Animating Britten - Teacher Pack by BPF Learning

AN INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION PROJECT FOR SCHOOLS CELEBRATING THE CENTENARY OF BENJAMIN BRITTEN'S BIRTH 2013

ANIMATING BRITTEN www.animatingbritten.wordpress.com

CONTENTS

USB + PRINT RESOURCES

1 01 02

About ‘Animating Britten’ About the Project Aims and Learning Outcomes About the Teacher Pack

2 03 04 05 06

Technology & Data Sharing Equipment iStopMotion Audacity Saving Files Sharing your work with Dropbox

07 11 15 19 23 24

Session Plans

25 26 27 28 30 34 35

Pages for Teachers & Pupils Additional Information About Britten About The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra The History of Animation Examples of Abstract Animation The Animation Station 12 Basic Principles of Animation

5 38 39 40 42 43 44 45

Session 1: Context Session 2: Introduction to Animation Session 3: Pre-production Session 4: Production 46 Session 5&6: Completing the Animation Follow-up Session

How to Guides How to Storyboard How to tell an Abstract Story How to Animate How to Create Credits & Titles How to Document How to Blog How to Create a Rotator Reflection Video How to use Dropbox

6 CONTACT

usb The USB stick included with this pack contains many useful resources for each of the sessions. On it you will find the full 17 minute version of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra as well as the short audio clip your class will animate. It also contains many video clips to show during sessions, and pdf versions of the ‘Pages for teachers and pupils’ and ‘How to…’ pages that can be printed.

Supporting Resources on your USB stick Audio: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (17mins) Music to animate for your class iStopMotion Tutorial video Storyboard Templates Session 1: Audio example 1 Audio example 2 Audio example 3 Session 2: History of Animation: video examples History of Animation: short showreel Abstract Animation: video examples Abstract Animation: short showreel Session 3: Animation Techniques: video example Session 4: Creating Credits & Titles: video example Pages for Pupils and Teachers (to print)

ABOUT

THE PROJECT Benjamin Britten (b. 1913 – d. 1976) was one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. The year 2013 marks the centenary of his birth, and musicians and orchestras around the world will be commemorating this anniversary with public performances, events and education programmes celebrating Britten’s life and work. More information about Britten’s centenary can be found at: www.britten100.org Over four amazingly creative decades, Britten published well over 100 works, the first while still a student. The scope of his work is astonishing, ranging from music for great public occasions to quiet contemplation; music for the world’s finest virtuoso performers and for schoolchildren (sometimes all in the same work). There are operas, songs, a ballet, works for orchestra, chamber groups, soloists and pieces for choirs. In 2013 the Britten-Pears Foundation has developed a partnership with the British Council, specifically via their Connecting Classrooms Initiative, to create a unique international project for young people around the world that celebrates the life and work of Britten through a newly created animated film illustrating Britten’s seminal piece The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is one of Britten’s bestknown and best-loved works. Composed in 1945, it was originally written to accompany a film made by Britain Ministry of Education called Instruments of the Orchestra, but has since become one of the classic introductions to the sounds of the orchestra for persons young and old. Using Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, young people in three countries - Russia, Bulgaria and Britain - will create short animations to accompany the piece of music. These different sections, made by pupils from 15 schools, will be woven together to create a short animated film illustrating the complete piece from beginning to end. The final film will be presented at a performance in London during Britten’s centenary year, and online to an international audience who can follow the animation process from beginning to end.

aims and outcomes This project aims to:

By the end of the project each of the 15 schools will:

Increase awareness and understanding of Britten’s work in Britain and beyond.

Create a short animation (between 30 seconds and 1 minute) to accompany a section of music from Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

Develop international links between pupils, teachers and the Britten-Pears Foundation, with the support of the British Council. Promote international collaboration and communication. Train teachers in leading interdisciplinary workshops combining music, art, language skills and IT. Introduce young people to Britten’s work and promote understanding of his music through the moving image. Teach practical animation skills to both teachers and pupils. Build team-working, collaboration and organisational skills. Develop English language skills through the project exchange.

Have at least one teacher trained and confident in delivering animation workshops with their pupils. Have enabled each pupil to plan, design and create a section of stop-motion animation, based on Britten’s music. Be featured on a special project websites, and appear in the film credits. Have their work shown to a public audience at an event celebrating Britten’s work in London at the end of 2013. This project supports development and learning in several curriculum areas including Music, Art, Geography, English, Maths and IT. It also promotes team-working, collaboration and organisational skills.

about the teacher pack This teacher pack includes all the information you will need to successfully run the project with your class. It contains 6 detailed lesson plans for creating the animation, worksheets and templates to copy, and additional links and resources to use with your class. This pack is intended to support what teachers have learnt during the training day prior to the start of the project.

Each session plan includes a list of resources you will need and pages to copy from the end of this pack (eg. ‘How to…’ guides). We understand that teachers know best what will work with their class, and these session plans are given as a guide that you should feel free to adapt and change to suit your classes’ needs.

Each session also includes a suggestion for ‘extension work’ that you might wish to use if you complete the sessions with time to spare, or if you would like to set homework. If you require any support during the project please refer to the ‘Contact’ section at the end of this booklet.

TECHNOLOGY + DATA SHARING overview Technology and data sharing is a very important part of this project. The technology you use needs to be set up and used properly. During the animation sessions you will create a large amount of footage and photos and these files need to be saved and shared for the Animator and Project Manager, who will edit the footage together and create entries for the blog and website. x

essential equipment: iPad (with iStopMotion installed) An iPad is ideal for creating animations as it can run the software and take high quality pictures. A version of the iStopMotion animation software exists specifically for the iPad and can be downloaded from the Apple Store. For best results schools should use iPad 3. iPad 2 will also work but have a lower quality picture. Or digital camera (SLR) For schools without iPads it is possible to use a digital camera with a shutter release cable and a computer with animation software. Tripod For the iPad and digital camera This will help stand your iPad on the desk or tabletop in the correct position and avoid a wobbly animation! Digital cameras or camcorders Additional digital cameras will be useful for documenting sessions with photos and short videos. Speakers During the project you will need to listen to The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, which is included on your USB stick. Make sure you have a computer set up in your classroom that has a good set of speakers.

Projector This is not essential, but would be very useful for showing videos and animation clips to the class. You will need a projector connected to the classroom computer, ideally with internet access. Alternatively, videos can be shown on the classroom computer screen. Internet Access During the project the teacher will need to upload all video and photos to Dropbox (www.dropbox.com). Dropbox is a very simple way to share data, but it can take a long time for videos and audio to upload unless you have a fast internet connection. As a back-up you will also be provided with a USB stick where you can save all you work. The USB stick can then be posted back to the Animator at the end of Session 6. See ‘The Animation Station’ at the end of this pack for more information on preparing to animate.

