A STUDYGUIDE by Jo Flack Www

A Gothic adventure about a failed aerial navigator who is given another chance.

A STUDYGUIDE by Jo Flack

www.metromagazine.com.au

www.theeducationshop.com.au Introduction In a world where airships are made of iron and computers are powered by steam, Jasper Morello, a disgraced aerial navigator, flees his illness ridden home on a desperate voyage to redeem himself. The expedition through vast un-chartered skies is filled with horrors beyond imagination but in a shocking climax, Jasper discovers that the greatest horror of all lies within man himself.

et in the dark silhouetted world Curriculum relevance find some of the concepts disturb- of the Shadowlands, The ing or difficult to grasp. Teachers are SMysterious Geographic Explo- The Mysterious Geographic Explora- advised to preview the film before rations of Jasper Morello is an epic tions of Jasper Morello will make for screening it. steampunk story in the gothic tradition an interesting contribution to study in of Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe. a range of studies including: The Mysterious Geographic Explora- tions of Jasper Morello is an animation The Mysterious Geographic Explora- • English in a form that is likely to be new to its tions of Jasper Morello was made in • Literature audience. It is visually complex yet association with the Australian Film • Media subtle in the ways in which themes are Commission, Film Victoria and SBS • Arts related studies introduced and developed. The text is Television, and 3D Films. It was writ- • Ethics highly referential and for many stu- ten by Mark Shirrefs, the executive • History and philosophy of science dents will be their first experience of producer was Susie Campbell, and it speculative fiction. For these reasons was co-produced by Julia Lucas and Jasper Morello is suitable as a stand teachers may prefer to introduce some Anthony Lucas. The film is distributed alone text in these subjects or as part background to these ideas before

in Australia and New Zealand by Mad- of the study of animation, speculative viewing the film. To this end, the infor- SCREEN EDUCATION man Entertainment. fiction, gothic literature and film, and mation and activities in this guide are studies into the ethical nature of sci- not necessarily intended to be used Students can visit the dark world of ence. The film may be read on multiple sequentially but to be ordered to suit Jasper Morello at the film’s official levels. It is suitable for all age groups the intention of the teacher and the website: http://www.jaspermorello. from late primary school although requirements of the curriculum. com younger primary aged students may Before viewing the film The opening of a film is designed to engage the audience, to invite them to suspend disbe- lief and journey with the filmmaker into the world of the narrative. It has only a minute or two to do this so every element of the opening must be significant. Openings establish time and place, mood and themes through a combination of vision and sound.

t is suggested that teachers screen • Write down some of the narrative darkness, death, decay, psychologi- the film up to the end of the first line possibilities established by the first cal and/or physical terror, mystery, the Iof dialogue, which is reproduced line of voiceover. supernatural, ghosts, Gothic architec- below, at which time students com- • What does this line suggest to the ture, doubles, madness, secrets and plete the following activities. Alterna- audience? hereditary curses. The term gothic tively teachers may like to complete • What do the visuals and audio became linked with an appreciation of this activity using the still image above together suggest that each alone the joys of extreme emotion, the thrill and excerpt from the script below. does not? of fearfulness, the awe inherent in the • How do you feel about what might sublime and a quest for atmosphere. Here is the opening line from The happen? Gothic fiction is frequently romantic, Mysterious Geographic Explorations of melodramatic and contains parody, Jasper Morello: We will come back to your predictions often of itself. after you have seen the film. One degree is not large distance. On Speculative fiction is also at the heart a compass it is scarcely the thickness Gothic and of Jasper Morello. This term asks of a fingernail. But in certain condi- speculative fiction the reader to consider ‘what if?’ and tions one degree can be a very large describes those genres that specu- distance … enough to unmake a man. The influence of gothic themes is late about worlds that are unlike the probably the strongest element of real world in various important ways. Above is the shot that accompanies Jasper Morello. Both Gothic literature Speculative fiction includes elements of this voiceover. What do you think The and gothic art are represented in this science fiction, fantasy, horror fiction,

