Object animation wokshop and creation of characters.
Objectives:
This project aims at stimulating children’s imagination by means of an aesthetic proposal of work with objects, as a way of offering ludic and creative spaces that go beyond the present technological offer.
We try, in this “techno” era, to revalue imagination and creativity, starting from the idea that it is possible and enriching to play with what we have at our disposal every day, and that it is not necessary to be “technified” to have fun.
Our starting point is the show Historias de media suela (Stories of Half Sole), a show that combines acting and the handling of objects. Throughout its workshop we will try to work on creativity. To start with, we take an everyday object (not toy), which will turn into a character with its own features.
Activity of the play:
Children will be asked to take two everyday objects from their homes (they can be objects related to their parents’ jobs or objects which are usually used at home, such as cooking utensils, etc.).
The activity will consist of two parts:
1) The activity starts with an informal conversation with the students about the characteristics of the objects and the characters they perform in the play, for example the shoe and boot that play the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.
Then, a discussion about the play in itself and the creative use of objects in general, takes place:
. Which characters appear in the play?
. Which objects embody these characters?
. Why has a particular object (eg. a shoe) been chosen for a particular character?
.Why do we use objects to play characters?
.Which objects do you think can be good characters in a play? Why?
2) We work with the objects that the children have brought.
. The objects will be described and its characteristics will be studied.
. The possibilities that the objects offer to become a character will be explored. Eg: a corkscrew can play the part of a dancer.
. According to these possibilities two characters will be created. They will be given a particular personality or character shown by its characteristics.
. The workshop will end with the making of a short scene between the two object characters that the children have created.
Duration: one hour.