Making worlds with others
Designing The Workshop
FROM 14 - 16 YEARS OLD
IN PHOENIX ACADE
WORKSHOP SET-UP
We placed cardboard, cartons, bottles, fabric, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, glue, markers, etc. at the table.
Pre-made limbs and other characteristics were made using cardboard and other materials. This is done to take into consideration any students who might have difficulties making them by themself.
VENUE SET-UP
We organised the space/venue such that everyone has access to all the materials and tools and has comfortable moving/breathing space between the three activities that they can do after making the creature.
We also set up a “Quiet room” in the opposite room, where students who feel like they need some space/time can take a
break.
VISUAL DESIGN
We established a visual identity for all the visuals that we would be making. We maintained a shared Google Drive where everyone shared their visuals that could be used by others in making all the posters, labels, characters, etc.
CREATURE BUILDING
We hope that students can break away from their personal experience and use their imagination to create a brand new species.
Of course, we also prepared ready-made body parts to give the students some imaginative support!
At the storybuilding station, we create a storyboard and posters and imagine the world that our creatures come from. These are loose exercises to spark our imagination.
We provided the students with prompts and sample storyboards that can help them unleash their creative side!
STOP-MOTION
In this activity, we simplified the steps and made the workbench the fastest way to realise stop-motion animation, so that the students can experience the fun of stop-motion animation more efficiently.
With the character the students make, the students themselves can move it around the way they like under the camera while clicking pictures at intervals to make the animation. We then stitched the images together to make a short animation clip which we used at the end of our workshop to present!
VR STATION
We set up the VR space to enable students to experience drawing and character making in 3D. This is a new technology/medium, and we felt that this could be something that students might be interested in, that aligns and fits with our workshop structure.
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COLLABORATION PARTICIPANTS
Jingru Liu, Martin Lefebvre, Nigel Matambo, Yan Lyu, Shuyi Guo, Qing Xu, Srinija Ghantasala, Steve Batai, Yuhe Hu, Lewis Danielski, Shuyuan Zhang, Dor Cohen.