Educational activity based on the short film Rain shower
Use drawing in all its variety as a means of expression.
Rain shower © Tomoko Takaya / Tokyo University of the Arts
TitleRain shower
ThemeAnimals, Rain
Genre & keywordsContemplative, cat, rain, Japan, street, sun
Age (for the film)3-11 years
Duration05 min 10 s
DirectorTomoko Takaya
MusicJuri Ito
ProductionTokyo University of the Arts (Japan, 2015)
Describe then imagine.
The film depicts the wanderings of a cat in the rain. The title of the film in English “Rain shower” could be translated as “rain shower”; the original Japanese title refers to a passing shower. This short film does not tell a story; it is a contemplative film whose object, like Japanese haiku poems, is to capture a place, a moment.
A chance to have pupils depict rain, through drawing but also, why not, through sound.
Explain to the children how the director of the film represents the rain in the film. Rain is represented by bright white dotted lines on a dark background. The same goes for the drops running down a roof (1 min 8 s). Transparent water is difficult to draw and the director chose to make the water look glistening, as if lit by the sun. The background is dark; this creates contrast and highlights the white lines of the rain.
Describe different pictorial representations of rain throughout the history of art. Specify that Tomoko Takaya, director of the short film, is Japanese and distinguish between depictions of rain in traditional Japanese art and in Western art. Compare with the representation of rain in the short film. Students will use words such as: White lines, black lines, light, shiny, reflection, umbrella, drop of water, puddle, fog...
Print the materials for this activity...
The children will then choose how they want to draw the rain (white rain on a dark background, black on a light background, drops bouncing on the ground, an umbrella...)
Students aged 9-11 will also be able to represent rain in the form of poems. Examples of famous poems and creations by students aged 9-11 on the Grenoble academy website...
“At the edge of evening a soft rain whispers. Each drop of water still seems to hesitate Then grows bolder. The numerous fingers of the downpour lightly drum the thirsty earth... » conserver le titre français `À la lisière du temps` (glose possible) (1915-1997).
Activity sheet written by: Christophe Defaye
