Cahier pédagogique réalisé dans le cadre du 37e Poitiers Film Festival, rencontres internationales des écoles de

cinéma (28 novembre - 7 décembre 2014).

Rédaction :

My Stuffed Granny : Claire SORET, enseignante, Lycée Léonce Vieljeux, La Rochelle (17)

Tea Time : Alexandre ALDER, enseignant, Collège Marc Chagall, Dompierre-sur-mer (17)

Mend And Make Do : Sylvie LEMONNIER-HUET, enseignante, Collège Jean Guiton, La Rochelle (17)

Mise en page :

Julien Proust, Poitiers Film Festival

A movie by Effie Pappa

National Film and Television School (NFTS), United Kingdom

Little Sofia loves her grumpy granny, even though she is always hungry and eats what little food they can buy.

Her pension is the only thing keeping her and her father alive. To what extremes will they go to once granny is

no more?

Effie Pappa was born in Greece in 1986, where she had her first lessons in Ancient Theatre and Drama. In 2010,

she graduated from Faculty of Applied Arts & Design (TEI of Athens) with her first short "1,2 Million Children"

about Human Trafficking. Her graduation film earned international recognition, awards and nominations in

festivals such as LAGFF, Hong Kong MFA, Balkanima and more.

Ever since she has been directed and animated educational short animations, commercials and music videos. In

2012, she gets awarded as a scholar from Alexander Onassis Foundation and she attends the MA course,

Directing Ani-mation, at the National Film & Television School. She graduates in 2014 with her 10min stop-frame

animation “My Stuffed Granny”. She lives and works as a free-lancer in London and collaborates with her

colleagues from Athens.

www.mystuffedgranny.co.uk

Main facts (A2-B1)

1. Where and when does the scene take place ?

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2. Who are the main characters and how are they interrelated ?

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3. Find out elements showing their financial situation.

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4. The story : use the following shots to tell the story in the past, give as many details as you can, don't forget

to use link words and to connect all the shots together.

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tip : use simple past for actions that make up the story vs past be-ing for actions going on within the story, and

past perfect for actions that precede the actions in the past.

Detailed understanding (B1-B2)

5. Match the characters with the two adjectives that correspond to their personality.

selfish the girl

submissive

innocent the man

helpless

greedy the elderly woman

helpful

6. Find elements from the story to justify your choices (group work : each group concentrates on one

character).

7. Underlying meaning. Pair work : use the following prompts to ask questions and quiz your classmate.

Group 1 : you want to know more about the characters'goals

- family / go to the office of the government ?

- girl / grow seeds ?

- father / fry the goldfish ?

- granny / bump the shelf with her cane ?

- father / pray ?

- girl / water her granny ?

Group 2 : you want to get explanations.

- girl / say granny was a magician ? (two reasons)

- family / go to the office of the government?

- granny / eat so much ?

- granny / smile ?

- plants / grow from granny ?

- story / entitled 'my stuffed granny ?

A movie by Andrew Lee

Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Australia

Tucked away in a forgotten and isolated motel, a “lad” encounters a returning solider coping with post-traumatic

stress disorder. The brief encounter is a soft collision of two characters both lost and trying to find themselves

within each other.

Andrew Lee, (aka undi) studied design at the University of Technology Sydney, during which time he received

two scholarships to complete his studies in France and Canada. He has worked on many award-winning

productions under production designer Melinda Doring, including The Eye of the Storm (Fred Schepsi), The

Sapphires (Wayne Blair), Netherland Dwarf (David Michôd), Strangerland (Kim Farrant) and The Water Diviner

(Russell Crowe) under costume designer Tess Schofield.

As a director in 2010 and 2011 he was awarded the ‘Young Australian Korean Filmmaker Award’ at the Korean

film Festival in Australia, for his short films Swimming With Chopin and Second From the Right. His other awarding

winning films that he designed include; Perception (Best Live Action Short at The Sydney Film Festival - 2013)

Spine (Best Australian short at the Melbourne international film festival- 2012) and Bat Eyes, which was screened

at the 69th Venice Film Festival in 2012.

