An Animation Resource Pack

for Secondary Schools

www.schooltoons.co.uk
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 Schooltoons
written by

Britta Pollmuller
Martin Sercombe
and James Clarke

Graphic Design
Studio.....

With special thanks to

the schools who participated in the project.

Creative Practitioners
Britta Pollmuller
Karina Williams
Jonathan Lambert
Martin Sercombe

DVD Production
Martin Sercombe

Funded by
Nesta
Creative Partnerships
ESCalate
Norwich School of Art and Design

Schooltoons is a
Norwich School of Art and Design project,
in partnership with Media Projects East Ltd
and supported by NESTA
and Creative Partnerships

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 CONTENTS
PART ONE: GETTING STARTED
4. Introduction
5. Why Use Animation in the Classroom?
7. Sketching a History of Animation
10. Animation Toys and Warm Up Exercises
11. Flip Books
12 Make a Thaumatrope
13. The Phenakistoscope
15. The Zeotrope
17. Breathe Life into Teddy
18. Twist ‘em, Bend ‘em
19. Drawing Simple Transformations
20. Expressive Lines
21. Creating Expressions
22. Character Sheet
23. Character Sheet 2
24. Blowing up a Balloon
25. Getting the Basics of Movement

PART TWO: ANIMATION LITERACY

26. The Importance of Cineliteracy
27. Showing Animation in the Classroom
28. Language of the Moving Image
29. The Grammar of Film Language
30. Studying a Title Sequence/Freeze Frame
31. Title Sequence 2/Title Sequence Storyboard
32. Sound and Image
33. Who Makes Animations?
34. Exploring Genre
35. Genre Translation
36. Genre and Character Design
37. Character Design Sheet
38. The Theme of Friendship in The Iron Giant
39. Music and Imagery in Peter and the Wolf
40. Understanding Leitmotiv in Peter and the Wolf
41. Compose a 15 second Leitmotiv
42. Storywriting
43. Storytelling with a Video Camera
44. Script Writing
45. Character Types. Analysing Story Structure
46. Cineliteracy: Focus of Learning KS3-4
48. Storyboarding
49. Basic Storyboard Language
50. Storyboard Template
51. Storyboard Sequencing
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52. Sample Character Design Sheets and Storyboard
57. Animated Haiku
58. Animal Haiku

PART THREE: ANIMATION STYLES

59. Pixillation
60. Animated Dances
61. Animation in the Landscape
62. Talking Objects
63. Plasticine Model Animation
64. Metamorphosis
65. Cut Out Animation
66. Shadow Puppetry
67. Drawn Animation
68. Drawing Template 4:3 Ratio
69. Drawing Template 16:9 Ratio
70. Key Frames and Inbetweens
71. Lip Sync Activity Sheet
72. Lip Sync Reference Guide
73. Digitally Drawn Animation
74. Machinima
75. How to Make an iPod Scrub

PART FOUR: SCHEMES OF WORK

76. Scheme of Work 1: Tell Me a Story
79. Scheme of Work 2: TV Adverts
82. Scheme of Work 3: Music Videos
85. Scheme of Work 4: Being Antisocial

PART FIVE: RESOURCES

86. Animation Equipment
87. Setting Up an Animation Rostrum
88. Recording Sound
89. Planning a Film Production
90. Funding a Project
91. PC Software: Using Cinecap
92. PC Software: Editing with Pinnacle Studio
95. PC Software: Audacity
96. PC Software: Using Audacity
97. PC Software: Windows Movie Maker
98. Animation Resources on the Internet
99. Animation Software
101. Editing Software
102. Books
103. Glossary of Terms
108. Recommended Animators
113. Appendix 1: Folk Tales
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 PART ONE
GETTING STARTED
an·i·ma·tion (n): The act, process or result of imparting life, interest, spirit, motion, or activity.

“To animate is to give life and soul to a design, not through copying but through the transformation of
reality.” – unnamed Czech animator.

WHY SCHOOLTOONS?
Schooltoons has grown out of an ongoing research project, testing and evaluating ways to integrate
animation into the school curriculum. This research has identified the extremely valuable part animation
can play in enhancing literacy and numeracy skills, and visual creativity amongst pupils of all ages.
It has also highlighted the types of practical and theoretical support teachers urgently need to teach
animation effectively.

This resource is designed to address this need. As our culture becomes increasingly focused on a
wide range of screen media (television, cinema, online content, mobile phones, mp3 players) the time
is right to engage with the creative potentials of these new formats.

The processes involved in creating an animation project use skills and understandings such as: written
work, communal work, measuring, planning, organizing, and developing awareness of the wider world.
All of these skills and experiences can be readily assessed.

Schooltoons also aims to show teachers how the viewing of certain animated films can be a valuable
starting point for classroom discussions around a range of ideas and can also be used as a frame of
reference for the projects that you produce.

The Schooltoons Project is committed to ensuring that imagination remains an important part of the
learning experience for everyone as they seek to understand themselves and the world around them.

“Even Liam stood in front of me jumping up and down with the excitement of doing animation next
year!! He has never been excited about anything he does in school.” (High school teacher.)

WHAT IS SCHOOLTOONS?
Schooltoons is an animation resource for schools, targeting Key Stages 3 and 4. This book and DVD
aim to show teachers how 2D and 3D animation can form an important part of the Art and Design,
English, PHSE, Citizenship, Photography and Media curricula. It includes lesson plans, worksheets,
technical advice, and schemes of work. Students, teachers and animators have developed and tested
all the materials over a period of two years.

Think of Schooltoons as a toolkit to help teachers and students use animation as a learning resource.
It is a pick and mix resource rather than a book to be worked through from start to finish.

Theory and literacy is intercut with practical activities throughout the pack. Most of the worksheets are
suitable for both KS 3 and 4, except where specified. Learning resources to support activities are listed
at the top of each page. Many will be found on the DVD which comes with the pack.

Part One begins with a brief history of animation, and then offers practical activities to help students
gain an understanding of how animation works.

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Part Two introduces the concept of cineliteracy, or more specifically, animation literacy. You will find the
basic tools needed to help students grasp the language of the moving image: an essential underpinning
to their practical projects.

Part Three covers the various styles of animation which the Schooltoons project has tested in the
classroom, with activities and practical tips to introduce each one.

Part Four presents four schemes of work. These are extended production projects around specific
briefs, which were undertaken by KS 3 and 4 students. The end results are included on the DVD.

Part Five gives advice on where to find the resources needed to run animation projects, from equipment,
to software, reference books and web sites.

WHY USE ANIMATION IN THE CLASSROOM ?

Research has shown that the integration of animation into teaching and learning helps pupils to engage
positively with schooling and simply motivates them. Findings also suggest that this promotes and
engages a wider range of learning styles by:

a) providing the opportunity for young people to pursue their interests, enthusiasm and different abilities
or talents.
b) enhancing critical thinking, communication and problem solving skills.
c) requiring team work and negotiation.
d) developing reasoning and risk-taking.
c) opening up new and innovative ideas.
d) increasing self-esteem.
e) learning visual concepts and communication.
f) learning new literacy to explore new terminologies.
g) equipping pupils for their future lives or career choices.

It is time to make the curriculum relevant to children’s lives outside schools and we hope to bridge the
widening gap between the schools and the world of children’s out-of-school experience. Many children
are immersed in the animation form via television, cinema, computer gaming and online content. They
have an immediate connection to it and an intuitive sense, to some degree anyway, of how the form
can function.

‘It is quite extraordinary that the majority of young people should go through their school careers with
so little opportunity to study and engage with the most significant contemporary forms of culture and
communication.’ David Buckingham.

Animation is a vibrant part of our everyday popular culture, being seen on television commercials,
online content, computer gaming and in films. Animation can chose to mimic or to step away from
realistic images. It’s up to you and your filmmakers as to how much you stick with or depart from, and
reimagine, the real world.

Animation is a playful medium. It takes the diversity, excitement and mystery of the world around us
and gives vivid life to how we respond to what we experience.

In making an animated project, students will develop their capacity to:

- work individually
- work collaboratively
- work with words
- work with images
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- work with technology
- work with sound
- work with reference to the world beyond the classroom.

As a starting point, have a think about the following kinds of animation approaches which are all very
classroom friendly:

Plasticine animation: this can use the simplest to the most hi tech approach. In class your best approach
will probably be to use plascticine. Watch the Wallace and Gromit short films for inspiration.

Drawn images: use a pencil or marker pen or chalk to create a sequence of images on paper. Watch
Dangermouse for inspiration.

Cut out animation: make silhouette cut out characters and place them against a lighter background.
Watch The Adventures of Prince Achmed for inspiration.

Shadow Puppets: the simplest version of this is to use your own hands to create shadow forms on a
blank wall. A more developed version is to create cut out figures in card which have rods attached to
them so that you can articulate their movement.

Digital drawn animation: using computer software create a short piece of very simple animation.

Pixillation: The technique uses human performers who naturally, cannot stop moving. Get them to
make still poses, like models, and film them a frame at a time. Watch Norman McLaren’s Neighbours
for inspiration.

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 SKETCHING A HISTORY OF ANIMATION
Over 35,000 years ago humans were making paintings on cave walls and were sometimes drawing
4 pairs of legs to show motion…as you can see in figure 1. (CAVE DRAWING) Then too the ancient
Greeks drew sequential images of human activity to decorate their homeware.

Following this in 1600 BC, an Egyptian Pharaoh built a temple for his goddess that had columns. Each
column had a painted figure of the goddess in a progressively changed position. To the horsemen and
charioteers riding past- the goddess appeared to move! (FIGURE 2)

Simultaneously, the Ancient Greeks decorated pots with figures in successive stages of action – so by
spinning the pot it created a sense of motion. (FIGURE 3)

Over hundreds of years, people continued to make still images with the illusion of movement.

Then, in 1824 a very important principle was rediscovered by a man named Peter Mark Roget - ‘the
persistence of vision’ theory.

Persistence of Vision explains why our eyes are tricked into seeing movement. Our brain holds onto an
image for a fraction of a second after the image has passed; if the eye sees a series of still images very
quickly one after another, then the images will appear to move because our eyes cannot cope with fast
moving images. Roget’s theory gave birth to various optical contraptions.

After this there came a few other devices all based on the same theory. The one that you all will
have seen is a flip book. In fact, a flip book is the way that animators test their animation to see if the
movement is correct, by flipping the pages before capturing them onto the computer.

Despite the rich variety of animation worldwide audiences will equate animation with childhood visits
to the cinema where their first movie was probably a Disney feature. As such, animation tends to
be narrowly regarded as kid’s stuff when the evidence clearly indicates this is not entirely true. For
psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, in his landmark book The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and
Importance of Fairy Tales (1977) ‘Subjected to the rational teachings of others, the child only buries his
‘true knowledge’, deeper in his soul and it remains untouched by rationality, but it can be formed and
informed by what fairy tales have to say’.

So, animation producers and directors cover a wide range of styles and themes. Animators and studios
whose work is readily available and very well known are: Walt Disney Studio, Aardman, Nick Park,
Pixar, Jan Svankmajer, Caroline Leaf, Tim Burton, Henry Selick, Jan Trnka, Winsor McCay, Norman
McLaren, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Frederic Back, Brad Bird.

The earlies animation includes titles such as: Fantasmagorie (1908) by Emile Cohl in which stick
figures go through a series of dreamlike experiences through to the Chinese animation of the 1920s
and 30s with shorts such as the Wan Brothers’ Camel Dance (1930) and on to the 1962 feature Havoc
in Heaven in which Chinese folk hero the Monkey King must deal with an apocalyptic scenario. In the
early years of the twentieth century in North America, cartoonist Winsor McCay moved into filmmaking
and created the landmark short film Gertie the Dinosaur.

A glance in another direction reveals the work of animators of the 1950s and 1960s such as Oskar
Fischinger and Robert Bree. Russian animation, for example, has yilede classics such as The
Snow Queen, adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen tale as well as The Magic Horse and Mr
Wonderbird.

In 1906, Blackton produced The Humorous Phases of Funny Faces that is considered the first known
attempt at animation. This time Blackton incorporated drawn sequences that have been shot frame
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by frame using a combination of blackboard, chalk and cutouts for his animated forms. The following
year, Blackton produced another short that this time worked as stop motion. Entitled The Haunted
Hotel the film used stop motion of three dimensional objects. Wine was poured into a glass, bread was
cut and a table was laid without apparent human agency. The film was very successful and helped
popularise the potential of animation at its purest, most playful level, doing what Ray Harryhausen and
Jan Svankmajer many years later would acknowledge as its mystical and magical quality.

The man’s name was George Melies and his iconic film Voyage to the Moon (1902) showed that
animation was the perfect way to capture flights of fantasy and match the vivid image making of picture
books. Indeed, much of the most popular animation continues to take us away from surface reality and
the best of it invests the fantasy with genuine emotion and sensibility.

George Melies built something of a fantasy film empire in Paris (many years before another George did
so in San Francisco) but again others were also at work helping refine and further the new world of film.
Emile Cohl who had been a successful comic strip artist made a short film called Fantasmagorie (1908)
which film history tends to consider the first animated film , a simple series of dreamlike images of stick
figures. Cohl went on to produce hundreds of shorts but died in poverty. Others continued to explore
the form such as Arthur Melbourne Cooper in his film Dreams of Toyland (1908) which animated real
toys in a long distance precursor to Toy Story (1995). Indeed comic books sourced other animation
heroes across the Atlantic.

Alongside Disney the other high profile animation studio in America during the 1920s and 1930s was that
of the Dave and Max Fleischer. Indeed, it was the Fleischers who produced the first feature animation
(a documentary), ‘The Einstein Theory of Relativity’. Based in New York, the Fleischer studio aesthetic
was founded less on the realism that Disney pursued and much more on what writer Norman Klein, in
his book 7 Minutes: The Life and Death of the American Cartoon, calls turning the world upside down.
The studio’s greatest early success was the series Out of the Inkwell which combined live action (an
animator) and animation (a clown called Ko-Ko who climbed out of an inkwell and interacted with the
animator). The studio would go on to produce Popeye and Betty Boop , which the Hays Code deemed
too sexy and so had to be toned down.

For the great Russian animator Yuri Norstein, animation was the place where allegory, entertainment
and political comment enmesh. This sensibility also fuels the work of Jan Svankmajer, the Czech
Surrealist who might not even want to be termed an animator.

By the 1960s, though, the animated feature and short film in its full, classically animated sense (Disney
films are the perfect example) began to give way to cheaper animation for television and for many what
was considered The Golden Age had come to an end. The late 1960s and through the 1970s were
testing times, though of course shorter, more experimental work that was not dependent on armies of
artists and animators continued. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw brave and largely successful (if
commercially failed) animated features occasionally being produced, notably Watership Down (Martin
Rosen, 1977), Plague Dogs (Martin Rosen, 1982) and The Secret of NIMH (Don Bluth, 1982). Indeed,
this period of the early 1980s also saw the emergence of computer animation notably in the film Tron
(Steven Lisberger, 1982) that since its low key theatrical success endures on DVD as something of a
cult piece.

Without doubt, animation has been enjoying a new lease of life since around about 1986 (after a couple
of slow starts in the early 1980s) and it continues now in the early twenty first century.

Two of the most engrossing examples of animation in the 1990s were directed by Henry Selick: The
Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. His preferred medium was stop motion
animation, and after a long period where stop motion had really been the preserve of live action features
where certain visual effects and creatures were best realised using the medium, stop motion was given
a very high profile platform an the audience for it was there, ready and waiting.

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 ANIMATED TOYS AND WARM UP EXERCISES

Resource:
Animation History Schooltoons DVD

In this section you will find a number of worksheets and ideas for first step exercises in class to engage
your pupils with the concepts of creating the illusion of movement. It can be engaging to mix a presentation
about animation history, and screenings of examples, with some of these practical exercises.

The animation toys shown help to trace the historical development of the medium. In the 16th century
there were flipbooks in Europe and during the nineteenth century mechanisms were being developed
and refined to create the illusion of movement.

The key moments in the development of animation technology include:

1831: the creation of the Phenakistoscope pioneered by Plateau.

1834: the creation of the zoetrope by W.G. Horner.
1861: the creation of the Kinematoscope by Coleman Sellers
1877: the creation of Reynard’s Praxinoscope 1877.

PERSISTENCE OF VISION
Resource:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_of_vision

It is a good idea to see how many people in the class understand the phenomemon of persistence of
vision. Without it, animation would not work!

Animation is the process by which we see still pictures MOVE. Each picture is shot on film one image
at a time and is shown at the rate of 25 pictures per second making the pictures appear to move.

Our brain holds onto an image for a fraction of a second after the image has passed. If the eye sees
a series of still images very quickly one picture after another, then the images will appear to move
because our eyes cannot cope with fast-moving images - our eyes have been tricked into thinking they
have seen movement. We see this many pictures per second!

Why do we see these images as moving? The reason our eyes are tricked into seeing movement can
be explained by the ‘Persistence of Vision’ theory. Pictures can be animated, made to move in a variety
of ways. One simple trick lies behind all this: When we look at a sequence of slightly different pictures
very quickly one after the other, we cannot seperate out the pictures.

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 ACTIVITY: THE EASIEST ANIMATION
Draw two images that can make a sequence, with the
second drawing directly beneath the first on the following
page. e.g. flapping wings, bird pecking.

In your sketchook, left or right corner, cut carefully one slit

with scissors.

The top piece can be rolled around a pencil to create

movement by moving the pencil up and down quickly. Now
drawing one and two create a moving sequence!!!

ACTIVITY: CREATE A FLIP BOOK

Take a blank pad and on each corner create a stick figure that is performing a simple action such as
walking. This flip book process is useful if you decide to create a fuller piece of hand drawn animation
later on.

If you do not have a sketchbook, make your own book.

You will need: A few sheets of paper, approx. 10cm x 10cm,

and a stapler, or a small notebook. A pencil.

Staple the pages together at one edge to make a notebook.

Sometimes a rubberband or string can work. Draw a
simple pin man on the last page of your notebook. On the
page before, trace the first pin man, but this time make his
arms or legs move a small amount. Continue tracing your
previous drawing on the page before, each time make his
arms or legs move a small amount. Be clear how many
pictures. 25 pictures is a good start as it demonstrates the
amount of effort it takes to create 1 second of animation.
It can help if you draw the first picture, the middle picture and the last picture initially as ‘markers’ and
then go back and draw the inbetweens. When you have used up all the pages, flick the book from back
to front to see the man move! Richard Williams book The Animator’s Survival Handbook is a useful
guide at this point.

Draw pin men that run across pages, turn cartwheels, and dance with partners!

Example: Here’s how to make a face go from a frown to a smile: On the last page of your pad draw
your first picture. To make a face, draw a circle with 2 eyes. (You’ll put in the mouth later.) Trace just the
circle and the eyes onto all of the other pages. Those parts won’t move. Now make the mouth. Start
with drawing the happy mouth on the last page. Draw the mouth on each of the other pages, but each
time you draw it make the line get flatter until it’s a straight line. Then, make it bend in the other direction
into a frown. You can color in the background if you want to.

Flip the pages forwards and backwards to make your face smile and frown. Now you have your own
mini-movie.

Now think of your own ideas. How about a scientific or geographic theme?

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 ACTIVITY: MAKE A THAUMATROPE
Materials: paper, pencil, scissor, strings and white cardboard
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaumatrope

A bit of history

A thaumatrope is a toy that was popular in Victorian times. A disk or card with a picture on each side
is attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two
pictures appear to combine into a single image due to persistence of vision.The invention of the
thaumatrope, whose name means “turning marvel” or “wonder turner,” has often been credited to the
astronomer Sir John Herschel. However, it was a well-known London physicist, Dr. John A. Paris,
who made this toy popular.

Thaumatropes were the first of many optical toys, simple devices that continued to provide animated
entertainment until the development of modern cinema. Although the thaumatrope does not produce
animated scenes, it relies on the same persistence of vision principle that other optical toys use to
create illusions of motion. Persistence of vision is the term that describes the eye’s ability to retain
an image for roughly 1/20 of a second after the object is gone. In this case, the eye continues to
see the two images on either side of the thaumatrope shortly after each has disappeared. As the
thaumatrope spins, the series of quick flashes is interpreted as one continuous image.

Making a thaumatrope

Fishtank

• Cut out a circle out of a white card

• Draw a picture of a fish on one side
• Flip the circle over and draw the fish tank on the other side.
This drawing should be upside down
• Pierce one hole in each side of the circle
• Push a short length of string through each hole and double it
up.
• Twist the strings, then spin the image.

Can you think of your own thaumatrope?

How about: a man with funny hair, a bird and cage, a tree and leaves?

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 ACTIVITY: MAKE A PHENAKISTOSCOPE
Materials: Card, scissors, ruler, mirror, black paint, glue, pencil

Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenakistoscope
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge
http://courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collections/toys/html/exhibit07.htm
http://www.eggplant.org/ideas/visual/animation/phenakistascope_template.pdf
Thomas Edison, Kinetoscopic Record of a sneeze
Etiennne Jules Marey, Long Jump...@Je vous aime, Harold ‘Doc’ Edgerton, Milkdrop, Len Lye’s films

Cut out one of the two templates below, and stick it to a piece of card. When you have drawn your
sequence of images, cut out the slits with scissors or a sharp knife. Paint the opposite side black. Make
a spindle with a sharp pencil, pushed into the axis, black side facing you. Spin the Phenakistoscope in
front of a mirror, looking through the slits.

Ten drawings

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A bit of history:
In 1832, Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau and his sons introduced the phenakistoscope (“spindle
viewer”). Plateau’s invention was a flat disk perforated with evenly spaced slots. Figures were drawn
around the edges, depicting successive movements. A stick attached to the back allowed the disk to
be held at eye level in front of a mirror. The viewer then spun the disk and watched the reflection of the
figures pass through the slits, once again giving the illusion of movement.

Activity: Abstract shapes

Think about one shape that moves around, turns, stretches or grows. Working with colour can be very
effective. You can also work with three different shapes. One at the top, outsite of the wheel, one in the
middle section and one inside. You can create a crazy, visual effect, but keep it simple.

