Educational activity around the short film Ushi nichi
Respect shared space, tools and materials.
Identify the elements of plastic language in a production: colors, shapes, materials, support.
Open up to the diversity of artistic practices and cultures.
Ushi nichi © Decovocal
TitleUshi nichi
ThemeIrrational
Genre & keywordsAbsurd, animalistic, irrational, illogical, preposterous.
Age (for film)9-11 years old
Duration09 min 09 s
DirectorHiroco Ichinose
MusicParallel
ProductionDecovocal (Japan, 2017)
Create a constraint comic book on the theme of mutant characters.
Among the methods of the absurd exploited in the film is that used in the “mutant character” series, where a logical development follows incongruous premises. It is an interesting form for manipulating narrative logic, while staying away from the habits to which dominant cultural productions have accustomed us. Focusing on the formal logical/illogical game makes it possible to avoid recourse to psychologism (the actions of a character are necessarily the result of internal motivation), and the obligatory progressions towards an end like a return to normality.
The principle of this activity is to create a comic strip based on the diagram of the “mutant series”. Each child is invited to imagine, in three or four copies, a short story where the character wakes up with a strange physical peculiarity and where he exploits it in a particular activity, until the moment he is rewarded. The beginning and the end are therefore constrained (which nevertheless allows variations on them – see the film).
We can draw a lot of inspiration from the film, in any case spending a little time studying the staging of the corresponding sequences: the cutting work, the simplicity of expression, the similarities and differences between sequences of the same role. The children will also have to create sequences of a few drawn boxes, without dialogue.
The comics can be made on large sheets of A2 or A3 format, one per sequence, with boxes prepared in advance. The framework thus fixed allows us to concentrate on the invention of the progress of the sequence.
Activity sheet written by: Bruno Pellier