In 2013, Andrew completed his Directing Post-graduate Diploma at the Australian Film Television and Radio

School, where he was awarded the Kenneth B Myer Scholarship for Exceptional Talent.

www.undi.co

A movie by Thomas Schienagel, Marie Kister, Marcel Knüdeler and Wilfried Pollan

Nuremberg Institute of Technology Georg-Simon-Ohm - Faculty of Design, Germany

A woman enters the library of elderly librarian Paul. He cannot remember her name but knows that she ordered

a book. As Paul sets out to look for it in the dusty aisles of his vast library, the boundary between reality and

illusion starts to blur until nothing is as it seems.

Thomas Schienagel was born in 1983 in Ansbach. He studied Media Design at the Institute of Technology Georg-

Simon-Ohm in Nuremburg from 2006-2012 and worked as an intern at AVA-Studios (Nuremburg). He is the co-

director of the short animation Run Out (2011). His other projects include image clips, music videos, trailers and

commercials.

Marie Kister was born in 1988 in Suhl. She studied Media Design at the Institute of Technology Georg-Simon-

Ohm in Nuremburg from 2008-2012 and worked as an intern at Pixable-Studios (Dresden) and ARRI Film & TV

Services (Munich). Her other projects as a 3D artist include music videos, title designs, storyboarding,

compositing.

Marcel Knüdeler was born in 1985 in Solingen. He studied Media Design at the Institute of Technology Georg-

Simon-Ohm in Nuremburg from 2006-2012 and worked as an intern at ARRI Film & TV Services (Munich). His other

projects as a 3D artist include commercials, music videos, title designs.

Wilfried Pollan was born in 1986 in Klagenfurt (Austria). He studied Media Design at the Institute of Technology

Georg-Simon-Ohm in Nuremburg from 2008-2012 and worked as an intern at Digital Frame Studio (Stuttgart).

He co-directed the short animation Tea Time (2013). His other projects as a compositing artist include

commercials, station Ids.

www.tea-time-movie.de

1. Before watching.

Look at the following pictures from the movie. In your opinion, what may the story be about ?

2. After watching.

A. Part one : the introduction scene.

a. The characters.

Identify the characters. Who are they ? Describe and compare them. How do they look ?

Do you know their names ? Why or why not ?

b. The place. Where does the scene take place ?

a pharmacy a bookshop a café a library

Do you all agree ? Why or why not ?

c. The story. True or False ? Justify your answer.

The lady is there to buy a book. T / F

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The old man knows exactly where the book is. T / F

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The reference of the book he is looking for is EM 67 T / F

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B. Part two : looking for the book.

What colour is the book ? What type of colours prevail in the room ? Why is there a contrast ?

What happens when the old man tries to find the book ? Is it an easy task ? Why, why not ?

What transformations can you see ? Fill in the grid below :

The books… A bookcase… The library alleys… The whole library…

turns into…

What do those transformations make you think about ? Is it possible ?

How would you qualify the atmosphere in this part ? You can make your choice(s) from the list below or

find other adjectives. Justify your choice(s).

smooth, irrational, funny, imaginary, calm, stressful, chaotic, playful…

In this part, there is one totally different moment from the rest of it. What is it ? What happens in it ?

Does the old man finally manage to get the book ? How does he look ? What's the book's title ? What does

it trigger in the old man's head ?

C. Part three : the final scene.

a. Where does the scene take place?

b. The old man is staring at the lady. Why ? What's going on ?

How does he look ?

c. What happens ? What is the lady's reaction ?

d. Who is she ? What's her name ? What could EM LXVII mean ? How is she related to him?

e. What can you deduce about the old man's health ?

3. Symbolism and conclusion

What do you think the library represents ?

How about the drawers, the storm, the strong current and torrent, the vortex and the tornado ?

Could you have predicted the conclusion of the story ? Why or why not ?

Look at the pictures below. What could have made you realise that there was something wrong ?

What do you think of the story ? How would you qualify it ? Is it a comedy ? Justify.

4. Essay

a. What memory or memories would you like to last forever ? Write a short text to tell it.

b. Emma writes an email to her bestfriend telling about her dad's condition. Write the email. Give

examples of incidents that happened.

5. To go further

a. Go to www.alz.org/living_with_alzheimers_just_for_kids_and_teens.asp and make a slideshow to talk

about Alzheimer.

b. If you saw the film entitled Mend and Make Do, what does it have in common with Tea Time ? What are

the differences ? Compare the vision of the old age in both films.

