Whakahākori Animation Film Competition is the beginning of a range of international education collaborations by New Reality Group to help our young kiwis' unleash their creativity, develop new tech skills, and promote the value and advantages of STEAM.

The Whakahākori Digital Animation Film competition begins with a 3-day student conference, that offers learning and use of Unity cutting-edge technology, hero inspirational speakers, and practical workshops.

Hero speakers include:

Ron Martin – Creative Director, Unity (USA)

Sir Richard Taylor, Weta Workshop (NZ)

Marcus Bell, Bellringer Music (USA)

David Downs, NZ Story (NZ)

Unity Tech Tutors (Singapore, India, Malaysia, Australia)

Hākori is a first for Aotearoa. Students use cutting edge technology, learn from global leaders, and practical classes to make movies.

The Competition

Participants must create a three-minute animated film, using Unity animation software – www.unity.com.

The story content streams are social impact, business sustainability, and Māori/Pacific.

PC hardware requirements for following along:

Windows PC with DirectX 12 and Shader Model 5.0

Optional: RTX series graphics card

Whakahākori Animation Film Competition and Bootcamp

4th July - Workday 1 – Creating the Context: The Power of Storytelling

8.30 Arrival

8.45 Introducing intention of learning hubs, introductions, and engagement

9.15 Ron Martin of Unity Technologies about how platforms like Unity allow for the creation of enhanced storytelling capabilities for any scenario within any industry. All content for film, gaming, music is firstly shaped by storytelling.

11.00 Break

Foundations

11.15 Ron continued (including Adam Singleton)

12.00 Lunch

1.00 Guest speaker (David Downs, NZ Story)

2.30 Break

2.45 Practical

4.45 Unity Q&As

5.15 End Day

5th July - Workday 2 – Imagination: The Bridge to Creation

8.30am Review of day one – Q&A’s

9.30 – 10.30 Sir Richard Taylor, Wētā – Imagination: The Lifeforce of Any Project

Hear about how imagination and creativity are the life-force of any project. Together they enable original and unique ideas for form, the importance of developing a strong masterful narrative and following processes. Q&A’s

10.30 Break

11.00 - Unity lessons – Painting with light – Ron Martin

12.30 Lunch

1.30 Ron Martin – Practical – introduction of new technologies

3.00 Break

3.15 Practical

5.00 Completion Overview of industry, work, future – Ron Martin

5.30 End Day

6th July - Workday 3 – Unleashing Your Creativity to Reality

8.15 Arrival

8.30 Unity Emerging products like Art Engine for material Unity Artistry – Directing Realtime - Ron LIVE – Professional Artistry Tools Lesson 3 - Virtual Production - Unity Practical Lesson - Q&A’s - main room - VIDEO (Q&A via zoom) Q&A

10.30 - 10.45 Break

10.45 Sharp return

11.00 Introduction to Marcus Bell

11.00(sharp) ***Monetizing Your Impact Marcus Bellringer (USA) https://www.bellringermusic.com/about

12.30 Lunch

1.15 Unity Practical

3.30 Q&A’s

4.00 Being Changemakers

4.45 Unity Animation showcase

5.00 Completion