Les 3 inventeurs - Educational Workshop

e d u c at i o n a l g u i d e

Les Trois Inventeurs

by Michel Ocelot Guide created by Azadée Tolooie

3

ème

EMA N I T FES il

vr mars-a

2016

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CONTENTS I.

II.

Sitography

To understand the film better

page 3

   

Technical information Synopsis Notes about the author About the film

page 3 page 3 page 4 page 5

To work in class with the film

page 7

 Teaching guide  Pre-viewing pedagogical activities  Post-viewing pedagogical activities  Student guide  Pre-viewing pedagogical activities  Post-viewing pedagogical activities

page 7 page 7 page 10 page 12 page 12 page 14 page 15

Guide made by Azadée Tolooie, pedagogical referent at Alliance Française of Puerto Rico for the project Festinema Junior 2016 with the support of the Délégation Générale de la Fondation Alliance Française aux Etats-Unis, and translated into English, with the support of the Institut Français.

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I.

TO UNDERSTAND THE FILM BETTER

Technical Information Title: The Three Inventors Director: Michel Ocelot Storyline: Michel Ocelot Animation: Michel Ocelot Original Music: Christian Maire Narration: Michel Ocelot Technique: papercutting Director of production: Marcelle Ponti Sound technicians: Robert Cohen-Solal, JeanClaude Voyeux Musician: Claire Pradel Production company: Animation Art graphique Audiovisuel Duration: 13 minutes and 23 seconds Country: France Format: color, 35 mm

Synopsis Three inventors make marvelous machines, but they are the object of the population’s incomprehension and hostility.

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Notes about the author

‘’It is a film I care a lot about. […] I made it above all with passion and jubilation, immersing myself into the delicately-cut white paper and into the lace doilies. I took all the time necessary for cutting, organizing, and animating. I wasn’t very sure how it was done, but I began again until it worked.’’

 Michel Ocelot 

Born on the Côte d'Azur (French Riviera), Michel Ocelot, son of teachers, spent his childhood in Conakry in Guinea and his adolescence in Anjou. Student of fine arts in Rouen, he then joins Les Arts déco de Paris before admission to the California Institute of the Arts. He then decides to move towards animated movies, directing for the small and big screen about thirty short-length films and series.

Michel Ocelot is a storyteller. Each of his films makes us travel, dream, laugh, and smile. After the very remarkable Kirikou, which narrated the adventures of a small, mischievous boy in the African savannas, Michel Ocelot offers us stories of Princes and princesses; then, the adventures of Azur et Asmar.

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About the film A treasure trove What the author of Kirikou opens for us by bringing his short films “for children“ to light is a true treasure trove: the discovery of animation’s marvels that bring out Ocelot’s talent for storytelling, his singularity, his sense of audacity, of narration, and of the ellipsis.

The Three Inventors (1979) is part of the collection “Treasures of Michel Ocelot”.

The story takes place in the 18th century and narrates the adventures of three inventors who build beautiful, useful machines that people don’t understand. These inventors are actually a family that, seizing the technological revolutions their time period offers, creates for the good of humanity. .

Paper doilies and lace Michel Ocelot uses the technique of papercutting in different shades of white, the characters and scenery are made with lace paper and embossed pastry doilies, handcrafted for an incredible visual result. Rewarded around the world, The Three Inventors is Ocelot’s cherished work and the supreme matrix of all his works to come.

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The misunderstood inventors Michel Ocelot explains that he thought of different inventors who were hunted, killed, and their inventions destroyed, simply because people are often scared of innovation: ‘’I thought of Lavoisier, and his wife who helped him (the Great Inventor and his wife have their silhouettes), Lavoisier, decapitated after a judge declared, ‘The Republic does not need savants.’ I thought of Denis Papin, chased out of France by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, chased out of Germany by the boatmen of Kiel, after they destroyed the first steamboat [..]

I thought of the Robert brothers’ first balloon. Peasants who approached it would flee, horrified[...]

I thought of Thimonnier, inventor of the sewing machine, and of Jacquard, inventor of the job of the same name, whose machines were destroyed by the furious laborers[…]

For the Little Inventor, I thought of these small, foreign children, or poor, or original, with whom the other children did not want to play. For the tragic finish, I had Giordano Bruno in mind, an independent and remarkable thinker, burned alive for only that. But the list of people and of written works burned for the sake of innovation is infinite.’’

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II.

TO WORK IN CLASS WITH THE FILM

Teaching guide Pre-viewing pedagogical activities These learning activities have been made for students 4 to 6 years old in order to prepare them for viewing the film in its entirety and then explore its content in class.

The educational development may be done in the maternal language or French language depending on the linguistic profile of the students and the teacher’s objective (FLE-FLS-FLI).

Activity 1: Invention

a) What is an invention?

Ask your students the question and have them talk about it. Ask them which, in their opinion, is the best invention in the world?

Possible answer: An invention is a thing that didn’t exist before and that a person (an inventor) makes based on an idea.