A movie by Daisy Jacobs

National Film and Television School (NFTS), United Kingdom

“You want to put her in a home; you tell her; tell her now!” hisses one brother to the other. But Mother won't go,

and their own lives quickly unravel as she clings to life. Director Daisy Jacobs uses two-metre-high painted

characters in full-size sets to tell the stark and darkly humorous tale of caring for an elderly relative. The Bigger

Picture is quite simply the most innovative animated short you will see this year.

www.thebiggerpicturefilm.com

Salute Your Shorts : The Bigger Picture - by Cookie N Screen – 17/11/2014

www.imwithgeek.com/film/salute-your-shorts-the-bigger-picture

When you go into The Bigger Picture,

watching it for the first (fourth or

sixtieth) time, there are a few things

you need to be aware of. For a start,

those paintings are life sized. Each

character is painstakingly crafted by

director, writer and producer Daisy

Jacobs. The animation is stop motion

so each millisecond that counts and is

passionately and delicately hewed in a

definitive skill. And finally, I want you

to note that Jacobs has just scooped

the Best Under 25 Film Maker Award

at last week’s UnderWire Film Festival. That’s right. This, quite frankly, superb short has all been wonderfully

accomplished before Jacobs hit 25. And here I am writing about it…

Onwards to the film though, and The Bigger Picture is a wonderfully

imaginative and emotional piece that captures a human energy within

brush strokes and puppetry. It tells the tale of Nick, a young man who is

charged with looking after his frail mother. However, her older son Richard

is her golden child, racing through the country in a car and stealing all the

praise from the hard-working Nick. As her illness worsens, the contention

between the pair thickens but can they pull together to make her final

weeks great?

For technological skill, Jacobs stunningly gives attentive life to her characters. Awash with amazing dedication,

the nuances in the painted character that is teamed with the puppetry that lifts from the wall, literally and has

this phenomenal effect. Wholly original, this bustling and vibrant stop-motion film showcases Jacob’s impeccable

talent that absorbs you into the story with these great colourful characters, dashed across the walls two metre’s

high. The Bigger Picture is, indeed, a triumph in imagination that is executed excellently.

Underneath the aesthetic appeal and the greatly

achieved vision is a darkly humorous story. Not only

does The Bigger Picture excel with its technical detail

but it exudes this grand human spirit. Concentrating on

the minute frustrations of Nick and allowing them to

enthuse with his love for his family, though the artwork

is mostly one-dimensional wall paintings, they still have

a three-dimensional personalities. Nick, Richard and

Mother could be a family you know. Heck, they are

probably the family you are, conveying a multitude

emotions wrought when it comes to get together over

tragic events. With an impressive voice cast, Anne

Cunningham, Christopher Nightingale and Alisdair

Simpson delight in a rather poignant but thoroughly

human tale.

Cultivating her talent, that must have taken excruciating months to complete, Daisy Jacobs is a talented

filmmaker to keep an eye out for. Because if she is creating amazing films such as The Bigger Picture before she’s

25, imagine what her career is going to entail.

[INTERVIEW] Daisy Jacobs : « I want to defend a cinema that does not underestimate the intelligence of the

audience » - by Fanny Saadi – 16/10/2014

www.yourfilmbusiness.fr/interview-daisy-jacobs-i-want-to-defend-a-cinema-that-does-not-underestimate-the-

intelligence-of-the-audience/4153?lang=en

Young director in the animation sector, Daisy Jacobs spent five years studying illustration, animation and art and

the Central St Martins School of Art and Design in London, before studying for a Masters degree in animation

direction at the NFTS (National Film and Television School) that she has just finished. Accompanied by her

animator, Christopher Wilder, during the International Short Film Festival of Lille, she was awarded the second

prize for the Best International Short Film for her very first work, financed by her school, The bigger picture. Your

Film Business wanted to find out more on her professional path.

How did you come with the plot of The bigger picture ?

It is based roughly on my own family. I like to base things in reality but then add fantastical or hyper-real

elements.

Why did you choose stop motion instead rather than any other animated film form ?

Stop motion has a very physical element to it, which I really enjoy. It is a very expressive animated form. In my

short, I get to mix both stop motion – by creating on the one hand a real set, in 3D, built with diverse materials –

with the strait ahead painted life-size characters. This way I am still retaining a large painted aspect like 2D drawn

animation, which I also greatly enjoy.

