The Teachers' Animation Toolkit

A crazy old man 
by the shore of the river 
waits there patiently
Darkness everyday 
and until my time is through 
I will wait for you
The young dancing girl 
moving fast, twisting, turning 
not knowing I watch
Each example above could be used as the basis for a one, two or 
three-shot storyboard. Invite your students to write their own haiku.

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Cineliteracy
75
Materials:
Sketchbooks, pens, pencils, erasers
Resources:
Internet links: A history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku
Start Writing Haiku: 
http://www.cc.matsuyama-u.ac.jp/~shiki/Start-Writing.html
Video clip: Silence Haiku Animation by Ampur0909 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2aZeyyi098&playnext=1&list=
PL6061D0AEDE121AB2&index=6

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WORKSHEET: ANIMATED PORTRAITS
Teachers’ note:
Norman McLaren coined the term pixilation for the stop-motion 
animation technique that involves shooting, one frame at a time, 
characters or objects whose movements are controlled entirely by 
the fi lmmaker. These objects can range from fruit to toys to sticks 
and stones . . . even the human body or face. Live actors can be 
used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated fi lm, by repeatedly 
posing while one frame is taken and changing pose slightly before 
the next frame. The actor becomes a kind of living stop-motion 
puppet. The word pixilation comes from the use of the word pixie as 
if to suggest the image and action has been affected by otherworldly 
forces!
In this activity, students will create animated portraits of themselves, 
by recording a sequence of still images, which together create 
the illusion of a surreal dance. Invite them to use props if they 
wish, such as trees in the landscape or chairs and tables in the 
room. Encourage them to think about creating impossible body 
movements, gestures and expressions.
Here are some variations on a theme: