Nothing got them quite so excited as making a video
I spent 5 days drawing and making comics with kids at the St Charles Park District in St Charles, MO. 15 hours of art in one week! The kids made some amazing drawings, of dragons, porcupines, evil Nacho Stand operators, and more! Throughout, I was amazed by their creativity and their capacity to learn.
So on the last day I figured we’d try something I’d only ever done once before. We’d make a comic on the whiteboard, as we’d been doing almost every day. But then I’d record video of each panel and have them read the speech bubbles and sound effects! I through a little narration on top, and then played the results back to them so they could see what they’d created.
As kids who grew up watching YouTube, they were especially enthused by the idea that it would get posted once I had time to upload it. But there seems to be something special about the idea that your art, the results of your creativity get played back to you in real time. I’ve made movies with my niece and nephews before, and the result is the same–even weeks or months later, they want to go back and watch their antics, relive the adventure and imagination.
The park district space had a big whiteboard on one wall. We drew comics on each of the whiteboards I had, and then made big drawings for the beginning and ending panels on the wall whiteboard. The kids drew the comics themselves. I added a few speech bubbles and sound effects, and had them rehearse twice before we recorded. A few kids ended up with speaking roles, but I told them to do the sound effects as a group. As a result, the room filled with kids making fart sounds, explosion sounds, and exaggerated smooches when The Other Thing kissed a dragon!
With two sessions of quick rehearsal, they were able to record the whole thing with only one or two retakes. Then I played the results back to them on my phone. They were enthralled with their own art, and thought the sound effects were hilarious.
Only a few days later we got an email from the grandparent of one girl: WHERE’S OUR VIDEO. So I uploaded to YouTube for everyone to see. The comic is all about our general-purpose miscreant The Other Thing, who gets in between the romantic relationship of two other floofballs, and eventually falls in love with a dragon! The story has it all: love, heartbreak, nuclear explosions, and Pikachu!
It was amazing to bring comics and acting together this way, and I look forward to the next movie. You can see the results, and more, on our YouTube channel.
Have you ever tried recording an imaginative video before? We’d love to see it! As always, we love to see your art projects. Keep creating, Do Art Nation, and keep letting your imagination take you to unexpected places. We will see you soon!