Old Light New Lens
Project Days 11 & 12
This week, Laura and Callum have been away, so we (Jason and Penelope) are working with the students solo. This has provided us time and space to focus on design, working with design teams for puppet animation and also puppet building for shadow and silhouette work for live performance.
Having a smaller group of children (who either self nominated or were selected for the design team) we have moved along in leaps and bounds. The animation is well underway, and the greens screen is working (thank goodness. The puppets are also underway, with some elegant design solutions provided by the kids.
Jason and Penelope worked across the weekend to develop the storyline for the animation so we could be super organised with our shot-lists and making sure we have all backgrounds shot and uploaded (using live action backgrounds and animating on green screen). We tested the greens screen in i movie on the weekend and made a rough of the animation and...it works!!! Jason built more puppets while Penelope storyboarded and shot list.
At school, on each day we met with all kids, starting with acknowledgement of country and then some games (Why are you late?, Hah!! and Trains).
Most kids went to regular classes and the design kids broke into their respective teams for their tasks. By the end of the 2nd session on Monday, we reduced the number of children we needed, with a focused group of very capable designers.
The photos below are divided into sections, according to what the tasks were, and show (more or less) a progression of what was accomplished.
ANIMATION
FISH SHADOW PUPPETS
ROSELLA SILHOUETTE BODY PUPPET BUILD
PELICAN SILHOUETTE BODY PUPPET BUILD
Artist Reflections
Penelope
This week, everything has been going beautifully. It's really worked having the design kids only, to focus on this part of the project. Having had this time, it means that we are on track for production. I was deeply concerned that we weren't going to get everything across the line, but now we are in good shape. I have been delighted by the imaginative, thoughtful and creative design innovations that kids have come up with, and also initiative shown too. Such a great bunch of children. I had a moment with Evelyn, and another with Spencer, where our design discussions were truly just like it would be at the table with professional artists. Figuring things out with the "what if" and "what about" and working out what would and wouldn't work. Brilliant!
The staff have been, as always, extraordinarily accomodating and and adaptable, which has really smoothed the whole process. I'm looking forward to starting the blocking for the performance next week - we are ready.
Jason
Day 11
Over the weekend I had spent time with Penelope working at a storyboard for the animation and the performance. I was then able to start to create appropriate puppets to be used in the animation. We also had an opportunity to trial the use of filmed backgrounds and the use of green screen when recording the animations. We were happy to find that it worked and would reduce the workload required in creating animated backgrounds.When I started on Monday as soon discovered that we were short a few puppets and so could not begin recording the animation straight away.
The children were shown how the animation station would work and what was expected of them regarding the minute detail and movement of the puppets. The children then set about finishing their puppets that they had started last week. If they had finished their rosella puppet, they were to move onto making a Pelican puppet. Most children were able to finish their puppets. Some children were able to make more than one, so we made different versions of Pelican puppets and made some fish puppets also. Once the children had returned to class, I focused on finishing the puppets so that we could begin the animation the following day.
Day 12
After Penelope's warm up with the whole group of kids, a small group of children remained to work with us. These children were involved with the design of the performance elements with Penelope, while I took groups of two or three children through the animation process. I then set them the task of animating a scene. Most scenes were about four to six seconds long, and involved roughly 50 slides per scene. Some children were exceptionally good at this process while others struggled. I had to remodel some puppets to allow the children an easier time with animation by simplifying the moving parts or what I was asking them to do with the existing puppets. Of the dozen or so scenes we managed to record, only two were unusable. I have decided that I will animate the more complex scenes - especially ones that involve multiple puppets moving at the same time. I believe we are on track to complete the animation by next Tuesday at the latest leaving us time to get the editing of the animation done. In some ways, it was a more focused time this week with just Penelope and myself working with the design children, and we achieved a lot, which means we are ready for Laura and Cal to work their magic next week!
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