Session begins by watching their pixelation work from last week. BOth groups interested to see the other group’s efforts. Competition between the 2 groups. There are questions from both groups about the editing process and the music chosen as backing track. It’s significant that neither group get to edit their work. This is a recurrent problem – that the editing process is seen as other/separate and is often left to the expert to do. The fact that both groups asked about it suggests that this is a process which would be of interest to the students and it would help them take ownership of their work.
Whilst some of the boys in group 1 are keen to get on and concentrate, others just mess around, unengaged and look like they don’t really see the point of moving poms poms round a black piece of paper. The pixelation week was more successful – is this because their bodies were more engaged/featured in the process?
Turns out there isn’t going to be a screening at the local Picture House – this part of the project didn’t come to fruition and their work will be posted on the school website.
Pes’s Western Spaghetti & Game Over is screened on the IWB. He’s an American animator who’s had much success producing adverts and TV content. His inventiveness and inspirational animations have gone viral online. Students liked seeing household objects with a new purpose and given a life of their own. Concentration on sound effects.
They see Bang-Yao Liu’s post-it note animation which also went viral:
I’m wondering if the ‘making of’ clip might have been worth showing to engage interest in the mechanics, just as they’re about to do:
Here’s one of their animations from the hour’s session:
John and Shelley lay emphasis on the fact that their planning stage is no different from any other small design company’s brain storm session in a scrappy old studio in Shoreditch/ Hackney / Bow / New Cross. John demos the kind of animation he’d like to see with the felt objects. Doesn’t want a story, or any personalities, he just wants pattern and transformation.
J suggests the hand-made-ness of this technique is a kind of backlash against special effects. Sh mentions a National Theatre production on at the moment: “Animals and children took to the street” incorporating live performance, poetry, music and projected animation, by the company 1927, the style of which is inspired by silent movies.
Overall I feel that the project – despite stimulating creative endeavour – lacked critical application and it is this that the teacher should provide through planning the project in advance with the practitioners. This is another project that merely shows technique, exposing the student to the ‘exotic otherness’ of creative uses of new technology, but fails to be ‘sticky learning’ because of a lack of context.
Making is Learning 