know The Curve, you’ll be aware of what a gorgeous, BIG space it is and I will be taking over a lovely chunk of the mezzanine to fill with some seriously crafty, Sojo fun for the whole family to happen upon and enjoy. Let me tell you more… HOP ISLAND! Mr Dedalus and his son Icarus are trapped on an island.  Can you help to make the island a more exciting place? Families are invited to get seriously crafty and add something tricky onto the model Island for Mr. Dedalus and his son to encounter. You can create ANYTHING!  Perhaps a grumpy bear in a cave or a rickety bridge, a secret maze or a talking tree. What will you add to Hop Island? Take a snap of your crafty addition and it can be added to our online #HopIsland gallery for all to enjoy.  If you have any advice or special tips for Mr Dedalus and his son, to help them pass your obstacle, you can share it on our ‘Tips Board’ for all to see. Pop along at anytime throughout the day to join the fun. Suitable for all ages so bring the whole family and loads of imagination 🙂 This activity is loosely linked to ‘Hop’, a poetic physical dance theatre production for children aged 4+ and their families.  Performances of ‘Hop’ are on Sat 30 May and can be booked by clicking right here.

Lakeside Arts at Cantrell Primary School

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DCIM100MEDIA Last week I was invited to run a Sojo Animation workshop alongside the Lakeside Arts learning team at Cantrell Primary School in Bulwell.

cantrell-logo

The kids in year five have been thinking about ‘persuasive arguments’ and have been using the book ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ to explore their ideas.  What a cracking idea! Hats off to the teacher that thought of this. In the book the animals try to persuade a man not to cut down their tree. thegreatkapoktree Rachel from the Lakeside Arts learning team transformed the class room into a rain-forest the evening prior to the workshops, ready for the children to discover in the morning. When I arrived at the school even the reception staff were full of smiles and excitement about how fabulous the room looked. I was in a less rainforesty (made up word alert!) room, but armed with a projector.  The children animated their rain forest animals in ONLY 2 FRAMES (that’s extra tricky) and then handed over their freshly snapped jpeg files to me, to take away and compile into one, quite frankly, BRILLIANT animation. Well guys…I promised you that your characters would come alive in seven days so here you are. 🙂

You should all feel extremely proud of yourselves.  I was blown away by your creativity!   DCIM100MEDIA DCIM100MEDIA

20/20 Eastmidlands Filmmakers Showcase: featuring 3 Sojo ‘Thunk of the Day’ Animations.

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Thunk of the day pic

I am over the moon that my 3 little ‘Thunk of the Day’ animations have been selected for this! Here’s Thunk no.1, incase you know not what I speak of.

The concept is brilliantly simple… 20 short films from 20 filmmakers based in the East Midlands.  Thank you Beeston Film for another excuse to celebrate the huge pool of creative talent we are surrounded by.

21st March at 19:25

White Lion Bar & Kitchen
24 middle street, NG9 1FX Beeston, Nottingham, United Kingdom