A Box, A Lamp and a Rainy day.

Watching animations are a pleasure to many children and adults alike but, how about making one?  If we reflect on the process of making an animation it is clear that many different skills are needed, therefore skills that can be learnt and developed within a space for learning.  Communication, creativity, fine motor skills, higher function thinking skills and patience to name a few. 

Today, I made a Thaumatrope.  I used a simple technique which still caused me a little difficulty.

 

After one failed attempt I managed to make one that worked. Reflecting on the task made me realise that even though my thaumatrope was primitive, there was a vast thought process and deep problem solving skills that had to be made.

 

By spinning the pencil quickly back and forth the fish appears within the fishbowl. 

We then were introduced to more complicated forms of  cameraless animation.  My group and I were assigned the task of building of a working magic lantern, an early representation of a projector and invented circa 1650; it's earliest recorded users being Christiaan Huygens and Athanasius Kircher.  We used the designs from The Historians Toybox which informs about all styles of vintage cameraless animation.

 

 

Our animation was of lightening striking on a rainy day, however it did not work out as well as expected.  On reflection our slides were too far apart allowing our brains to understand and compute a gap between each one.  We also found that we had to place the magic lantern close to the wall to see a reflection after having to change from colour to black as colour did not show up at all.

 

Nonetheless, even though there were flaws in our animation, the design of the box worked really well.  As a group, within our own learning space, we communicated, problem solved, researched and took in instructions, followed instruction and built a magic lantern from a box, a lamp and a rainy day.

 



Breadwinners: Animation

The earliest animations recorded are argued to be as cave paintings, then later examples are seen from ancient Egypt, Iran and China.  The first animation ever recorded was in 1900 called the Enchanted Drawing and was regarded in those days as black magic and witchcraft.

These days animation is a daily viewing.  It is seen in adverts, children's channels, as adult cartoons and on the big screen.  Breadwinners is a regular animation in my home.  My ten year old enjoys watching it very much and I often hear her laughing...loudly, while watching.

 

 

This animation is screened on Nickelodeon's Nicktoons and it's primary audience are children even though as an adult I enjoy it very much too. James (2014) for the New York Times explains, Breadwinners is a cartoon about two ducks, SwaySway and Bubdeuce who are best friends.  Their job; delivering bread in a rocket fuelled van, comes with mishap and mayhem but stands to deliver an underlying message the they"always deliver and never give up."

 

Animator Gary (Doodles) DiRaffaelle and writer Steve Borst invented Breadwinners in a Studio City apartment dubbed 'The Doodle Chamber' in 2013 and was aired for the first time in February 2014. Milligan (2014) for Animation Magazine states that the animators use 2D animation using digital technology giving it a retro video game experience, producing a fresh new concept in cartooning.

This is a long way away from animations from the past.  If we reflect upon one of the earlier popular cartoons, Mickey Mouse we can see a huge difference in technique and quality.  However in its day it was considered ground-breaking.

 

 

Walt Disney's first animation with sound was Steamboat Willie and was first shown November 18th 1928 and is a primary example of stop motion animation.  You can see just by viewing this cartoon how animation has changed with the invention of new technologies in the past 86 years since this Mickey Mouse animation. Dialogue was minimal when making Steamboat Willie as pairing sound with animation was extremely primitive.  The animation itself was drawn frame by frame to coincide with  the tempo, beat and dialogue and was incorporated onto the film itself and not separately as was the norm; the first sound on film technology of its kind.

 

Walt Disney was argued to have found himself bankrupt having to sell his car to pay for Steamboat Willie to be made and was turned down at first, whereas  DiRaffaelle used technology himself and uploaded his pilot Breadwinners onto You Tube where it was noticed by Nickelodeon; a very different start for both. You can also see that the subject matter is completely different revealing how much the tastes of children and what is allowed to be viewed on television these days is worlds away from each other.  Mickey Mouse can regarded as a wholesome innocent cartoon, however the Breadwinners collect bodily excretions!  But without the work of pioneers like Walt Disney would we have the animation we have today?



 



What is a learning environment?

Any learning environment must be adaptable and considerate to each individual learner.  But how can it be perfectly described?  This can present itself as a physical area, an ethos or an infinite invisible space. A learning environment can be traditionally observed as a classroom.  This physical space is adult prepared to stimulate the learner being rich with resources to engage the learner towards a central focus.  However, on reflection, everywhere can be viewed as a learning environment.  People learn at work, at home, with their friends and family...the list is endless.  However, the 21st Century learner can now enjoy an infinite space as a learning environment.  Virtual Learning Spaces, (VLS) are increasingly being used in schools, colleges and in the home as a new and exciting learning environment. 

Children of today need to be engaged and see relevance to their own learning or it is argued that they will become detached from their learning. The Schools Effectiveness Framework (2008) saw the calling for children to become responsible for there own learning, to become engaged in their learning within formal and non-formal learning environments. This recognised the need to change how and where children learn. Then in 2011, the then Minister for Education and Skills in Wales, Leighton Andrews reviewed digital learning in Wales and saw the beginnings of HWB which addresses the learning of all Welsh learners ages 3 to 19 years.  It is now clear to see that within classrooms today there is an array of digital learning tools from laptops to I Pads. The use of such tools for learning can be for research purposes, exploring film and music, to literacy and numeracy games that spans across the curriculum. The new Welsh Minister for Education and Skills Huw Lewis has published a new document Qualified for Life where he emphasises the development of skills that are transferable into the workplace.  This importance for transferring skills into a rapidly changing technological age is also noted within the document Essential Skills Wales. 

Palmer (1998) cited in Infed talks about a learning environment being bound; open; hospitable; inviting the learners voice; honour the students silence and welcome the learners speech.  So, positive, engaging environments for learning are essential with regards to technology in the classroom and at home to allow the learner to embrace their learning, take ownership of their learning and transfer these skills around the curriculum and into adulthood.  To marry virtual learning spaces into the physical learning space allows the learner to embrace learning in the 21st Century to develop skills to embrace new technological breakthroughs well into adulthood, allowing the learner to contextualise their learning into their own experiences at home, outside, or at school.