Activity: Digital Photography

Using a digital camera, tripod and photo printing wizard. (Most economical is to choose contact sheet
print or wallet prints.) Set up camera on tripod, once set up it should stay still.
You can use your own face, and make one face sequence, from sad to happy. Keep in mind it must take
12 pictures to cycle back to where you started.

More ambitious activities: How about a bird flying, a walk cycle, pirouette, a horse, cat or other
animal walk?

Twelve Drawings:

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 ACTIVITY: MAKING A ZOETROPE
There is a very good example on how to make a Zoetrope on the Blue Peter website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/content/articles/makes/2006/03/13/zoetrope_make.shtml

There is also a worksheet to download on:

http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/shadowmagic/zoetrope/pdf/instructions.pdf
http://www.the-making-place.co.uk/pages/zoe.html

Originally called the “Wheel of the Devil,” the zoetrope is a moving image machine that was invented
in the 1830s. In the 1860s, it was manufactured and marketed to the public. It was then that it was
given the name zoetrope, from the Greek zoa (living things) and trope (turning). Zoetropes were
extremely popular forms of entertainment for both children and adults in the Victorian era. Long slits
of paper with sequential drawings are placed inside the cylinder and spun whilst looking through the
slit. These started selling in 1867 in the USA as toys. The cylinder is cut with vertical slit at equal
intervals. Beneath the slits, inside the cylinder, is a strip with frames of slightly differently positioned
images – for example a person waling. Spin the cylinder, look through the slits and see the illusion
of movement. The earliest zoetrope was made in China in 180 A by Ting Huan and was driven by
convection and was hung over a lamp. The rising air turned vanes at the top of the device and see
through paper was hung with pictures on them. The images appeared to move. Zoetrope means
wheel of life / living wheel.

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The band of pictures that fits inside the cylinder is called a zoetrope strip. It consists of a series of
images, each of which is slightly different from the one before it.

Here is a very simple example you can copy and glue together inside your cylinder.

Can you think of other shapes?

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 ACTIVITY: BREATHE LIFE INTO TEDDY
Remember that this is a definition of animation: an·i·ma·tion (n): The act, process or result of imparting
life, interest, spirit, motion, or activity.

This can either be used as a simple drawing exercise, or as a template for a cut out puppet. When
you have drawn and coloured in teddy’s features, you could stick him to a piece of card, cut out the
different parts and fix them together with blu tak or paper fasteners. See how you can change his pose
to express different moods.

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 ACTIVITY
TWIST ‘EM, BEND ‘EM, SQUASH ‘EM
Objectives: This is a simple drawing exercise which can be used as a warm up before trying some
simple drawn animation work. These basic shapes can act as the building blocks for all characters
and forms. Can you give them a third dimension?

Resist the urge to create scratchy lines, try simple confident strokes, flow and don’t erase your ideas.
It is not about right or wrong, is about warming up!

Now squash, stretch, bend or twist your 3D shapes.

Try now: cubes, spheres, cylinders etc...

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 ACTIVITY: DRAWING SIMPLE TRANSFORMATIONS
Objectives: understanding the quality of line, drawing with the full arm and not just the wrist.

In animation, you get moving images when the picture changes in some way. These exercises can
help pupils think of ideas for their zoetrope exercise, and other animated toys.

Change in size: Things can get bigger (grow) or get smaller (shrink). Can you draw a ballon? Draw it
again a little bit bigger, now draw it getting even bigger. Show it burst!

Change in position: Image the spokes on a wheel, moving around as the wheel turns around in a full
circle. Can you draw the wheel four times showing how the spokes on the wheel have moved?

Change in angle: Think about a clock and time passing. Can you draw the hands of the clock and
each time show a different angle.

Change in speed: Can you draw a car that is parked? Now draw the same car speeding down the
road, faster. How can you show the element of speed?

Change in shape: Draw a snowman. Now draw it in stages it as it melts to a small blob of snow.

Can you think of any more?

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 ACTIVITY:
EXPRESSIVE LINES
Add one, two three and more lines to each of the shapes so that they become different things.

Can you think of different shapes now?

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 ACTIVITY: CREATING EXPRESSIONS
Add one, two three and more lines to each of the circles so you create different
expressions

Sad Happy Anxious

Shy

What other expressions can you think of?

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 ACTIVITY: CHARACTER SHEET 1
Grinning girl

Repeat step one. Draw a line across Repeat step one and two. Draw
Draw a circle for the head.
the mouth. Add vertical lines for the lines for pigtails on both sides of
Add little curves for the eyes
teeth. Add ears halfway down each the head. Draw a few lines for a
and nose. Add a semicircle for
side, level with the nose. fringe. Add dots for freckles over
the mouth.
the nose.
Worried man

Draw a long oval for the head.
Add cirlces with dots in them for
eyes. Between the eyes, add a
very long nose.
Angry baddie
Repeat step one. Add an oval
mouth. Draw to join the circles
around the eyes. Add lines to the
sides of the head for glasses.
Repeat step one and two. Draw
two little curves for ears. Add little
lines for raised eyebrows. Add
long lines for hair on top of the
head. The tops of the ears are
level with the eyes.

Draw a line as a curved shape
with a flat bottom. Add a line
for the eybrows. Then, add a
rectangular nose.
Repeat step one. Draw curves
from the nose to the eyebrows,
and add dots in them for eyes.
Draw ears, level with the eyes.
Repeat step one and two. Draw
a big curve for a mouth. Add
a smaller one beneath it. Add
dots on the chin for stubble.
Draw lines for hair.
22
 ACTIVITY
CHARACTER SHEET 2

Cool lady

Repeat step one. Add a small
Draw an oval face. Add oval eyes,
nose. Draw an ‘m’-shape and
with a line across each one. Then,
then underline it for the top lip.
add pupils looking to one side.
Add a curve for the bottom lip.
Repeat step one and two. For
the hair, draw a big curve from
the top of the heard. Join it to the
face at the bottom. Do the same
for the other side.

Who could this be? Use the text boxes to describe your steps as above.

Now your own idea...

23
 Balloon: Can you show in five drawings how a balloon is blown up?
Will the face stay the same or will it change too?
ACTIVITY
BLOWING UP A BALLOON

24
 ACTIVITY: GETTING THE BASICS OF MOVEMENT
This can be integrated with course work within GCSE in art and design.

When thinking animation you always will need the following basic tools: A big sketchbook, probably
sized A3. The thorough visualization of an animated film is the key component in deciding how to
tell your story. Whenever you can use your sketchbook, observe and sketch whoever or whatever is
nearby. Drawing is a necessary process and any act of sketching can collect ideas - encourage your
students to get rid of the idea of being a brilliant artist! Also you can develop a vocabulary of human
movement and gestures, understanding of the environment, or simply the expression of line, form,
shapes and colours.

Sketch things in motion like people walking, moving or gestures. Use lots of pencils and no erasers.
You are going to be drawing most of the time at top speed. You should not even think about an eraser.
Instead learn to draw loosely. With a more free line, you’ll find animation a lot easier, and quick sketching
will be A LOT easier. This is why we’re suggesting that you not erase. (four to six or more pages,
filled)

CHARACTER QUICK SKETCH

1 Get a stop watch or a clock and set it up next to you.

2 Decide what character you are going to draw. (It doesn’t matter, just pick one.)

3 Have paper next to you and make sure all your pencils are sharpened. It saves you time to not sharpen
pencils while you are drawing. Also, stopping to sharpen a pencil may break your concentration. You
may find that softer pencils allow you to draw faster, but you’ll have to sharpen them more often, so
try a few different softnesses of pencils. Some animators and artists prefer col-erase pencils (colored
pencils that erase somewhat more easily), but some artists prefer heavy soft graphite, and some just
like a regular 2B pencil. Try a few things and see what works best for your own drawing style.

4 You are going to draw one FULL-figured character a minute. Don’t worry when you start out they are
going to look pretty bad. After a while you will notice an extreme difference in your skill. Draw for about
an hour like this. When you finish you should have 60 separate drawings.

Research: take some time to investigate the following artists and their methods in presenting moving
figures through drawing and filmmaking: Leonardo da Vinci: his drawings of moving figures
Raphael: his drawings of moving figures
Edgar Degas: his paintings of ballet dancers
Joanna Quinn: her animated men and women in the short films Girls Night Out and Body Beautiful
Mario Minichiello: narative drawings
Gerald Scarfe’s narrative drawings
Preston Blair’s guidebooks to character design and animation.

CHARACTER SKETCH

Try to pick a theme for each hour. This means... for that one character, pick an emotion like “mad” and
then do all the drawings of that character angry and mad. See how many drawings you can do in that
hour of JUST mad poses. Don’t necessarily worry about the facial expressions, see if you can get the
BODY to show the emotion. If you can do that, you are successful. Don’t worry about it being messy.
Do this with any emotion/character. The point of this is to:
• try to learn how to draw quickly
• learn to draw loose and rough
• get the emotion of the character in the POSE and not just the face.
25
 PART TWO
ANIMATION LITERACY

THE IMPORTANCE OF CINELITERACY

What is cineliteracy and animation literacy?

Cineliteracy is the development of skills in reading, comprehending and judging moving images and
sound both intellectually and emotionally. Animation literacy, in the context of this book, is cineliteracy
focussed specifically on the medium of animation.

Animation is one of the best formats through which to explore a wide range of social, cultural and
personal issues. Animation projects can be readily integrated into ALL curriculum subjects. Why not
develop a maths and animation project for example? Animation can carry and illustrate complex ideas,
relevent to any study area.

“The filmmaker Eisenstein…equates the apparent freedom of the animated form with personal and
ideological freedom. He implicitly suggests that audiences recognized that animation succeeded in
demonstrating liberation from social constraint and the fulfillment of personal desire.” (Paul Wells, p. 22
of Understanding Animation.)

Like any cultural product animation can be considered historically, economically, aesthetically,
technologically and in terms of a given production context. All of these approaches have a place
in cineliteracy. Furthermore, animation can introduce pupils to the practices of: drawing, painting,
photography, sculpture, music, acting, dance, live action. Cineliteracy comprises three areas reflecting
ways we can think about film and television and of course within these, the form of animation.

Schooltoons aims to reflect the role animation has in children’s lives and to offer some specific
suggestions about how young people’s interest can be used to built upon literacy. The resources are
endless and animation offers a rich learning potential in relation to literacy.

As a place to start it is useful to remind ourselves of the issues around cineliteracy in terms of National
Curriculum guidelines for KS3 and KS4. Both stages are driven by a consideration of MEANING and
RESPONSE and in the context of KS3, DEPTH and DIVERSITY.

The three themes of cineliteracy are:

FILM LANGUAGE
PRODUCERS AND AUDIENCES
MESSAGES AND VALUES

The Schooltoons pack examines these themes in a number of ways, to demonstrate how an appreciation
of cineliteracy can be woven into classroom projects. A typical example is Scheme of Work 3: Music
Videos (page xxx) in which the students use the language and grammar of film in creative ways, whilst
targetting particular audiences. See also Scheme of Work 2: TV Ads (page xxx) where the student work
conveys clear messages and values to the intended audiences.

On the following pages you will find a series of classroom activities designed to explore cineliteracy,
with a focus on animation. Each such activity is prefixed Animation Literacy.

ANIMATION LITERACY
26
 ANIMATION LITERACY

SHOWING ANIMATION IN THE CLASSROOM

Here are some examples of classic animated shorts, which are ideal for introducing students to some
of the landmark artistic acheivements within the medium.

Sometimes, animation in the short form especially has a liberty to explore and express thoughts and
issues that larger film production based material would struggle to. Take for example the Channel Four
commission A is for Autism which is narrated by people with autism whilst images and sequences
they have drawn illustrate the kinds of issues autism presents. A visual form makes a very complex
psychology somehow understandable in its essentials.

In 1992 a collection of animated films was released through the British Film Institute called Wayward
Girls and Wicked Women, a collection of animated shorts by female directors. It included films such
as The Stain (Marjut Rimminen and Christine Roche, 1991) and Daddy’s Little Bit of Dresden China
(Karen Watson, 1988) , films that both explored incest and abuse. For Jeanette Winterson, writing
about this compilation, animation in its broadest application ‘ is closer to dance in its human delineation.
It offers emotion freed from individual association, and yet is not abstract’.

In Canada, the National Film Board of Canada encouraged innovative approaches to animation and this
has yielded a treasury of intriguing animation such as The Street ( Caroline Leaf, 1976) an adaptation of
a Mordecai Richler story in which a boy watches his sick grandma eventually die. Other films supported
by the National Film Board were Pas de Deux (Norman McLaren, 1967), Top Priority (Ishu Patel, 1981),
Getting Started (Richard Condie, 1983), The Wind (Ron Travis, 1975). Indeed, it was a Canadian who
went on to direct Yellow Submarine (1968).

Look out for the beautiful work of Frederic Back and Alexandre Petrov whose respective films The Man
Who Planted Trees and The Old Man and the Sea are astonishing.

Commercials and music videos have fuelled an appreciation of animation and often their handsome
budgets have resourced very vivid pieces of work of which the music promo for the Peter Gabriel track
Sledgehammer is often held up as an enduring example. Directed by Steve R. Johnstone, the video
placed Gabriel in a range of fantastic scenarios that were created by different teams of animators.
There was Aardman Animation (Peter Lord and David Sproxton), Richard Colesowski and the Brothers
Quay, who were responsible for the sequence of Gabriel surrounded by fruit and vegetables for the
Fruit Cake sequence. Aardman handled the stop motion of Gabriel hitting himself with hammers. The
promo also included the pixillation technique, so that Gabriel had to strike a range of poses round which
furniture was moved incrementally.

This pixillation approach has also been used to eerie effect in Dave Borthwick’s film The Secret
Adventures of Tom Thumb (1993). Norman McLaren’s Cold War allegory, Neighbours, also uses this
device and is one of the all time great examples of it.

For more about animation’s history do consider Michael Barrier’s wonderful Hollywood Cartoons and
Paul Wells’ concise and clear Animation published by Wallflower Press. There are many other sources
of information available on bookshelves and online and the animated form lends itself wonderfully to
lavishly illustrated volumes.

27
 LANGUAGE OF THE MOVING IMAGE
It’s important to ensure your students understand the language of the moving image and are capable of
using it creatively. Any ground work like this will reap many benefits when they begin to tackle practical
projects.

Resources: a collection of popular animations, refer to the examples on page 27.

Objectives:

Understanding the language of animation by deconstructing examples.

General questions:

Camera:

What is the sequence of shots at the beginning of the film? What does it tell us about the character
or place? Find example of different camera angles using extreem close up, close up, medium or wide
shot? How are shots used to emphasise something important? Is the camera moving or still?

Colour:

Describe the colours? Is it black and white, why do you think that is? Does this film remind you of any
other animation you have seen? What are the difference? How would you describe the colours? What
are the colours? Are they like colour we see around us? Do you think colour is important and why?

Character:

Are these real characters? What do you think the characters are made of? How are they like or unlike
real people? What is different? What do faces look like? How do they move? How do they behave
differently? Have they got friends? Who are they? Has your character got any personal objects, or
pets? Are the characters children or adult?

Story:

How does the story begin? How does the story end and resolve itself? How does the storyline motivate
the actions of the characters? Do you like the characters and can you identify with their story?

Sound:

What sound do you hear in the animation? Is there music? Why? Do you hear people talking? Is there
speech? Why? Is there any silence? What instruments can you hear? Does the music help tell the
story? Are there different ways characters talk to each other?

Settings:

Where does the story take place? How do you know? Is it a particular country? Does it remond you of
anywhere you have been? What are the main setting in the film? List them? How do they help to tell
the story? What do settings tell us about the characters, e.g. houses, rooms, etc?

28
 ANIMATION LITERACY
THE GRAMMAR OF FILM LANGUAGE
Just as with literature there are building blocks of image and sound that create expression, thought
and meaning in filmmaking. These building blocks are what we can think of as grammar and syntax.

Any film is comprised of SHOTS that build into SCENES that build into SEQUENCES and in turn the
final film.

There are three fundamental SHOT TYPES that you will always want to use in various combinations:

THE WIDE SHOT THE MID SHOT THE CLOSE UP

Any combination of these three key shots will allow you to tell a story in moving images. A director
normal chooses the shot type which best conveys a particular point, detail, mood or gesture to carry
the story forwards.

A WIDE SHOT will typically introduce and establish a location and time.
A MID SHOT will allow you a more detailed look at the location, becoming more specific.
A CLOSE UP will offer a detail that has particular emotional and intellectual resonance.

ACTIVITY: FILM GRAMMAR WORKSHEET

Screen a one minute sequence from a film and ask your pupils to count the number of wide, mid and
close ups and put the totals on this grid.
WIDE SHOTS MID SHOTS CLOSE UPS

Now ask the pupils to select particular shots of each type, and discuss their impact on the viewer.

Why did the director choose this type of shot at this moment?
What does this shot tell us?
What kinds of visual information can be seen in the composition?
How does it help to convey the story?
What kind of emotional impact does the shot have?

29
 ANIMATION LITERACY
ACTIVITY: STUDYING A TITLE SEQUENCE
Resources:

Corpse Bride, Tim Burton

Spirited Away, The Studio Ghibli Collection
Belleville Rendez-Vous, Sylvain Chomet
Peter and the Wolf, Breakthrough Films, Director Suzie Templeton
The Sun Was Lost, Monoru Maeda

Show the title sequence from one of the films suggested above and use questions to identify its
genre and intended audience, and to predict its content and message.

Questions:

Do you think this is a cinema film or TV programme?

Who do you think would watch this?
Is there evidence of a particular audience being targeted?
Can you tell what it is about?
How clearly is the genre/purpose of the text signalled in the title sequence?
Why might it have been made?
Does it have a message? If so, what is it? Does it promote a particular point of view?
Show the production credits at the beginning/or end and discuss the information provided about the
production of the film.

ACTIVITY: FREEZE FRAME

Resources:

As above, or any feature film on DVD. Show a variety of stills using different camera angles, and shot
types.

Questions:

What can you see in the ‘frozen image’?

How are the elements of the image positioned in the frame?
How does lighting and colour affect what you seen?
What is the distance between camera and subject, camera angle, movement of the camera during
the shot?
Does the frame offer information, ideas or impressions?
What and/or who can you see in the shot?
Why is the shot composed like this? What different would it make if it were composed differently?
Where do you think the camera is?
How many cameras do you think there are? Why is the camera positioned like this? What different
would it make if it were somewhere else?
When does the camera move from one shot to the next?
How does one shot differ from another?
What can you tell about the time/place/setting?
How does the setting/lighting contribute to the atmosphere / meaning of the shot?
What can you tell about the characters from how they are dressed?
What impression is given of the characters by their costume/body language?
Does it say anything about their status or relationship?
30
 ANIMATION LITERACY
ACTIVITY: TITLE SEQUENCE 2

Resource:
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events directed by Brad Silberling.

In this activity students are encouraged to develop their analytical skills by deconstructing the title
sequence from the feature film Lemony Snicket’s. Tell the students nothing about the film before they
view the sequence. Ask them to consider these questions.

1. What do you think this is a title sequence for? (Film, TV programme, animation etc.) Give a
reason for your answer.
2. Can you tell what it is going to be about from the title sequence ? Once again note your
reasons.
3. Who is the target audience? (children, teen, adult, specialist audience etc)
4. Does it follow a narrative or is it more aesthetic and visually driven? Explain…
5. What do you think is the purpose of a title sequence?
6. Do you like this title sequence? Why?
7. How long is the title sequence?

ACTIVITY: TITLE SEQUENCE STORYBOARD

Create a storyboard for a title sequence for a blockbuster, Hollywood style movie or television series.
Select one of the following settings, and one genre:

Setting

Crime: places its character within realm of criminal activity.

Film noir: portrays its principal characters in a nihilistic and existentialist realm or manner.
Historical: taking place in the past amidst notable historical circumstances.
Science fiction: a setting or plot defined by the effects of speculative (not yet existing)
technology (i.e. future space travel, cyberpunk, time travel).
Sports: sporting events and locations pertaining to a given sport.
War: battlefields and locations pertaining to a time of war.
Western: wilderness on the verge of civilization, usually in the American West.

Genre

Action: generally involves a moral interplay between “good” and “bad” played out through
violence or physical force.
Adventure: involving danger, risk, and/or chance, often with a high degree of fantasy.
Comedy: intended to provoke laughter.
Drama: mainly focuses on character development.
Fantasy: speculative fiction outside reality (i.e. myth, legend).
Horror: intended to provoke fear in audience.
Slasher: A variation of Horror that focuses less on suspense and more on death and gore. Also
called Splatter film.
Mystery: the progression from the unknown to the known by discovering and solving a series
of clues.
Romance: dwelling on the elements of romantic love.
Thrillers: intended to provoke excitement and/or nervous tension into audience.

31
 ANIMATION LITERACY
ACTIVITY: SOUND AND IMAGE
Resources:
The title sequence: Catch Me If You Can, Steven Spielberg, 2002

“A title sequence is more than just a list of credits. It can be a mini-movie which sets up the film that it’s a part
of. It can establish mood, period and style. A title sequence can take care of backstory. It can soothe the
audience or get them agitated. Title sequences are an art form of their own. Deborah Allison “Promises
in the Dark: Opening Title Sequences in American Feature Films of the Sound Period.”– Big Film Design

Cover the video screen and ask pupils to listen carefully to the soundtrack of this title sequence.
Ask them to describe exactly what they hear?
What type of film you think this is?
What content or style do you think it is?
What genre?
Does the music invite to see the film?
Does it give away the theme or style?
Does the music set a target audience maybe?
Show the complete sequence and invite discussions about how sounds and images affect each other.

About music:
How would you describe this music?
What feeling/images does it suggest to you? How does the music contribute to the mood/meaning of a
sequence? How would the sequence be affected if the music were absent/different?

About sound effects:

What exactly can you hear?
Are the sound effects used simply to represent an action or do they contribute to the drama of the
sequence?

About words:
What can you tell about the speaker(s) from their voice(s) and what they say? How does intonation,
accent, volume contribute to your impressions of the speaker?

About silence:
Why do you think the sequence is silent at this point?
How can silence create drama/atmosphere/tension?