IStopMotion or DIGITAL CAMERa/COMPUTER During the project schools will be using iStopMotion software on iPads or computers hooked up to cameras. iStopMotion is cheap and simple to use. It can be purchased and downloaded via the App Store (on an iPad) or using an Apple Store account. The software is very straightforward to use and many tutorials exist for it online. Instructions on how to use iStopMotion can also be found at the end of the pack. See a short tutorial video for iStopMotion here: www.boinx.com/istopmotion/ipad If you don’t have an iPad the easiest way to create an animation is just by using a high quality digital camera and a computer with animation software. The principles for creating an animation will be the same as using iStopMotion on the iPad.

audacity: Audacity is an Open Source piece of free software that can be used for playing and editing audio files. Using Audacity is not essential for this project, however, it may be useful as it shows the ‘waveform’ of audio files. This means you will be able to show your class a visual representation of the music as it is being played. Audacity can be downloaded for free at www.audacity.sourceforge.net. There is a version for Mac and for Windows. When installed on your computer you will see an icon that looks like this:

To open an audio file in Audacity: Find the file in Windows Explorer or Finder. Right-click ‘Open with’ then select ‘Audacity’ Or: Open Audacity

Select ‘File’ from the top menu and open’ from the menu and find the audio file you wish to open

You can play/stop audio by pressing space bar or the Play/Stop button at the top of the screen.

To start audio from a certain point, select the cursor icon from the tool bar, click on the point of the waveform you wish to start from and press Play. The numbers along the bottom of the toolbar show the time in seconds or minutes. To zoom in on the waveform at a particular time, select the magnifying glass icon on the tool bar and click on the section of waveform you want to look at. The zoom out, hold shift while you click. If you would like to find out more about how to use Audacity, many simple tutorial videos can be found online: audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/ tutorials.html

saving files During the project you will create a lot of video and audio files. It is very important that you save them with the appropriate names so that the Animator and Project Manager can understand what they are! Photos should be saved with a file name that is a short description and the date eg. ‘Animation Group 16.04.13’ Rotator Reflection videos should be saved with the name and date eg. ‘Rotator Reflection 16.04.13’ Videos from the documentation group should be saved in the same way as photos, with a description and date eg. ‘Animation Group Interviews 16.04.13’ Text files, eg. piece of writing that were created for the blog, should be saved with a description and date, plus the name of the authors Example: ‘Blog post – Becca & Saskia 21.06.13’ All of these files should be saved in the relevant folders in the Dropbox (see page 6)

Animation files should be saved with the name of the animation and the date. For the musical animations this may mean that you end up with several versions of the animation from different sessions that are different lengths, but all should be saved in the Dropbox after each session: Example: ‘Music animation 0sec – 4secs 16.04.13’ ‘Music animation 0sec – 15secs 21.04.13’ ‘Credits animation 16.04.13’

sharing

your work with dropbox Sharing data via Dropbox is a very important part of this project. Dropbox is a file sharing system that allows different people in different places to share files and data online, or through folders on their computer that are synced to other shared folders. You should upload your video and photos to Dropbox at the end of each session. At the start of the project you will be given details of an email address and password for logging in to Dropbox.

dropbox: Sharing data via Dropbox is a very important part of this project. Dropbox is a file sharing system that allows different people in different places to share files and data online. You should upload your video and photos to Dropbox at the end of each session. At the start of the project you will be given details of an email address and password for logging in to Dropbox.Go to: www.dropbox.com Log in with the email address and password. You will see the Dropbox is set up for the project and there will be a folder in the name of your school. Open the folder for your school. You will see a list of folders for documentation from each Session (photos, short videos, blog posts etc), and separate folders for your ‘Music Animations’ and ‘Credit & Title Animations’.

Open the folder that you want to upload to, eg ‘Session 1 Documentation’. Then click ‘Upload’ at the top of the screen (shown in the picture) to add your files. Select the files you wish to upload. Some files, particularly video, will take a long time to upload. It is best to do this on a computer that can be left uploading, for example, an office computer rather than one in the classroom. Golden Rules of Dropbox and File Sharing: Make your file name clear and always include the date! Only access the Dropbox folder for your school Never delete content from the Dropbox. These folders are shared and it is easy to accidentally delete other’s work! Check that your files have uploaded properly A quick ‘How to use Dropbox’ guide can be found at the end of the pack.

SESSION ONE: CONTEXT overview In this session the teacher will introduce the class to the project and its objectives, give an overview of Britten’s life and music, talk about listening skills and introduce audio sections of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. The group will begin to think about the relationship between music and moving images through some simple listening and drawing activities. This session should be taught as a whole class and is based on a 45 minute lesson.

preparing for this session Before the session, make sure your audio clips are ready to play and that you have a set of speakers. You should also set up a projector to show online links and video clips if possible. Each table will need some paper or post it notes and pens.

objectives

RESOURCES + EQUIPMENT NEEDED

By the end of this session the class will:

‘About the Project’ notes from the first section of this booklet

Understand the project and what they will do. Have an overview of Britten’s life and work. Have listened to several extracts from The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, including the section they will animate. Begin to consider the relationships between music, shapes and moving images.

‘About Britten’ and ‘About The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’ notes and copies for your class (optional) Speakers attached to your computer 3 audio clips (on your USB stick) Pieces of paper / post-it notes or postcards Pencils / colouring pens / art materials for each table Projector

session one:

lesson structure 1. Introduction to the project 2. Introduction to Benjamin Britten 3. Ways of listening 4. Introduction to The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra 5. Creating a visual response 6. Contrasting responses & other examples 7. Documentation 1. Introduction to the project (5 mins)

2. Introduction to Benjamin Britten (10mins)

Introduce your class to the project using the information in the ‘About the Project’ at the start of this Teacher Pack.

Ask your pupils what they know about Benjamin Britten.

Ask your pupils what they know about the organisations involved. Ask your pupils what they know about the other countries involved (Russia, Bulgaria and Britain). What are they like? How are they different to where the pupils live? Think about climate, languages, lifestyles etc. If you have a projector and internet access, show the class the Britten 100 website at www.britten100.org (this site can be translated to Russian by clicking the icon on the bottom left hand side). Information about the Britten-Pears Foundation can be found at: www.brittenpears.org and the British Council at: www.britishcouncil.org

Mins 5 10 5 10 5 5-10 2-5

Explain that over the next 6 sessions they will be learning how to create stopmotion animations that will bring to life Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

Have they heard of him before? Have they heard any of his work? Do they know any other British Composers? Do they know any other examples of classical music from the 20th century? Use the ‘About Britten’ information in the at the end of this pack. If you have access to a projector and internet, an interactive timeline of Britten’s life can be found in the ‘Britten & Pears’, ‘Britten Timeline’ section of the Britten Pears Foundation website, here: www.brittenpears.org/page. php?pageid=693 You can find more information about his work and listen to clips from the ‘Audio Sampler’ on the Britten100 website: www.britten100.org/new-to-britten/ the-music

3. Ways of Listening (5mins)

4. Introduction to The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (10 mins)

Explain to your class that you will soon listen to some clips of Britten’s music. When they create their animations they will need to listen closely and carefully to the music.

Introduce the piece The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra to your class, using the information from ‘About The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra‘ in this pack.

Ask the class:

It was a piece originally written for an educational film in 1945. The full piece is around 17 minutes long in 17 movements, but you will listen to 3 short, contrasting clips. You can find these in the ‘Session 1’ folder on your USB stick.

