Building Character
Now have students make two clay characters that might be used in a stop-motion animation.
You may want to remind students of the process they learned for making clay characters in the Introduction to Stop-Motion Animation unit.
Tell students that they should make one of the characters as likeable as possible, and one of the others as unlikeable as possible, so that we’ll know as soon as we see them who is the “good guy” and who is the “bad guy.” They will do this both through how they make the character and by taking a picture of each.
Remind students of the techniques for “stacking the deck” that they’ve learned in this lesson (and in other lessons, as appropriate), particularly the use of colour and camera angle.
If you prefer, you can have students draw their characters.
For a shorter version of the activity, you can have them choose two toys from a collection and identify what makes one seem likeable or like a “good guy” and what makes one seem unlikeable or like a “bad guy.”
After students have made their characters and taken pictures of them, review the different ways students made the characters seem likeable or unlikeable. Point out that it was relatively easy to make viewers side with one or another of the characters in the scene.
Ask students if they have ever done a similar exercise, in class or elsewhere. If so, ask them to reflect on what has changed since the last time they did.
Now ask:
- Is it fair that media makers can make you like or dislike a character in ways that have nothing to do with what the character does?
- Imagine that a particular group, like kids, was always portrayed in a negative way. Do you think it would change how people saw that group?
- How can we watch for unfairly negative (or unrealistically positive) portrayals of different groups of people in media?
If you choose, you can have students write or record a brief reflection on these questions.
