2017
WISCONSIN FILM FESTIVAL Big Screens Little Folks Study Guide
PART THREE
Shorter and Sweeter: Short films for Grades K – 2 TITLE
DIRECTOR
COUNTRY YEAR MIN. TRAILER
Alike
Rafa Cano Méndez, Daniel Martinez Lara
Spain
2016
8
Cloudberry Konigiri-Kun Shopping Little Seed
Pokina Minchenok
Russia
2016
8
Mari Miyazawa
Japan
2016
5
https://goo.gl/93rT95
Chaïtane Conversat
France
2015
10
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=bd5h-cONyoU
The Mole and the Earthworm Once Upon a Blue Moon The Sled Tower Water Path for a Fish
Johannes Schiehsl
Germany
2015
8
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=A9cqWsPX97o
Steve Boot
UK
2015
3
https://vimeo.com/126116136
Olesya Shchukina
Russia
2016
4
https://vimeo.com/183250732
Janis Cimmermanis
Latvia
2014
8
Mercedes Marro
Spain
2016
8
Whale
Maryna Shchipak
Germany
2015
4
http://www.alike.es/
http://www.tomavistas. com/?portfolio=water-path-for-afish-7-minute-short-film
Feature Film for Grades 3 – 5 TITLE
DIRECTOR
Mr. Frog
Anna van der Heide Netherlands
2017 Wisconsin Film Festival Big Screens Little Folks Study Guide
COUNTRY YEAR MIN. TRAILER 2016
8
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=t9iXCAt2bgs
Shorter and Sweeter:
:
Short films for Grades K - 2
The Sled Writer/Designer/Director: Olesya Shchukina Russia, 2016 4 min Animated TRAILER: https://vimeo.com/183250732 WEBSITE: http://www.spitsbergenisland.com/ SYNOPSIS: The little squirrel finds something he has never seen before.
Tower Director: Janis Cimermanis Latvia, 2014 8 min Stop-motion Animation SYNOPSIS: A group of Japanese tourists visit the Tower of Pisa. They are joined by a pensioner from Latvia. Suddenly, the tower begins to incline and the tourists rush to hold it. The Rescue Team comes to save both the tower and the Latvian tourist. FILMMAKER’S BIOGRAPHY: Janis Cimermanis (1950) is a Latvian film animator and director. He graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Theater and Cinema (1980) and became a director at the Latvian Puppet Theatre. Since 1983 he has been working at the Latvian Film Studio as a stop-motion animator and director. Cimermanis’ short animated films include Parliament (Parlaments, 2000), The Three Musketeers (De tre musketer, 2005), Hunting (Medibas, 2007), The Tiger (Tigeris, 2010), and Corrida (2011).
Once Upon a Blue Moon Director: Steve Boot Great Britain, 2015 4 min Stop-motion Animation TRAILER: https://vimeo.com/140587773 WEBSITE: http://www.mackinnonandsaunders.com/ SYNOPSIS: A lonely blue alien thinks he has found a new friend to play with when a strange new explorer robot lands on his planet. THEMES: The movie explores loneliness and friendship, and could be used as a springboard for discussions about the universe, the possibilities of extraterrestrial life and robots. The following activities were created by Lynsey Dick for the Discovery Film Festival, Scotland's International Film Festival for Young Audiences. http://www.discoveryfilmfestival.org.uk/assets/general/DFF2016_Shorts_For_Middle_Ones_resource_ pack.pdf Before visiting the cinema Show the class the film trailer. It can be viewed on Vimeo at: https://vimeo.com/140587773 Once the class has watched the trailer, ask them to predict what they think will happen in the story. • Will the Robot play a key part in the story? • What will the blue creature do?
After visiting the cinema The full film is available to watch again on Vimeo at: https://vimeo.com/127529843 Questions for discussion Look at the ideas previously recorded predicting what they thought would happen. • Were any of the predictions correct? • What was the creature doing with the rocks? • Why do you think he was trying to make another creature similar to himself? • How do you think he felt when he saw the spaceship landed? Activity One: Students can experiment by creating their own blue creature. They could use clay, play-doh, plasticine, fimo or any other material available. Ask students to create their creature, then encourage them to evaluate which of the materials makes the best model. Activity Two: Using instructions in Part One of this Study Guide, students could create their own stop motion animation. They could try making the Robot from the film, the spaceship, the camera and even the background using a variety of materials when making their models. They could bring in an assortment of junk or you could collect this from home or ask colleagues to bring in things for your class to use. Use the still below to look at the way the objects in the foreground have been made.