About final viewing:

What different does the sound make to the sequence?
What different would it make if either the music, sound effects, elements were missing? How do sound
and image combine to create specific effects? What contribution is made by the individual element?
Does the sound/music change? What do the changes mean? (e.g. increase/decrease volume)

Pupils should learn that:

Moving image soundtracks can have four elements: music, sound effects, voice and silence. All of these
contribute to meaning. Sound, particular music can set the ‘mood’ of a text and establish its generic
identity. (e.g. comedy, thriller) Sound can affect not only the way viewers interpret the images but also
what they actually think they can see. Silence can also have a powerful effect on the interpretation of
a sequence.

32
 ANIMATION LITERACY
ACTIVITY: WHO MAKES ANIMATIONS?

Resources: any major animation production, e.g. The Corpse Bride, The Incredibles.
See also, the list of animators on page 105.

View the end credit of a popular animation. Ask pupils to research a particular job or role in the making
of the film that they saw in the credits. (e.g director, producer, animator, script writer, voice, lighting
engineer.)

A) Each group could make:

an information leaflet about the job role, including ‘how to become a director’
an advertisment for this job role, e.g. job description, responsibilities

B) The findings could be presented in a role-play: ‘Hot seat’ question pupils about their roles in making
an animated film.

C) Groups of five/six students could be placed in role as producers of an animated film, either for TV
advertising, a children’s channel, for a music video or cinema. Ask each group to produce plans or a
treatment for their production. Their plans should be presented to another group acting as Commissioning
Editors or a panel of Executive Producers. Encourage the students to:

construct the treatment for a particular age-group.

sell the animation to its intended audience.
structure their presentation and their ideas for maximum, persuasive effect.
.
Questions for the students to consider:

Why did you choose this target audience?

What do you think they will like about the product/animation?
How does the content, subject matter reach the audience?
What do you think makes your idea suitable for and attractive to the target audience?
How will you get people to buy or watch your product?
How will the animation be marketed?
What methods would be most appropriate to reach the target audience?
How is your product similar to other ones like it? What makes it different?
What factors did you consider as you planned your product?

33
 ANIMATION LITERACY
ACTIVITY: EXPLORING GENRE
Resources: Bubbletown (Schooltoons DVD) or any narrative animation.

What does the word GENRE mean?

The idea of film genres is a way of sorting out films into different types based on the kind of stories
they tell and production style. For example, we know that a science fiction film tells a different kind of
story to a romantic comedy. Excitingly, you can combine genres.

Below are some notes about how we can categorise genres:

Setting
Crime: places its character within realm of criminal activity.
Film noir: portrays its principal characters in a nihilistic and existentialist realm or manner.
Historical: taking place in the past amidst notable historical circumstances.
Science fiction: a setting or plot defined by the effects of speculative (not yet existing) technology
e.g. future space travel, cyberpunk, time travel.
Sports: sporting events and locations pertaining to a given sport.
War: battlefields and locations pertaining to a time of war.
Westerns: wilderness on the verge of civilization, usually in the American West.

Mood
Action: generally involves a moral interplay between “good” and “bad” played out through violence or
physical force.
Adventure: involving danger, risk, and/or chance, often with a high degree of fantasy.
Comedy: intended to provoke laughter.
Drama: mainly focuses on character development.
Fantasy: speculative fiction outside reality (i.e. myth, legend).
Horror: intended to provoke fear in audience.
Slasher: A variation of Horror that focuses less on suspense and more on death and gore. Also
calledSplatter film.
Mystery: the progression from the unknown to the known by discovering and solving a series of clues.
Romance: dwelling on the elements of romantic love.
Thrillers: intended to provoke excitement and/or nervous tension into audience.

Format
Animation, Live action, Documentary, Drama
Musical: songs are sung by the characters and interwoven into the narrative.

Show an animated film with a clearly identifiable genre, stopping before the climax. Based on their
knowledge pupils can make predictions about how the scene will end. After the real ending is revealed
pupils should reflect on their reasons for their predictions.

What genre/s does the film belong to?

How close were your predictions to the actual ending?
Was the ending typical of this genre?
Were the main characters typical of this genre?

Invite the class to write a synopsis for the story, but this time adapted to other genre of their choosing.
Read out the results and discuss.

34
 ANIMATION LITERACY

ACTIVITY
GENRE TRANSLATION
Pupils translate a moving image text e.g. documentary, TV, news item, TV or film commercial, or scene
from a feature film – into a print genre such as a newspaper item, a magazine feature, an extract from
a novel, a short story or a poem.

Alternatively, translate a print text into moving image form, first as script or storyboard, and then if
possible as video (a brief extract or ‘try-out’ of one scene).

What can you tell in print that you can not tell or show in moving image?

What can you tell or show in moving images that you cannot tell in print?

What kinds of story/information/ideas are best told in print and what are best told in moving images?

Pupils should learn that:

Meaning can change when information is presented in different forms or transposed to another medium.
Each medium has its own language, conventions and genres.
The moving image is more appropriate for some kinds of content or structure, and the written, printed
word is more appropriate for others.

35
 ANIMATION LITERACY
ACTIVITY
GENRE AND CHARACTER DESIGN
Resources:

Any episode of The Simpsons.

Developing a Character (Schooltoons DVD).

Watch an episode of the Simpsons, then discuss it in terms of its genre. In what ways might the Simpson
family be thought of as disfunctional? How does the series satirise contemporary American society?

Let’s look at characters. Each of the character’s personalities and roles are defined clearly.

The main characters are:

1. Homer- father, lazy, overweight but likeable nuclear plant worker
2. Marge- mother, housewife and community do-gooder
3. Bart- ten-year-old anarchist and vandal with a good heart
4. Lisa- eight year old super achiever, feminist, vegetarian and social activist
5. Baby Maggie- quietly sucking her pacifier

Discuss the visible attributes of each character and what each tells us about them. Why do you think
Marge has blue hair? What objects do Bart and Lisa own and what do they say about them?

When designing a character you must fully get into his/her/its personality and imagine how they will
behave in a range of situations. The more things you know about or give to the character the more
convincing it will be for the audience - and the greater the bond they’ll have with it and the story.

Think of one Simpsons character and write down their main traits - e.g. Marge Simpson- homemaker,
loyal wife, with a spark of fun occasionally. Then write down the physical attributes that indicate these
things. Then write down the personality traits that convey her real self.

Choosing one of the characters, devise your own character design sheet. (Use or adapt the template
on the next page.)

Discuss your character sheets in class, and justify the choices made.

36
CHARACTER DESIGN SHEET
How do you think up characters? Stories are usually character driven - make your character
convincing- think about where they live, what they eat and how they walk etc.

Write a short biography, e.g where does the characater Character front view Character back view
live, does he/she/it gets into trouble? What does
he/she/it wear? What is he/she/it like? How is the
appearance? How is the facial expression? Where
does he/she it live? Friends? Home? Habits? Likes or
dislikes? Age? Try to put yourself into your character!

Character side view Character in action

Where does your character live? Draw some close up expressions ...happy, sad

How does your character move? Can you draw a walk cycle?

37
 ANIMATION LITERACY
THE THEME OF FRIENDSHIP IN THE IRON GIANT
The Iron giant is suitable for a younger audience. It offers great ideas for classroom work in the context
of themes of FRIENDSHIP, DIFFERENCE and INCLUSION. To watch The Iron Giant, going by the
DVD chapter headings could make for a useful way to split the film into viewing chunks that your daily
teaching timetable will allow. When you screen the film always make sure that you have a structure in
place for discussion.

You might like to use worksheets to encourage analysing film language.

See Language of Media and the Moving Image: General classroom activities, p. 60

As a game , you could cover the screen and ask the children only to listen to the sound and see
what responses they have to the story. Then replay the scene with the image and ask the children to
discuss what the differences are.
See Language of Media and the Moving Image: Sound and Image, p. 70

Sound:
What sound do you hear in the animation? Is there music? Why? Do you hear people talking? Is
there speech? Why? Is there any silence? What instruments can you hear? Does the music help tell
the story? Are there different ways characters talk to each other?

Further questions:
What is friendship?
What is an outsider?
The character of Hogarth is an upbeat, proactive character. How can we adopt this attitude in our
lives?

The Iron Giant is about a life cycle.

The film can function as a way to spark discussion and thought about the cycle of life.
The robot has a soul and has feelings. What are feelings good for?

Use the film as a starting point to discuss issues around IDENTITY, COMMUNITY and DIFFERENCE.

How does the scene in the café at the beginning of the film trigger these ideas ?
How does the scene in Dean’s junkyard home trigger these ideas ?
How does Hogarth show that he is brave and open minded ?
Hogarth’s dad has died. What does The Iron Giant offer Hogarth ?
How does the film show some people treating The Iron Giant as an outsider ?
How does the film show how we belong to different groups and communities ?

What other films can you identify that are about FRIENDSHIP ?

Kes, ET: The Extra Terrestrial, The Black Stallion, Labyrinth, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of
the Ring, Watership Down, Wallace and Gromit, Ratatouille, Toy Story

Activity:
Draw a picture / poster for the front page of a magazine called ‘Friendship’ that includes Hogarth and
The Iron Giant, promoting the idea of friendship.

Homework:
Develop a picture and word story that takes Hogarth and The Iron Giant into our home town and
explore the experiences they could have as they learn and investigate their surroundings together.

38
 ANIMATION LITERACY
MUSIC AND IMAGERY IN PETER AND THE WOLF
Resources:
Peter and the Wolf: adapted and directed by Suzie Templeton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_the_Wolf

In 2006, Suzie Templeton directed a modernised, stop-motion animated adaptation, Peter and the Wolf.
It is unusual in its lack of any dialogue or narration, the story being told purely in images and sound
and interrupted by sustained periods of silence. The soundtrack is performed by The Philharmonia
Orchestra, and the film received its premiere with a live accompaniment in the Royal Albert Hall. The
film won the Annecy Cristal and the Audience Award at the 2007 Annecy International Animated Film
Festival. This version makes some changes to the original Prokofiev story.

These activities are a good way to prompt discussion about the power of music to help tell a story in
animation, to enhance mood and atmosphere, and to help develop characterisation.

ACTIVITY
Cover the video screen and ask pupils to listen carefully to the soundtrack of Peter and the Wolf. It does
not have to be a long sequence as hopefully most pupils will know Peter and the Wolf from their primary
or middle school education.

Ask pupils to listen carefully. Ask them to describe exactly what they hear. What type of film you think
this is? What style do you think it is? What genre? Does the music invite you to see the film? Does it
give away the theme or style? Does the music set a target audience?

About the music: How would you describe this music? What feeling/images does it suggest to you?
How does the music contribute to the mood/meaning of a sequence? How would the sequence be
affected if the music were absent/different?

ACTIVITY
Show the complete film and invite discussions about how sounds and images affect each other.

About the sound effects: What exactly can you hear? Are the sound effects used simply to represent
an action or do they contribute to the drama of the sequence?

About the music: What can you tell about the characters from the music which accompanies them?
How does the melody, tempo and style of the music contribute to your impressions of the character?

About silence: Why do you think the sequence is silent at this point? How can silence create drama,
atmosphere or tension?

About sound and image together:

What different does the sound make to the sequence?
What different would it make if either the music, sound effects, elements were missing? How do
sound and image combine to create specific effects? What contribution is made by the individual
element? Does the sound/music change? What do the changes mean? (e.g. increase/decrease
volume)

Homework:
Ask pupils to write a synopsis for the film.
39
 ANIMATION LITERACY
UNDERSTANDING LEITMOTIV IN PETER AND THE WOLF
There are three elements of aural support for any film − dialogue, music and sound effects − with the
latter dividing into foley (specific sounds, such as footsteps) and atmos (setting the aural landscape,
for example, wind in the trees). Sound effects deal with realistic aural landscapes whereas music
makes a powerful contribution to a film by implication and association. It supports and develops the
narrative, adding to the emotional temperature and sometimes creating links with specific characters
or circumstances (leitmotiv).

Generally, music is added to film at a later stage in production. However in the case of the production of
Peter and the Wolf , the music and the narrative came first. Consequently the director Suzie Templeton
had to reverse the process of film production by creating visuals to fit the music.

The music was recorded earlier in pre-production with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by
Mark Stephenson. The 24-track recording aimed for a highly characterful, spirited interpretation. After
recording, the music was analysed note-by-note and transcribed onto a frame-by-frame bar chart. The
film is made at 25 frames per second, therefore the film is made up of a total of about 45,000 frames.
The bar chart enables the director and animator to synchronise animation with the music.

Peter and the Wolf is scored for flute, oboe, clarinet in A, bassoon, three horns, trumpet, trombone,
timpani, triangle, tambourine, cymbals, castanets, snare drum, bass drum and strings. Prokofiev uses
the rising 2nd inversion major triad in the themes for Peter, the bird and the cat. Also, all character parts
apart from the grandfather start on the fifth of the scale.

Prokofiev’s own thoughts were that: ‘The role of each animal or bird will be played by a single instrument,
but the many-sided human character will be, say, a string quartet… Yes, we should begin with specific
striking contrasts: the wolf and the bird, the evil and the good, the big and the small. The characters will
be expressed in the timbres of different instruments and each of them will have a leitmotiv.’

ACTIVITY
WHAT IS LEITMOTIV?
Show the film to the class. Ask the students to identify the use of leitmotiv.

What instruments are used for:

Peter?
Grandfather?
Duck?
Bird/Crow?
Wolf?
Hunter?
other?

Does each musical passage suit the character it accompanies? What links can you find between
each character and its music?

Learning objectives:

The exercise should help students to understand the process of composing musical material for a film.
The commercial process of adding music to film is highly sophisticated, however the principles are
relatively simple.

40
 ANIMATION LITERACY

ACTIVITY
COMPOSE A 15 SECOND LEITMOTIV

Leitmotiv; lit. “leading motif” is a recurring musical theme, associated within a particular piece of music
with a particular person/character, place, or idea.

Chose one animal Haiku as a starting point for your compositional ideas.

The Wolf
A silver grey wolf The Snake
Howls an eerie, spooky howl Slithering, hissing.
Staring at the moon Tasting the air with its tongue
Swallows a mouse whole
The Golden Eagle
The golden eagle
Swooping down to catch a mouse
Feeds it to its young
My Turtle
The Sharks My blue eyed long necked turtle,
A great white shark here he rolls around in his shell
A grey reef shark over there I feel silly
The lords of the sea.

Hints and Tips:

You need a decent microphone and headphones.

If possible use a sound room to have peace and quiet.
Test the recording level, move instrument closer and further away from microphone.
Keep the same level for all you recordings
Try to record your own voice to make your composition more individual.
Use more tracks to extend your composition.
Use instruments from the music room.
Improvise and rehearse before making final decisions.
Explore the software there is not much you can do wrong. Read the HELP FILE too. It is short!!!
Make sure you safe your work as wav files.
Enjoy making music!!!

41
 ANIMATION LITERACY

ACTIVITY: STORY WRITING

This is a simple and effective exercise to demonstrate how easy it is to construct a short story with a
classic narrative structure.

Give each student pen and paper.

Ask them to write down the name of a character.

What is this character? Is s/he human, animal, alien, imaginary or a sentient object?

Now think of a friend or enemy for this character. Again, what kind of life form is it?

Think of a place where these two characters meet. It could be somewhere domestic and mundane, or
exotic and imaginary. The choice is yours.

Now, think of a problem, conflict or challenge that the two face together.

Finally, describe how they overcome or resolve it.

At this stage the students should have a set of headings written down. Now invite them to flesh out
their headings into one page stories using this basic structure. They might consider which character is
the hero, and which the villain. What will we learn about each character through their actions? What
happens as the two characters sort out the problem facing them?

The finished stories should include a beginning (which sets the stage, establishes the key characters
and conflict).They should have a middle (in which the conflict or problem builds to a climax) and an
ending (when the problem is resolved.)

Many stories often have a black moment. This usually coincides with the climax, when almost everything
seems lost, and the hero seems to be doomed to failure.

Ask the students to read out their finished stories. Analyse the results and discuss if and how they
conform to the classical storytelling form.

This is an excellent exercise for generating a script for a short animation. It works for any length of
story, even a 60 word one suitable for a 20 second animation. If students are working in small teams,
it can be a good idea to ask all the members of the team to write their own story, then build a hybrid
version, incorporating the best ideas and characters.

A good story should

have a clearly defined, single theme.

contain a well developed plot.
have style: vivid word pictures, pleasing sounds and rhythm.
be driven by strong characters which come alive to the reader.
have dramatic appeal.

Finally, the story, its style and genre should be appropriate to, and interest its intended audience.

42
 ANIMATION LITERACY

ACTIVITY
STORYTELLING WITH A VIDEO CAMERA
This exercise involves live action rather than animation. However, it is a wonderful warm up activity to
help students understand how to use a video camera and basic film language to tell a simple story. The
skills can then be applied to any genre.

The exercise has also been tried successfully in English lessons, to help inspire observational creative
writing.

Resources: video camera and playback facilities.

One group of students enact an everyday scenario. eg. Waiting for the bus whilst chatting about events
of the day. They do not ‘act to camera’. Its good to select an unstructured, ingoing situation.

Camera/director team’s task.

Tell a story on camera about what you see. Limit your choices to the visual realm, rather than
attempting to record specific conversations, for example. You wont be editing the film, so shoot in the
order you want the finished sequence to have.

Consider using close ups and medium static shots to isolate important details. Consider which details
to choose and why. If you decide to use the zoom, how does it shift focus for the audience? What is
its dramatic intent? What does it tell us about the subject that a static shot can’t?

Ask yourselves the following questions:

Do you need to establish the scene and situation with one or more wide shots?
What elements and details should be included in frame and why?
Where does each shot come in the sequence?
How does each shot help to unfold the story?
What are you describing by what you do select?

Review the footage.

Has your sequence of shots combined to make a coherent observation?

Does the observation represent a point of view or is it impartial?
How might an audience interpret what they see?
The things you haven’t shown might be just as important!
Have you applied bias through your selection process?
If so, what point of view have you articulated?

43
 ANIMATION LITERACY

SCRIPT WRITING
The script is where everything starts. It’s a roadmap, a plan, a guide, a source to be inspired by.
Typically, before anything else happens in producing a film project of any scale an idea is written down,
first as a brief outline, then as a more detailed breakdown of the story and finally as a script which
everybody works from.

A script is a key document involved in the creation of any film. A good script should describe action
with just enough detail, but not too much, to inspire amazing images. A script will give you an idea of
structure, character, action and tone. The script can be supplemented by your storyboard.

Don’t write camera movements or composItions into the script. just use it for story structure, dialogue,
action and events.

In most cases there will be a sense of a beginning, middle and an end. Establish a situation, complicate
it, resolve it. Just invite us into your world and make us curious about what is going to happen. Send
us, the viewers, on a journey we did not expect to go on. Shake us up, with a ‘black’ moment, just
before it all ends with a solution.

Remember that animation can subvert and amplify reality.

SCRIPT TEMPLATE FOR ANIMATION PROJECTS

Before going any further it’s useful for you to have a template to work to in creating your scripts.
Follow this four column template which, going from left to right, is titled IMAGE, SOUND and TIMING,
NOTES. This script template for an animated film varies from the ‘traditional’ script form.

This template sits well with the storyboard process. Indeed, if you wished your could paste in each
storyboard frame in the column to the right of the NOTES.

IMAGE (ACTION, SOUND (NARRATION, TIMING (SHOT NOTES (CAMERA

VISUALS, DIALOGUE, SOUND LENGTH IN INSTRUCTIONS)
BACKGROUND) EFFECTS, MUSIC) SECONDS)

If you prefer, take the traditional approach. Scene number. Setting. Day/night. Describe action
concisely and not in too much detail. The most important thing is to describe the actions and
reactions of the characters.

Character 1 name. Speech.

Character 2 name. Speech

Action continues.
New scene starts and action continues.

Example:
Ext. Field. Day. Wide shot: Jack walks across a field and stops to look at the view.
Narrator: This is Jack. 3 seconds
Ext. Field. Day. Mid shot: Jack looking.
Ext. Field. Day. Close up. Jack’s face as Jack smiles.
Narrator: It was a perfect day.

44
 ANIMATION LITERACY
CHARACTER TYPES
At the heart of any story should be a small number of characters, all involved with one another and a
larger situation, be it a quest, a challenge, or a problem to solve.There are seven key character types
found right around the world and its stories. These key character types and their main role in a story
are:

Villain, struggles with the hero

Hero, departs on a search
Donor, prepares and provides hero with a magical agent
Helper assists, rescues, or solves/transfigures the hero
Princess, a sought for person who eventually recognises hero and marries him
Dispatcher, sends hero off
False hero, fake hero or antihero

Here are some tips to use in creating strong and entertaining characters:

Characters express emotions through actions and words. The more they DO rather than SAY the
better. Think carefully about the voice a character speaks with. It is good for your character to have
an obstacle, task or challenge to overcome. There should never be a moment when you character
does nothing.

ACTIVITY
ANALYSING STORY STRUCTURE
This is a good homework exercise.

Choose a favorite animated film and identify its THEME, GENRE, MAIN CHARACTERS AND
STORYLINE. These headings will allow you to begin to see what the story involves. When you compare
your list with that of others in class you may well see lots of similarities.