What will make the best listening conditions? (silence in the room? Sat down? Eyes closed?) What things might they listen out for? (different instruments, changes in tempo, changes in volume etc) What other things can they consider? (different moods and emotions, what they visualize) Ask your class to brainstorm words they can use to describe different sounds. These can be factual (trumpet, violin), descriptive (scratchy, squeaky, loud, soft) or emotional (happy, energetic). Come up with as many as you can. Write these down on paper or on the board.

Ensure your class is quiet and focused. They will listen carefully to each clip. Following each clip, ask them to write down as many words as they can to describe what they heard. After the music finishes, they should write these words down on the paper at their tables. Compare and discuss what the pupils have written down.

5. Creating a visual response (5 mins)

7. Documentation

Listen again to one or more of the audio clips on your USB stick.

If there’s time you can make the ‘Rotator Reflection Video’ (see ‘How to make a Rotation Reflector Video’ at the end of the pack), asking each child to:

This time ask your class to listen and create a visual response to the music using shapes, colours and symbols. What does that rasping trumpet sound like? What might the low, rumbling timpani look like? There are no right or wrong answers. To support this activity you may wish to make some visual examples of shapes, patterns etc to show on your board or projector, that can be matched with the sounds. As pupils to think about: If this sound were a shape, what would it be? If this sound were a texture, what would it be? If this sound were an object, what would it be? Ask your class to listen to the piece and document their responses on pieces of paper on their tables. If there is time, listen to the piece once through, then listen again and create the drawings. Try and keep drawings abstract, rather than literal. 6. Contrasting Responses & other examples

Compare and discuss what the pupils have drawn as a class. Display them on the wall or floor if you can, to see them all together.

Make or read out a ‘sound word’ you wrote down earlier EXTENSION WORK Ask pupils to listen to the full 17minute piece at home. A video of the piece being performed live by an orchestra can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3HhTMJ2bek0 Ask your class to find some examples of visual artists and filmmakers who have been inspired by music and sound. AFTER THE SESSION (teacher only): Take some photos, or scan the images and words your pupils have created when they listened to the music. Upload your photos to Dropbox and email the team to let us know how the workshop went! Keep your pupil’s drawings in response to the piece they will animate, and bring them to Session 2.

SESSION TWO:

INTRODUCTION TO ANIMATION overview In this session the class will learn about a brief history of animation and begin to think in more depth about the relationship between images and sounds, and how images can be used to convey music. They will also start to think about the materials they will use in their animations, in relation to the place where they live. This session should be taught as a whole class and is based on a 45 minute lesson.

preparing for this session Before the session, display the images from Session 1. Make sure your speakers are working and set up your computer and projector.

objectives

RESOURCES + EQUIPMENT NEEDED

By the end of this session the class will:

Images created by your class in Session 1

Understand a basic history of animation Have an improved understanding of how images can be used to convey music and sound Have considered the place where they live and how different objects and materials relate to that place Selected possible materials to use in Session 3

‘History of Animation’ and ‘Abstract Animation’ sheet from the end of this pack ‘History of Animation’ and ‘Abstract Animation’ videos on you USB stick Projector to show videos Speakers attached to your computer Paper and pencils Post it notes / postcards and blutack

Various assorted arts materials and objects (different textures, colours, patterns, maps, newspapers etc)

session two:

lesson structure 1. Reviewing Session 2. Listen again 3. History of animation 4. Relationship between image and music/sound 5. Using abstract shapes/objects to convey mood 6. Hands on activities 7. Rotator Reflection Video 1. Reviewing Session 1 (2 mins)

3. History of animation [10 mins]

Look at the pictures created in the last session and ask pupils what they remember the music sounding like, based on the images.

Remind your class that this is an animation project and they will create their own short film by the end of the project.

2. Listen again (3 mins)

Animation has been around long before television, movies and games. Many devices were developed to display animated images before motion pictures. They entertained, amazed, sometimes frightened and inspired emotions in people, opening up new views of reality and the outside world.

Listen again to one of the audio clips from the Session 1 folder on your USB stick. Whilst listening, look again at the pictures for similarities, places where the images correspond, images that contrast, images that work nicely together. Also look out for patterns and order. Get rid of any shapes or images that the class feel don’t fit with the rest (although this doesn’t mean that they’re not good).

Mins 2 3 10 5 10 5-10 5

This is the creative decision-making process, and the start of building a story, which will later lead into creating your storyboard.Ask the class to begin thinking about their own animation film and which images and shapes they could use. When it comes to making the animations the class will be allowed to use whatever materials and objects they like, but there is one rule: a circle must appear in the animations made by all the schools that are taking part.

These old devices are the basics of animations, films and video games. One single image set after another, frame per frame, and displayed in a certain rhythm, resulting in ‘moving images’ that our eyes put together to create moving stories. Show some examples of historical animation techniques to your class, using the projector or your computer and the ‘History of Animation’ videos on your USB stick. Ask your class is they can think of any more modern styles of animation.

4. Relationship between image, sounds and music (5 mins)

5. Abstract shapes/objects to convey mood (10 mins)

Have a discussion about relationship between images, sound and mood:

Nowadays many movies have special effects or use 3D animations. Often you can’t even see if they’re animated or real life. Through new emerging technology, it’s also possible to make hi-quality movies yourself with devices like mobile phones - everybody can be a director!

How can sound create mood, emotion or feeling for the audience? What shapes related to what sounds in the drawings from Session 1? Ask the class to give examples from film or music they like

But it is still important to have a good story to tell and therefore it worth spending time. To tell a story it is not always necessary to include figures; simple shapes can tell and express the same emotional story. Show the film examples of ‘Abstract Animations’ in the ‘Session 2’ folder on your USB stick. Ask the class to think about the effect of the music while they listen.

6. Hands-on Activities (5 – 10 mins)

EXTENSION WORK

Hand out post it notes or postcards to each of the tables.

At the end of the session, ask pupils to think about what materials or small objects they might use in their animation that reflect the place where they live. This might be a newspapers in their language, flags, shapes or colours associated with the place where they are from. Ask them to choose some examples and bring them to the next session.

Listen again to the piece of music that your class will animate. This is on your USB stick. Ask the class to listen, and as they listen draw a series of shapes, patterns or gestures that relate to the music at different points. Remember, shapes should include a circle! (3mins) Next, listen again and ask pupils to pick shapes, textures, materials, objects etc from those you have available in your classroom to reflect different sounds. This should include some materials and objects that relate to the place where they live eg. an English newspaper might represent Britain. This works particularly well in an art classroom! Discuss what pupils have chosen. (3 mins) If you have time, watch some short animation examples from the ‘Abstract Animation’ videos on your USB stick with the sound off. Can the class create their own sounds that reflect what they are watching? 7. Documentation (5 mins) Make the ‘Rotator Reflection Video’ (notes on how to do it are at the end of this pack), using the task:

Say one thing you learnt in today’s session

Other suggestions for extension work: Do a little research into the history of animation in your country: Russia, Bulgaria or Britain. What animation techniques are used there today? Find examples of animation studios/artists from this country and this work. Try making a Thaumatrope and bring next week. Try drawing a cartoon of abstract shapes falling into love! AFTER THE SESSION (teacher only): Keep the images that were created in Session 1 and the post it note images from Session 2. Upload your Rotator Reflection Video to Dropbox (instructions on how to use this can be found later in the pack) and email the team to let us know how the workshop went!

