1.

Find a picture of a stained glass window, or visit your local church for inspiration. Select a few key colours and shapes and draw a fictional literary character of your choice in the form of a stained glass window. Discuss how easy/difficult it was to apply this style to a different subject matter.

2.

Select ('steal' or 'appropriate') a medieval or modern source for visual inspiration, for example, medieval manuscript illustrations, drawings of a Renaissance artist, Romantic poetic descriptions, Victorian architecture, modern catwalk models, and so on. Select one of the styles and with it create a drawing of one of the 'Gawain' characters. Compare your outcome with another person's who chose a different source of inspiration. How have your different choices affected the nature of the character you have drawn?

3.

Examine the poem 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' and select one of the descriptive passages, for example the description of the castle or the Green Knight. Draw an image that faithfully represents the description in the text. Compare your drawing with those of colleagues and observe similarities and differences. How does this affect your interpretation of 'imaginative realism'?

4.

Selecting your own favourite celebrity, discuss which 'Gawain' character they would be best suited to perform. Discuss how their accent/dialect/vocal mannerisms would affect the production. This activity will help you understand the importance of casting and how sound influences meaning and reception.

5.

Select a particular musical style, for instance, rock 'n' roll, rap, hip-hop or pop. Extract a few key tones (sounds) and rhythms. Apply your chosen style to the visuals of a seduction or hunting scene. Now ask whether 'modern' sounds alter the experience of viewing the animation.

6.

Select a recording of a silent movie which already has a musical soundtrack, for example, one of Charlie Chaplin's movies. Create an alternative voice recording of dialogue and sound effects to match the action. Combine ('sound mix') these elements together, paying attention to which audio tracks should be louder/quieter.

7.

Complete the chart below by placing the number of the production member next to the activity that they carry out. (More than one member can be assigned to the same activity and one member can be assigned to more than one activity.)

• animator
• clean-up Artist
• art director
• sound editor
• sound mixer
• actors
• composer

Job

Carried out by

Paintbrush

Voice recording

Lip sync

Rough drawings

Animatic

Style sheets

Foley

Sound fx

Music score

Dope sheet

Paint box

8.

Identify a short story you think would lend itself to an exciting animation treatment.

• Decide upon visual sources for inspiration.
• Negotiate which parts you will include or edit from the text.
• Create a short script.
• Make line drawings to match the developments of the story.
• Choose your actors and make a voice recording.
• Flicking the papers, add layers to create movements.
• Scan your drawings into a computer.
• Colour in the drawings.
• Make into a PowerPoint presentation. Apply audio.
• In PowerPoint it is possible to dictate how many seconds the slide will appear on screen. Making a simple 'dope sheet,' decide how long each slide will be on show. (Obviously lip-sync will not be possible).
• Screen your première.

Alternatively, if you have access to the internet, visit one of the 'making animations' websites listed in the Web Links section of these notes and try a computer-generated animation.

9.

Compare the 'Gawain' animation to one of the other 'Gawain' adaptations. Discuss the differences in production techniques and compare the effectiveness of each adaptation.

10.

Consider other medieval texts, such as 'The Canterbury Tales', cycle and morality dramas, civic pageants and the dream visions. Discuss the suitability/difficulty of animating these texts. Are there any visual features common to them? Do you think the co-existence in the Middle Ages of an oral tradition has any impact on our ability to adapt these texts into a visual medium?

11.

Consider other modern adaptations of medieval texts. What is your verdict on modern interpretations of medievalism? You could discuss, for instance, the Arthurian films, live drama shows, the evidence of 'dream vision' influence in modern television shows, the animations of selected Canterbury Tales, the children's programmes of the Aesop's fables, and so on.