FILM TITLE

THEME

GENRE

MAIN CHARACTERS AND THEIR TYPES

STORYLINE:

BEGINNING
(ESTABLISHING THE CONFLICT)

MIDDLE
(CONFLICT BUILDS TO BLACK MOMENT)

END
(RESOLUTION)

Now repeat the exercise for an original story you would like to write yourself.
45
 CINELITERACY
THE CHART BELOW INDICATES THE FOCUS OF LEARNING FOR EACH KEY STAGE ON THE SUBJECT OF CINELITERACY
CONCEPT KS YEAR
KS 3 Year 7
FILM LANGUAGE For year seven pupils the key concerns of
Film Language centre on issues of how
a narrative story is structured and how
images and sounds work together. Hence,
your classwork would be concerned with
discussing a film in terms of music, location,
interior and exterior settings and the role
of actors and performance (animation
specific).
PRODUCERS AND Producers and Audiences concerns
AUDIENCES itself with the importance of genre to our
understanding of films. There is also a
consideration of the intended audience of a
film text and how differing audiences bring
differing responses to a given film text.
MESSAGES AND Messages and Values concerns the class
VALUES with being able to identify the level of
realism to which a film aims and where
the line between the real and the fantastic
can be drawn. This has a particular area of
interest in terms of animation.
46
KS YEAR
KS 3 Year 8
Film Language focus on the differences
between film, video and television and
allows scope for comparative study.
Furthermore, how is meaning constructed
through the editing of image and sound.
Identifying major media styles and narrative
forms is also central as is the ways in which
style relates to technology.
Producers and Audiences, the key concern
here is with the relationship between
understanding the demands of pre
production, production and post production
and exhibition and how these issues relate
to matters of creation, influence, intent and
response to a film.
Messages and Values of a film are
considered in terms of how social groups,
events and ideas are represented. Pupils
are also encouraged to explain and justify
judgements and personal responses and
argue for alternative ways of representing
a group event or idea. Pupils are also
encouraged to discuss and evaluate texts
with strong social or ideological messages.
Animated films offer particularly strong
opportunities in this regard.
KS YEAR
KS Year 9
Film Language focus is on how film, tv and
video styles and narrative forms can relate
to authors, the production context and the
social and cultural context.
Producers and Audiences there is the
aim to describe and explain how authors,
genres and stars generate meaning.
Pupils are also encouraged to identify
and describe some of the ways in which
film, video and television institutions relate
to social, cultural and political contexts.
Pupils will also need to relate distribution,
exhibition and audience.
Messages and Values: the focus is on
discussing the ideological messages
in mainstream texts. Pupils must also
describe and analyse different levels of
realism on offer (think of this in terms of
visual realism and emotional realism –
the choices a character makes and their
reaction to events). Finally, pupils should
engage with explaining the relationship
between aesthetic style and social and
political meaning.
 KS FILM LANGUAGE PRODUCERS AND AUDIENCES MEANINGS AND VALUES
4

Experiences and Activities: Film Language pupils should Producers and Audiences Meanings and Values
“see a range of FVT that both consolidates and extends Producers and audiences identify Messages and Values:
existing viewing experience in terms of genre, directors, and discuss some of the factors in
national cinemas, mainstream and non mainstream, the production process that may Use key words to discuss
historical periods. Pupils should also find out more about effect the final shape and meaning and evaluate FVT text with
different modes of FVT production eg industrial / mainstream of a FTV text strong social or ideological
vs low budget independent. Pupils should have opportunities messages.
to relate FVT knowledge to other cultural fields literature, Describe some of the risks and
history, fine art, music. Pupils should be able to investigate a costs involved in FVT production, Use ICT to redraft and
topic using FVT text, online and print sources. distribution and exhibition. manipulate moving image
and sound sequences
Outcomes: Identify and describe some major FVT styles and Explain some of the possibilities and in response to audience
narrative forms, using key words. limitations of audience research comment

Explain how elements of FTV styles may relate to Use FVT knowledge to
technologies, eg portable cameras, editing software. evaluate information on
FVT from online and print
sources

Use stills and clips in live

or recorded presentations
of critical arguments or
investigations.

47
 ANIMATION LITERACY: STORYBOARDING
Every animation starts with a storyboard. When working in animation on a professional level it is vital as
a storyboard artist to produce a crystal clear storyboard that you can pass on to the animation artists.

It’s a good idea to look first at the examples in this pack (see pages 45 - 47), and encourage pupils to
understand the purpose of a storyboard before they draw their own. They will also need a grasp of film
language, and many of the preceding exercises will act as a grounding for this.

Photocopy the handout on the following page and, where neccessary, discuss the terms and symbols
to ensure they are all understood. These should be used to explain the story and movement. The
storyboard template on page 41 shows how the information the storyboard artist needs to include can
be displayed.

You need to fill in as much information as you can about each of the shots. The storyboard tells how
each shot is set up, the position of the camera and shot type, the length of the shot and the action which
takes place. You can also detail sound effects and reference the music to be used.

Each frame of the storyboard represents one shot.

The Storyboard sequencing activity on page 43 is a good warming up exercise.

Hints and Tips

Beginners tend to draw their stories from a single point of view, often a static wide angle shot from
directly in front of the characters. Encourage students to use a mix of wide, medium and close up shots,
thinking about their choices in relation to their storytelling.

Explain the concept of a jump cut. If two wide angle shots are placed side by side on the storyboard,
each with the same framing, there will be a jump cut in the action between the end of the first shot and
beginning of the second. To avoid this, make sure you change the composition between shots.

Often, students will want a narrator to tell the story, and/or add dialogue. This can be included on the
storyboard, or written on a seperate sheet if space is limited. Make sure the narration fits the intended
shot length. The rule of thumb is - we say three words per second on average.

Don’t worry about drawing skills. Stick men and simple line drawings are fine. The important point is
that students use film language creatively, and visualise how they want each shot to look before they
start work at the animation rostrum.

48
 Basic Storyboard Language and Symbols

Linear arrows represent movement of characters

within frame

Rotating arrows show spin or rotation of characters.

Shot Description terms

C/U: close up
M/S: medium shot
L/S: long shot
extreme C/U
2-shot: 2 people in frame
3-shot: 3 people in frame
over shoulder: camera looks over the shoulder of one character to another
POV: point of view of character
bird’s eye view: filmed from above
SFX: sound effects or special effects
Dialogue
Narration
Cut
Fade in or out
Dissolve; cross fade

Camera Movement Terms

Pan
Track
Zoom in or Out

Tips
We discourage novice animators from using any camera movements, including zooms, as the
technology available in the classroom makes the smooth animation of camera movement very
difficult. Students often attempt animated zooms, but the results can be very jerky.

Put in as much information as you can on your storyboard, so that if you hand it on to another
animatir, they will be able to understand it without having to ask you any questions.

49
 Storyboard

Action SFX, Narration Action SFX, Narration Action SFX, Narration

Length in secs Length in secs Length in secs

Action SFX, Narration Action SFX, Narration Action SFX, Narration

Length in secs Length in secs Length in secs

50
 ANIMATION LITERACY: ACTIVITY: STORYBOARD SEQUENCING
Cut out all six images and stick them in your sketchbook in the order you think will tell the story.
Describe the action in boxes like the ones shown. Add narration or dialogue if you wish. Discuss your
storyboards as a group. At the end your teacher will show you the finished film; A Decent Excuse by
Julian Frank.

SFX, Narration

SFX, Narration
Length in secs

Length in secs
Action

Action
SFX, Narration

SFX, Narration
Length in secs

Length in secs
Action

Action
SFX, Narration

SFX, Narration
Length in secs

Length in secs
Storyboard

Action

Action

51
 SAMPLE CHARACTER DESIGN SHEET
AND STORYBOARDS
A Decent Excuse by Julian Frank (See Schooltoons DVD)

Concept: A young boy with a wild imagination is abducted by aliens on his way to school. He arrives
late to the lesson and tries to explain his adventure to the grumpy teacher…

52
 Character design by Julian Frank

53
54
55
56
 ANIMATION LITERACY

ANIMATED HAIKU
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku
Haiku for People:
http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/
Start Writing Haiku:
http://www.cc.matsuyama-u.ac.jp/~shiki/Start-Writing.html

Animated Haiku:
Typographic haiku by Tiger JinSun http://youtube.com/watch?v=4fcAZlITSPM&feature=related
Silence Haiku Animation by Ampur0909 http://youtube.com/watch?v=M2aZeyyi098&feature=related

Haiku is a short form of poetry that developed in Japan from about 400 years ago. The style reached a
peak in the first half of the Edo period (1600- 1868), when a poet named Masuo Basho wrote distinctive
verses on his journeys around the country describing the seasons and the scenery of the places he
visited.

A Haiku is a short verse of 17 syllables and it made up of 3 lines. The first line has usually 5 syllables,
the seond has 7 and the third, last line has 5 syllables again.

Haiku use simple expressions in ways that allow deeply felt emotions and a sense of discovery.
Traditionally, a Haiku must have a word that is identified with a particular season.

The popularity of haiku has spread beyond Japan to Europe, North America, United States, Africa and
China. The following are English translations of Haiku by Matsuo Basho.

A cat sleeps The autumn wind is blowing Someone is living there

in the afternoon sun But the chestnut burs smoke leaks throught the wall
while the flowers grow Are green in the spring rain

A crazy old man Darkness everyday The young dancing girl

by the shore of the river and until my time is through moving fast, twisting, turning
waits there patiently I will wait for you not knowing I watch

The haiku lends itself ideally to animation, because of its brevity, and use of powerful word images.
When students plan storyboards to complement their written haiku, remind them that the visuals need
not necessarily depict exactly what the words describe. It can be more challenging to consider how else
to extend the word picture, using detail, mood, gesture etc.

Look at the two typographic haiku listed above. It can be interesting to think of the words as animated
objects, moving in a way which extends the meaning of the poem.

57
 ACTIVITY: ANIMAL HAIKU
This is a good starting point for people wanting to try drawn animation, as the short length should not
make the task too intimidating for beginners. Chose one Haiku and present your script based on the
Haiku plus storyboard images.

Choose an animal in nature that is doing something.

Examples for DOING: (adverbs)

sleeping paddling swinging diving searching scampering wandering digging grasping plunging
jumping sliding gliding darting

Examples for SOMETHING in nature: (nouns)

trees rivers grass lakes ponds oceans forest mountains caves fields dens

The Wolf
A silver grey wolf
Howls an eerie, spooky howl
Staring at the moon
The Golden Eagle
The golden eagle
Swooping down to catch a mouse
Feeds it to its young
The Sharks
A great white shark here
A grey reef shark over there
The lords of the sea.
The Snake
Slithering, hissing.
Tasting the air with its tongue
Swallows a mouse whole
My Turtle
My blue eyed long necked turtle,
he rolls around in his shell
I feel silly

Now write you own animal Haiku:

•3 lines long
•first line - 5 syllables
•second line - 7 syllables
•third line - 5 syllables

Visual Visual Visual

Line 1 Line 2 Line 3

58
 PART THREE
ANIMATION STYLES

PIXILLATION
Norman McLaren coined the term pixillation for the stop-motion animation technique that consists in
shooting, one frame at a time, characters or objects whose movements are controlled entirely by the
filmmaker. These objects can range from fruit to toys to sticks and stones…even the human body or
face. Live actors can be used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing
while one or more frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames. The actor
becomes a kind of living stop motion puppet. The word pixilation comes from the use of the word pixie
as if to suggest the image and action has been affected by otherworldly forces!

Objects can be combined with one another to create new forms and shapes and ‘characters’.

Resources suitable for Key Stage 4:

Norman McLaren’s short film Neighbours

Resources suitable for Key Stage 3 or 4:

Pixillation (Schooltoons DVD)
Norman McLaren’s A Chairy Tale (Bfi, Into Animation)
PixilLation Short Film by Dustball and André Nguyen Spin
on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbMnOrq50iA
PixilLation Music Video by Sebastián Baptista Fuerte
on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXALzTinIHE

Music Videos:
Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads
The Hardest Button to Button by The White Stripes
Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel
Point of No Return by Nu Shooz
Heard ‘Em Say by Kanye West
Hello Again by The Cars
Shopping Trolley by Beth Orton
The Box by Orbital
The End of the World by The Cure

Animating the human body. See Pixillation on the Schooltoons DVD.

59
 PIXILLATION ACTIVITY: ANIMATED DANCES
Resources:

You will need a video camera with a stop motion recording mode, or a camera linked to a laptop,
running Cinecap. (See page x for further details.) Create a studio space, if indoors, using a backdrop
curtain and studio lights, if available. Lock the camera in a fixed position on tripod.

Create an animated portrait of yourself, or a friend, by recording a sequence of still images, which
together create the illusion of a surreal dance. Use props if you wish, such as trees in the landscape,
or chairs and tables in the room.

Think about creating impossible body movements, gestures and expressions.

ANTI GRAVITY
Ask the actor/s to jump into the air. Capture each frame at the highest point of the jump. Repeat with
variations.

ICE SKATING
The actors slide in procession across the frame by animating a shot, moving forwards a foot, freezing
a gesture, animating, etc. etc. until they pass through the picture.

CRAZY FACES
Set up the camera in front of a chair. Form an orderly queue of actors. Each actor sits on the chair in
turn and pulls a face, whilst the expression is captured in two frames. Try to get all the faces to line up
in the composition.

Hints and Tips

Try to plan a sequence ahead of time, rather than simply improvising. Try to imagine how to break down
the desired effect into single frame poses.

The Crazy Faces idea works great as an end credits sequence, showing all the makers of an
animation project. See the end credits for Eco Monkey on the Schooltoons DVD.

60
 PIXILLATION ACTIVITY: ANIMATION IN THE LANDSCAPE
This activity is suitable for mature GCSE students

Inspiration and resources:

If you have access to a broadband connection, you might like to look at these links.

Animated portrait (lots of other films to check out on the site, such as Window Pane by the same
artist)

http://www.videoart.net/home/Artists/VideoPage.cfm?Artist_ID=1236&ArtWork_ID=1487&Player_
ID=2

A landscape film by Martin Sercombe, using time lapse and other techniques. (Also, The Listening
Place, in the same folder, uses timelapse.)
http://www.esnips.com/doc/43377b8b-9061-4d54-adce-7f7cf9218d43/Singing-The-Horizon

ACTIVITY
Working in small teams, pupils make short animations, inspired by the immediate landscape surrounding
the school. The theme can be either abstract, narrative based or kinaesthetic. (i.e. exploring the
aesthetics of choreographed movement.)

Each team will need a video camera, tripod and laptop on which to capture images frame by frame.
Teams should prepare storyboards or outlines of their idea and think about both the imagery and
sound they will need.

They may explore any of the following techniques:

Timelapse

Stop frame animation can be used to accelerate the perception of time passing, making clouds rush
across the sky, spring flowers open their petals, or people dash their dogs around the park!

Pixillation

Found objects, plasticine characters, 2D art etc can be brought to life, and interact with their surroundings
using animation.

Choreography of the human form

Animated facial expressions, body gestures and movements can take on surreal, dramatic or humorous
qualities. Think about working with props like hats, fancy dress, chairs etc.

Single frame montage

Kinetic textures and serial patterns can be generated by shooting sequences of stills, frame by frame.
A brick wall can be transformed into a vibrating, abstracted sea of shape and colour, by filming four
bricks per frame!

61
 PIXILLATION ACTIVITY: TALKING OBJECTS
Resources

The work of Jan Svankmajer, especially Dimensions of Dialogue

Pixillation (Schooltoons DVD)

Materials:

Fruit or mechanical objects.

Natural objects, such as leaves, shells or feathers.
Domestic objects such as buttons or scissors.
Camera, tripod, lights and a variety of music instruments.

Project description:

Devise a character from a selection of objects, or a single item such as an apple. Decide if your
character works best in 2D or 3D. An apple would need a table top set, with the animation camera
looking across to it. A dancing pair of scissors or “button man” would animate in a 2D plane, with the
camera set above, looking down.

Animate your object, turn it into a character, bring it to life! Make it perform a simple gesture, dance or
change of expression. 2 seconds of animation will suffice initially, per gesture.

Now imagine the sound it is making. Perform this sound live as you playback the animation on the
computer screen. Use your voice, improvise sound effects, or use a musical instrument.

Record these sounds and edit them to the animations using your prefered software package.

Homework Option:

Storyboard a 20 second animation entitled A Fruit’s Life. Draw upon the characters and ideas suggested
by the previous activity. Use the standard storyboard template, and draw the story in 6 shots. Add
narration, dialogue and/or effects.

Learning Objectives:

Understanding the technique of pixillation of found objects. Understanding how to break down animated
movements and transformations into stop frame increments.

Evaluation:

Are the pupils experimenting with ideas and using their imagination?
Can pupils manipulate their object and create an animated sequence, which moves smoothly, according
to the desired effect?

62
 ANIMATION STYLES:
PLASTICINE MODEL ANIMATION
Online resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasticine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claymation
Aardman Animation’s website is a good place to start and can be found at http://www.aardman.com

Films to view:
Black Shuck (Schooltoons DVD)
Screen Play directed by Barry Purves
Chicken Run directed by Nick Park and Peter Lord
Creature Comforts, directed by Nick Park on
http://www.atomfilms.com/film/creature_comforts.jsp
Frogland directed by Ladislaw Starewicz
Nose to the Wind, Winter Carousel, The Mascot by Wladyslaw Starewicz
The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick
Peter and the Wolf directed by Suzie Templeton

Plasticine animation is a firm favorite with all ages for many reasons. It is an ideal medium for animation,
because the models can be articulated easily in small incremental movements. Plasticine is also very
maleable, so all kinds of transformations and metamorphoses are possible. It comes in a wide variety
of colours, including ranges of flesh tones. Most importantly, it is cheap if ordered from an educational
supplier.

“It’s the beauty of plasticine animation that you can make (characters) very human by manipulating
them frame by frame.” says Nick Park.

Hints and tips:

Work the plasticine well to warm it up. It is often very hard and difficult to model straight out of the
packet. Most models can be built from the basic shapes of the ball and sausage. Both can be easily
rolled out with hands on a flat surface. Cover tables with sugar paper before work begins, as plasticine
is hard to clean from table tops.

Encourage pupils to test the stability of their models as they make them, by standing them upright.
Beginners often make their characters top heavy, so they collapse easily. This can be frustrating when
they come to animate them. Big feet, stocky legs and smaller heads are the order of the day. If pupils
are creating animals or imaginary creatures, encourage them to give them expressive features, limbs,
tentacles etc. These can all be used to give the character life and expression as they are articulated in
different ways.

63
 PLASTICINE ANIMATION ACTIVITY
METAMORPHOSIS
Resources / Artists:
Black Shuck (Schooltoons DVD)
Animations by Nick Park, Marjut Rimminen
Christine Roche, Fleischer Brothers,
Len Lye or Lotte Reiniger.

Materials:
Plasticine
Camera, rostrum, lights
sugar paper
sketchbooks

Main focus:
Understanding how to create required movements and
transformations via stop frame increments. Working creatively
with the medium. Thinking visually.

Activity:
Invite pupils to explain the meaning of the word metamorphosis.
Talk about examples from the animal and botanical world, or
help the pupils to develop their own imaginary ideas.

Have each student form a plasticine ball. Talk about shapes and forms. Ask the pupils what the ball
could change into. When they have decided on their transformation, ask them to plan how they will
achieve this in twelve stages.

Animate the transformations and play them back. Discuss the results.

Practices:
Recording ideas in sketchbooks. Developing stories into storyboards.
Experimenting with the manipulation of shape, form, and space.
Recording the animations, using stop frame video animation techniques.
Positioning camera and light.
Selecting camera angles and framing compositions.

Vocabulary:
Digital, stop frame, animate, 2D, 3D, frames, storyboarding, close up, medium shot, wide angle shot,
rostrum, frame, composition, metamorphoses

Homework option:
Storyboard a 20 second animation entitled Metamorphosis. The story must include a character or
object undergoing a transformation or shape shift. Use the standard storyboard template, and draw the
story in 6 shots. Add narration, dialogue and/or effects.

Evaluation:
Can pupils sketch out ideas for an animation sequence?
Can pupils fulfil the practical demands of the storyboard?
Are pupils experimenting with ideas and using their imaginations?
Can pupils devise a coherent story and describe it in a storyboard?

64
 ANIMATION STYLES: CUT OUT ANIMATION
Cutout animation is a unique technique for producing animations using flat characters, props and
backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or even photographs. Cut outs are
top lit to emphasise colours, textures, etc. Silhouette cutout animation is backlit and hence the figure
appears solid.

Resources: Eco Monkey (Schooltoons DVD)

Lotte Reiniger’s animated feature The Adventures of Prince Achmed
Terry Gilliam’s animated sequences for the Monty Python tv series and films.
Chinese animators used articulated puppets.
Yuri Nortstein’s film The Fox and the Hare , 1973.
Chris Marker’s photo collage film La Jetee.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut uses computer animation to imitate the look of cutout animation.
The closing credits of the film of Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” mimics the style of
cut-out animation, though sophisticated animation software was used.
The TV series of Lauren Child’s, Charlie and Lola
Angela Anaconda combined black-and-white photographs with cutout-style CGI animation.

Making cut out animation:

http://www.filmeducation.org/primary/animation/starting.html
http://www.vam.ac.uk/moc/kids/things_to_make/index.html
http://www.cutoutpro.com Cutout Pro’s Stickman software can be used to create cutout-style
animations.
The Museum of Childhood: This webpage offers great resources. Here you can find classroom friendly
instructions and templates to make silhouettes, cut-outs, jumping jacks and more.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/moc/kids/things_to_make/jumping_jack/index.html

ACTIVITY: CUT OUT FACES

There are several ways to make cut-out figures. Thin cardboard is best to work with as it is stiffer than
paper. On a piece of cardboard the size of a paper draw just the outline of a head - an oval shape - and
cut it out. Then draw the following items on the cardboard and cut them out:

Four sets of eyes from wide open to nearly closed

Six mouths showing the sounds a e i o u and very wide open
Four sets of odd shaped ears
Four sets of eyebrows
Four sets of hair styles
Four different hats

Make up different faces with these cut-outs. Use a mirror and pull faces in the mirror to get some ideas.
A simple way to make cut-outs is to stick magazine photos onto cardboard and cut around them. You
can make pictures larger by using a photocopier. You can reverse them by tracing over the original then
tracing over the back of the tracing paper. You can hinge figures using Blu Tak or paper fasteners.

65
 ANIMATION STYLES
SHADOW PUPPETRY
Web Resources:
Shadow puppetry: http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/shadowpuppets/artsedge.html
Shadow animation: http://www.gagneint.com/Final%20site/insanelytwisted.com/main.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meg_gZXcF44

DVD Resources:
Dreams by Holly Sandiford (Schooltoons DVD)

Materials:
Black card, an overhead projector and white wall or screen, glue, scissors, paper fasteners or BluTak.
Opional extras: coloured cellophane, fabric scraps, acetate sheets, glass paints, pipe cleaners.

Shadows have always fascinated people. Shadow puppets were originated in China, and records show
that puppets were first demonstrated around 2000 years ago. Putting hands and fingers into a beam
of light can turn them into mysterious animal heads or monsters. A whole world can be conjured in
moments by cutting simple shapes out of black card and placing them onto on an overhead projector.