SESSION THREE

PRE-PRODUCTION: ANIMATION TECHNIQUES, STORYBOARDING & EQUIPMENT overview In the pre-production process the pupils will learn how to prepare all the things they need for the animation. The class will learn about different techniques for animation, including stop-motion, how the animation is planned and will create their own storyboards. Each group will selected their final material and objects for animating in Session 4. This session should be led initially as a class, but splitting into groups of 4 for the storyboarding activity.

preparing for this session Ensure that you have enough printed copies of the Storyboarding Worksheets. If you wish to, install Audacity on your computer so that you can show waveforms to the group. Make sure the images and materials from Sessions 1 and 2 are available. Stick one full version of the Storyboarding worksheets on the wall (this will spread across several sheets). Set up the animation station (see instructions at the end of this pack) at the front of the class with a large piece of paper, or in front of the board.

objectives

RESOURCES + EQUIPMENT NEEDED

By the end of this session the class will:

Projector + Audacity or other sound programme that shows waveforms (see information in notes at the end of this pack)

Understand different techniques for creating animations Understand how stop-motion animation is structured around 12 frames per second Understand how to create a storyboard Understand what waveforms are Have an understanding of how to use the animation software

Storyboarding instructions (at end of this pack) Storyboarding worksheets (several copies) Materials, objects etc selected in previous session and that pupils have brought from home Images on post it notes saved from the previous session Animation station set up (see instructions at the end of the pack)

session THREE: lesson structure

1. Animation Techniques 2. Introduction to waveforms 3. Introduction to storyboards 4. Storyboarding 5. Animation Taster 6. Rotator Reflection Video

1. Animation Techniques (3mins) There are many possible animation techniques used today to create moving images. Show the ‘Animation Techniques’ video in the Session 3 folder of your USB stick.

Mins 3 2 5 20 10 5

If you have Audacity or other software on your computer that shows a visual representation of sound, open it on your projector to show the class. It will look something like this:

2. Introduction to waveforms (2mins) In this session the class are going to start thinking about how to structure their own animations. Animation is all about timing, especially when it is an animation used to accompany music. Animators need to make sure that when something dramatic happens in the musical score, something dramatic happens on screen at the same time, otherwise the effect is lost. To help with this, it can sometimes be useful to visually see the ‘shape’ of the piece of music you are listening to by looking at its ‘waveform’. These will be used by students when they start making their storyboards.

Explain to the class how the tallest parts of the waveform relate to the loudest sections and that you can tell how ‘busy’ the piece is by looking at its shape. Open the audio clip for the music you will animate in Audacity, and ask the class to look carefully at how the sound relates to the waveform when you press Play. If you do not have software that can show waveforms available to you, simply use the waveform image on the Storyboarding worksheets to demonstrate.

3. Introduction to Storyboards (5mins)

4. Storyboarding (20 mins)

Storyboards are graphic organisers in the form of illustrations or images, displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualising an animation sequence. A film storyboard is an animation broken down before the film is made, to help visualise the scenes. Often storyboards include arrows or instructions that indicate movement.

Begin by creating a rough storyboard as a whole class.

In the storyboarding process, most technical details involved in crafting a film can be efficiently described either in pictures, or in additional text. For stop-motion this is particularly useful as the timing needs to be precise. In their animations the pupils will take 12 still shots for every second of footage/music, so it is important they plan where they want action to take place on screen very carefully, so that it keeps in time with the music. At this point it is also useful to talk about storytelling (see ‘How to tell an Abstract Story’ at the end of this pack). Many traditional narratives are based around a hero and an antagonist coming into some kind of conflict. But the hero or the antagonist are not necessily persons. As we work with abstract themes we can replace a figurative character with an abstract object which can tell the same story. See the video example in Session 3 on your USB stick.

Use the version of the storyboard template that is stuck on the wall. Use the post it notes or postcards from Session 2. Ask the class to use the shapes and images they have drawn on the post it notes to laying out a plan for an animation, looking at the shape of the waveform and thinking about where things happen in the music. Listen to the piece at the same time. Divide the class into groups and hand out a section of the Storyboard Template to each group. Working together, the pupils can start drawing ideas into the of the hand-outs to create an animation sequence. Listen to the music while you’re working for inspiration! Make sure the images they are drawing relate to what they hear. They can use key points on the waveform to see where key points in their animation need to be. They should also write down which materials or objects will be used at each point.

5. Animation Taster (10mins)

6. Documentation & Evaluation (5mins)

Quickly demonstrate how to use the animation software at the front of the class.

Make the ‘Rotator Reflection Video’ using the question:

The animation taster should show the pupils how simple animation can be but also what could go wrong, things to avoid, pacing of animation movement but more or less it should be a fun activity to look forward to next session when starting with the actual animation. Show pupils the animation station. Demonstrate how to use the animation software at the front of the class using the ‘How to Animate’ instructions or tutorial video. Ask pupils to come up one at a time and draw something on the paper or board in front of the camera. Take a shot/ frame between each person, or ask a pupil to do it for you. At the end there will be an animation film demonstrating to the class how the software works. Alternatively, use the same approach but instead of writing names on the board, take photos of the pupil’s hands, or each pupil pulling a grimacing face, one after the other, a frame each, and turn it into an animation.

What are you looking forward to next week? EXTENSION WORK: Suggestions for extension work: Complete storyboards, if they weren’t completed during the session. Prepare materials for animating in Session 4, eg. cut out shapes. AFTER THE SESSION (teacher only): Upload the stop-motion video and ‘Rotator Reflection Video’ to Dropbox. Prepare for Session 4. In Session 4 the class will split into groups to begin their animations and to work on a number of different tasks. Through Sessions 4, 5 and 6 they should have a chance to do all the activities, however, you should also set some of your own tasks for the class to do, for example, create a classroom display on the project, or do a research project into Britten and his work.

SESSION FOUR:

ANIMATING + GROUP WORKING overview In this session the action begins! The class will be split into groups to work on a number of different activities. The number and size of the groups will depend on the size of your class, but groups should be no bigger than 4-5 pupils. One group at a time will create their animation, whilst the other groups are split between the other activities. Prior to Session 4 the teacher should work out how many groups there will be in the class. There will be time to create animations during Sessions 4, 5 and 6. Work out how much time you have in total (around 120 mins if your sessions are 40-45mins long) and divide these between the number of groups in your class so that you know how much time each group will have to animate. Making sure each group has enough time to animate is the most important thing. Eg. for a class of 24 pupils you will have 6 groups of 4 and they will each have 20 minutes to create their animations (2 in each session). The whole class will work on creating an animation for the clip of music that has been selected for your class. The first animation group will start at the beginning of the piece of music. The second group will continue the animation at the point where the first group finishes. Whilst one group is animating the other groups will take part in activities including documentation with photos and videos, creating credits for the film and writing content for the blog. At this point you can also introduce your own class activity, for example, creating a display based on the project for your classroom, or doing independent research projects into Benjamin Britten or examples of animation. Over the course of Sessions 4, 5 and 6 all pupils in the class should have a chance to complete all the different activities and their animations.

preparing for this session Set up the animation stations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1 for animating the music, 1 for animating credits and titles (if possible). Open iStopMotion and make sure the audio is imported and ready to start animating. Save the project and remind pupils to save their work during the session. Set up a table with different materials for animating. Make sure cameras and other materials are available for the other groups. Work out how many groups there will be in your class. Plan what you would like the class to do as an additional activity (eg. research project or display). Put your class storyboard up on the wall. 19

session FOUR:

lesson structure Introduction to activities Task 1. Animating Task 2. Documentation Task 3. Creating Credits & Titles Task 4. Writing the blog Task 5. Class project 6. Rotator Reflection Video Begin the session by splitting the class into groups (if you haven’t already) and explaining the various tasks they will do during the session (see the ‘How to...’ sheets for each activity). Begin the tasks, rotating groups to different activities. How long they get to animate and do other activities will depend on the size of the class (usually 2 or 3 groups will animate in each session for 10 – 20 mins each). They don’t have long for each task so they will need to be efficient!