OR students can create their own versions of the story and make a short film.
Activity Three: The brilliance of this short animation is the three rules the Robot has been clearly given. Look at the still image below to remind the children of these rules.
How many of these rules does the Robot break? We do not know why the Robot has been given this mission. Discuss the following with the class: • Why has he been sent on this mission? • Where has he come from? • What is his planet like? • Will anyone realize he has failed to return from the mission? Ask students to write a background story explaining why the Robot has been sent on the mission. Activity Four: Create a missing poster for the Robot. Additional Information and Resources This website has a great interview with Steve and some lovely images of the animation in the process of being made: http://www.skwigly.co.uk/watch-upon-blue-moon-steve-boot/ Steve Boot has other videos available on Vimeo at: https://vimeo.com/steveboot
Whale Director: Maryna Shchipak Germany, 2015 4 min Animation SYNOPSIS: The huge whale tries to make friends, but everybody runs away because they are afraid of him. He is sad and lonely!
Konigiri-Kun Shopping Director: Mari Miyazawa Japan, 2016 5 min Stop-motion Animation TRAILER: https://goo.gl/93rT95 (Paste the url above into your browser to download the trailer.)
SYNOPSIS: Mari Miyazawa's sushi animation brings to life the adventures of a rice ball and her pet broccoli. (The 2016 Wisconsin Film Festival Shorter and Sweeter program featured Little Rice Balls, and Twins in Bakery and Decorations were both in the 2015 Festival.) Movie Math Activity Stop motion animation uses models placed in a scene, which are moved tiny amounts, with an image being taken after each move. Then, they’re moved again, and another image is taken. Usually, there are 24 images (or frames) per second of animation we see on screen. Ask students to investigate this question in pairs: • Konigiri-Kun Shopping is 5 minutes long. How many seconds is that? • If every second is made up of 24 separate images or frames, how many images would the animators have had to photograph to create the whole film?
Little Seed Director: ChaĂŻtane Conversat France, 2015 10 min Animation TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd5h-cONyoU SYNOPSIS: A young girl discovers and nurtures a tiny seed. A film demonstrating the drawing techniques and process of the filmmaker is available in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6lJHPOPysQ - t=260.980392
Cloudberry Director: Pokina Minchenok Russia, 2016 8 min Animation SYNOPSIS: The whole village is scared of a big grey and toothed wolf. But one small girl was brave enough to help him and then to become friends with this scary creature. While she was caring for the wolf’s wounded paw, he became a lover of pancakes and cloudberry. The sheep were happy! FILMMAKER’S BIOGRAPHY: Polina Minchenok (1988) graduated from the St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television, class of Konstantin Bronzit and Dmitry Visotsky in 2012.
The Mole and the Earthworm Director: Johannes Schiehsl Germany, 2015 3 min Animation TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9cqWsPX97o SYNOPSIS: One day, a little mole notices that all of the other animals have a friend of their species to play with. But he is all alone. When he chases a fat earthworm, he makes a surprising discovery. FILMMAKER’S BIOGRAPHY: Johanes Schiehsl (1984) is an animator and director from Austria. He studied animation for a short time at a film school in Zlín and later graduated from the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg. He directed his own short authorial animated films A6/A9 (2007) and Birdstrike (2008). He won a number of awards for his film 366 Days (366 Tage, 2011). He's also behind several episodes of the TV series Lilly the Witch (Hexe Lilli, 2014).