Coloured cellophane or acetate is a quick and effective way to add colour. Figures made of black card
can have coloured eyes or decoration added by cutting holes in the card, and gluing on coloured gel
over the holes. Figures can be jointed to allow them to move and perform gestures.

You can also experiment with painting effects by using glass paints on clear acetate sheets. These
can be cut up to make moveable puppets, or used for
backgrounds. All kinds of fabrics, translucent materials
and found objects can be used to create interesting
textures, when placed on the projector.

ACTIVITY: PUPPET SHOW

Using scissors, cut out small shapes like stars, a moon
or trees. Place the pieces on the overhead projector.
This can be used as your backdrop or “set.” Fashion
pipe cleaners into animals, people or other characters.
These will be your puppets. Attach an additional pipe
cleaner to each puppet to be used as a handle. Keep
each puppet small in size. Remember, it must fit on the
overhead projector.

Holding the handles, move each puppet around on the overhead projector. Experiment with holding
them closer or further from the light. Create scenes using your puppets and sets. Don’t forget to give
your puppets voices!

Extension Work:
This activity is a good introduction to the medium. It can be developed into an animation technique, by
adding a video camera framed on the screen, and linked to single frame capture software.

This opens up a further set of creative possibilities. Puppets no longer need handles to articulate them
in real time. All kinds of additional effects can be explored via stop motion. Animation and live action
can be combined in the same project, if desired.

66
 ANIMATION STYLES
DRAWN ANIMATION
DVD Resources:
Drawn Animation Schooltoons DVD
Simple Movement Cycles Schooltoons DVD
A Decent Excuse Schooltoons DVD
Tolerance Schooltoons DVD
Bubbletown Schooltoons DVD
Fast Spin Fling by Sandra Ensby of Sherbet Productions
Girls Night Out by Joanna Quinn
The Snowman by Varga Films
El Caminante by Debra Smith of Rhino Films Ltd.
Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor McCay
Bambi, Aladdin et al by Walt Disney Studio
The Man Who Planted Trees by Frederic Back
Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki

Web Resource:
http://www.anim8ed.org.uk/resources_tech_drawn.asp

Hand drawn animation is perhaps the style we are most familiar with, through the work of Walt Disney. If
approached in this traditional way, it can be one of the most labour intensive and technically demanding
of animation styles. However, short hand drawn animations are easily achieved in the classroom. Make
your figures simple and not too detailed. Perhaps start by doing a stick figure flick book. Start with line
drawings, and focus on making simple movements and transformations work, before adding colour,
shade, texture etc.

67
Here is a handy template for hand drawn animation work. Use the area inside the box for your artwork.
This template is for standard television productions, using the 4:3 aspect ratio. Use a standard office
hole punch for the registration holes, and a ring binder for the leaves.

Do not place important action or titles on the edges of the page. CRT Televisions hide about 4% of
the margin areas, known as “overscan”.
68
Here is a handy template for hand drawn animation work. Use the area inside the box for your artwork.
This template is for widescreen television productions, using the 16:9 aspect ratio. Use a standard
office hole punch for the registration holes, and a ring binder for the leaves.

Do not place important action or titles on the edges of the page. CRT Televisions hide about 4% of
the margin areas, known as “overscan”.
69
 DRAWN ANIMATION: KEYFRAMES AND INBETWEENS
Inbetweening is producing drawings in between the key drawings, which break the movement into
stop frame increments.

A B C
The inbetween of A to C is B

Key frames are significant poses in a character’s action. e.g. the first and the last position of a jump.
Inbetweens are all of the drawings needed between the key frames to create the illusion of smooth
movement.

The more drawings there are between the key frames, the slower the action will appear.

ACTIVITY: DRAWING A PENDULUM

Draw the path for a swinging pendulum using
precisely 7 drawings. You can either use thin A4
paper or tracing paper, and use the template on
page 58 to help register the seperate drawings.

You can use a window as a light table to help see

the previous drawing. Map out the action and
consider that the pendulum swings more slowly
at the extents of its swing. How will you show this
as you draw the frames?

ACTIVITY: BOUNCING BALL

Resources: Simple Movement Cycles (Schooltoons DVD)

Draw the path of action of a bouncing ball in twelve drawings. Again focus on the changing speed of the
ball, and try to show this in your drawings. Give the ball some squash as it hits the ground. Remember
to draw the key frames first , then the in betweens.

The Simple Movements Cycles chapter of the DVD shows a range of very simple drawn exercises to
warm up with. They were made by a class of 7 year olds, and explore bounce, additive animation and
metamorphosis techniques.

70
 ACTIVITY
DRAWING KEY FRAMES AND INBETWEENS
This is an excellent exercise for students of drawn animation.

Invite pupils to perform sequences of movements in front of the group, e.g. sitting down, bowling,
karate or ballet. Get each performer to freeze the action at the start, middle and end.

Ask the class to draw the three key frames of the movement performed.

If pupils lack confidence in their drawing skills, encouraged them to work in stick man style. This can
help the pupils to focus on analysing movement, rather than drawing technique.

Actions

Kicking a football.
Walking.
Picking up a cup and drinking from it.
Hammering a nail.
Putting on a hat.
Being frightened by a ghost.
A cowboy with a lasso trying to catch cattle.
A dog scratching his ear.

Invite the performers to think up different actions. If they are more complex, up to six key frames may
be needed.

The class might wish to develop their favorite movements into short animated cycles by filling in the
inbetweens.

Use the drawing template on page 68 or 69, depending on if you wish to shoot in standard or widescreen
television format. Photocopy the template and use use thin A4 paper, so it is easy to see the previous
drawing through the page.

You only need one template per student, as they can use it to register all the drawings.

Punch holes as shown and use a ring binder to keep the pages in registration.

71
 ACTIVITY: LIP SYNC
Take a mirror, look at your mouth when speaking. Can you draw...

Q, W U A, I
M, B , P

E L, D, TH O F, V

C, A, G, K, N, How would you draw your name? Draw the different mouth shapes
R, S, T, H, Y, Z on the faces above.

How would you draw your friend’s name, when you say ‘Hello’ or ‘Bye’

72
 Lip Sync

73
 ANIMATION STYLES
DIGITALLY DRAWN ANIMATION

Resources:
Bubbletown and Simple Movement Cycles Schooltoons DVD
http://www.toonboom.com/

Bubbletown
Bubbletown is a drawn sci-fi animation, made by a group of 12 seven year olds from Dowson First
School in Norwich. To master the basic principals of drawn animation, the children began with the
warm up exercises on page 70. They then storyboarded the tale in 12 scenes, working in teams of two.
They fitted each scene to a couplet from the song, written with the help of the supporters. The students
then sang the song to a pre-recorded backing track. The shots were exported as avi files to Premiere
Pro, where they were cut to the final mix of the song. The rough cut was projected on a whiteboard,
so the team could share in the editing process. The project took 11 mornings of contact time, followed
by 5 days of studio based post production. It was supported by First Light Films, which provides film
production funding for young people.

Software and Technology

Each team of two worked with a drawing tablet, connected to a PC laptop. They used Toon Boom
Studio, a professional 2D drawn animation package costing around £100 for an educational license. A
cheaper alternative, Flip Boom, designed for children, is available from the same company, for around
£25. We strongly recommend Flip Boom for beginners, as it greatly simplifies the somewhat daunting
interface of Toon Boom Studio. Flip Boom outputs a smaller frame size than that required for DVD
production, but is fine for web based work. If you are on a tight budget, look at the Wacom Bamboo One
A6 graphics tablet, for about £35. The small drawing area can be frustrating, so consider an A4 Aiptek
Media Tablet 14000U for £94 or the industry leading Wacom Intuos 3 for around £300.

Using Toon Boom Studio

Toon Boom Studio provides an onion skin facility, i.e. virtual tracing paper to draw on. This means users
can draw key frames, then add in the inbetweens, refering to both previous and subsequent drawings
to create smooth transitions between key frames. Much of the story was built around simple, repeating
cycles, such as waving hands and pulsing rocket flames, to minimise the need for extensive drawing.
The students drew each cycle in outline first, checked the movement worked, then filled in the shapes
with colour. Characters can then be placed on virtual tracks, allowing the computer to work out the
desired movements in 3D space. The software also allows users to paint backgrounds separately to
the moving subjects, which greatly simplifies the drawing process.
74
 ANIMATION STYLES
MACHINIMA

Resources:
The Airship Hindenburg Schooltoons DVD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinima
http://teen.secondlife.com
http://secondlife.com/
Auto Screen Recorder 3 movie capture tool:
http://www.wisdom-soft.com/asr/index.htm
Fraps movie capture tool: http://www.fraps.com
Snaps movie capture tool:
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/
Super C encoding software:
http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

What is Machinima?
Machinima (mah-sheen-eh-mah) is filmmaking within a real-time, 3D virtual environment. Machinima
is real world filmmaking techniques applied within an interactive virtual space where characters and
events can be either controlled by humans, scripts or artificial intelligence.

The Airship Hindenburg

The Airship Hindenburg was made by 12-16 year olds in Schome Park, a secure island within Teen
Second Life. Residents of Schome Park each have an ‘avatar’, a 3D representation of themselves
which can then interact with others, and the world they inhabit. Second Life has a highly sophisticated
software interface, allowing users enormous creative freedom to build the 3D world around them, as
well as live within it. This also interfaces with the tools needed to film events in world, which makes it
ideal for machinima production.

Filming Machinima in Second Life

The process of making a film in a virtual world is perhaps too complex to attempt as a conventional
classroom activity. A comprehensive how to guide is well beyond the scope of this book. However, it is
a very exciting medium for small groups of enthused students, willing and able to master the software
tools involved. It challenges the very concepts of ‘teacher’ and ‘classroom’, as students from all over
the world can meet together in a virtual environment, exchange ideas, and work as a production team.
As such, it is also a significant peer education model.

Software and Technology

Students will need to first master the Second Life viewer (software interface), which is a free download
for PCs or Macs. Extensive tutorials are available on the web site. They will then need a plug in to
capture in world activity as avi files. The best PC tool is Auto Screen Recorder 3 (£50 per licence). A
cheaper PC option is Fraps (£20 per license). Macintosh users can use Snapz Pro X (£35).

When you have captured your avi or mov files, you can import them into your usual editing software
package. It is advisable to capture the files at the highest resolution your computer will allow, then
downsample them to standard video files.

The finished edit can then be published on the internet. An excellent free software package to encode
video files for the web is Super C. For files which can also be streamed in Second Life, use these
settings: Output file: mov Video Codec: H.264 Video Size: 320 x 240 pixels. Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Frames per Sec: 25 Video Bitrate: 576 kb per sec Audio Channels: 2 Audio Bitrate: 128 kb per
sec.

75
 ANIMATION STYLES
HOW TO MAKE AN iPOD SCRUB
Resources:
http://www.ipodscrubs.com/tutorials-scrub.html

Exporting animations or films to your iPod

Mac version (Using iMovie HD 5)

1. Open iMovie HD and create a movie, or open an existing movie in the application.
2. From the File menu, choose Share.
3. Click the QuickTime tab.
4. From the Compress Movie pop-up menu, choose Expert Settings.
5. Click Share.
6. From the Export pop-up menu in the resulting dialog, choose Movie to iPod (320X240).
7. Click Save to start the export process. Depending on the length of your movie, this can take a long
time. iMovie uses H.264 compression to create the movie file (video iPod format), which will appear on
your hard disk in the location you saved it when iMovie is done. Open the new file in QuickTime Player
and play it to make sure it looks as you expect.
8. Open iTunes 6 and drag your new movie file icon to the iTunes library in the Source list. Note: iTunes
won’t let you drag the movie to the Video playlist, but once you drag it to the Library, it will automatically
appear in the Video playlist. You can also drag the video file to a playlist you create or directly to the
iPod in the Source list.
9. To copy the movie onto a Fifth Generation iPod, either sync it with your iPod or manually copy it.
To learn how to sync video to your iPod, check out the iPod tutorial, or check the Features Guide that
came with your iPod.

PC Version

You can’t put avi files into an iPod. It only accepts mp4 or mov files. You have to first convert them
using appropriate software. e.g. Videora - Free! http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/

Ipod scrubs using Photoshop

1. Create a sequence of images that are 220 x 176 pixels for iPod screen resolution.
Remember to keep the idea of movement!

2. Image compression can sometimes be an important factor. Try to keep your scrubs as efficient as
possible i.e. find the best compromise between image quality and file size; this becomes increasingly
relevant to longer scrubs with 500 frames or more

3. Upload your images to your iPod in one new folder. Once you start scrubbing your images will
animate!

ACTIVITY
VALENTINE iPOD SCRUB

76
 ANIMATION PROJECTS
SCHEME OF WORK 1: TELL ME A STORY
Resources:
SOW 1: Tell me a Story (Schooltoons DVD)
Animation Styles: Cut Out Animation: page 55 of this book.

Animations by: Oskar Fischinger, Jan Svankmajer, Caroline Leaf, Petra Freeman, Ruth Lingford,
Jonathan Hodgson, Lotte Reiniger, Aardman and Studio Ghibli.

Animated Films that use fairy tales and pre existing stories as a basis:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Pinocchio
Beauty and the Beast
Cinderella
Peter and the Wolf
Watership Down
Azur and Asmar
The Storyteller television series

Pupils storyboard and film short stories inspired by traditional fairy tales or folk tales from a different
culture. They learn how to present a narrative using 2D cut-out animation techniques. The stories the
children based their work on for Tell me a Story can be found on pages 109 - 115.

The objectives were:

to create an animation using a pre-existing story as the stimulus.
to begin to understand the dynamic relationship between the written word and animation.
to work collaboratively in groups and to engage the entire class.
to develop ideas and storyboards based on tales from different cultures.
to develop characterisation, a script and storyboard for an animation.
to create artwork such as sets and props.
to capture the animation using stop-motion software and use software to edit.
to use ICT and software effectively and creatively.

ACTIVITY: STORYBOARDING
Divide the class into groups of four to five pupils. Each group selects a different story from a different
culture. (See examples of stories on pages ) Each group adapts their story and transforms it into a
storyboard for a 20 second animation.

Hints and Tips:

Write the story using the standard narrative convention of third person, past tense. Use a maximum of
60 words, and about six sentences. Refering back to the original text, maintain the overall structure of
the storyline. i.e. Establish the main characters. Establish the scenario, quest or dilemma facing the
characters. Show how this is resolved or completed.

Storyboard the tale in six shots, one per sentence in the script. Bearing in mind it takes one sec to say
three words, add the minimum length needed for each shot. Each shot should last 3 - 4 secs.

Add a description of the action taking place under each shot. (Ensure the students understand the
difference between these instructions to the animator, and the storyline to be narrated.) List sound
effects.
77
Try to visualise the characters, sets and action in a way which exploits the potentials of 2D animation.
Characters should be easy to draw and cut out. Action should be easily acheivable by manipulating
card characters and props on a 2D backdrop.

ACTIVITY: PRODUCTION
We recommend that two lessons be allocated to storyboarding, and three lessons to model making
and set building. The production stage will then need two full school days, or the equivalent in shorter
sessions.

If the students wish to compose music, record sound effects and narration and do all the editing
themselves, a further school day will be required. Thus the entire project can be completed in either
three or four days of classroom time.

For advice on how to set up animation rostrums in the classroom see page 66 -67.

During production, students should be encouraged to film a complete scene at each session as stopping
filming at the end of a lesson mid-scene will effect continuity. Lighting will need to be consistent.
Saving files is vital and clear instruction needs to be given as to where files are kept and how they are
named.

ASSESSMENT
Expectations

At the end of this project most pupils will have explored ideas and made moving images in response
to an existing story and will have identified the key components of story; character, narrative and
meaning. They will have researched fairy tales and the history of animated film. They will be able to
organise and use visual and other information in their work and manipulate media to convey their ideas.
They will have analysed and commented on their own and others’ images and related this to what was
intended. They will have adapted their work to refine their own ideas and intentions.

The more advanced students should be able to exploit the characteristics of the media and make
choices about using this; analyse and comment on the context of their own and others’ work and
explain how their own ideas have influenced their practice.

Prior learning

It is helpful if students have:

developed the habit of reading and comprehending what they have read.
developed the habit of collecting visual and other sources of information to support their work.
used collage, model-making and mark-making techniques.
used digital images and the internet as an integral part of their art and design work.
compared the moving image with other forms of visual imagery and considered their varying
impacts.
looked critically at their own and others’ work in order to generate ideas for adapting and
developing their work.

Language for learning

Through the activities in this unit pupils will be able to understand and use vocabulary relating to:
written narratives and scripting.
the moving image, eg composition, close-up, focus, viewpoint, viewer, kinetic, the

78
 representation of time, sound and sense of space, narrative, overlay, harmony, movement,
rhythm.
methods and processes, eg collage, montage, storyboard, cartoon, illustration.
equipment, eg ICT, digital camera, photographic camera, film camera, video camera, optical
toys, projectors, image manipulation.

Future learning

Individual students should ideally be given opportunities to develop their technical control of materials
and processes and develop ideas for individual work for GCSE Art examination. Skills learnt could also
transfer to ‘A’ level Art, Photography and Media Studies.

Adapting the project

Students could generate their own stories but in using established fairy tales they engage with a useful
template for narrative structure. It is useful to provide students with a selection of lesser known fairy
tales so as to avoid plagiarism of well known films.

Assessment

Each student needs to ensure that they keep a record of their own individual contribution to enable
consistent moderation.

Individual contributions could include:

ideas and storyboards.

analysis of existing animations.
artwork, such as sets and characters.
the finished media artefacts.

79
 ANIMATION PROJECTS
SCHEME OF WORK 2: TV ADVERTS
The task is to create a 20 second TV advertisement to support the Arms Control Campaign. In this
activity, pupils explore the use of animation in television advertising of products and ideas. They study
a number of animated commercials. They learn how to represent ideas and values using the moving
image.

This project can become part of GCSE Art and Design or Photography coursework. It could be adapted
to Year 9 and become a cross curricular project involving Music and Media Studies. This unit could be
linked with citizenship, where pupils are taught to think about moral and social issues, by analysing
information and its sources, including ICT based sources.

Resources:

http://www.controlarms.org
SOW 2: TV Adverts (Schooltoons DVD)
Animation Styles: Cut Out Animation: Schooltoons page 55.

A Colour Box, 1935, is an advertisement for “cheaper parcel post”, and was screened to a general
audience. It was made by painting vibrant abstract patterns on the film itself, and synchronizing them to
a popular dance tune by Don Baretto and His Cuban Orchestra. A panel of animation experts convened
in 2005 by the Annecy film festival put this film among the top ten most significant works in the history
of animation. http://www.videosift.com/video/Len-Lye-A-Colour-Box-Free-Radicals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Lye

Hands Guinness advert, using a style of pixillation. Hands is the story of one pair of hands waiting in
anticipation for the ultimate reward – a pint of Guiness. The action opens with drumming fingers and
twiddling thumbs, before the hands launch into a sequence of quirky movements that end with the
hands typing out the line “Good things come to those who wait” before we end with a perfectly poured
pint of GUINNESS ®. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQDjynOzgCk

TV advertisments using animation:

Aquafresh Dental Range, Fairy Liquid, Felix the Cat, ESPN “Believe” – Laika/house, United Airlines
“Dragon” – DUCK Studios, eBay ‘Get In There’ TV ad - 30 secs
TV commercial history
Amazing commercials by Aardman: http://www.aardman.com/oldcomms.asp
http://www.animationjournal.com/abstracts/Cohen.html
http://www.digitalmediafx.com/Features/animatedadvertising01.html
http://www.acmefilmworks.com/director/1/54/thomas.html
http://www.tigeraspect.co.uk/

The objectives are:

to work collaboratively in groups working to an industry style brief.

to develop characterisation, a script and storyboard for an animation.
to make a set and props.
to capture the storyline using stop-motion photography use software to edit.
to record all stages of the project for GCSE work journals.
to create effective artwork.
to use ICT and software effectively.

80
 ACTIVITY
HUMAN RIGHTS ADVERT
Devise a thirty second TV advert on a theme of Human Rights. You will work in groups of three
producing an advertisement supporting a ‘Human Rights’ campaign. Select one of more of the issues
listed below, and storyboard a sequence drawing public attention to it.

1. Control Arms (joint campaign with Oxfam).

2. Stop Violence against women.

3. End the trade in conflict diamonds.

4. Stop torture in the war on terror.

5. Refugees and asylum seekers.

6. Defend the defenders, support for human rights campaigners in danger.

You may use one or more of the following techniques; drawn animation over photographed backgrounds
and/or 2D cut-out animation (with art work from newspapers, magazines, or photographic sources).
Add your own composed music.

Storyboard your script, selecting a range of four to five different shots including close up, medium shots
and wide/establishing shots. Draw a key frame for each shot in each cell of the storyboard. In the box
beneath each cell, state shot length and describe action and accompanying sound.

PRODUCTION
This scheme of work took four full school days to complete, when assigned to a group of KS3 students.
This was supported by a cineliteracy day to introduce animation history and languages. The scheme of
work involved one day of storyboarding, two days of production, and one day of post production.

ASSESSMENT
Expectations

At the end of this project most pupils will have:

explored ideas and values and ways to express them via the language of the moving image.
researched contemporary advertising and the history of animated film.
organised and used visual and other information in their work.
analysed and commented on their own and others’ images and related this to what was
intended.
adapted their work to refine their own ideas and intentions.

The more advanced students should be able to exploit the characteristics of the media and make
choices about using this; analyse and comment on the context of their own and others’ work and
explain how their own ideas have influenced their practice.

Prior learning

It is helpful if students have:

developed the habit of collecting visual and other sources of information to support their work
81
 used collage, model-making and mark-making techniques.
used digital images and the internet as an integral part of their art and design work.
compared the moving image with other forms of visual imagery and considered their varying
impacts.
developed the habit of reflecting on their own and others’ work in order to generate ideas for
adapting and developing their work.

