Pedestrian safety promoted through animation

Victoria Police and RMIT animation students have collaborated on a campaign to promote pedestrian safety in Melbourne’s east, creating three short films targeted at the young and the elderly.

RMIT lecturers Aaron McLoughlin and Simon Norton ran a studio in the Bachelor of Design Animation and Interactive Media that saw a collaboration between 2nd year students and the Victoria Police Eyewatch initiative.

The films were produced for an online audience in the City of Boroondara, with the aim of drawing attention to pedestrian fatalities, particularly those involving young and elderly people.

Police briefed students, providing them with information about their experiences on the road, along with statistics and key messages.

Boroondara Police Station’s Inspector Steve Frost and Senior Sergeant Mark Standish came up with the idea for the collaboration.

Inspector Frost said they were frustrated at the number of pedestrian fatalities in Boroondara.

“The Eyewatch program has provided us with a platform to speak to the community in a different way and we wanted to use it to highlight dangers on the road,” Frost said.

The two-minute animated films reinforce the importance of having patience, using controlled crossings, recognising dangers and adhering to the law.

Frost said the films were fantastic and had a strong emphasis on community and pedestrian safety.

“The messages are simple and clear because they are animated and cut across a range of demographics,” he said.

“At the end of the day we hope these films will help to educate people and reduce road trauma.”

Students involved in the project were Veronika Aifeld, Hayden Browne, Emily Coop, Savannah Fleming, Patricia Garcia, Toby Garrow, Skye Henwood, Benjamin Jones, Devon Jia Liang Kong,

Dylan Langmaid, James Lindsay, Saskia Milledge, Thomas Murray, Aonghas Shearer-Boyd, Timothy Sta-Ana, Wing Tsang.

McLoughlin said the students were thrown a very challenging design brief and he was very proud of them for coming up with such clever solutions.

“The outcomes far exceeded our high expectations, and as a result I look forward to future collaboration with Victoria Police,” he said.

The films have been released on the Boroondara Eyewatch Facebook page and one of the films currently features on the Victoria Police Facebook page. They may also go on to be used in a wider context.

(Source: RMIT University)