Mysterious Geographic Explorations of animation. supernatural fiction, alternate history, SCREEN EDUCATION Jasper Morello will be about? and magic realism. Gothic fiction began in the late eight- • Make notes about what this image eenth century, flourished in the nine- • Make a list of the Gothic or specu- suggests about the narrative pos- teenth century and continues to this lative fiction texts you have read or sibilities, themes and mood of the day. Its themes include the macabre, seen. film. • Note the storylines and themes Jasper Morello of these texts, can you see any Diagram 1 trends? Steampunk Film noir Steampunk Gothic literature Blade Runner Speculative fiction Horror films A subgenre of speculative fiction, the Fairy tales Animation origins of steampunk can be traced to Myths and legends Lotte Reiniger Gothic fiction and the work of Victorian Wayang Puppetry writers including Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. It has become a popular genre in recent years and has had a strong influence on many literature and media Finding out about history and society’s worries and con- forms including manga, anime and steampunk cerns through time. If we think of Jasper cyberpunk fiction. Steampunk works Morello as, at the time of its release, at are set in or inspired by an era when • Have you read or seen any other the top of this pyramid as the latest ani- steam power was still widely used, steampunk texts? mated film made we can see that whilst usually the 19th century and has been • Research this genre, begin by it is an original story told in an original described as adventures in a time that googling the term. There are lots of manner the animation owes many of wasn’t. Steampunk works have sci- really interesting steampunk sites its ideas and construction to what has ence fiction or fantasy elements and out there. Get a feel for the ideas come before. All texts do. Writers are feature fictional technological inven- behind steampunk and for the im- invariably readers, filmmakers love film tions. The genre is both romantic and agery of the genre. Here are some and have seen and studied many. dystopian, and is often imbued with a sites to get you thinking: deep sense of melancholy. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Anthony Lucas clearly has a very good Steampunk grasp of story and filmmaking history Dystopia: An imaginary world where eve- • http://www.geocities.com/ and his work assumes that we as his rything is as bad as it can possibly be. SoHo/9094/STEAM.html audience do too. In fact Jasper More- • Design your own steampunk llo is filled with references to earlier Anthony Lucas on Jasper machine, perhaps a DVD player or works and periods of history which the Morello and steampunk: a steampunk iPod. Here is a site audience takes pleasure in recogniz- that will help you with the basics ing. For example the opening shot of Some people have said it’s very although your machine is limited the film owes much to Ridley Scott’s steampunk. It’s taking the culture of only by your imagination: 1982 future noir classic Blade Runner. Victoriana as steam and iron and look- • http://www.crabfu.com/ This film is, in turn, based on the Phillip ing at their technology as having ad- steamtoys/diy_steampunk/ K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of vanced without necessarily the social Electric Sheep? Some of the references changes so they’ve got an overabun- Storytelling pay homage to the earlier text, oth- dance of machinery, where one cog ers are subconscious or have become might do the job they would have fifty. The Mysterious Geographic Explora- recognizable codes and conventions To get a lightbulb working they need a tions of Jasper Morello is a highly of filmmaking. Each audience member machine the size of a building, it’s that referential film. Part of the fun of such recognizes different references and thus kind of thinking. texts is recognizing these references. makes a slightly different ‘reading’ of In addition its Gothic themes it is a the animation. This explains why some Today we’ve got computers that … morality tale and has elements of fairy might say that Jasper Morello is a story sit on your desktop …and in the 50s stories, oral and written storytelling about the dangers of exploration and we had computers that really did fill traditions, film noir, adventure, science others might see it as a flight of fancy. rooms so what we think of as modern fiction and postmodernism. is just a passing phase. I always think • What influences and references of the idea behind the technology of How films build on what can you find in Jasper Morello? the steampunk world as being very has gone before: The • Share your observations with your contemporary, not necessarily the developmental pyramid classmates and group the refer- SCREEN EDUCATION way it looks but definitely the way it (See diagram 1) ences under headings. behaves in that really we’re not very • Construct a pyramid with each of sophisticated at all. Think of the history of storytelling these references that illustrates the and literature and the history of films, development and interdependence animation and filmmaking as two sides of society and culture. of a pyramid. The other sides are world After viewing the film