You may, for example, launch them on the topic of inventions we use every day and cannot live without (the telephone, the internet, electricity, the car, etc.). Ask them to imagine the world as it was before all these inventions were created by these brilliant and ingenious people known as inventors. b) Then, move on to activity 1. The students must match today’s objects with their ancestors. Once the exercise is done, ask them which, in their opinion, is the most useful invention and why?

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Historical notes: The calculator: Blaise Pascal is the inventor of the calculating machine. Initially named “arithmetic machine”, it became “Pascal’s wheel” and finally “Pascaline”. It’s in 1642, at the age of nineteen, that he conceived the idea.

The telephone: the automatic telephone was invented by Almon Strowger, in the United States around 1891.

The car: The history of the automobile begins in 1769, when Joseph Cugnot (1725-1804) presents the "steam chariot", a chariot propelled by a steam boiler. His invention, which reached 4km/h and had an average self-sufficiency of 15 minutes, was destined to move heavy canons.

The bicycle: In 1817, the German baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn invents his Laufmaschine or «running machine» which is presented in Paris that same year (French patent of importation dropped off by Louis-Joseph Dineur in the name of Baron Drais February 17, 1818 : under the name “Machine known as velocipede”.)

The elevator: The XVII and XVIII Centuries see new ideas appear and most of all a new need: people transport. The “flying chair” made its appearance at the Versailles Castle and at the Mazarin Palace around 1743. Balanced by means of counterweights, its movement is ensured by pulling by hand.

Activity 2: My invention The purpose of this activity is to motivate the students to use their imagination and their creativity. Ask them to imagine an object that does not exist but could be useful for them. Once the object is decided on, have them draw it, design it with modeling clay or build it with blocks (like Legos). They must then present their invention to the class and explain its functions.

If some of them lack inspiration, offer them the chance to draw a paper from list A; then another one from list B below. This will give them a combination of an odd object that could amuse and inspire them! These are only suggestions; you may, of course, make your own.

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LIST B

A telephone

that glows in the dark

A pen

that makes jokes

A book that flies A spoon invisible A cap

that talks to animals

A bottle indestructible

In the form of a game, invite them to yell “Eureka” as soon as they finish their inventions. Explain that that is what inventors yell when they have a brilliant idea or have found the solution to a problem.

Eureka means “I’ve got it” in Greek.

Historical note: Eureka! (in ancient Greek εὕρηκα / heúrêka (“I’ve got it”) is the cry that, according to legend, the Greek savant Archimedes would have spit out the moment he understood the laws that govern objects by their densities revealed by the force they exert when dropping them in water or any other liquid, known as Archimedes’ principle.

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Teaching guide Post-viewing pedagogical activities Activity 1: Recalling the film Ask the class group to explain, in their own words, what are the inventions of each character. Then, ask them to draw each invention in the proper column.

Answers: The father: The balloon (hot-air balloon), the elevator, the car, the bicycle.

The mother: the sewing machine.

The daughter: the paper airplane, the toy that moves.

Activity 2: Misunderstood inventors Your students are most likely shocked by the reaction of the other characters upon seeing the beautiful inventions of the three inventors. Ask them to identify the reaction (anger, fear) of the characters outside the small family of inventors and then open the discussion. Ask them what could have been the cause that drove them to destroy the inventions.

Possible answers: the others are afraid of new things because they don’t know them, don’t know how they work.

They prefer to destroy everything to reassure themselves and so nothing changes.

Depending on the age and sensibility of your students, you may address the story of these top visionary engineers who were condemned or killed (See “About the film” page 5).

Activity 3: Papercutting Your students may make with a sheet of paper and scissors small doilies like those used by Michel Ocelot in his film.

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a) Ask them to fold their sheet in 4. Then, draw 1/4 of a circle and cut the doily following the line. They may also use pinking shears for a more beautiful effect.

(Image A)

b) Ask them to fold the shape obtained one more time.

Then, cut shapes on one of the sides, then on the other.

(Image B)

c) Have them open their doily to see the cut shapes appear (circle, square, or rectangle). (Image C)

Image A

Image B

Image C

ďƒ° The paper doily may be used to decorate boxes, collages, or to simply highlight a cake or cookie!

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Student guide Pre-viewing pedagogical activities Activity 1: Match today’s inventions with their ancestors.

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Activity 2: Draw your invention!

Eureka!

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Student guide Post-viewing pedagogical activities Activity 1: Who invented what? Draw under each character their inventions.

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Sitography

Interview with the author http://www.citesciences.fr/archives/francais/ala_cite/evenements/ocelot/ocelot.html

Sites about the film and the author http://www.artefake.com/MICHEL-OCELOT.html https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Trois_Inventeurs

Sites about the young engineers http://soocurious.com/fr/science-genie-invention-jeunesse-decouverte/ http://www.cabaneaidees.com/2015/05/10-inventeurs-que-les-enfants-devraient-connaitre/

Site for handcrafts http://www.makeandtakes.com/paper-snowflakes