Cristina Morar
7 Jul 2023
The first LTTA of the Erasmus+ project YANGc.c.”Youth as Agents to Negate Global climate change via visual means”, took place in Sofia, Bulgaria between 7-11th of October 2022.
The Erasmus+ project "YangCC: Youth as Agents to Negate Global Climate Change via Visual Means" held its second Learning Teaching Training Activities (LTTA) event in Malmö, Sweden from May 5-9th at Föreningscenter Nobel 21 Malmö.
The Blended Activity Animation Technique was designed to facilitate the acquisition of a comprehensive set of competencies necessary to train and instruct others (young people) in the utilisation of animation techniques. This approach empowers young people to engage in the fight against environmental problems, such as climate change.
Over the course of the five-day meeting, Prof. Alexander Iliev, professor, actor and anthropologist, as well as Filip Donchev, a filmmaker, actor, and educator, introduced the attendees to an overview of Animation theory, history and hardware, film editing technology, climate change concepts, and practical demonstrations of animation and video creation. Additionally, they were introduced to fundamental concepts pertaining to climate change and the ways in which human actions contribute to it that helped them to create various animations and videos. The curricula of the training activity was the following:
Animation as it is
prof. Alexander Iliev, PHD
What is animation?
a motion picture that is made from a series of drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of inanimate objects (as puppets).
simulated movement by slight progressive changes in each frame.
the act, process, or result of imparting life, interest, spirit, motion, or activity.
the quality or condition of being alive, active, spiritual, or vigorous.
Early attempts at depicting motion
human imagination and religious animism
cave paintings 18,000 bc
asian puppet theatre 4,000 bc
greek vases 430 bc
Early animation devices
magic lantern 1630
thaumotrope 1825
phenakisticope 1833
zoetrope 1834
praxinoscope 1877
flipbooks 1868
stop motion 1902
chalk animation 1912
silhouette animation 1927
First steps in animation
Georges Méliès
J. Stuart Blackton
Emile Cohl
Winsor Mccay
Pat Sullivan And Otto Mesmer
Lotte Reiniger – Silhouette Animation
Max Fleischer – Rotoscope; Pose To Pose, Keyframes
Cel Animation
Modern animation techniques
drawing animation 1900
puppet and muppet animation 1902
sand and plastic figures animation 1936
gohua 1960
3 d animation 1995
japanese anime 1997
mix techniques 1999
12 principles of animation
compression and tension
preparation or anticipation
stage design (constant consideration of how the viewer sees the image)
use of arrangements and direct phased motion
through movement (or finishing) and overlapping action
softening the beginning and end of movement (spacing)
arcs
additional action (expressive detail)
timing (timing)
exaggeration
"one-piece" (professional) drawing
attractiveness
Climate Change: The Basics
What is climate change and why is it happening?
Questions to answer…
What is the difference between the greenhouse effect, climate change and global warming?
What proof do we have that climate change is happening?
Why is it happening?
How does it work?
The Greenhouse Effect
The Earth is surrounded by a thin layer of gases we call greenhouse gases.
These gases are what make up our atmosphere.
The thickness of the atmosphere and the concentration of its gases influence the surface temperature on any planet.
What’s the difference?
Global warming
Is the increase of the Earth’s average surface temperature due to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere?
Climate change
These are the long-term changes in climate, including average temperature and precipitation.
We recognize that, although the average surface temperature may increase, the regional or local temperature may decrease or remain constant.
What does “average” mean?
Climate is the average weather conditions over time.
Global warming refers to an increase in the Earth’s average temperature.
What causes climate changes?
Changes in the atmosphere
Natural processes
Volcanoes
Tectonic plate movement
Changes in the sun
Shifts in Earth’s orbit
Human activities – any activity that releases “greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere
This map shows the five-year average variation of global surface temperatures from 1884 to 2022. Dark blue indicates areas cooler than average. Dark red indicates areas warmer than average.
What proof do we have?
Temperature & CO2 Data
Glaciers are melting
So are ice caps on both the North and South pole. Example: Portage Glacier, Alaska
1914 vs 2014
Global Sea Level Rise
Climate Change in Europe
Temperatures are rising, especially in winter.
Extreme rainfall and flooding events (24-hr and 7-day) are more frequent.