Mins 5 Divide your remaining session time as explained above, depending on the size of your class 5 1. Animating (4 – 5 pupils) The group animating should have no more than 4-5 pupils. Every animation should incorporate a circle and a black or white background. See the ‘How to Animate’ sheet. The teacher or classroom assistant should try to stay with the animating group, or at least make sure the pupils are using the software correctly at the start of the session. They should make most of the time they have on the main set and should enjoy it. Remind the group to think about how quickly the animation will move once the still frames they are taking are put together (12 per second). Each group should aim to animate a section of music the same length. So, for example, if there are 6 groups in the class and you have a 60 second piece of music, each group should try and animate 10 seconds. When they finish, make sure each group saves their work, but leaves iStopMotion open. Each group should to mark on the class storyboard what section they have managed to animate. .

2.Documentation (4 – 5 pupils)

3. Creating Credits & Titles (4 – 5 pupils)

It’s great for pupils to document the creative and learning process to share with other students who take part in the project in different countries through photos and video. Documentation will share the experience of the workshop sessions online with a wider audience around the world.

A second animation station should be set up for the Credits and Titles group.

Documentation should include photos of the different group activities, the school, the teacher and short videos of other pupils. Videos should all be static shots of between 10 and 20 seconds.

You should also ask groups to make these other credits & tiles eg. ‘The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’, ‘composed by Benjamin Britten’, ‘Animating Britten’, ‘animated by’ the name of the teachers, project dates, the name of their school and the name of their country.

Large amounts of video and photos are hard to handle and take a long time to upload. Before shooting anything the pupils need to act as Art Directors and plan what they will capture. Each group should be limited to: 5 photos 1 minute of video in total (this can be broken into shorter clips) See the ‘How to Document’ sheet.

This group is responsible for animating title and credit sequences for the final film. Pupils should use the materials and styles that they like to animate the names of pupils from the group.

One table should be set up with an animation station. Another table should be set up with materials for pupils to illustrate and prepare for animating their titles. If you have a lot of pupils in your class one group can prepare their credits, while another group animates. See the ‘How to Create Credits & Titles’ sheet and example video in the Session 4 folder on your USB stick.

4. Writing the Blog (any number of pupils)

6. Documentation

Your school’s work will be shared with the other schools taking part, and with the public, though the project blog. Each pupil should create a short piece of writing (in English if possible).

At the end of the session do a quick rotator reflection video asking each pupil to sum up in two words (one describing word, one naming word) what their main job was in this session, eg. ‘a careful animator’, ‘a zany director’, ‘an inquisitive reporter’.

www.animatingbritten.wordpress.com This activity is great for involving English-language learning. Try and encouraging some writing in English, or if an English teacher is involved in the project you can translate text during the lesson. See the ‘How to Blog’ sheet. At the end of each session, writing for the blog should be uploaded to the Dropbox. The Animator will use this text to create a new blog post for your school. 5. Class Project (any number of pupils) Decide on your own class investigation project or other activity for pupils to do if they finish all the other tasks. This could be creating a class display, researching Benjamin Britten and his music, researching the history of animation in your country, or something else – it’s up to you! Don’t forget to blog about this class project and get the Documentation team to take some photos!

AFTER THE SESSION (teacher only): Make sure the animation group work and the credits and titles animations are saved. Gather the photos and videos from the Documentation groups, and the writing created by the Blogging groups. Make sure each file is named appropriately, eg. ‘Music animation part 1’ (see information on saving work earlier in this pack). Upload all content to the Dropbox in the appropriate folder for your school. This content will be used by the animator to create a blog post and later put together the whole animation.

SESSION FIVE + SIX

ANIMATING + COMPLETING THE ANIMATION overview In Sessions 5 and 6, follow the same instructions for set-up and preparation. The class will rotate around the same activities during these sessions, until all pupils have completed all activities. The groups animating the piece of music should open the file from the previous Session and continue from where the last group finished.

preparing for this session See Session 4 instructions.

objectives Have completed the animation of the musical extract of The Young Personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guide to the Orchestra that was given to your class Created blog text introducing their school, their country and documenting the sessions Taken photos and videos documenting the process

AFTER SESSIONS 5 & 6 (teacher only): Save and upload content to the Dropbox in exactly the same way as Session 4. When the sessions are completed, email the project animator and project manager to let them know. Their contact details can be found at the back of this pack. Your work will be transformed into blog posts and pieced together to make the final animation!

Created animated titles and credits Completed their own personal projects, as devised by the teacher

session FIVE + SIX: lesson structure

Re-cap on activities and watch videos from previous session 1. Animating 2. Documentation 3. Creating Credits & Titles 4. Writing the blog 5. Class project 6. Rotator Reflection Video

Mins 5 Divide your remaining session time as explained above, depending on the size of your class 5

SESSION: FOLLOW UP overview The follow-up session can be used for 2 purposes. Either as extra time for the class to complete activities from Sessions 4, 5 and 6, or if the work was completed at the end of Session 6 it can be used to watch the short animations and comment on and reflect on the work of other schools via the blog.

preparing for this session When you email the Animator at the end of Session 6, let them know the date of your follow-up session so they can ensure the film is edited and ready in time. All finished animations will be uploaded to the blog, and uploaded to the Dropbox so that it can be downloaded if the classroom internet connection is not fast enough to stream video. Make sure your animated film, and animations from any of the other schools that are completed, and accessible and ready to watch

objectives Have watched and reflected on the animation that they made

session follow up

Watched and reflected on the short animations created by other young people in different schools Written comments on their own and othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work to go on the blog

lesson structure

Watch the animations together as a class and look through the blog.

What new things did you learn?

As a class, discuss the animations and collect comments and feedback:

Watch animations made by other schools if possible and comment:

What did you think of the finished animations?

What did you like about them?

Do you think you did well? What could be done better? What was your favourite part of the project?

Were you pleased with your final animation?

How were they different to yours? How were they the same? Remember, if possible all written comments should be in English! AFTER THE SESSION (teacher only): Email the Animator and Project Manager with your comments, and they will upload them to the blog.

PAGES

FOR TEACHERS + PUPILS overview The following pages can be copied and given to your class, or used by the teacher, to guide classroom activities, particularly in Sessions 4, 5 & 6. Details of which sheets you will need in each session are given in the Session Plans.