Language for learning

Through the activities in this unit pupils should be able to understand and use vocabulary relating to:

themoving image, eg composition, close-up, focus, viewpoint, viewer, kinetic, the

representation of time, sound and sense of space, narrative, overlay, harmony, movement,
rhythm.
methods and processes, eg collage, montage, storyboard, cartoon, illustration.
equipment, eg ICT, digital camera, photographic camera, film camera, video camera, optical
toys, projectors, image manipulation.

Future learning

Individual students should ideally be given opportunities to develop their technical control of materials
and processes and develop ideas for individual work for GCSE Art examination. Skills learnt could also
transfer to ‘A’ level Art, Photography and Media Studies.

Assessment

The following pages give an indication of how assessment falls within the GCSE Art and Design
matrix using the four Assessment Objectives. Each student needs to ensure that they keep a record
of their own individual contribution to enable consistent moderation.

Individual contributions could include

ideas and storyboards.

analysis of existing animations.
artwork, such as sets and characters.
the finished media artefacts.

82
 ANIMATION PROJECTS
SCHEME OF WORK 3: MUSIC VIDEOS
Create a virtual band and make a 1 minute promotional music video to sell your band to record
companies, managers and TV stations.

This scheme of work took five full school days to complete, when assigned to a group of KS4 students.
This began with a cineliteracy day to introduce animated music video history, languages and genres.
This was followed by one day of storyboarding and set building, two days of production, and one day
of post production and evaluation.

ANIMATION LITERACY
Resources:
Music video by Nizlopi using drawn animation: (http://www.jcbsong.co.uk/).
A History of music videos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video
Madness – Baggy Trousers
Aha – Take on Me
Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer (uses pixillation and blue screen)
Videos byGorillaz and Monkeyhub.

Students were introduced to the history of music videos and shown examples, such as Madness, Aha,
Peter Gabriel, Tom Tom Club, Gorillaz and Nizlopi. A critical discussion took place, comparing the
indended audiences and markets for videos by Gorillaz and Monkeyhub.

Why are Gorillaz famous whilst others less well known?

Why is animation used?
What techniques of animation were used?
Which do you prefer and why?
Which would you be more prepared to spend money on?
Which cost more to make?
Write a list of other animated music videos. Which do you like and why?

ACTIVITY: INSTANT DYLAN VIDEO

Resource: No Way Home directed by Martin Scorsese
Materials: drawing pads, video camera, television monitor, musical instruments.

Show Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan. Discuss the synchronisation of image to song.
Could we do it any better?

Cut to beat exercise: Split into five groups of four. Each group makes a four-word sentence, each word
with five letters max. Everyone draws a word. One group plays instruments, one person is assigned
to each beat of a four-beat bar. Two groups line up, one behind the other and, as the musicians thump
out the rhythm, display the word on the drawing pad to camera, one at a time so the two sentences
flash up in sync with the music. The pads are held out to the right of the file, like a chorus line in a
dance number.

Repeat the exercise with different groups so that each group gets a chance to watch. Change the
speed to show how much more quickly or slowly the pictures have to move. Explain the relationship of
tempo to frames. Assuming 25fps. Bpm divided by 60 = no. of beats per second. Divide this number
by 25 and you know how many frames you need to make for each beat.
83
 ACTIVITY
DESIGN A VIRTUAL BAND
In small groups, design a virtual band, and consider how it will be marketed. Begin planning the one
minute music video you will make to promote the band. Consider the following questions.

Production:
What style of animation will you use?
How will the selected style influence the visual content, storyline and music?
How will you organise yourselves into a production team and delegate tasks?

Language:
What are the most effective ways of getting your message across?
Should you use well known conventions or genres, or do you need to do something new?

Representation:
What ideas or values are you trying to convey?
How do you want to represent the world?
Are you using stereotypes, and what are the consequences of doing so?

Audience:
Who are you communicating to, and why?
What assumptions are you making about your audience?
How are you going to persuade them to watch the video and listen to, or buy the music?

ACTIVITY
STORYBOARD A MUSIC VIDEO
Select an animation style from the following options: plasticine model animation, drawn animation, cut
out animation, live action and animation combined using blue screen.

Prepare a storyboard for your one minute video. Consider how the action will relate to the lyrics and
musical style of the song. Will the action mirror the narrative of the lyric or complement it?

PRODUCTION AND POST PRODUCTION

Production work will be dependent on the style selected. For the examples shown on the Schooltoons
DVD (SOW 3: Music Videos) a professional composer helped the students write their songs, and
edit them to the animations. The software used was Acid Pro 6, published by Sony, used alongside
a collection of DVD based sound samples. Acid Pro retails at £125 for an educational license, and is
targeted at both professionals and serious amateurs. A free alternative, for schools on a tight budget,
is Audacity. See page 96 for further details.

Lyrics and live instruments were recorded directly onto the laptop hard drives, using Acid Pro, and an
external microphone.

The finished songs were exported as wav format files into Adobe Premiere Pro or Pinnacle Studio,
where the animations were edited to the songs. The KS4 students completed their own editing, with
support from a professional animator. The more able students were able to quickly learn the basics of
editing themselves, without extensive guidance.

For assessment guidance, see the previous scheme of work.

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 STUDENT EVALUATION
Here is a guidance template, used for the student evaluation of the project. It can be easily adapted
to other animation productions.

Part One: The Production Process

Explain briefly the animation you made and how you made it.

What tasks had to be done in the research and planning phase?

How were these handled and what could have been done to improve them?

What factors were involved in the choices you made in constructing the artwork for the animation?

Which kind of music did your group create/choose to animate and why ?

What roles did you take in each stage of the production?

What tasks had to be done in shooting and editing the animation?

How were these handled and what could have been done to improve them?

Part Two: The Product

Analyse the images and editing in your finished animation. Pay close attention to artwork, narrative and
mise-en-scene.

Look at the ways you have constructed the animation to fit the music in terms of both style and
content.

What did the audience think of your animation?

What changes would you have made in light of your own analysis and feedback from others?

85
 ANIMATION PROJECTS
SCHEME OF WORK 4: BEING ANTISOCIAL

Resource: SOW 4: Being Antisocial Schooltoons DVD

This project was undertaken by a group of KS4 students on a weekend residential project, funded by
the Big Lottery. The archive footage was provided by the East Anglian Film Archive.

Part One: A Brief History

A Brief History can be used to support discussion around the history of antisocial behaviour. Did our
parents and grandparents ‘fight the system’ or ‘break the rules’? What was it like to be a rebellious
youth in those days? It begins with a silent film, shot in the early 1960s, which looks at a group of Mods
and their scooters in Great Yarmouth, hanging out in coffee shops and on the sea front.

This is followed by a BBC East television clip from the mid 1960s, in which a presenter interviews teddy
boys and their girlfriends at a dance. The sequence can be used to prompt a discussion about youth
sub cultures, how they evolve and change with passing fashions, and the rebellious attitudes that help
define each one. Is rebellion necessarily antisocial?

Part Two: The Present Day

Students explored three animation styles; plasticine model, paper cut out, and pixillated objects and
characters. They produced a series of short animations to explore some of the problems we associate
with antisocial behaviour. What is it? Who are the culprits and the victims? How can we best tackle the
issues and misconceptions that arise? Do the problems change from one generation to the next?

The animations were intercut with presentations by experts in the field, and discussions with young
people. (These are not included on the Schooltoons DVD.)

ACTIVITY
Select an example of antisocial behaviour and illustrate your point of view through animation. Your
animation ought to invite discussion, e.g. when is it ok to mow the lawn with a noisy mower? If someone
accidently breaks a swing, is he a vandal? Do you think youth culture is associated with antisocial
behaviour? If so, why?

Maybe you can make up a short story involving chavs, emos, or skaters. Would any of these people be
considered antisocial, and if so ,why?

Watch the examples on the DVD for inspiration. Refer to the previous schemes of work for guidance
on organising the project.

86
 ANIMATION EQUIPMENT
Setting up an animation rostrum DOES NOT have to be expensive.

Digital camcorder: from £125 to £400, must have A reasonable tripod Headphones, including
DVin/out - firewire port.. Choose a 3CCD model for that is stable for a busy microphones, £10 -
superior image quality, if budget allows.. Panasonic classroom, from £20 to £30. (A separate mic is
make a superb range from £250 to £500. £50. advised for better sound
quality: £30 - £150.)

Camcorder with 4-pin firewire connection Computer or Laptop with minimum 20 GB hard
drive. Left to right: microphone, headphone
sockets. 4-pin firewire port, two USB hubs.

5 metre Firewire cable, 4-pin/4-pin, £5.00 - £20.00

There are also 6-pin/4-pin available, check your
equipment to see which format you need. External hard drive, check special offers from
£70.00 for 320GB, e.g. PC world

Useful internet marketplaces:

www.amazon.co.uk, www.misco.co.uk, www.dabs.com, www.pixmania.co.uk
87
 SETTING UP AN ANIMATION ROSTRUM

3D TABLE
TOP WORK
Animation rostrums
for 3D animation.
The tripod should be
positioned to point
across to the set.

2D ROSTRUM WORK
Ensure the tripod is fully extended, with the camera pointing
down on the art work. Tape down the legs of the tripod to help
avoid accidental movement. The camera must be at least one
metre from the art work to ensure sharp focus. (Check this by
zooming right in on the art work.) Use a drawing board, and
tilt it up slightly to prevent parallex problems. Sometimes it is
easier to place the drawing board and tripod on the floor.

TECHNICAL AND SAFETY TIPS

Use of Space:
Try to arrange the rostrums in the room to allow plenty of space for the students to work, without
crowding each other. Place the set so two students can work either side, moving one or more
characters each. Place the laptop so a third student can capture frames beside the animators. Make
sure the laptop is positioned so the animators can see the composition on the screen, and reference
it when adjusting model postions.

Lighting:
Studio lights are not shown in these examples. If you do not have access to studio lights, choose
a place where the light will remain constant throughout the session. Intermittent sunlight falling on
the art work will ruin a sequence. If you do have lights, use one per rostrum, set to one side, away
from traffic, and above students’ heads. Warn the students that the lights get very hot, and should
never be touched or moved without teacher assistance. Energy saving lights burn cooler, but they
are more expensive.

Tripods and Camerawork:

Tripods should only be adjusted whilst setting up a shot, before animation begins. Never force the
tripod, always unlock it before panning or tilting, and hold the pan bar to adjust. After this, the tripod
and camera should not be touched. Students will always want to look in the viewfinder, and play
with the camera controls whilst animating. This must be avoided. Remind then that they can check
the composition on the laptop. Compositions should not be changed until the shot is complete.
Zooming or panning does not work for stop frame animation (without special professional tools).

Cables:
It is vital to tape down all cables with gaffer tape to avoid tripping over them. Pay particular attention
to the firewire cable. Tape it down close to the socket connections at the camera and the laptop,
with some slack at the camera end so it can be adjusted between shots.
88
 PRODUCING YOUR OWN ANIMATED FILM
There will be many creative and practical challenges involved in making even the most simple animated
film with your class. You will work in a team and all contributions are important. With animation there
are many different skills. If you find drawing very hard you could be an excellent model maker, a patient
animator or an amazing sound artist. Give it all a go and see for yourself. The list below covers the
main steps involved. Some are dependent on the style of production, and others on the time at your
disposal.

The Mediabox web site has an excellent set of guidance notes on producing and marketing a project.
http://www.media-box.co.uk/granted_welcome.php (See also page 90: FUNDING A PROJECT.)

THE STAGES OF PRE PRODUCTION

Create production team

Agree on idea
Fund raise the project
Prepare schedule for team
Write script
Create storyboard
Design characters
Make characters and sets
Allocate roles on the production
Ensure you have all the equipment you will need

PRODUCTION

Set up equipment, lights and sets

Shoot the film, following the script and storyboard
Check all shots, rethink and reshoot as needed
Record narration, dialogue and sound effects
Compose and record music

POST PRODUCTION

Import animation files to your editing software

Rough cut visuals
Edit narration and dialogue to pictures
Edit sound effects and music
Add titles, graphics and end credits
Master to tape and/or DVD
Master a web friendly version
Design box art for your DVD

MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION

Plan and stage a launch screening

Invite friends, relatives, VIPS
Design a publicity poster
Write a press release
Publicise the film on local television, radio and in press
Publish the film on the internet
Send the film to festivals and television companies
Get famous!
89
 FUNDING A PROJECT
Small projects should be easy to make in school without the need to raise money for additional
resources. So long as you have the equipment, and a time allocation within the curriculum, you are all
set to begin. Many styles of animation can be made using day to day resources found in any art room
and stationary cupboard.

However, you may be starting to get more ambitious, and want to make something which will really
make a splash at a film festival. There are several funding bodies you can apply to for help.

The leading organisation which supports film making by young people in the UK is First Light Movies.
“First Light Movies funds and inspires young people, throughout the UK, to make films reflecting the
diversity of their lives.” Visit their web site at http://www.firstlightmovies.com/

You can also consider Mediabox. “If you’re aged 13-19 and living in England, Mediabox could offer
you grants to make creative media projects for film, television, radio, online, print and multi-media
platforms. Mediabox is for young people who don’t usually get opportunities like this.”
See http://www.media-box.co.uk/

Another good source of funding is The Big Lottery. Individuals can’t apply, so you need to form yourselves
into a community group. You could then apply for an Awards For All grant.

Bear in mind: “If your project helps to improve people’s lives, encourages more people to get involved
in their local community or boosts skills and creativity then it is the sort of thing we want to fund.”
See http://www.lotteryfunding.org.uk/uk/awards-for-all

Norfolk based young people can apply to the Norfolk Youth Fund. “Very much a fund for young people
and run by young people. Age range is 13 to 19 and applicants can be individuals or groups. The
criteria seem very broad with the overall aims of benefiting a young person or a group, funding a new
activity and achieving value for money. Grants have the range of £50 to £50,000” see
http://www.activenorfolk.org/page.asp?section=00010001000200020015&sectionTitle=Norfolk+Youth+Fund

Other grant sources can be found via Funder Finder:

http://www.funderfinder.org.uk/

90
91
92
 RECORDING SOUND
Equipment purchases:
http://www.compositevideo.co.uk
http://www.ltf-uk.com/html/beachtek.html

Sound as as important as the image in creating a successful animation. It should never be considered
an afterthought. When budgeting for a moving image facility in your school, consider spending as much
on a good microphone system as you would a video camera.

Most professional sound recordists use a shotgun or short shotgun microphone for recording dialogue
and interviews. Its sensitivity is very directional, so you must point it precisely at the subject or desired
sound source. Unwanted background sounds are minimised.

A wind shield is essential for outdoor work to eliminate wind noise, and a cradle to hold the microphone
will minimise handling noise. A fishpole or boom is very useful for drama work, as it enables the recordist
to position the mic above the actors’ heads. Always place the mic as close as you can without intruding
on the shot. The ideal placement for recording dialogue is about 30 cm from the speaker’s lips.

A good set of headphones is essential. Choose a closed set, so you just hear the sound being recorded.
Most importantly, listen carefully for problems such as distortion and unwanted background sound.

Most domestic camcorders provide a socket for connecting an external mic. It is never a good idea
to rely on the internal camcorder mic. Firstly, the recording quality is usually inferior. Secondly, you
cannot place the mic where you want it to record the sound source. Finally, it will record all the camera
handling noise, tape transport, zoom servo etc.

Cheaper cameras only provide a mini jack socket, designed to take low cost microphones with unbalanced
leads. Unbalanced leads have a single signal carrying cable, and are prone to radio interference, which
can ruin a recording. The longer the cable, the worse the problem gets.

Better microphones use balanced cables with XLR plugs and sockets, designed to eliminate interference.
To use a balanced microphone with a cheap DV camcorder, you need a Beachtek audio adaptor
(£200). This connects to the bottom of the camera, and provides two XLR sockets for your microphone
system.

For recording direct to a laptop, running software such as Audacity, a stereo microphone with a stereo
mini jack plug is ideal. (Interference is unlikely, because of the short cable length.) Good headphones
are still important!

Balanced cable options for live action video and animation (ex VAT)
Sennheiser ME66/K6 short shotgun mic system: £400
Rycote Windshield 4 kit: £323 5 metre XLR cable £25 fishpole: £48
headphones £25 - £50

Cheaper mic options:

Clockaudio C850E short shotgun mic with windshield: £199
or 3208850 Shotgun mic: £55

Unbalanced cable option suitable for recording to a laptop hard drive:

Audio Technica Pro 24 Stereo Condenser mic: £69
Beyer 210/7 mic stand with boom: £22.50

93
 PC SOFTWARE: USING CINECAP
www.alternaware.com

Cinecap is a cheap PC based stop motion capturing

software solution. It captures video frame by frame
to the hard drive, creating avi files which can then be
imprted into your editing software.
It is easy to install, easy to use and easy to animate
with.

Step 1: Browse
NEW Folder (project name)/Scene 01
Step 2: Options
Preview during capturing
Step 3: Begin
The preview window will open.
Remember:
Two clicks per movement, 25 = 1 Second
Capture at least 50 frames (2 secs) per shot.
Step 4: END, when finished capturing
Step 5: YES, if you wish to preview you sequence.
Step 6: Play to watch your animated sequence.
Step 7: Close to capture a new sequence
Your Scene 01 has been automatically saved in your folder.
Step 8: Browse
.../Scene02 IMPORTANT: Make sure you keep renaming
your new files, Scene 01, Scene 02, Scene 03

Troubleshooting

‘I can not see a preview, only a black window’

Check that you have connected all devices properly:

firewire, mains lead to camera, camera switched
on and set to record mode. You should hear the
classic ‘plong’ sound once your computer has
recognised the camera. You can also check this in
the Cinecap window under camera device. It should
read: Microsoft DV camcorder... If this field is empty
your camera has not been recognised.

Sometimes it is neccessary to close and open

Cinecap and start again, especially after a
disconnection or power off and on.

Make sure you have no other software open or running.

94
 PC SOFTWARE: EDITING WITH PINNACLE STUDIO
Pinnacle Studio is very user friendly, inexpensive and provides a complete post
production work flow from capture to editing to DVD or tape based mastering. It is
ideal for schools and classroom beginners and perfect for editing animations captured
with Cinecap. It allows you to record narration and sound effects in real time as you
play back the animation. You can also add music.
Step 1:
File/New Project
Name your project

Step 2:
Click the white folder icon to the
right of the browse window to locate
your folder containing animation
files, created in Cinecap.

Step 3:
Select your folder by double
clicking it.

Step 4:
Click folder with arrow
to locate your animated sequences/
avi files

Step 5:
Select your avi files

Step 6:
Change to Storyboard outline

Step 7:

Click and Drag your clips in the

order you like.

95
 Step 8:

This is called a rough cut !

Tip: This is a valuable excersise
for students to compare with their
original storyboard.

Step 10:
It is time to save the project:

You can preview

your clips here.
Select clip
and press play

Step 11:
You can stretch the length of your time-
line, when your cursor changes into a little
Step 9: clock ! Click, hold, move
Switch back to timeline
Step 12:
Move the rubber band across timeline to
watch the clips

Sound:
Headphones
Microphone

Step 13:
Select sound level between +
and -

Step 14:
Click RECORD
Wait: -3,2,1
NOW RECORD

Double click speaker icon Sound will record unless

STOPped/or clip ends.
to open up recording studio

96
 Step 15:

Click speaker icon to include

sound effects.
Select and drag into speaker timeline

Step 16:

Click the music icon to place music

onto the time line

You can create two layers of sound

When finished:
a) select make a movie and create an avi file which will fit on a memory stick!
b) select make a movie and create streaming media to place on the web

97
 PC SOFTWARE: AUDACITY
Audacity is free, open source software for the multi-track recording and editing of sounds. It is simple
and extremely effective to use allowing both the importing and exporting of sound files in WAV and MP3
formats. It enables the recording of sound directly on to the hard disc of a PC either by microphone or
direct feed. This is achieved through the microphone mini jack port.

Audacity can be downloaded at: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows?lang=en

You will need a PC running Windows XP (including Windows Movie Maker), a microphone or a means
of transferring sound from an original source (for example, a direct feed from MIDI sequencer with
appropriate cabling).

Control Toolbar to record, I/O level, L/R Edit toolbar for cut, copy,
selecting, changing audio, Mixer Toolbar paste, trim, silence undo,
zoom and draw redo...

Features include:

level and L/R positioning controls for each track.

I/O level and L/R positioning controls.
simple editing features: cut, copy, paste, trim etc.
viewing options.
project organising functions: import MIDI, new tracks, track alignment etc
sound generator: white noise, tone, silence, click track etc
effects: fade in, fade out, reverse, boost bass etc
analysis tool: beat finder, silence finder etc

98
 PC SOFTWARE: USING AUDACITY
Audacity is an easy tool to use to record sound effects, voices or music for animation.

Select file new

Make sure the microphone is plugged in, headphones ready.
To record a new track, click the red record button and the recording starts immediately.
Record, counting to twenty, moving closer and further away from the microphone.
See the difference in the waveforms and hear the difference in quality.
Press playback to hear the recording.
Highlight your sound file with the selection tool and try some effects, e.g. reverse or tempo.
Read the help files to see what else you can do.
For video editing you MUST export you sound file as wav files!

Hints and Tips:

Try not to record voices or sound for the entire animation sequence. One at a time. It might help to have
a ‘rough edit’ to look at so you can prepare a wish list of sound effects, music or narration.

Keep all your files in one folder! Keep it tidy and organised.

Using a Click track

Assuming that you already have some ideas for the music, and in particular its tempo, you need to
create a click track.

Once the tempo of the music has been decided, Audacity can be used to generate the click track.
Click Generate>Click track in the drop-down menu. The options will be given for the tempo, beats
per measure and number of measures. Compound click tracks can be created by inserting additional
tracks, for each of which you will generate a new click to match each tempo change. These can then
be copied and pasted into the main click track.

Most commercially produced music, including film music, uses a click track. The only exceptions to this
tend to be on jazz and classical music recordings. The system is very simple and a way of coordinating,
by means of a regular metronomic pulse, the performance of the musicians involved. The click is fed to
the performers via headphones, and in the bigger films, it is often the case that there may be as many
as 100 sets of headphones in use at one time.

Once the click track has been prepared it can be saved as either a WAV or MP3 file for insertion into
Windows Movie Maker.

