28.9.2021

 Module AND218- Week 1
Ideation and starting research  

I am tasked with making a show for a pitch bible for a new children’s cartoon. They’re wanting something for a preschool demographic and while things are mostly in the ideation phase this week, I’ve managed to come up with an idea with the help with talking to the lectures. I need to come up with some sketches and a basic character’s designs by Friday.

My goal with is project is to make as show that teaches children to be both kind and develop creative skills. The creative angle is actually very important as it adds a hands-on element to the show. However, the most popular children’s shows from memory are more focused on short stories with an array of character such as paw patrol or pepper pig though I will need to do more research on that area as YouTube as also become popular with children with channels such as Cocomelon that focus on repetitive nursery rhymes.

Initial notes written on scrap paper I had one me

Further notes.*

In recent years I have noticed a rise in fidget toys which while once designed for neurodivergent children as form of stimming has become surprisingly popular with all children most likely due to their collectability. However, I cannot help but wonder that if this increasingly digital age, where everything is a flat screen, that children are being deprived of a more tactile form of play? I remember once hearing that children learn about the world through play, like if you push a stack of blocks they’ll will fall down or how hitting a stick on certain sized keys of a xylophone you get different sounds. 

I remember going into The Works to look at some art supplies when I saw this. 
Should've taken a picture at the time.

I knew I wanted to show to be about art, so much so that all the character are to represent various art mediums, yet I was torn between the shows main premise and if it was going to be a show made up of both cartoon and live action segments like Art Attack, Teletubbies or Number Jacks. Or have each episode be a self-contained story like that of Peppa Pig, Masha and the Bear or Paw Patrol. But when I told my ideas to my lecturer, he suggested that he liked the idea of having the characters be various arts and crafts and that maybe the world could be made of crafts too. This then lend to the idea that the art and crafts would be used as part of the story by having them craft the solution to a problem.

For example, our main characters need to get across a river and need to build a bridge which then can cut to a segment in which we get to see how to make a bridge out of glue, paper and wooden lolly sticks. Then after the segment the lolly stick bridge is makes a real bridge for our characters to cross.

Different types of art-

1. Visual Arts
(Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Film, Animation)

2. Literary Arts
(Writing, Poetry, Prose, Drama, Storytelling)

3. Performing Arts
(Music, Dance, Theatre, Illusion, Storytelling)

4. Culinary Arts
(Cooking, Winemaking)

5. Graphic Arts
(Calligraphy, Typography, Printmaking, product design)

 

6. Architecture
(Architecture, interior design)

8. Fashion
(Textiles, Shoe Making/Cobbling, Hat Making/Millinery, Makeup)

 

9. Artisanal/ Decorative/ Folk art
(Weaving, Woodwork, Metalwork, Glass blowing, Paper craft, Weaving, Flower pressing, ect.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_arts (28/9/21)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicraft (28/9/21)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performing_arts (28/9/21)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_design (28/9/21)

https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-arts (28/9/21)
https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/ (28/9/21)
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms (28/9/21)

*I wanted to have a diverse cast but at the time of writing these notes I am worried that any showing of religious clothing, traditions or beliefs my have the show banned in some parts of the world. It's a possibly quite upsetting thing to write and I want to address the comment I made within my notes.