actf literature conference unswo

Literature in the Na,onal English Curriculum and Digital Animated

Movie Making.

Len Unsworth Professor in Education (English and Literacies Education) Griffith University, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA. h"p://www.griffith.edu.au/professional-page/len-unsworth Email: [email protected]

Re-conceptualizing literacy and literacy pedagogy to take account of image-language rela>ons in tradi>onal

paper and new digital electronic media.

Australian Na>onal Curriculum: English

English / Year 4 / Language / Expressing and developing ideas Explore the effect of choices when framing an image, placement of elements in the image, and salience on composi>on of s>ll and moving images in a range of types of texts.

English / Year 3 / Literature / Crea>ng literature Create imagina>ve texts based on characters, seLngs and events from students own and other cultures using visual features, for example perspec>ve, distance and angle.

English / Year 5 / Literacy / Crea>ng texts Plan, draP and publish imagina>ve, informa>ve and persuasive print and mul>modal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience.

English / Year 6 / Literacy / Crea>ng texts Plan, draP and publish imagina>ve, informa>ve and persuasive texts, choosing and experimen>ng with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience.

h"p://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/English/


English / Year 9 / Literacy / Interpre>ng, analysing, evalua>ng Explore and explain the combina,ons of language and visual choices that authors make to present informa,on, opinions and perspec,ves in different texts

English / Year 7 / Literature / Responding to literature Compare the ways that language and images are used to create character, and to influence emo>ons and opinions in different types of texts.

English / Year 8 / Literacy / Interpre>ng, analysing, evalua>ng Explore and explain the ways authors combine different modes and media in crea>ng texts, and the impact of these choices on the viewer/listener.

Comparing image-language rela>ons and interpre>ve possibili>es in literary picture books as animated movies.

Literature, mul>modal literacy and digital technologies

Painter, C., Mar>n, J. R., & Unsworth, L. (in press). Reading Visual Narra>ves. London: Equinox.

h"p://www.traileraddict.com/clip/the-lost-thing/short-film

Tan, Shaun. (2000). The Lost Thing. Sydney: Hache"e.

The Lost Thing (Tan, 2000) is a humorous story about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collec>ng bo"le-tops at a beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by everyone else, who barely no>ce its presence. Each is unhelpful; strangers, parents are all unwilling to entertain this uninvited interrup>on to day-to-day life. Even his friend is unable to help despite some interest, In spite of his be"er judgement, the boy feels sorry for this hapless creature, and a"empts to find out where it belongs. Eventually he does find a place, which other bizarre looking creatures inhabit. The lost thing joins them in this place and he and the boy part company.

Mee>ng the lost thing (book)

Composi>onal Prominence to Nega>ve Judgment

Nega>

ve Ju

dgmen

t

Commitment to Affect: Sa>sfac>on (curiosity/puzzlement)

Verbal Commitment

Commitment to Affect: Sa>sfac>on (curiosity/puzzlement)

Verbal Commitment Visual Commitment

Coupling Visual Affect: Sa>sfac>on (curiosity/puzzlement) and Verbal Judgment ve Tenacity and Normality

Verbal Commitment

Nega>

ve Ju

dgmen

t

Visual Commitment

The only visual depic>ons of curiosity are coupled with explicit verbal appraisal of Judgment: -ve Tenacity/Normality

..and long shot images with unmediated observe point of view distanced further by the smallness of the images.

In the movie there is no explicit verbal commitment to the boys Affect:Sa>sfac>on

curiosity, surprise and puzzlement are evoked through facial expression and gesture and the 17 seconds of silent walking around and looking at the lost thing before any u"erance of Judgment is made.

But

Mee>ng the lost thing (movie)

affect in the movie

Visual Focaliza>on, Affect and verbal Judgment in movie

It sure wasnt doing much. It just sat there

with a really weird look about it. You know, a sad, lost sort of look.

-ve Tenacity -ve Tenacity -ve Normality Unhappiness Insecurity -ve Normality

-ve Normality -ve Normality Unhappiness Insecurity -ve Normality -ve Tenacity -ve Tenacity -ve Normality

weird sad lost

Book Movie

-ve Tenacity -ve Tenacity -ve Normality Unhappiness Insecurity -ve Normality

-ve Normality -ve Normality Unhappiness Insecurity -ve Normality -ve Tenacity -ve Tenacity -ve Normality

weird sad lost

Book Movie

Characteris>c Traits

Current Demeanor

Saying goodbye in the book

in the movie

in the book

Focaliza>on and visual and verbal commitment to Affect Book

Limited visual commitment to saying goodbye. Limited verbal commitment to saying goodbye.

Movie

NO verbal commitment to saying goodbye. Extensive visual commitment to saying goodbye.

Paucity/Devoid of Explicit Affect Concentra>on of Explicit Visual Affect

Experien>al token of indifference.

Configuring image-language rela>ons in crea>ng digital animated movies: Construc>ng meaning at the image-language interface.

Digital animated films can now be composed readily by primary school children en>rely on their computers using easy-to-operate

mul>modal anima>on soPware that is either free online or available at very modest cost (Extranormal; Anim8tor; Kids Movie Creator;

Moviestorm; Kahootz).

Children authoring animated movies

Unsworth, L. & Thomas, A. (with Paul Chandler & Annemaree OBrien). Teaching effec,ve 3D authoring in the middle school years: Mul,media gramma,cal design and mul,media authoring pedagogy. ARC funded Linkage Project University of New England, University of Tasmania and the Australian Childrens Television Founda>on 2009-2011.

Exploring image-language complementarity

In the Goldfish movie by Paige, the goldfish discuss the risks of the children throwing a ball inside the house, but all we see on screen is a blue sphere rhythmically passing from one side of screen to the other. We also do not see the ball smash the goldfish tank, nor is this made explicit verbally, but we hear a sound of glass breaking and then we see the broken tank, and the goldfish, on the floor.

Modeling image-language complementarity in animated narra>ve

movies

These early stages of understanding and using visual/verbal complementarity and intermodal varia>on in commitment to meaning can be enhanced through the kind of close analysis of segments of animated movies of picture books as described here in rela>on to The Lost Thing (Tan, 2000) and which can be explored in the many popular movies of established literary picture books.

Implica>ons for mul>modal digital narra>ve authoring pedagogy

Providing models

Deconstruc>on

Metalanguage

Bibliography

Unsworth, L. (2008). Comparing and Composing Digital Re-presenta>ons of Literature: Mul>media Authoring and Meta-communica>ve Knowledge. In L. Unsworth (Ed.), New Literacies and the English Curriculum (pp. 186-212). London and New York: Con>nuum.

Unsworth, L. (2007). Mul>modal Text Analysis in Classroom Work with Children's Literature. In T. Royce & W. Bowcher (Eds.), New Direc>ons in Mul>modal Text Analysis (pp. 331-360). Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum.

Unsworth, L. (in press). Point of view in picture books and animated film adapta>ons: Informing cri>cal mul>modal comprehension and composi>on pedagogy. In E. Djonov & S. Zhao (Eds.), Cri>cal mul>modal studies of popular culture. London: Routledge.

Unsworth, L. (in press). The image/language interface in picture books as animated films: A focus for new narra>ve interpreta>on and composi>on pedagogies. In L. Unsworth & A. Thomas (Eds.), English Teaching and New Literacies Pedagogy: Interpre>ng and Authoring Digital Mul>media Narra>ves. New York: Peter Lang.

actf literature conference unswo

Documents