The click track coordinates with the film and runs at the tempo of the music. There will be a preparatory
set of bars where only the click is heard and then the film itself will kick in. Generally, music that is at
a different tempo from the preceding section will be recorded separately, although it is sometimes the
case that a compound click track is prepared in which the tempi may change. This was very much the
case in the film Who killed Roger Rabbit where the composer, Alan Silvestri, prepared a score much in
the style of the old animation cartoons of Tom and Jerry, with many frequent tempo changes.

For recording compound click tracks with changes of tempi, first add more tracks. Click Project>New
audio track and for each track generate a new click corresponding to each change of tempo. Cut and
paste these into the master click track. Ensure that you have included some free beats before the point
where the music starts by way of a countdown – for example, two measures of four beats.

After all the adjustments have been made to the master track, delete the others.

Save the master click track as a WAV or MP3 file for importing into Windows Movie Maker.
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 PC SOFTWARE: WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER

Open Window Movie Maker, click on File and start a new project.
Make sure that the Tasks button has been clicked.

Import ‘scene01.avi’ and all other scenes you made.

Maybe now you understand why it is good to keep scenes in order.

Select ‘show timeline’

Drag the first clip onto the timeline followed by the order of the animated clips.
When finished you should have your first rough cut.

Sound:
Option A: using Audacity.
Import your sound files , ‘name.wav’ and ‘drag’ them underneath the animation clips into Audio/Music

Option B: using narrator tool in Movie Maker.

Narrate timeline: microphone icon allows you to record voice over to your pictures.

Use zoom in/zoom out controls if you wish to work precisely

Extras:
Movie maker offers trendy effects and transitions although these are less desirable for animations.

When saving your files make sure they all go in the same folder.

You can send clips via e-mail.

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 ANIMATION RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET
When you go online there’s an extraordinary range of information to be accessed. To help narrow and
quicken your search for further information and resources use the following key terms:

animation, 3D animation, drawn animation, 2D animation, stop frame animation, stop motion, stop
motion animation

Recommended internet sites offering resources, tips and more ideas

www.schooltoons.com
www.anim8ed.org.uk
www.animationforeducation.co.uk
www.animateclay.com
www.virtualartroom.com/animation.htm
www.apple.com/uk/education/animation
www.stopmotionworks.com/
www.clayanimator.com/
www.filmeducation.org/primary/animation/stopmotion.html
www.kidzonline.org/TechTraining/video.asp?UnitQry=2D%20Animation
www.eggplant.org/ideas/visual/animation.html

www.brickfilms.com (Lego Movies)

www.bfi.org.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/blast/film
www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bamzooki
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/animation
www.screenonline.org.uk
www.nmpft.org.uk (National Museum of Film and Television)
www.filmeducation.org/resources.html
www.filmworkshop.com/content/view/96/130/

www.atomfilms.com/
www.atomfilms.com/films/stop_motion_animation.jsp
www.opticaltoys.com/
www.filmsite.org/animatedfilms.html

www.exposure.co.uk/eejit/animation/index.html
www.omsi.edu/visit/featured/animationsite/
www.omsi.edu/visit/featured/animationsite/AnimationTG.pdf
http://tre.ngfl.gov.uk/
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/secondary_art/art08b/?view=get

www.dmoz.org/Arts/Animation/Stop-Motion/
www.stopmotionanimation.com/
www.pharosproductions.com/aosma/smhome.html
www.stopmotionanimation.com/handbook/3.htm
www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listdvma.html
www.stopmotionworks.com/stopmosoftwr.htm
www.tech4learning.com/claykit/samples/science/gmicelle.mov
www.excite.co.uk/directory/Arts/Animation/Stop-Motion

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 ANIMATION SOFTWARE: PC SOLUTIONS
Google: type in the term: stop motion software

Stop motion capturing software allows you to capture single frames using either a digital still or dv
camcorder directly to your computer. You will need a firewire cable to connect your camera to your
computer.

You can find a reviews on:

http://www.animationschoolreview.com/animation-software-basics.html
http://www.stopmotionworks.com/stopmosoftwr.htm

Cinecap, stop frame capturing software:

http://jeffdod.tripod.com/alternaware/download.html
Tutorial see page 87.

Stop Motion Pro is a software tool for making stop motion and other animated films. It requires a
video camera, webcam or digital still camera and compatible with Win XP or Vista.
www.stopmotionpro.com
Tutorial: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/03/tutorial-create-stop-motion-animation.html

AnimatorDV - PC based software (frame grabber) for creating stop-motion and time-lapse animation.
Can be also used on film set as a previsualization tool.
http://animatordv.com/
Tutorial:
http://www.shareit.com/programs.html?productid=300005493
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GMPd8oCDew

Alternatives:
www.stopmotionmaker.com
www.stopmotion-software.com/
www.newfreedownloads.com/find/stop-motion.html
www.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.com/monkeyjam/index.html
(I used monkeyjam and a simple webcam, a £5.00 animation solution)
http://www.animateclay.com (Anasazi Stop Motion Animator)

ToonBoom Studio
http://www.toonboom.com

DrawPlus is Serif’s award winning vector based drawing package, ideal for use in schools, and as
shown below we provide extensive focussed educational tutorials.
TutoriaL www.serif.com/education/tutorials/drawplus.asp#DP7

DigiCel FlipBook
DigiCel, Inc. has released version 3.6 of their award winning FlipBook software for traditional
animation. This new version offers more palette control to simplify large productions and additional
lighting effects for shadows, highlights and glows with soft edges for a more natural and three
dimensional look. Also available in conjunction with the release of version 3.6 are plug-ins to do
Automatic Peg Registration, Film Resolution and Telecine.

http://www.digicelinc.com
http://www.digicelinc.com/v4/download.htm
http://www.digicelinc.com/v4/downloads/FlipBook%20Guided%20Tour.swf

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Anamorph Me!
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/artofanamorphosis/software.html

Creative Use of Flash 4 in Schools

www.tygh.co.uk/students/index.html
www.freeflashtutorials.com

Moovl
Moovl makes drawings spring into life. Moovl imbues freehand drawings with bouncy physics and
animated behaviours, and can be used on an interactive whiteboard or tablet PC.
http://www.moovl.co.uk/

ANIMATION SOFTWARE: MAC SOLUTIONS

iStopMotion
Easy to use Stop Motion animation software for Mac OS X. Allows you to use your computer and DV
camcorder or USB webcams to capture single frames for stop motion
http://www.boinx.com/istopmotion/overview/

FrameThief
Welcome to the FrameThief homepage. FrameThief is the premiere software package for creating
animation on the Macintosh platform
http://www.framethief.com

AnimAide XT is a frame capture software for animation made for Mac OS X.

http://www.spebtor.com/

BTV Pro has all the features of BTV as well as many more including movie playback and editing,
stop motion animation, time lapse capture, motion detection, DV stream input/output, and frame
averaging
http://www.bensoftware.com

I Can Animate has quickly established itself as the Stop Motion Animation tool for Mac OS X.
http://www.kudlian.net/products/icananimate/

With Frames (PC Windows or Mac) students can create stop-motion animated stories using pictures
of clay characters they make, stop-motion pictures from a DV or USB camera, pictures they have
taken with a digital camera, or pictures they have drawn or painted in Twist, Pixie, or ImageBlender.
http://www.tech4learning.com/frames/index.html

StopMotioner is a full featured stop-motion creation tool (aka Clay Animation). It contains all the
necessary tools to capture, edit, and share your stop-motion movies. No need to import your clips to
another program for editing; it contains all the tools you need and more while retaining the original
quality. Edit in StopMotioner as you capture--adding titles, transitions, and audio.
http://www.miensoftware.com/stopmotioner.html

StopMojo is cross-platform stop-motion animation suite designed to aid in the creation of stop-
motion animations. Currently it includes a capture program supporting capture of image files from
various video capture devices, overlay of previous frames (onion skinning), and export to AVI and
QUICKTIME video formats.
http://www.mondobeyondo.com/projects/stopmojo/

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 EDITING SOFTWARE: PC SOLUTIONS

Pinnacle Studio
http://www.pinnaclesys.co.uk/PublicSite/uk/Home/
The Pinnacle Studio versions (9, 10 or 11) represents excellent value for money when thinking video
editing software for schools. (KS2, KS3) It uniquely harnesses the power of the latest technologies
from HD, Windows Vista, Hi-Fi Audio and Web Sharing for video enthusiasts seeking a full, yet
accessible, solution. Windows Vista™ compatibility, Simplified Web publishing, Scorefitter™ music
generator. Instant DVD Recorder, Instant Sound recording studio, green/blue screening.

Windows Movie maker

Windows Movie Maker 2.1 makes movies amazingly fun and easy. With Movie Maker 2.1, you can
create, edit, and share your home movies right on your computer. Build your movie with a few simple
drag-and-drops. Delete bad shots and include only the best scenes. Then share your movie via the
Web, e-mail, or CD. Instant soundrecording is made very easy and imminant.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx

Adobe Premiere Elements / Adoble Premiere Pro

Premiere Elements is an easier-to-use version of Adobe’s professional video-editing program,
Premiere Pro. Perfect package as this is 2 in 1. Capturing software and editing, also a good
introduction to industry standard software. I highly recomment Adobe Premiere Elements 3 for KS3
and Adobe Premiere Pro for KS4. However Premier Pro does not include motion capture.

A selection of free editing software options

http://www.hollmen.dk/articles/videoedit.htm#VideoRoll

EDITING SOFTWARE: MAC SOLUTIONS

iMovie
iMovie is perfect for all ages, simple and fast to learn. iMovie is built for sharing. In just a few steps,
you can add movies to your website, publish them on YouTube, and create versions for iPod, iPhone,
and Apple TV. It is not recommended to mix mac files with pc files. WARNING!
http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/

Final Cut Pro

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/

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 BOOKS
The books listed below are only a representative sample. There are many books available about making
animated films and there are also countless titles about animation culture and history.

Beck, Jerry, Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, 2004

BFI (Series Editor- Clark, Vivienne): ‘Teaching Music Video- Series: Teaching Film and Media
Studies, Cromwell Press Ltd, 2005
BFI, Moving Image in the Classroom, 2002
BFI, Story Shorts, 2001
BFI, Into Animation resouce pack
BFI, Teaching Music Videos, 2005
Blair, Preston, Animation, Walter Foster Publishing , 2007
Blair, Preston, Cartooning: Discovering the Secrets of Character Design, 2006 Clarke, JamesThe
Virgin Film Guide: Animated Films , Virgin Books, 2007
Cotton/Oliver, Understanding Hypermedia 2.00, Phaidon, 1997
Furniss, Maureen Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics, John Libbey Books, 2008
Laybourne K, The Animation Book, Crown Books, 1999 Taylor R, The Encyclopedia of Animation
Techniques, Focal Press, 1999
Mealing S, The Art and Science of Computer Animation, Intellect Books, 1997
Parker, Phil, The Art and Science of Screenwriting, Intellect Books, 1997 Priebe,Ken A. The Art of
Stop-Motion Animation, Delmar, 2006
Solomon C, The History of Animation - Enchanted Drawings, Outlet Books, 1994 Thomas B,
Disney’s Art of Animation, Hyperion, 1997
Patmore, Chris, The Complete Animation Course, Barrons Educational Services, 2003
Wells, Paul Understanding Animation, Routledge, 1998
Wells, Paul, The Fundamentals of Animation, AVA Publishing SA (2006)
White, Tony:,The Animator’s Workbook, Phaidon, 1988
Williams, Richard The Animator’s Survival Handbook, Faber and Faber, 2002

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 GLOSSARY OF TERMS
The following section lists a wide range of key terms and expressions that you will use, and want your
students to use, in the creation of your projects and in viewing film examples.

Angle: the angle at which you place the camera to emphasise an event, expression and interaction
of characters. You can use high angles and low angles in extreme and more subtle ways. Watch the
recently made Peter and the Wolf to get some useful examples of this technique.

Animation: this is the process of creating movement to communicate the essence of an object or
creature or situation. Animation transforms reality. Animation can more or less attempt to copy and
mimic reality or to create something that departs from reality. Very good examples of animation mimicing
reality are the films of the Disney studio such as Bambi and The Lion King. A more abstract example of
animation would be a film such as Neighbours, directed by Norman McLaren. Bambi is a film for young
people about a young deer growing up in a forest. Neighbours is an allegory for the human capacity for
violence. Bambi is an example of hand drawn / hand painted animation. Neighbours is a live action film
in which the human performers have been animated.

Broadcast: televised programming to people’s homes. Broadcast tv has a long history of programming
animation in various forms, ranging from The Flintstones to Bagpuss to Wallace and Gromit to the very
recent Peter and the Wolf.

Budget: this is a detailed overview of the cost of resources and hours in the creation of a project. The
budget should be informed by the screenplay and story concept and in turn will influence the timeframe
available to create a project in. The budget, script and schedule are usefully filed together as they are
all connected documents.

Cable: leads that connect kit to power sources and to one another. Cable is also the name of a kind of
television channel that uses radio frequencies to transmit programmes via optical fibres rather than via
over the air in the form of traditional television.

Camcorder: a video capturing device, typically a mini DV camera into which a mini DV tape is placed
to capture moving images and sound.

Censorship: censorship is a response to issues of taste and class and culture as to what is acceptable
and unacceptable to screen for a given audience. The British Board of Film Classification offers very
useful education days.

Channel: a provider of a certain kind of programming on television. A channel can also be a term used
to refer to a route taken by sound or picture capture into a camera or other recording device.

Cinema: a venue in which to exhibit moving images. Cinema is also a term used to describe an aesthetic
based around moving pictures with or without sound accompaniment.

Classification: the process of determining the suitability of a film for its intended audience. The British
Board of Film Classification is legally obliged to classify each film that is to be released in the UK. U,
PG, 12, 15 and 18 indicate the kind of film available. The BBFC has an education and information
department.

Close-up: a framing size that emphasizes a character (human or otherwise) in an intense way from the
neck up. Close ups tend to be used for the most powerful and important emotional moments of a film.
Very good examples are to be seen in the Wallace and Gromit films and Pixar’s films.

Composer: The composer creates pieces of music to accompany the images and sounds of a film. The
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composer typically works on the film once it has been edited together. Composers from the worlds of
classical music, such as Dmtri Shostakovich, Aaron Copland and Ralph Vaughan Williams have written
music for films. Music for films has also been written by musicians such as Peter Gabriel and Philip
Glass. In animation specifically, one of the most famous pieces of music that has recently been used
has been Sergei Prokofiev’s music Peter and the Wolf which was recently used for the Suzie Templeton
animated film adaptation. This way of putting animated characters to music is different to the way
in which Norman McLaren, for example, creates animated, ‘experimental’ films, to music. There are
infinite ways to create music to accompany an animated film.

Cut: this is a command that can be stated during the making of a film in order to state the end of take.
A cut also refers to the point where one frame joins another in the process editing. A cut can emphasise
continuity or be far more ‘unrealistic’. Sergei Eisenstein developed an idea of montage editing. Editing
is not solely about eliminating material but recombining and composing it by cutting it together in a
variety of ways - infinite ways – to create a range of emotional and intellectual effects.

Dialogue: this is the spoken word that develops between characters. Dialogue is typically synchronous
with characters’ mouth movement though there are exceptions to the convention. Not all animated films
require dialogue for their interest and meaning.When creating dialogue think of quite brief statements
rather than longer statements or replies.

Digital: this covers technology which records information as 1s and 0s. It is the opposite of analogue.
Digital refers to the technology that has resulted in smaller, more affordable camera , sound and editing
technologies. Digital can compress information to a degree whereby picture quality is higher. Digital
also has also allowed the editing process, on computer, to become very similar to word processing
where files are managed and images can be readily copied, cut, pasted and rearranged. In this digital
age perhaps it is more accurate to talk about digital movies rather than film.

Director: the person responsible for making choices and decisions given to them from all those available
in terms of resources and the crew they are working with. A director is not a dictator but is the ultimate
gatekeeper of creative decisions.

Editor: the editor composes the films by piecing shots and sequences together and rearranging the
shot and recorded material often substantially to create the desired effect. The aim of the successful
edit of a project is to create a range of intellectual and emotional effects on the viewer so that they are
entertained, informed and engaged. If time and resources allow you can edit your film alongside the
production of it and this may allow you to see where you might need new or additional material created
in order to tell the story as clearly as possible.

Fade: the image gradually goes to black or any other colour of choice.

Feature: any film running over 60 minutes

Film: the material on which images can be recorded. Also the term we use to suggest the kind of
narrative and aesthetic experience that tends to centre on characters experiencing dilemmas and
emotional and intellectual problems that the audience is invited to relate to. We still use the word ‘film’
when referring to making projects using video.

Focus: By focusing through an adjustment of the camera lens the filmmaker can control the degree to
which the image you are showing is absolutely clear and sharp. It may be that you want an image to be
out of focus initially and then to come into focus for a particular effect and reason.

Frame: the frame is the border of an image. Framing refers to the composition of a shot, and what
it includes. If you frame the image as a wide shot, for example, this indicates to your filmmaking
colleagues that the image will contain a lot of varied information because we get some kind of ‘overall’

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view of a setting and action and the characters in it. If you frame a shot as a close up, your colleagues
will know that the shot is about the detail of a face, an object, an event or a place.

Genre: This is the term we use to define, identify and classify narrative films. Genres cross both live
action and animated films. Genres are comprised of repeating character types, situations, motifs,
themes and visual styles. Genre also embodies the values of a culture and can change over time.
Genres fuse and mix with one another so that, for example, we have the romantic-comedy or the
science fiction western. Genres are a quick and easy way to indicate to your audience the kind of story
they will watc. If you say that it is a comedy people will have some idea of what to expect, for example.
Live: occurring in real time, not recorded.

Live action: this is the kind of film that audiences are most familiar with being built around the the
principles of photography that records staged events featuring human beings in ‘real’ locations. We
think of live action as typically realistic.

Long shot:this is the largest frame size available. The long shot (or wide shot) can be used to establish
setting, time of day, and a general idea of the action unfolding and where characters are in relation to
one another. In the film Bambi the first shot is a very good example of a long shot being used to show
you the forest in which the film is set. There are countless other useful examples.

Marketing: this is the process of selling a film, of building an audience awareness of the film in terms
of its genre and its characters. Marketing material (posters, trailers, interviews) make excellent primary
source material for encouraging pupils to think about how films are produced and how they fit into the
wider culture and generate meaning and values.

Mid-shot: a shot that provides us with more detailed information suggested by a long shot often. A mid
shot tends to frame characters from the waist up so that we can still see their surroundings but their
expressions are becoming increasingly central to the action and emotion and idea of the film.

Mix: the process, after filming, when the range of sounds recorded for the film’s soundtrack are combined
with the right emphasis at the right moment in the film.

Pan: when the camera moves, typically, fairly gently and with control, from left to right, right to left,
either being fixed to a tripod or being handheld. A whip pan is a fast version of the pan.

Profit: when the cost of the film is exceeded by the money taken from audiences paying to see the
film.

Programme: a piece of content on tv, online: drama, documentary, news etc. Animation could handle
any of these.

Projector: the machine that a film or DVD is screened from onto a screen.

Promotion: promotion is another word we might use to cover the same ideas as the term marketing. It
is about putting a film into the world and creating a set of specific associations with it. It also becomes
an issue of branding. Think how we associate the name Disney with a certain kind of animated film or
the name Aardman. The promotion of a given film is not only about promoting the film in itself but also,
to some degree, the studio and producers who have made the film.

Propaganda: this is the promotion of an ideological and political position. Film and propaganda have
a long standing relationship and animation has played a powerful part in this around the world. In
America, Britain, Europe and Japan, amongst other nations, animation has been used to boost morale
and promote messages and information.

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Ratings: this relates to classification. Most animated films that the majority of audiences will be familiar
with will have a U or PG rating. This is not to say that an animated film cannot be rated for older,
more mature audiences. Examples of this are Alice and Street of Crocodiles. These two films are not
appropriate for younger pupils but may be deemed appropriate for 15-16 year old students.

Realism: realism is the idea that the film we are watching is showing us something truthful and accurate
about life - it’s something that the audience recognises based on their own experience of the world.
Realism can be found in the way characters behave or speak and the kind of situations and subjects
that you chose to make your film about.

Realistic: We say that a film is realistic if it offers a view or recreation of the world that we recognize
as somehow accurate not only in terms of visual information but the way in which a story plays out
and how characters relate to one another. Interestingly, we could say that Bambi is unrealistic because
the animals in it talk. However, they also move with a certain fidelity to realism and their environment
appears very true to what we know a forest to look like.

Recorded: videos record images; recording sound etc.

Release: the moment when a film is available to be viewed by an audience either at a cinema or
equivalent or online.

Representation: this is the way in which narratives in film and literature show the audience particular
subjects in specific ways that relate to a range of issues and conditions in which a film has been made.
For example, the way that women are represented in films from fifty years ago is different to how they
are represented now.

Script: the document that details the structure of a story for realization as a film. The script typically
works out at a page per minute of screen time. Dialogue and action usually form the basis of a script.
A script can be more or less detailed depending on the requirement. The script serves as the basis for
the budget and schedule and these three documents should always work together when producing a
project.

Scriptwriter: the person, or persons, responsible for taking a concept and developing into a detailed
rendition of the story idea using dialogue and action. The scriptwriter might also be the producer and
director but will often not be and so will work in collaboration with the producer and director to define
their intentions.

Sequence: a series of scenes that are unified by a common point. We could talk of the opening sequence
of a film which establishes characters, settings, plot etc.

Short: a short film, usually up to around thirty minutes, but typically five to fifteen minutes. The term
also suggests a certain kind of story and way of telling it. Animation and the short format have a strong
history.

Shot: an image in a film; could be long, mid or close up, static or moving, live action or animated, with
or without human presence etc.

Sound effect: a sound that matches an onscreen element. For example we see a horse galloping and
we hear the sound of it galloping; we see a door slam shut and we hear it slam. Sound effects can also
be used to contradict what we see or work in less logical ways. The animated film Alice and the films of
Norman McLaren work well in this regard.

Stereotype: a fixed, received idea of a person or event…relates to genre and realism.

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Television: the technology that receives signals showing programs. A television programme suggests
a certain kind of content quite distinct from a feature film.