Alike Director: Rafa Cano Méndez and Daniel Martinez Lara Spain, 2016 12 min Animation TRAILER: http://www.alikeshort.co SYNOPSIS: In a busy life, Copi is a father who tries to teach the right way to his son, Paste. But... what is the correct path? ABOUT THE FILM: From http://filmnosis.com/shortfilms/alike/ Coming from Barcelona, this short film directed by Daniel Martínez Lara and Rafa Cano Méndez presents a father and son story with internal conflicts triggered by conflicts with the environment (in this case, “the system”). Alike develops further some of the subjects that can be found in Martínez
Lara’s previous short Changes, including work, routine and alienation, and incorporates them into the experience of a child, and that of a father and son relationship, where the father tries to teach the right path to his son. Five main characters are used (two unidentified, embodying “the system”), complemented by a crowd of undifferentiated characters. Situated in a city, the short places an emphasis on staging, introducing playful non-realistic elements and technologically outdated props, while choosing a minimalism reminiscent of theater. A stylized aesthetic is employed, in line with the short Changes, which also featured the character “Copi”, whose previous incarnation was crafted in plasticine by Martínez Lara. Desaturated colors are used to portray the changes in the characters, as well as the alienation of the city, which contrasts with the saturated colors used for the green, small park where the violin player is located and the kid’s drawings, which symbolize creativity. Many close-ups and medium shots are used to capture the facial expressions and body postures, through which much of the conflict is transmitted, as well as the connection between the father and son characters. Wider shots help describe the city and situations of routine and repetition. Visual rhythm is handled mostly through editing and motion within the frame. Some camera moves are used, including a few dolly-ins that describe emotional displacement. Highlights of the short include its creative staging, the use of narrative devices such as split screen and choreography to describe the routine and characters’ related struggles, its highly expressive animation and stylized aesthetic. The subjects presented in the short are ones that will resonate with a wide audience. Produced by Daniel Martínez Lara and La Fiesta P.C. with the support of Pepe-School-Land, the short is the result of the collaboration of various Spanish artists, with the participation of Pepe-School-Land alumni and artists from other well known studios: co-director Rafael Méndez worked previously at Big Lazy Robot, and Juan José Palomo, who directed the film iDiots and is the head of that studio, shows up in the credits, together with Enrique Gato (Tadeo Jones), among others.
Video about the making of Alike: https://vimeo.com/149260113 (In Spanish with English subtitles) Video about the music in Alike: http://alike-short.blogspot.com/search/label/making of
Water Path for a Fish Director: Mercedes Marro Spain/Colombia/France, 2016 7 min Animation TRAILER: http://www.tomavistas.com/?portfolio=water-path-for-a-fish-7-minute-short-film SYNOPSIS: It’s a starry night in a poor neighborhood in Latin America. Oscar is sleeping in his room when a sudden wind wakes him up. From his window he sees‌ a little goldfish jumping on a dirty puddle! Two cats are watching from the shadows. Oscar will try to save the goldfish through a rampant adventure full of mysterious challenges in a nighty Latin America, with the lack of water as a backdrop.
Full Length Feature: Grades 3 - 5
Mr. Frog Director: Anna van der Heide Netherlands, 2016 90 min Live Action TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9iXCAt2bgs What if you had a wonderful school teacher that had just one flaw? If you say the word “kikker” (“frog” in Dutch) several times quickly, he turns into a frog! Fortunately, one of his pupils loves amphibians and will do anything to protect him when he feels the urge to ribbit. With a strict principal taking over the school, he needs all the help he can get. This endearing comedy-drama literally humanizes animals and inspires children to stand up against bullying. Mr. Frog is a moving tale with urgent themes for this day and age. Based on a novel by the best selling author Paul van Loon.
Mr. Frog plays skillfully with elements of classical fairy tales. When their teacher first turns into a frog in the classroom, the children revert to their fairytale knowledge to turn him back into a man. One student, Sita, kisses the frog, but nothing happens. They learn that the teacher must eat a fat fly to transform. There is no helpless Princess rescued by a heroic prince from great danger. In this movie, the heroine is a witty girl, who keeps her unsuspecting teacher from being eaten. Activity One: Which parts of the film remind you of a fairy tale? • Read the fairy tale "The Frog King" or a version of “The Frog Prince” in class (see below). • Which elements are similar? • What are the differences?
The Frog King by the Grimm Brothers In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends the Frog Prince (meeting him after dropping a gold ball into a pond), who magically transforms into a handsome prince. Although in modern versions the transformation is invariably triggered by the princess kissing the frog, in the original Grimm version of the story the frog's spell was broken when the princess threw it against a wall in disgust. http://germanstories.vcu.edu/grimm/frog.html Frog Fairy Tales from Around the World 1. "The Frog Prince". The first English translation of the above tale. Edgar Taylor, the translator, not only changed the title, but altered the ending in a substantial and interesting manner. 2. "The Wonderful Frog" (W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf, Hungary).
3. "The Tale of the Queen Who Sought a Drink From a Certain Well" (J. F. Campbell, Scotland). 4. "The Well of the World's End" 5. "The Paddo" (Robert Chambers, Scotland). 6. "The Maiden and the Frog" (James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, England). 7. "The Kind Stepdaughter and the Frog" (W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf, England). 8. "The Frog Prince" (H. Parker, Sri Lanka). 9. "A Frog for a Husband" (William Elliot Griffis, Korea). 10. "The Toad Bridegroom" (Zong In-Sob, Korea)