Extreme droughts and massive wildfires are more common
In rural communities, forests and farmland are impacted, making crops and food more scarce and expensive for all.
Climate change is impacting many plants and animals
Why is climate change happening?
Who? - Pollution from coal, natural gas, and oil
What?
Warming and sea level rise will continue and will probably occur more quickly than what we've already seen
Even if greenhouse gases are stabilised, this will probably continue to occur for centuries
Some effects may be permanent
How?
Effects on Ecosystems:
Coral systems and other unique ecosystems cannot handle higher temperatures well
Wildfires will increase
Up to 30% of species will be at increased risk for extinction due to the rapid changes in their ecosystems
Where?
Effects in Europe:
Warming in mountains: snow and ice melting
Increased rain, storms and floods
Heat waves will increase in number, length, and intensity
Lack of drinking water
Here?
climate related events over the last 40 years have caused more than € 487 billion in financial losses in the EU
between 1980 and 2020, over 138 000 people in the EU lost their lives due to extreme weather and climate related events
the economic cost of river flooding in Europe exceeds € 5 billion a year on average
forest fires cause about € 2 billion of economic damage every year
We are killing our Mother Nature ie . we are slowly and surely killing ourselves
Making a film
Script (scenario) - Storyboard
Positionson in the film crew: Creative and Support (Technical) Filming period
Post production
The scenario as a story of a battle:
Narration of an extraordinary event with 3 conditions fulfilled:
unity of place (in a precisely defined space)
unity of time (within life events for only 10 minutes)
unity of action (overcoming a single problem)
Five-sentence plot canvas
collision (beginning of the conflict, collision, struggle between A and B)
twist 1 (first turn in the fight, A knocks B down)
twist 2 (second twist in the fight, B knocks A down)
vicissitudes 3 (third twist in the fight, A knocks B down again)
catastrophe (end, collapse, fiasco of one of the two characters or both)
Age and brief description of the main actors of objects - up to 3 people/objects
The scenario as it happens:
Written answers with 1 simple sentence each to the questions:
who? (the main character)
when? (specific time of occurrence)
where? (specific place of action)
what? (the action by which the problem is overcome or not)
why? (the cause of the problem)
for what? (the global cause of the problem)
how? (how the problem was solved or not)
Discussion in the following stages:
Topic (what it's about, the main issue)
Plot in 5 sentences (collision, 3 vicissitudes, catastrophe) Idea (what we want to say, like a slogan)
Conflict (who are fighting what)
Separating the characters around the conflict (+, –, ~) Composition (open or closed, 1 main or many) Genre (point of view, comedy, tragedy or drama)
Address (for what audience is it intended, children, young, mature or old)
Script in 2 pages (only verbs and lines ie action)
Types of plans - basic
General plan; Middle plan; Close-up
Types of plans - auxiliary
American Plan; Close-up; Gross
Types of angles - objects
Usual; Side; Upper; Bottom; At an angle
Types of angles - subjects
Profiled; Central; Upper; Bottom; At an angle
Types of camera movements
Panoramic (left or right) Schwenk (up or down)
Fart (camera on the trolley or rails)
Parallel Round
Crane (Raise or lower camera with crane)
Subjective Camera (from the character's point of view)
By hand (without character involvement) Attached (to character)
Steadicam
Devil Advocate
DUTIES
Creative: *
(copyright holders)
Screenwriter
Producer
Director
Operator
Editor
Composer or sound engineer Painter
Animator
(no copyright)
Actors
Musicians
Stunts
Doubles
DUTIES
Technical (support) team:*
General Editor
Field Editor
Assistant director
Camera technician
Scripter
Illuminator
Sound operator
Organizer
Makeup artist
Wardrobe
Props officer
Host-supplier
Field worker
Security
Filming
Filming period:
Preparation of sets
Preparation of the actors
Rehearsals with a camera
Shooting takes
Description of the material
Post-production:
Review the material
Selection of good takes
Montage of footage
Special effects
Sound mastering
Mastering the film
The Plan
Who is who? Who is when? Who is where?
Production
Distribution of positions
Defining the topic
Script development
Creating the storyboard
Shooting the raw material
Post-production
Checking the material
Installation and Nachsynchron
Premiere
Screening of the films
Discussing the movies
Oscars