ABOUT

BENJAMIN BRITTEN 1913 - 1976

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) was one of the great composers of the twentieth century. Over four amazingly creative decades, Britten published well over 100 works, the first while still a student. The scope of his work is astonishing, ranging from music for great public occasions to quiet contemplation; music for the world’s finest virtuoso performers and for schoolchildren (sometimes all in the same work). There are operas, songs, a ballet, works for orchestra, chamber groups, soloists and pieces for choirs.

Britten was a progressive cultural figure too, ahead of his time on issues including pacifism, homosexuality and the role of artists in their communities.

Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft in 1913. His mother, a keen amateur singer, was thrilled that her youngest was born on 22 November: the feast day of St Cecilia, the patron saint of music. She hoped he would – after Bach, Beethoven and Brahms – become the ‘Fourth B’.

www.britten100.org

He did indeed become a global musical figure. In just 63 busy years Britten wrote some of the most appealing classical music of the twentieth century, was hailed as one of the all-time great opera composers, and – with his partner, the singer Peter Pears – performed around the world. 26

The year 2013 marks the centenary of Britten’s birth, and musicians and orchestras around the world will be commemorating this anniversary with public performances, events and education programmes celebrating Britten’s life and work. More information about Britten’s centenary can be found at:

A digital timeline of Britten’s life can be found on the Britten-Pears website at: tinyurl.com/bspogrk More information about Benjamin Britten, his life and his work can also be found at www.britten100.org (also available in Russian) and on the Britten-Pears Foundation website: www.brittenpears.org

ABOUT “

THE YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA Needless to say, it is among the best music that has ever been written for the cinema, and one may add that it is not only a young person’s guide to the orchestra, but also, in an implied if unintended fashion, something of a young composer’s guide to orchestration Musicologist and critic Hans Keller

“

overview Composed: 1945 Genre: Orchestral Duration: 17 minutes Performing forces: Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B flat and A, 2 bassoons 4 horns, 2 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, tuba Timpani, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, triangle, snare drum, Chinese block, xylophone, castanets, gong, whip 1945 was a busy year for Benjamin Britten. In June his opera Peter Grimes had opened to great acclaim, and he returned to Britain after years in America. Before the Second World War he had worked on the music for short documentary films for the General Post Office film unit (GPO) often involving collaborations with notable figures like the poet WH Auden. During the war the GPO had become the Crown Film Unit and in 1945 its producer, Basil Wright, asked Britten to write a score for a film for the Ministry of Education. Britten allowed a ‘long wait of months’ before he started work on the composition, which was to demonstrate each orchestral instrument and be accompanied by a narration explaining what was being seen and heard.

Britten began the score in mid-December 1945 and completed it at midnight on New Year’s Eve, 1946. As with many other pieces by Britten from around this time the score to the film, eventually called The Instruments of the Orchestra, shows a huge debt to the English composer Henry Purcell (1659-1695).1945 was the 250 year anniversary of Purcell’s death. Early in Britten’s planning of the piece

he had set upon a theme and variation structure to best showcase each instrument and selected a melody by Purcell as the uniting theme of the piece. The melody came from music written by Purcell’s for the play Abdelazar. The filming of Instruments of the Orchestra took place in London with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted and narrated by Malcolm Sargent. Sargent himself preferred the alternative title of Variations and fugue on a theme of Henry Purcell rather than Britten’s preferred one of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Each variation in the piece demonstrates a clever modification of the original grand opening theme and conveys the character of the instrument being highlighted. You can watch the original film that the music was written for on Youtube: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wNCfdJiQnKM

HISTORY

OF ANIMATION: ANIMATION BEFORE FILM 1. The magic lantern (c. 1650) www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxCU4naa6vM

The magic lantern is an early predecessor of the modern day projector. It consisted of a translucent oil painting, a simple lens and a candle or oil lamp. In a darkened room, the image would appear projected onto a nearby flat surface. It was often used to project frightening images! Some slides for the lanterns contained moving parts which makes the magic lantern the earliest known example of projected animation. Magic Lanterns are thought to date back to 15th century Venice. 2. Thaumatrope (1824) www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=171aiLLup64

A thaumatrope was a simple toy used in the Victorian era, made from a small circular disk or card with two different pictures on each side, attached to a piece of string. When the string is twirled quickly between the fingers, the two pictures appear to combine into a single image. The thaumatrope demonstrates the Phi phenomenon, the brainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to persistently perceive an image. 3. Phenakistoscope (1831) www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=zGwSoxHVdp8

The phenakistoscope was an early animation device, consisting of a disk with a series of images, evenly spaced around the center of the disk. Slots are cut out of the disk on the same radii as the drawings, but at a different distance from the centre. The device would be placed in front of a mirror and spun. As the phenakistoscope is spun, a viewer looks through the slots at the reflection of the drawings, creating the illusion of animation.

HISTORY

OF ANIMATION: ANIMATION BEFORE FILM 4. Zoetrope (180 AD; 1834) www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLdNOvywJkU

The zoetrope was produced in 1834 by William George Horner and works the same way as the phenakistoscope. It is a cylindrical spinning device with several frames of animation printed along the inside. There are vertical slits around the sides through which an observer can view the moving images on the opposite side when the cylinder spins. As it spins the material between the viewing slits moves in the opposite direction of the images on the other side and in doing so serves as a rudimentary shutter. 5. Flip book (1868) www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=xSrDnIVgVv0

The first flip book was patented in 1868 by John Barnes Linnett as the kineograph. A flip book is just a book with springy pages that have an animated series of images printed near the unbound edge. A viewer bends the pages back and then rapidly releases them one at a time so that each image viewed springs out of view to momentarily reveal the next image, creating the illusion of movement. Flip books were often cited as inspiration by early animated filmmakers as animation sequences could be much longer than in the earlier, round devices. 6. Praxinoscope (1877) www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uuV8r2t77I

The praxinoscope, invented by French scientist Charles-Émile Reynaud, combined the cylindrical design of the zoetrope with the viewing mirror of the phenakistoscope. The mirrors were mounted still in the center of the spinning ring of slots and drawings so that the image can be more clearly seen no matter what the device’s radius. Reynaud also developed a larger version of the praxinoscope that could be projected onto a screen, called the Théâtre Optique.

