The book is the description of a model of how young people learn about animation and machinima and looks at three key themes: creativity, which is the process of developing original ideas that have value, media literacy which is the knowledge, skills and competencies that are required to use and interpret media, and culture which influences critical and creative behaviour.
The study draws from Raymond Williams' definition of culture, Lev Vygotsky's work on the development and use of creativity and Paul Well's analysis of animation language. It looks at the history of animation as an art form and a popular medium, the debate about high and popular culture, the history of art education and aesthetics and media education and criticality.
The research consists of case studies of action research that explore approaches to 'camera-less' animation, drawn animation, model animation and machinima, as carried out in Norfolk Secondary Schools and Schome Park, a secure 3D virtual world for thirteen to seventeen year olds, set in Teen Second Life.
The book argues that (1) Animation and machinima offer a multidisciplinary model of creativity that allows for play, imagination and fantasy, but it also needs a literacy framework to develop students' creativity in order to produce animations that are original and valuable from a critical perspective. (2) Youth culture changes the way young people engage with animation. (3) Worthwhile learning about animation and machinima has some domain-specific elements, it needs specific knowledge and depends on multimodal choices and media literacies.
In all of this, the study proposes ways to consolidate art and media education, new media arts and their respective practices and pedagogies. Good teaching and learning are key factors that foster positive learning progression and are standards by which the quality of young peoples' creative work can be encouraged, understood and evaluated.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Positioning myself as the researcher
- Book's concerns
- Methodological framework
- Original contribution to the field
- The structure of the book
- Background and Related Work: a Review of the Literature
- Animation in Education
- Art and Design Education: Why learn about art and design?
- Media Education: Why learn about the media?
- Cineliteracy
- Multiliteracies
- Digital Video, BECTA Pilot, 1999
- What are the affordances of animation software?
- Animation and Machinima
- Theory
- Creativity
- Culture
- Literacy
- Methodology
- Research methods
- Procedures, Ethical Concerns and Consent
- Selection of Background Material
- Data Collection and Research Access - Schooltoons
- Gathering Data
- Theory Method
- Animation Introduction in the Classroom
- Overview of the chapter
- Schooltoons
- The Schooltoons Action Research Case Study descriptions
- Case Study One: Animated Music Videos – One minute Pop Promo
- Case Study Two: Thirty second TV advert on the theme of arms control
- Case Study Three: Animated television advertisement - Green Issues
- Case Study Four: Understanding Media Literacy, Buckingham's and BFI's model
- Case Study Five: Animation in the English Curriculum – Exploring The Tempest
- Animation and Creativity
- Animation literacy
- Animation and Cultural Encounters in the Classroom
- What part do teenage cultures play in the production of animation? Or what part do popular animations play in teenage culture?
- What part do teenage cultures play in their production of animation?
- Machinima - Making Movies in Virtual Reality
- Machinima
- Learning to be a machinimator, or, what does it take to make a film in Second Life?
- The Schome Community - A multimodal and multidisciplinary environment
- Machinima production: A combination of creative, cultural and critical abilities (3C's)
Objectives and Key Themes
This book explores the use of animation in the classroom as a tool for promoting creativity and media literacy in young people. The research focuses on three key themes: creativity, media literacy, and culture. The book investigates how these themes intersect and influence each other in the context of animation and Machinima production.
- The nature and development of creativity in animation and Machinima production.
- The role of culture, especially youth culture, in shaping young people's creative expression and interpretation of animation and Machinima.
- The importance of animation literacy as a bridge between film language and the specific demands of animated media, including Machinima.
Chapter Summaries
- Introduction: This chapter introduces the book's concerns, outlines the methodological framework, and discusses the author's personal and professional experiences that led to the development of the research.
- Background and Related Work: a Review of the Literature: This chapter reviews relevant literature on art and media education to establish a foundation for understanding the value of animation in education. It explores different models of creativity, culture, and literacy in relation to animation.
- Theory: This chapter presents the theoretical framework underpinning the research, focusing on Vygotsky's model of creativity, Raymond Williams' concept of culture, and the development of animation literacy.
- Methodology: This chapter outlines the action research approach used to gather data for the study. It describes the various methods employed, including questionnaires, interviews, observations, and document analysis.
- Animation Introduction in the Classroom: This chapter presents five case studies of animation activities conducted in Norfolk secondary schools as part of the Schooltoons project. Each case study explores how students engaged with different animation techniques and concepts.
- Animation and Cultural Encounters in the Classroom: This chapter delves into the influence of youth culture on the creative work of young people. It analyzes the animation productions of a group of 'breakthrough' boys to understand how their cultural experiences and popular media references shaped their creative expression.
- Machinima - Making Movies in Virtual Reality: This chapter explores Machinima production within the virtual world of Second Life, specifically the Schome Park project. It investigates the unique affordances of virtual reality as a learning environment and examines the development of a new literacy specific to Machinima production.
Keywords
Animation, Machinima, creativity, media literacy, culture, youth culture, animation literacy, multimodal, semiotics, virtual reality, Second Life, Schome Park, pedagogy, action research.
- Quote paper
- Britta Pollmuller (Author), 2016, Animation and Creativity in the Classroom, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/338011
