Educational activity based on the short film Ushi nichi
Respect shared space, tools and materials.
Identify the elements of visual language in a piece of work: colours, shapes, materials, medium.
Open up to the diversity of artistic practices and cultures.
Ushi nichi © Decovocal
TitleUshi nichi
ThemeIrrational
Genre & keywordsAbsurd, animals, irrational, illogical, preposterous.
Age (for the 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 absurdist devices used 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 keeping our distance from the conventions that mainstream culture has accustomed us to. Focusing on the formal interplay of logical and illogical helps avoid resorting to psychologizing (the actions of a character are necessarily the result of internal motivation), and the forced drive toward an ending that restores 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 versions, a short story where the character wakes up with a bizarre physical trait and putting it to use in some activity, until the moment he is rewarded. The beginning and the end are therefore fixed (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 panel breakdown, the simplicity of expression, the similarities and differences between sequences that serve the same function. The children will also have to create sequences of a few drawn panels, without dialogue.
The comics can be made on large sheets of A2 or A3 format, one per sequence, with panels prepared in advance. The framework thus fixed allows us to concentrate on inventing how the sequence unfolds.
Activity sheet written by: Bruno Pellier