ABSTRACT ANIMATION:

1906 J. Stuart Blackton: Humorous Phases of Funny Faces www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dRe85cNXwg

1921 Walter Ruttmann: Lichtspiel Opus I www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9vSRPN4jDk

1926 Hans Richter: Filmstudie www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSJvYZ9djGw

1940 Norman McLaren: Boogie Doodle www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgJ-yOhpYIM&feature=related

Dots vimeo.com/15919138

1950 www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrZxw1Jb9vA

ABSTRACT ANIMATION

1958 Len Lye: Free Radicals www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGyVYDseGc4

1961 John Whitey: Catalog www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbV7loKp69s&feature=related

1966 Permutations www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzB31mD4NmA&feature=related

1974 Jules Engel: Train Landscape www.youtube.com/watch?v=guuOutuIF1Q

1977 George Cup & Steve Elliott: The connection between form and sound # 24 www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG-dkAR6i0w&feature=resultsmain&playnext=1&list=PL4CD0A710D9801329

1983 Jan Svankmajer www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9eQqJEzY-Q

ABSTRACT ANIMATION:

1982 Michel Gondry/ Song by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews Mad World vimeo.com/5540673

1999 Stephanie Maxwell Nocturne www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj2Z3AXMmN0&list=PL4D7D88DD25E0E78C&index=7

2008 Sylvia Pengilly Impossible Spaces www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoWeZu4pzdA&feature=relmfu

2008-11 Matt Pyke and Friends/Field Communion vimeo.com/33355364

MTV Mister Furry Ident www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PDcJeymhWM

2011 Matthias Hoegg Animation Alphabet vimeo.com/17167206

ABSTRACT ANIMATION

2011 Martin Boettcher Foliage Shoal vimeo.com/7684372

2012 Quayola and Memo Akten Forms vimeo.com/37955460

2013 Max Hattler A Very Large Increase in the Size, Amount, or Importance of vimeo.com/57544315 Something Over a Very Short Period of Time

2013 Max Hattler Stop the Show vimeo.com/61000955

2012 AANAATT vimeo.com/1640427

2013 Anthony Rowe, Gaz Bushell, Chris Bennewith and Liam Birtles Squidsoup vimeo.com/15139421

SETTING UP

THE ANIMATION STATION POSSIBLE IMAGE OF TRIPOD AND TABLES

Find a location, eg. a table, the board, the floor… where you can set up your studio. It is important that for each session you can use the same location. Place the iPad or camera in a location where it can rest all of the time you are shooting. It should not be touched, as this can move the camera and change the framing of your animation within a sequence. Place your iPad or camera on a tripod, or any kind of device that stabilises the camera. Fix the iPad with some tape so that it doesn’t move while you are taking the pictures. Mark the location of your iPad or camera and animation area with tape. this will make it easier to set up the next session in exactly the same way Animated images need stable framing and a stable light situation in order to create the impression of continuous time and space.

When working with lights, have the lights arranged as they have been before. Darken your windows with some opaque cloth, curtain etc. Natural light will always change and the brightness of your images will change frame per

frame. Set up lamps or lights around your animation area and mark where they are with tape. Make sure when using a digital camera that your animation area is in a frame of 16:9 which is a standart film format. Set up a backdrop for your animation. For our animations the background should be black or white. This could be a big piece of paper stuck on the wall. Open iStopMotion and make some test photos with this set-up. Is the frame the same in all pictures? When you are animating do not move any of your kit. When animating: Avoid making shadows in the animation area. Avoid taking photos with your own hand in it or the ones of your animators working on the set! Give them time to get out of the frame. Also let them know beforehand when you’re going to take a picture. Best is to count: “ Three, two, one… photo”.

12 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION

1. Squash and stretch The most important principle is “squash and stretch”, to give a sense of weight and flexibility to drawn objects. This applies to all objects, from a ball to a human face. The most important aspect of this principle is the fact that an object’s volume does not change when squashed or stretched. If the length of a ball is stretched vertically, its width (in three dimensions, also its depth) needs to contract correspondingly horizontally.

2. Anticipation Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more realistic. A dancer jumping off the floor has to bend his knees first; a golfer making a swing has to swing the club back first. The technique can also be used for less physical actions, such as a character looking off-screen to anticipate someone’s arrival, or attention focusing on an object that a character is about to pick up.

3. Staging This principle is akin to staging as it is known in theatre and film. Its purpose is to direct the audience’s attention, and make it clear what is of greatest importance in a scene; what is happening, and what is about to happen. This can be done by various means, such as the placement of a character in the frame, the use of light and shadow, and the angle and position of the camera. The essence of this principle is keeping focus on what is relevant, and avoiding unnecessary detail. 4. Straight ahead action and pose to pose tinyurl.com/clbbq5y These are two different approaches to the actual drawing process. “Straight ahead action” means drawing out a scene frame by frame from beginning to end, while “pose to pose” involves starting with drawing a few key frames, and then filling in the intervals later. “Straight ahead action” creates a more fluid, dynamic illusion of movement, and is better for producing realistic action sequences. On the other hand, it is hard to maintain proportions, and to create exact, convincing poses along the way. “Pose to pose” works better for dramatic or emotional scenes, where composition and relation to the surroundings are of greater importance. A combination of the two techniques is often used.

12 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION:

5. Follow through and overlapping action Follow through and overlapping action is a general heading for two closely related techniques which help make movement more realistic, and give the impression that characters follow the laws of physics. “Follow through” means that separate parts of a body will continue moving after the character has stopped. “Overlapping action” is the tendency for parts of the body to move at different rates (an arm will move on different timing of the head and so on). 6. Slow in and slow out The movement of the human body, and most other objects, needs time to accelerate and slow down. For this reason, animation looks more realistic if it has more drawings near the beginning and end of an action, emphasizing the extreme poses, and fewer in the middle. This principle goes for characters moving between two extreme poses, such as sitting down and standing up, but also for inanimate, moving objects, like the bouncing ball in the above illustration.

7. Arcs Most natural action tends to follow an arched trajectory, and animation should adhere to this principle by following implied “arcs” for greater realism. This can apply to a limb moving by rotating a joint, or a thrown object moving along a parabolic trajectory. The exception is mechanical movement, which typically moves in straight lines.

8. Secondary action Adding secondary actions to the main action gives a scene more life, and can help to support the main action. A person walking can simultaneously swing his arms or keep them in his pockets, he can speak or whistle, or he can express emotions through facial expressions. The important thing about secondary actions is that they emphasize, rather than take attention away from the main action.

12 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION

9. Timing Timing refers to the number of drawings or frames for a given action, which translates to the speed of the action on film. On a purely physical level, correct timing makes objects appear to abide to the laws of physics; for instance, an object’s weight decides how it reacts to an impetus, like a push.Timing is critical for establishing a character’s mood, emotion, and reaction. It can also be a device to communicate aspects of a character’s personality.

10. Exaggeration Exaggeration is an effect especially useful for animation, as perfect imitation of reality can look static and dull in cartoons. The level of exaggeration depends on whether one seeks realism or a particular style, like a caricature or the style of an artist.

11. Solid drawing The principle of solid drawing means taking into account forms in three-dimensional space, giving them volume and weight. The animator needs to be a skilled draughtsman and has to understand the basics of three-dimensional shapes, anatomy, weight, balance, light and shadow, etc. 12. Appeal Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor. A character who is appealing is not necessarily sympathetic – villains or monsters can also be appealing – the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is real and interesting.

HOW TO... STORYBOARD

To create a storyboard your pictures donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be a masterpiece. They should simply show the order of the story and to avoid making mistakes in your narrative later. As a class, take the post-it notes from Session 2 and whilst listening to the music start to stick them on the waveform where you think the shapes etc might fit nicely. These are more or less your key frames, where you can build around your story. Focus the story and the timing in these key frames Work in groups to create more detail around the key frames on your Storyboard Worksheets including transitions and movement between frames. You can draw but also can write little notes next to your drawing to explain what will happen in detail in this section. Describe the motion, where the camera with be, the lighting, etc.

For movements you can work with arrows to explain, eg. that a circle will move in 12 frames from left to right in your camera picture.