What is your movie reference for stop-motion ?

I don’t really have one.

How did you finance your short film ?

The National Film and Television School give us a budget for the films we make there. I think mine was about

£8000, although you should probably ask my producer!

In general, what are the ways to finance a short film in United Kingdom ?

Funding in the UK for short films is not good. We are currently trying to finance our first professional short and

it’s not easy. We are looking to crowdfunding as one part of it and will be launching our campaign in November.

There are festival system, but did you try to initiate a viral campaign on the internet ?

If you want to show your films at festivals for the first couple of years on its completion- you shouldn’t put it

online as it can disqualify you from some festivals. We put our trailer online and some of my friends made me a

website. The website address is: www.thebiggerpicturefilm.com

What kind of movies do you want to fight for ?

Films that make people think. Films that push the boundaries of animation. Films that don’t underestimate the

intelligence of the audience.

What would the ideal producer be like for you ?

Hardworking, supportive and deeply loyal. These are the qualities that all of my key crew have.

How was the production period ? Were you under any constraints ?

We had a six month production period and were under big time constraints with that. We had to work extremely

hard to get it done in that time. Most days problems surfaced but we had to think on our feet and solve them

quickly.

How would you like animation films to evolve in the next few years ?

I would like more people to be interested in watching animation or more non- mainstream films and I would like

there to be more funding for them. I hope to see a more varied selection of films in cinemas, just like you see at

film festivals, in the years to come.

What do you think about online movie streaming ?

I enjoy the experience of going to the cinema and watching films on a big screen and with an audience/other

people around me more than watching things on my laptop at home.

The Making of ‘The Bigger Picture’ with Animator Chris Wilder – by Amid Amidi – 12/11/2014

www.cartoonbrew.com/award-season-focus/the-making-of-the-bigger-picture-with-animator-chris-wilder-

105494.html

This year’s Academy Award shortlist for animated shorts comprises ten distinguished films that use an array of

animation techniques, narrative structures, and stylistic approaches. We’ll be taking a look at these films over

the next few weeks, beginning today with The Bigger Picture by Daisy Jacobs.

Technique-wise, perhaps no film takes a bigger risk than The Bigger Picture, which ingeniously blends life-size

painted 2D animation and stop motion of hand-made objects. The physicality of the materials and setting give a

sense of both intimacy and immediacy to the story of brothers who are looking after their ailing mother. Jacobs

made the film as a graduation project at the U.K.’s National Film and Television School, and the film has been a

major hit on the festival circuit, picking up awards at Cannes, Annecy, Hiroshima Fantoche, and DOK Leipzig, to

name just a few.

We asked The Bigger Picture’s stop motion animator Chris Wilder to speak with us about the film’s unique

production process and some of the challenges involved in its creation. Here’s what he had to say, accompanied

by a visual essay of behind-the-scenes production photos:y

Chris Wilder : Very early in the storyboarding process it was decided that 3D items should be pulled into the wall by

the characters and become a 2D painting, however during the initial tests for the film we quickly realized that most

of the props we had chosen for this to happen to (mostly kitchen items such as kettles, teapots and plates) were

extremely heavy.

Most couldn’t be attached to the wall long enough for us to dive out

of frame and take the shot; they would fall with a crash taking the

characters’ arms with them and sometimes a large chunk of plaster

from the wall itself. We at this point decided to build replica versions

of these props out of paper mache, making them light enough to

attach to the wall or suspend in mid air, this also meant we could cut

them down easily as they disappeared into the wall incrementally.

Our technique involved Daisy painting the straight-ahead 2D

character animation on a flat wall whilst I animated the 3D elements

of the scene (such as arms, teacups and kettles) alongside her.

The main difference between animating drawings on paper and life-size painting is probably the level of physical

endurance required of the animator. Daisy had made two small experimental films using this painting on wall

technique and knew that having to work this way for six months straight was going to be a very arduous challenge.

Daisy did all the painting in the film herself. One week she was so exhausted she sat down on a swivel chair to

examine how the frame was looking only to immediately fall asleep. I had to then gloomily poke her with the end of

a paintbrush. When she jolted awake, I handed her a paint palette and she returned to the wall. No matter how tired

she was she just kept painting. The deadline for completion was so tight we just kept pushing forward. Tears,

tantrums, and the occasional screaming fit were all perfectly fine as long as we kept working.