Track: sound and image and also a camera move where the entire camera moves on a horizontal plane
but also vertically…

Trailer: a piece of promotional material that condenses the tone and key story and character points of
a longer piece.

Video: to video an event is to record it using a camera that records images onto a video tape.

Zoom: changing the frame size in real time to capture a detail: we can talk of the camera lens zooming
in or out.

CGI: derived from animation but typically connected to visual effects: Toy Story, Jurassic Park, Jumanji,
etc.

DV: abbreviation for digital video: we can use DV tapes to record onto. We can also talk about a
DV aesthetic: a certain kind of story and way of visualizing action that fits with low budgt, minimum
resources.

Key Frame: the major points of movement in animation – see more from Richard Williams book The
Animator’s Survival Handbook.

LipSync: when a character’s mouth moves with the sound that apparently emits from their mouth. This
is an issue of maintaining a kind of realism that fits with how we understand things to be.

Pixel: a unit of digital information on screen. Images can be manipulated at the level of individual
pixels.

Pre-Production: the planning stage of a film: scripting, budgeting, scheduling, casting, gathering materials
and crew etc. Storyboarding. The more thorough this stage of the process the more successful your
finished film project may be or, at the very least, will have the minimum of problems and concerns. As
a word of comfort, film making always involves compromise and problems do arise. Filmmaking is a
human venture and therefore always open to imperfection. The lesson to be learned, perhaps, in how
to deal as individuals and teams with these moments when things need to be fixed.

Registration: animation process, aligning each image…

Rotoscoping: rotoscoping is the act of filming live action reference footage, for example of somebody
walking along, and then tracing a drawn image over it which is then used as an ‘animated’ element.
The use of rotoscoping in animation might be regarded as resuting in an image that is not authentically
and fully animated but has instead been traced. Rotoscoping has been a part of animation production
since the earliest days. The Fleischer Studio in New York city in the 1920s produced Out of the Inkwell
series using rotoscoping and the Disney studio used it occasionally in their production of Snow White.
The most current version of rotoscoping is the form of cinema called performance capture which is the
technology that has been used for the production of films such as The Polar Express and Beowulf.

Showreel: a collection of clips that showcase highpoints in a filmmaker or studio’s work.

Stop motion: a major mode of animation typically taking specifically made models, but not necessarily,
and moving them one frame at a time. Examples of this technique are: Wallace and Gromit; The
Nightmare Before Christmas; Alice.

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Storyboard: a series of drawn panels that lay out the sequence of shots. Storyboards do not indicate
how long a shot will last, however, only what happens and where in the frame. Each image can be
accompanied by written information about the scene and also details of scene number and any other
pertinent information. The storybord can be usefully filed with the script, schedule and budget.

Timeline: the timeline shows you when things happen. When editing ,a timeline is a piece of information
typically available to you in the software package that allows you to see when cuts in images occur and
how sound and music run parallel with the images.

Ambient sound: sound recorded in the reality of the scene to give atmosphere: the sound of traffic /
atmos.

Key Frame: frames that show the extreme of an action or a principal movement in an animation

Light Box: A glass/ perspex topped box with a powerfull light source. Used by animators to trace
artwork

LipSync: the matching of characters’ mouth shapes and movement in time with recorded dialogue.

Pixel(s): derived from PICture ELement: The smallest unit of a digital image, mainly square in shape, a
pixel is one of a multitude of squares of coloured light that together form a photographic image.

Pre-Production: the planning stage of a film or animation before shooting begins

Registration: the exact alignment of various levels of artwork in precise-relation to each other

Rotoscope: a device that projects live-action, film, 1 frame at a time, onto a glass surface below. When
drawing paper is placed over the glass the animator can trace off the live action images in order to get
realistic movement.

Showreel: a portfolio of moving image on videotape/DVD/CD.

Stop Action/Motion: animation where a model is moved incrementally and photographed one frame at
a time

Storyboard: a series of small consecutive drawings plotting key movements in an animation narrative
and accompanied by caption-like descriptions of the action and sound.

Timeline: part of software displaying events and times of an animation in terms of frames/time (seconds).
The word sheet or glossary should be made into little cards to photocopy so teachers can stick them
onto the wall.

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 RECOMMENDED ANIMATORS
Here’s a selective list of work by a range of animators and animation studios which may help you think
about approaches you can take in your filmmaking and viewing.

Enzo d’Alo, Momo: The Conquest of Time, 2000

Frederic Back, The Man Who Planted Trees

Mark Baker, The Village, 1993
Don Bluth, An American Tail, 1986

Sylvain Chomet, The Triplets of Belleville, 2004

Emile Cohl, Un Drame Chez les Fantoches, 1908

Paul Driessen, David, 1977, Cat’s Cradle, 1974

George Dunning, Yellow Submarine, 1968

Oscar Fischinger, On Parade, 1936, An Optical Poem, 1938

Max Fleischer, Betty Boop, 1930

Terry Gilliam, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 1969-74

Bob Godfrey, Roobarb and Custard, 1974
Sheila Graber, Mondrian, 1978

John Halas and Joy Bachelor, Animal Farm, 1954, Dustbin Parade, 1942

Chuck Jones, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pie, Daffy Duck, Pepe le Pew, Elmer Fudd, Looney Toons, Tom and
Jerry, 1930-1969

Kihachiro Kawamoto, Dojoji, 1976, House of Flame, 1979

Satoshi Kon, Millennium Actress, 2000, Tokyo Godfathers, 2003
Jerzy Kucia, Reflection, 1979

Caroline Leaf, The Owl Who Married the Goose, 1974, Metarmorphoses of Mr Samsa, 1977
Luzzati and Gianni, The Magic Flute, 1977, Turandot, 1977
Len Lye, A Colour Box, 1935

Hayao Mayazaki, My Neighbour Totoro, 1988, Princess Mononoke, 1997

Norman McLaren, Neighbours, 1952,

Yuri Norstein, The Tale of Tales, 1979, The Heron and the Crane, 1974
Winsor McCay, Gertie the Dinosaur, 1914
Otto Messmer, Felix the Cat, 1922
Jimmy Murakami, When The Wind Blows, 1986, A Christmas Carol, 2002

Michel Ocelot, Kirikou and the Sorceress, 2000. Azur and Asmar, 2006
Peter Peake, Humdrum, 2000
Bill Plympton, 25 Ways to Quit Smoking, 1989

The Quay Brothers, Street of Crocodiles, 1986

Joanna Quinn, Girls Night Out, 1987

Lotte Reiniger, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, , 1926

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Ishu Patel, How Death Came to Earth, 1971, Afterlife, 1978
Suzie Templeton, Dog, 2001, Peter and the Wolf 2006
Dusan Vukotic, Ersat ( Substitute), 1962
John and James Whitney, Catalog, 1961, Matrix 1970
Richard Williams, The Little Island, 1958
Michael Dudok de Wit, Father and Daughter, 2000
Hu Xianghua, Monkeys fish for the Moon, 1981
Atama Yama, Mt Head, 2003
Karel Zeman, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, 1975, Treasure of Bird Island, 1952
NFB, National Film Board of Canada, Every Child, 1979
Da, The Three Monks, 1980

Animation Studios (these films have directors but are more immediately recognised by studio name)

The Walt Disney Studio

Mickey Mouse short films (Steamboat Willie and others)
Donald Duck short films, Symphony Hour, 1942
Dumbo, 1941
Bambi, 1942
Cinderella, 1950
Alice in Wonderland ,1951
Peter Pan ,1953
The Jungle Book, 1967
Tron, 1982
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ? 1988
The Little Mermaid, 1989
Beauty and the Beast ,1991
Aladdin, 1992,
The Lion King, 1994
Mulan, 1998
Lilo and Stitch, 2002

Pixar Animation Studio

Tin Toy, 1988
Knicknack, 1989
Toy Story, 1995
Toy Story 2, 2000
Monsters Inc, 2002
Finding Nemo, 2003
The Incredibles 2004
Cars 2006
Ratatouille 2007
Wall-E 2008

Dreamworks
Antz, 1998
The Prince of Egypt, 1988
Shrek, 2001
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron, 2002
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, 2003

Aardman
Morph, 1976
Wallace and Gromit short films, 1985

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Creature Comforts, 1989
Chicken Run, 2000
Wallace and Gromit:The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, 2006

TV
The Simpsons,
Futurama,
Rugrats,
Rocko’s Modern Life
Hey Arnold
South Park
SpongeBob Squarepants
The Powerpuff Girls, 1998
Samurai Jack
Beavis and Butt-head
Bruno Bozzetto, Mr Rossi
Belvision, Asterix le Gaulois

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 APPENDIX 1
SCHEME OF WORK 1 : FOLK TALES

The Gardener and the Bear by Bidpai

In the eastern part of Persia there lived at one time a gardener whose one joy in life was his flowers and
fruit trees. He had neither wife, nor children, nor friends; nothing except his garden. At length, however,
the good man wearied of having no one to talk to. He decided to go out into the world and find a friend.
Scarcely was he outside the garden before he came face to face with a bear, who, like the gardener,
was looking for a companion. Immediately a great friendship sprang up between these two.

The gardener invited the bear to come into his garden, and fed him on quinces and melons. In return
for this kindness, when the gardener lay down to take his afternoon nap, the bear stood by and drove
off the flies.

One afternoon it happened that an unusually large fly alighted on the gardener’s nose. The bear drove
it off, but it only flew to the gardener’s chin. Again the bear drove it away, but in a few moments it was
back once more on the gardener’s nose. The bear now was filled with rage. With no thought beyond
that of punishing the fly, he seized a huge stone, and hurled it with such force at the gardener’s nose
that he killed not only the fly, but the sleeping gardener.

It is better to have a wise enemy than a foolish friend.

Source: The Tortoise and the Geese and other Fables of Bidpai, retold by Maude Barrows Dutton
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908), pp. 22-23.

Tikki Tikki Tembo a chain tale from China

Once upon a time in faraway China there lived two brothers, one named Sam, and one named Tikki
Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom
Barako.

Now one day the two brothers were playing near the well in their garden when Sam fell into the well,
and Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno
Dom Barako ran to his mother, shouting, “Quick, Sam has fallen into the well. What shall we do?”

“What?” cried the mother, “Sam has fallen into the well? Run and tell father!”

Together they ran to the father and cried, “Quick, Sam has fallen into the well. What shall we do?”

“Sam has fallen into the well?” cried the father. “Run and tell the gardner!”

Then they all ran to the gardner and shouted, “Quick, Sam has fallen into the well. What shall we
do?”

“Sam has fallen into the well?” cried the gardner, and then he quickly fetched a ladder and pulled the
poor boy from the well, who was wet and cold and frightened, and ever so happy to still be alive.

Some time afterward the two brothers were again playing near the well, and this time Tikki Tikki Tembo
No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako fell into
the well, and Sam ran to his mother, shouting, “Quick, Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie
Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako has fallen into the well. What shall we
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do?”

“What?” cried the mother, “Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom
Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako has fallen into the well? Run and tell father!”

Together they ran to the father and cried, “Quick, Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry
Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako has fallen into the well. What shall we do?”

“Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno
Dom Barako has fallen into the well?” cried the father. “Run and tell the gardner!”

Then they all ran to the gardner and shouted, “Quick, Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie
Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako has fallen into the well. What shall we
do?”

“Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno
Dom Barako has fallen into the well?” cried the gardner, and then he quickly fetched a ladder and pulled
Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom
Barako from the well, but the poor boy had been in the water so long that he had drowned.

And from that time forth, the Chinese have given their children short names.

Source:Tikki Tikki Tembo, retold by Arlene Mosel, illustrated by Blair Lent (New York: Holt, Rinehart,
and Winston, 1968).

The Brahman’s Clothes India

There was once a Brahman who had two wives. Like many Brahmans he lived by begging and was
very clever at wheedling money out of people. One day the fancy took him to go to the marketplace
dressed only in a small loincloth such as the poorest laborers wear and see how people treated him. So
he set out, but on the road and in the marketplace and in the village no one salaamed to him or made
way for him, and when he begged no one gave him alms.

He soon got tired of this and hastened home and, putting on his best pagri [turban] and coat and dhoti
[waistcloth], went back to the marketplace. This time everyone who met him on the road salaamed low
to him and made way for him, and every shopkeeper to whom he went gave him alms; and the people
in the village who had refused before gladly made offerings to him.

The Brahman went home smiling to himself and took off his clothes and put them in a heap and
prostrated himself before them three or four times, saying each time, “O source of wealth! O source of
wealth! It is clothes that are honored in this world and nothing else.”

Source: Folklore of the Santal Parganas, translated by Cecil Henry Bompas of the Indian Civil Service
(London: David Nutt, 1909), no. 146, pp. 372-373.

The Three Wishes England

Once upon a time, and be sure ‘twas a long time ago, there lived a poor woodman in a great forest,
and every day of his life he went out to fell timber. So one day he started out, and the goodwife filled his
wallet and slung his bottle on his back, that he might have meat and drink in the forest. He had marked
out a huge old oak, which, thought he, would furnish many and many a good plank. And when he was
come to it, he took his ax in his hand and swung it round his head as though he were minded to fell the

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tree at one stroke. But he hadn’t given one blow, when what should he hear but the pitifullest entreating,
and there stood before him a fairy who prayed and beseeched him to spare the tree. He was dazed, as
you may fancy, with wonderment and affright, and he couldn’t open his mouth to utter a word. But he
found his tongue at last, and, “Well,” said he, “I’ll e’en do as thou wishest.”

“You’ve done better for yourself than you know,” answered the fairy, “and to show I’m not ungrateful, I’ll
grant you your next three wishes, be they what they may.” And therewith the fairy was no more to be
seen, and the woodman slung his wallet over his shoulder and his bottle at his side, and off he started
home.

But the way was long, and the poor man was regularly dazed with the wonderful thing that had befallen
him, and when he got home there was nothing in his noddle but the wish to sit down and rest. Maybe,
too, ‘twas a trick of the fairy’s. Who can tell? Anyhow, down he sat by the blazing fire, and as he sat he
waxed hungry, though it was a long way off suppertime yet.

“Hasn’t thou naught for supper, dame?” said he to his wife.

“Nay, not for a couple of hours yet,” said she.

“Ah!” groaned the woodman, “I wish I’d a good link of black pudding here before me.”

No sooner had he said the word, when clatter, clatter, rustle, rustle, what should come down the
chimney but a link of the finest black pudding the heart of man could wish for.

If the woodman stared, the goodwife stared three times as much. “What’s all this?” says she.

Then all the morning’s work came back to the woodman, and he told his tale right out, from beginning
to end, and as he told it the goodwife glowered and glowered, and when he had made an end of it she
burst out, “Thou bee’st but a fool, Jan, thou bee’st but a fool; and I wish the pudding were at thy nose,
I do indeed.”

And before you could say “Jack Robinson,” there the goodman sat, and his nose was the longer for a
noble link of black pudding
.
He gave a pull, but it stuck, and she gave a pull, but it stuck, and they both pulled till they had nigh
pulled the nose off, but it stuck and stuck.

“What’s to be done now?” said he.

“’Tisn’t so very unsightly,” said she, looking hard at him.

Then the woodman saw that if he wished, he must need wish in a hurry; and wish he did, that the
black pudding might come off his nose. Well! there it lay in a dish on the table, and if the goodman and
goodwife didn’t ride in a golden coach, or dress in silk and satin, why, they had at least as fine a black
pudding for their supper as the heart of man could desire.

Source: Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, n.d.),
pp. 107-109. This collection was first published in 1894.

The Mosquito and the Carpenter The Jataka Tales

Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta gained his livelihood as a
trader. In these days in a border village in Kasi there dwelt a number of carpenters. And it chanced that
one of them, a bald gray-haired man, was planing away at some wood with his head glistening like a

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copper bowl, when a mosquito settled on his scalp and stung him with its dart like sting.

Said the carpenter to his son, who was seated hard by, “My boy, there’s a mosquito stinging me on the
head. Do drive it away.”

“Hold still then father,” said the son. “One blow will settle it.”

(At that very time the Bodhisatta had reached that village in the way of trade, and was sitting in the
carpenter’s shop.)

“Rid me of it!” cried the father.

“All right, father,” answered the son, who was behind the old man’s back, and, raising a sharp ax on
high with intent to kill only the mosquito, he cleft his father’s head in two. So the old man fell dead on
the spot.

Thought the Bodhisatta, who had been an eye witness of the whole scene, “Better than such a friend
is an enemy with sense, whom fear of men’s vengeance will deter from killing a man.” And he recited
these lines:

“Sense-lacking friends are worse than foes with sense;

Witness the son that sought the gnat to slay,
But cleft, poor fool, his father’s skull in two.”

So saying, the Bodhisatta rose up and departed, passing away in after days to fare according to his
deserts. And as for the carpenter, his body was burned by his kinsfolk.

Source: The Jataka; or, Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births, edited by E. B. Cowell (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1895), book 1, no. 44.

The Bremen Town Musicians Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Germany

A certain man had a donkey, which had carried the corn-sacks to the mill indefatigably for many a
long year. But his strength was going, and he was growing more and more unfit for work. Then his
master began to consider how he might best save his keep. But the donkey, seeing that no good wind
was blowing, ran away and set out on the road to Bremen. There, he thought, I can surely be a town-
musician.

When he had walked some distance, he found a hound lying on the road, gasping like one who had run
till he was tired. What are you gasping so for, you big fellow, asked the donkey.

“Ah,” replied the hound, as I am old, and daily grow weaker, and no longer can hunt, my master wanted
to kill me, so I took to flight, but now how am I to earn my bread.”

“I tell you what,” said the donkey, “I am going to Bremen, and shall be town-musician there. Go with me
and engage yourself also as a musician. I will play the lute, and you shall beat the kettle-drum.”

The hound agreed, and on they went. Before long they came to a cat, sitting on the path, with a face
like three rainy days. “Now then, old shaver, what has gone askew with you,” asked the donkey.

“Who can be merry when his neck is in danger,” answered the cat. “Because I am now getting old, and
my teeth are worn to stumps, and I prefer to sit by the fire and spin, rather than hunt about after mice,
my mistress wanted to drown me, so I ran away. But now good advice is scarce. Where am I to go.”

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“Go with us to Bremen. You understand night-music, you can be a town-musician.”

The cat thought well of it, and went with them. After this the three fugitives came to a farm-yard, where
the cock was sitting upon the gate, crowing with all his might.

“Your crow goes through and through one,” said the donkey. “What is the matter?”

“I have been foretelling fine weather, because it is the day on which our lady washes the christ-child’s
little shirts, and wants to dry them,” said the cock. “But guests are coming for sunday, so the housewife
has no pity, and has told the cook that she intends to eat me in the soup to-morrow, and this evening I
am to have my head cut off. Now I am crowing at the top of my lungs while still I can.”

“Ah, but red-comb,” said the donkey, “you had better come away with us. We are going to Bremen.
You can find something better than death everywhere. You have a good voice, and if we make music
together it must have some quality.”

The cock agreed to this plan, and all four went on together. They could not reach the city of Bremen in
one day, however, and in the evening they came to a forest where they meant to pass the night. The
donkey and the hound laid themselves down under a large tree, the cat and the cock settled themselves
in the branches. But the cock flew right to the top, where he was most safe.

Before he went to sleep he looked round on all four sides, and thought he saw in the distance a little
spark burning. So he called out to his companions that there must be a house not far off, for he saw a
light.

The donkey said, “If so, we had better get up and go on, for the shelter here is bad.” The hound thought
too that a few bones with some meat on would do him good.

So they made their way to the place where the light was, and soon saw it shine brighter and grow
larger, until they came to a well-lighted robbers, house. The donkey, as the biggest, went to the window
and looked in.

“What do you see, my grey-horse?” asked the cock.

“What do I see?” answered the donkey. “A table covered with good things to eat and drink, and robbers
sitting at it enjoying themselves.”

“That would be the sort of thing for us,” said the cock.

Then the animals took counsel together how they should manage to drive away the robbers, and at last
they thought of a plan. The donkey was to place himself with his fore-feet upon the window-ledge, the
hound was to jump on the donkey’s back, the cat was to climb upon the dog, and lastly the cock was
to fly up and perch upon the head of the cat.

When this was done, at a given signal, they began to perform their music together. The donkey brayed,
the hound barked, the cat mewed, and the cock crowed. Then they burst through the window into the
room, shattering the glass.

At this horrible din, the robbers sprang up, thinking no otherwise than that a ghost had come in, and
fled in a great fright out into the forest.

The four companions now sat down at the table, well content with what was left, and ate as if they were
going to fast for a month.
As soon as the four minstrels had done, they put out the light, and each sought for himself a sleeping-

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place according to his nature and what suited him. The donkey laid himself down upon some straw in
the yard, the hound behind the door, the cat upon the hearth near the warm ashes, and the cock perched
himself upon a beam of the roof. And being tired from their long walk, they soon went to sleep.

When it was past midnight, and the robbers saw from afar that the light was no longer burning in their
house, and all appeared quiet, the captain said, we ought not to have let ourselves be frightened out of
our wits, and ordered one of them to go and examine the house.

The messenger finding all still, went into the kitchen to light a candle, and, taking the glistening fiery
eyes of the cat for live coals, he held a lucifer-match to them to light it. But the cat did not understand
the joke, and flew in his face, spitting and scratching. He was dreadfully frightened, and ran to the
back-door, but the dog, who lay there sprang up and bit his leg. And as he ran across the yard by the
dunghill, the donkey gave him a smart kick with its hind foot. The cock, too, who had been awakened
by the noise, and had become lively, cried down from the beam, “Cock-a-doodle-doo.”

Then the robber ran back as fast as he could to his captain, and said, “Ah, there is a horrible witch
sitting in the house, who spat on me and scratched my face with her long claws. And by the door stands
a man with a knife, who stabbed me in the leg. And in the yard there lies a black monster, who beat me
with a wooden club. And above, upon the roof, sits the judge, who called out, bring the rogue here to
me. So I got away as well as I could.”

After this the robbers never again dared enter the house. But it suited the four musicians of Bremen so
well that they did not care to leave it any more.

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Schooltoons is a Norwich
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project, in partnership with
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and supported by NESTA
and Creative Partnerships.

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