Remember: Changes can be done in the storyboard easily before you start with your animation do NOT change your story during the animation process. In your storyboard you can make any changes to any section of your story until it is perfect, works well and is understandable. Experiment with changes in the storyline to evoke stronger reaction or interest. It should clearly explain at each frame what will happen there.

HOW TO...

TELL ABSTRACT STORY

A good story is very important for a good movie that is interesting, catchy and thrilling. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters, and narrative point of view. But the hero doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be a person. They can be replaced with abstract themes and shapes that tell the same story.

Think about: Who is your hero (protagonist) and the enemy (antagonist)? What shape are they? Which object, material, animation technique do you want to use? What does the shape/object do? How does one object influence the other? Think about how the shapes: Transform Disappear Change colours Get bigger or smaller Darker or brighter Suppress or give space Exchange of white back ground and black ground

HOW TO... ANIMATE

Animation gives you the chance to make still images and objects move and come alive.

An animation is created by making many frames of an image, each one slightly different depending on what is it you want to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;moveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in your animation.

Animation is basically a lot of pictures put together to create the illusion of rapid movement. When you photograph the pictures and show them by flicking them very quickly, it will look like the picture is moving. You need to decide how long you want your image to be displayed for and when it should change and move. One second of animation is made of 12 frames (still photos). Think what is happening and get into the mood of the movements, try to feel (even if it is a object) how it moves and transport that into the animation procedure

Excerpts of English photographer Edward James Muggeridgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (18301904), important for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion Group work: Work in groups of 4-5 (maximum) Split the group into 2 or 3 animators and 2 camera operators. Take it in turns to swap roles. Check your is animation station is set up correctly. Prepare your materials and objects and lay them out ready. Remember your animation should contain a circle and have a black and/or white background. Find the starting point on your storyboard. Start at the beginning of the music, meaning on the first frame of your animation in the storyboard or at the last frame the previous group finished. Arrange your materials for your first frame and take a shot. Move your materials and take your second frame. Continue working, using your storyboard as a guide to complete the animation for your section of the music. Save your work, and leave the animation station tidy for the next group. Remember to: Think about timing: each second of film is made of 12 frames, so any big changes between frames will look like fast movement and tiny changes show a slower movement! (sheet 12animationâ&#x20AC;Ś) Save your work! Leave iStopMotion open or the camera switch on for the next group or your teacher. 41

Write on your class storyboard the time you reached with your animation.

HOW TO...

CREATE CREDITS + TITLES

You will create opening titles for the final film, and credits that show the names of each pupil, every school and teacher that took part! If you need some help, ask your teacher to show you the demonstration video in the Session 4 folder on the USB stick.

Your city & country The project dates ‘The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’

Group Work:

‘Composed by Benjamin Britten’

Prepare your title and credit illustrations first. Find materials and colours you like. You can use any stop motion technique you prefer.

‘Animating Britten’

Write your names and titles and decorate them, or choose materials and objects to animate around them.

Remember:

Your background colour should be black for credits and titles! At the animation station, create short animations for each of names and title. (see the ‘How to Animate’ sheet if you need some help] The words which need to be animated: The name of every pupil 42

Your school name

Your teacher’s name

Work out as a class who will create each of the titles.

Make your titles and credits interesting and beautiful! Think of nice shapes, maybe you can integrate a circle nicely. Background colour should be black! Use black paper! Animate carefully. Only 6-12 frames are needed for each credit. No more than 12 frames of animation!! Don’t forget to save your work with your names! Eg. ‘Titles Becca & Saskia’

HOW TO... DOCUMENT

Documenting the project means you can share the creative process with other students taking part in different countries via the blog at www. animatingbritten.wordpress.com and the website!

Videos could include:

Work in groups of 4-5

Rotator Reflection Video at the end of the session

Take it in turns to be camera operators and Art Directors. The operators use the camera or camcorder and the Art Director chooses what to shoot and how to take the photo or video. Use a clock or timer to make sure you all have an equal amount of time. Your group should take no more than: 5 photos 1 minute of video So think very carefully about what you want to capture and plan your shots! Photos could include: The whole class and teacher The school The classroom The other groups taking part in activities 43

The other groups taking part in activities Interview

Videos should be short and made from static shots (not moving!). Plan your shots and composition carefully. Think about what interview questions you can ask before you start filming. Plan your shots carefully and try to get a variety of different and interesting footage. If you know how, transfer your photos and videos on to a classroom computer when you have finished and save. Make sure you save each photo or video with a description of what it is and the date, eg. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Animation group interviews 16.04.13â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

HOW TO... BLOG

Like the photos and videos created by the Documentation Team, at www. animatingbritten.wordpress.com will share your work with the world! Create a short piece of writing to share with other schools in the project, and the rest of the world!W Decide with the rest of your class who will write about what. You can write about: The place where you live Where your school is and what it is like Some information about your class What you think of Benjamin Britten’s music What you think of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Do you like the music that you are animating? Describe the music you are animating (try translating some of your ‘sound words from Session 1!) What you have done in each session? What materials did you choose for animations? Why?

What have been the best parts of the project?

Talk with the Documentation Team about the images and video they have to go with your text. If English is not your first language, try writing in English! If you have written on paper, give your work to your teacher. If your writing is on the computer, save it with your name eg. ‘Blog post Becca’ and tell your teacher where to find it. Your work will be added to the blog.

HOW TO...

MAKE A ROTATOR REFLECTION VIDEO

This is a great way to sum up the session and get feedback from everyone involved! If English is not the first language in your country, try asking and answering the questions in English:

Remember:

Take a camera, no tripod needed only a steady hand

There won’t be any edit of it, so make sure pupils are ready!

Switch it on Make a circle with the whole class and the cameraman in the middle Think about a question Push the record button “Silence, please…Ready, steady and ACTION! Ask the question to the class Start filming the first pupil who should answer the question as quickly as they can. Film around the circle as each pupil answers the question Press stop. Or ask another question and do it again!

Check the camera is recording Pupils should speak loudly and clearly

HOW TO... USE DROPBOX

You should upload your video and photos to Dropbox at the end of each session. Go to www.dropbox.com and login in using the registered email address and password. Open the folder for your school. Open the folder where you want to upload content eg. if you have photos from Session 4, open the ‘Session 4 Documentation’ folder. Make sure the files you want to upload are properly named eg. ‘Animation group 16.04.13’ for a photo of the animation group.

Click ‘Upload’ at the top of the screen (shown in the picture above) to add your files. Select the files you wish to upload.

Leave your file to upload. When it has finished, check that it has uploaded correctly.

Do not: Download, upload or delete files in folders for the other schools. Close or log out of your computer when it is in the middle of uploading. Delete content from the Dropbox (unless you uploaded it by mistake!)

CONTACT

If you have any questions or need support during the project please contact: Saskia Schmidt Email: animatingbritten@gmail.com Skype: schaflandschaften For technical support, production and animation questions. Or Becca Laurence Email: animatingbritten@gmail.com Skype: sonicartsbecca For musical questions and queries relating to the planning of the project.

The Britten-Pears Foundation The Britten-Pears Foundation is an organisation established to ensure that the legacy of Britten and his partner Peter Pears (1910 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1986) continues to be enjoyed worldwide, developing his vision and inspiring new audiences around the world through performances of his work, and through commissioning and education projects. www.brittenpears.org