PICTURE BOOKS
-APPRENTICE-
STUDY AND LEARN:
• Read How to Seduce a Sasquatch pp. 8-38 (from the front side of the book *no barcode*) - This will include the first 20 sections.
• Read Poor Man's Bible
• Read 7 Things You Might Not Know About Illuminated Manuscripts
• Watch The Power of Pictures: Chris Oatley
• Go to a library or bookstore. Spend some time in the picture book section.
KNOW AND UNDERSTAND:
•While reading How to Seduce a Sasquatch write some thoughts in your common place book. What are some obstacles to creativity? How can you make it easier to tap into your own creativity?
•Reading Poor Man's Bible and 7 Things About Illuminated Manuscripts - This is kind of the birthplace of illustration and picture books. Read this etymology of the word Illustration--
illustration (n.) c. 1400, "a shining;" early 15c., "a manifestation;" mid-15c., "a spiritual illumination," from Old French illustration "apparition, appearance" (13c.) and directly from Latin illustrationem (nominative illustratio) "vivid representation" (in writing), literally "an enlightening," from past participle stem of illustrare "light up, make light, illuminate;" figuratively "make clear, disclose, explain; adorn, render distinguished," from assimilated form of in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + lustrare "make bright, illuminate," from suffixed form of PIE root *leuk- "light, brightness." Mental sense of "act of making clear in the mind" is from 1580s. Meaning "an illustrative picture" is from 1816.
-- How are pictures used to illuminate the illiterate? How did the stained glass windows illuminate the people? Can pictures do the same today? Record your thoughts in your common place book.
•While watching the The Power of Pictures - Record your thoughts on using pictures to tell stories. What pictures have had an impact on you? How can pictures show instead of tell? How does that let the audience participate in the story?
•At the library- Read at least 10 picture books (especially Caldecott award winners). What catches your eye? What art styles do you like? Does the art tell more to the story than the words or does it simply show what the words say? Pick a favorite picture book to share with the class. What do you like about it? Is there a message or lesson learned? How does the art add to the story?
BECOME AND SERVE:
• What roadblocks make it hard for you to be creative? Section #8 in the Sasquatch book talks about being still. Take some time to be still this week. Turn off your phone. Turn off the music. Go for a walk. Get out of your own way and let your mind wander. See what great ideas pop into your mind.
• Look for times when things are shown and not told. Try to do more showing instead of telling this week. Don't just tell your mom, "I love you." Do something for her that really shows her how you feel.
• Spend a day communicating without speaking.
-JOURNEYMAN-
STUDY AND LEARN:
• Watch - Mr. Bean at the Beach
• Watch - Mr. Bean Late for the Dentist
• Create- a story using pictures. NO WORDS. Tell your story through a sequence of about 5-7 still images, from the sources listed below. It should take a thoughtful viewer no more than a couple minutes to “process” the story you’re telling.
KNOW AND UNDERSTAND:
• Pay attention to how Mr Bean does not say anything but you know exactly what is going on in the story. How does Mr. Bean use visual cues to tell the story? How does the viewer participate in the story?
• Create- a story using pictures. NO WORDS. Tell your story through a sequence of about 5-7 still images, from the sources listed below. It should take a thoughtful viewer no more than a couple minutes to “process” the story you’re telling.
SOURCES
Your Photos- Photos of you and/or friends or family members from your past (, or photos you capture specifically for this project.
Your Photos- Photos of you and/or friends or family members from your past (, or photos you capture specifically for this project.
Your Images- Drawings, graphics, or other non-photographic images you made in the past or that you create for this project. That includes original art you draw as well as images you create using digital tools for creating images or comics.
Found Images- Photos or art found from magazines, internet etc. Emojis.
STRATEGIES
Telling a story through images requires a much narrower focus than than telling a story for audio delivery, partly because viewers need more time to process the story than they might if you simply tell it to them. While visual messages are often more powerful than those composed only of words, they also tend to compress the amount of material the storyteller can convey.
The most important strategy to keep in mind is that your images themselves should tell the story, so that viewers can understand what’s happening by looking at the sequence of images, without needing accompanying text passages to make sense of them. You’re not telling a story about the images, you’re telling the story THROUGH the images.
BECOME AND SERVE:
• Try to make someone laugh. Act silly and communicate something funny without using words.
-MASTERS-
STUDY AND LEARN:
• Watch -The Wizard of OZ
KNOW AND UNDERSTAND:
• The Wizard of OZ -- When do the visuals tell a story? What do you learn from the visuals of the movie? How are visuals used to communicate something other than what you are being told? How would the film have been significantly different—for better or worse—if the entire thing had been filmed either in all black and white or all Technicolor? How did the film makers use color to communicate concepts or ideas? What does the film suggest about the relationship between magic and reality? Any other insights relating to the power of pictures.
BECOME AND SERVE:
• Help someone recognize their own gifts. Help them to see that "they may already have what they're looking for."
The most important strategy to keep in mind is that your images themselves should tell the story, so that viewers can understand what’s happening by looking at the sequence of images, without needing accompanying text passages to make sense of them. You’re not telling a story about the images, you’re telling the story THROUGH the images.
BECOME AND SERVE:
• Try to make someone laugh. Act silly and communicate something funny without using words.
-MASTERS-
STUDY AND LEARN:
• Watch -The Wizard of OZ
KNOW AND UNDERSTAND:
• The Wizard of OZ -- When do the visuals tell a story? What do you learn from the visuals of the movie? How are visuals used to communicate something other than what you are being told? How would the film have been significantly different—for better or worse—if the entire thing had been filmed either in all black and white or all Technicolor? How did the film makers use color to communicate concepts or ideas? What does the film suggest about the relationship between magic and reality? Any other insights relating to the power of pictures.
• Help someone recognize their own gifts. Help them to see that "they may already have what they're looking for."
