The Art of Adaption - Peter and The Wolf - Stop Motion Animation

Hi Steemit

This semester I am teaching my class the meaning of adaptation and why it is so widely used in film making. In animation, there is no end of good examples to show to my students. For an introduction to adaptations I decided to show my students Suzie Templeton’s wonderful Peter and The Wolf. Templeton’s adaptation is stunning, keeping true to the essence of the original film whilst bringing her own unique character design and immersive brand of storytelling. This is one of my favourite stop motion animations. I was fortunate enough to see Suzie Templeton’s film played along with a full live orchestra in Barcelona when I was a teenager.

Peter and The Wolf began as a symphonic theatre production for Children. In 1936 Sergei Prokofiev, a Russian composes, was commissioned to create a piece for children, to introduce them to the theatre.

Here is a link to the full version of Suzie Templeton’s haunting "Peter and The Wolf":

In the original a narrator speaks over the top of the symphony, telling the tale of a little boy, protecting his animal friends and his family home from a wolf. In Templeton’s adaptation, there is no speech which is another reason this is so important for the students. This piece relies on character mannerisms, movement and strong original musical score.

The models created for this film are beautiful. Each character has a metal armature encased in silicon moulds. The characters have real hair placed into their scalp and skin. Tiny outfits were also painstakingly crafted for the human characters.

Here is a link that shows in more detail how they made the puppets for whoever may be interested in the details:

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Thank you

Charlotte :)