One of the main difficulties we encountered during

the production was the combination of using straight

ahead animation and lip-syncing the characters’

dialogue. The film centers around several important

conversations and whenever it came to animating

speech this always applied pressure to any other

elements of the animation as every element of the

scene had to be accurately timed (the lip-sync, the

painted animation movement, the stop-motion

movement etc,) and we were very often not able to

retrace our steps.

However, the knowledge that everything could

quickly fall apart if we lost concentration is probably

how we maintained the level of focus needed to complete the film in the time we had been given. Fear drove this

film and it became our friend.

As we were in some ways inventing and shaping this technique as we made the film many of the creative results were

often surprising. We had done tests before the production which involved the ideas of the 3D and the 2D world

combining, but nothing on the scale of the film’s actual set pieces.

Often the film’s biggest moments, such as the vacuum sucking

up the living room, the room filling with cling-film water, and

Nick growing giant on the living room wall, had to be

completed in the shortest spaces of time. In which case, we

gritted our teeth and started animating with the mindset that

we would just have to make it work even if we were unsure

exactly as to how. If it wasn’t working, we would keep trying

until it did. The hours were long, the work was hard, and we

were often angry, but we kept at it.

Watch a behind-the-scenes video :

www.vimeo.com/85923309

A movie by Bexie Bush

National Film and Television School (NFTS), United Kingdom

A cup of tea ? Come and take a seat in Lyn's cosy front room, hear her story of love during wartime and watch as

her belongings come alive with the hope, fear and humour of one spirited lady. Equal parts documentary,

animation and magic, “Mend and Make Do” features the original voice of Lyn Schofield of Southport, Merseyside,

a woman with a lifetime of tales to tell.

Bexie grew up in Northwest England where she discovered a passion for film through a BTEC National Diploma

in Multimedia course. She chose to study at BA (Hons) Animation, Farnham, UCA where she gained a first class

honours and discovered and explored the various aspects of animation. Her student films, Britain and Ever Hear

a Postman Whistle have won awards and have been screened at several film festivals in the UK and

internationally. Bexie aims to explore unusual approaches when making films. She likes working with fabric (=

tissu, particularly important in this movie) because it adds a tangible textural quality. She aspires to make

animated films, which are abstract and full of playful ideas but also tell something real about life.

With “Mend and Make Do” she won the award for best student animated short at Palm Springs festival in June

2014.

www.mendandmakedo.co.uk

Introduction

What objects do you remember seeing in Lyn's living-room ? What do they say about her ?

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« There's no embarassment today about asking a man to go to bed with you /.../ It's not the lads doing it now it's

the girls /.../ when I was young they treated us like ladies. First kiss, first love... »

How does Bexie Bush visually show us that Lyn goes back to her past ? What happens to the objects ?

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Romances

Lyn appears as a modern and mischievous (=espiègle) young girl for her time. What did she do ?

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Comment this picture : what Lyn is doing and how she is represented ?

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Married life

Lyn wasn't born at a time when women experienced a lot of freedom. Her parents chose her husband for her.

Rewrite this paragraph in the past simple with the verbs underlined :

« This is the end of all my romances. I see him off at the station. He says don't cry I'll be back. I think that's when I

fall in love with him...

When Vince comes home after the war, we have never had sex but the next minute I am pregnant. Everybody says

you're not going to have another baby are you ? We not only have children we get two adopted children ! »

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Fabric, clothes are very important in this movie. How does Bexie Bush use them in that part ? And what does it

show ?

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New objects are first appearing in Lyn's living-room. Which ones ?

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Explain why they are disappearing :

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How does Lyn react ? How does she feel and why in your opinion ?

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Growing old

When Vince dies Lyn says : « It was the worst day of my life ». How did her relationship with her husband evolve

over the years ?

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« When you've had as many kids as me you've got to make do in life. Whatever comes I will accept and enjoy it ».

« Mend and Make Do » was a slogan during WWII. It means « réparer et faire durer ». Fabric again is very important

in this film : how does Lyn mend ? What does she use ?

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« Make do » can also be translated as « faire avec » in French. Give examples of possible situations you think Lyn

refers to :

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What do you personally think of such a philosophy ? Could you make it yours ? Why ?

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