The plot during the journey, why? ness. He is desperate to return to her • Compare the death of the crew- and attempts to take over the ship but The Mysterious Geographic Explora- member with Morello’s loss of the is sedated. LeBrun comes down with tions of Jasper Morello is structured in compass. What does this reveal the sickness and despite an earlier four chapters: about Morello’s situation? resolution to return home Griswald is • Research the name Hieronymous persuaded by the promise of reward to Chapter 1 Leaving Gothia and you will find two main refer- sail to the island to which the Hierony- ences: mous had been. While reflecting on the navigation error 1. Saint Jerome, whose name in that saw a crewmember killed, naviga- Latin is Eusebius Hieronymus • The sickness is a reference to a tor Jasper Morello is called to service http://www.tihof.org/honors/jer- pandemic sweeping Gothia. Its and sets sail under his former captain, ome.htm name is never mentioned, possibly Otto Griswald. Morello is delighted 2. Hieronymus Bosch, a fa- because in the world of Gothia, to be in the company of Dr Claude mous Dutch painter http:// Lucas has created an illness with Belgon, a controversial but seemingly en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierony- characteristics of a range of dis- affable scientist. Morello misses his mus_Bosch eases. What diseases might Lucas wife Amelia who remains in Gothia Use these links to find information be referring to? Write a list of those nursing victims of ‘the sickness’. He is about these men. Read about your class comes up with on the worried about her. Soon the airship is their life and works looking for board. Research these diseases, drawn into a fierce storm and collides links to the plot and themes of which symptoms match ‘the sick- with another ship, the Hieronymous. Jasper Morello. Think about how ness’? Griswald calls for all to abandon ship this research contributes to the • The Hieronymous is the latest in and as they scramble onto the Hier- complexity of your understanding a long line of literary ghost ships. onymous, Morello drops his compass. of the text. Research these ghost ships and make notes about them. Knowl-

• What is Morello’s attitude to the Chapter 2 Salvage edge of these may have been used SCREEN EDUCATION journey? by Lucas to construct the ship • Describe the relationships between The Hieronymous is empty, the crew and its world. http://en.wikipedia. the characters developed in this is dead and there is no indication of org/wiki/Ghost_ship chapter. their fate other than the remains of a • Morello ‘relives’ the crewmember ‘creature’. In conversation with Amelia falling overboard several times he discovers that she has the sick- Chapter 3 Discoveries many of them were accurate? and it’s a parallel culture to our own • Were Morello’s actions justified? and it always looks like Wuthering On the island they discover the ‘crea- What other actions could he have Heights or the moors or some dark ture’, which tries to capture Morello, taken? Jayne Eyre, Edgar Allen Poe night- but is killed. Whilst cooking and eat- • Does Belgon get his just desserts? mare. ing it they discover that the crea- Justify your answer to your class- ture’s blood can cure ‘the sickness’. mates. I think with the Shadowlands it is a Griswald will not allow any creatures • The end of the film is ambiguous. great way to create fantastical environ- on board but permits six cocoons. What might happen? Write the op- ments, it’s not only an easier way of One soon hatches and Belgon discov- tions on the board. In small groups visualizing these grand landscapes and ers that it feeds on blood. Morello write a postscript containing your places and cities, it would be very hard is horrified and wants the creature explanation. to do that scale of environment in a thrown overboard but Belgon reminds • Storyboard this extra scene. different way of model making, you’d him that to do so would condemn have to have much more attention to Amelia. Soon crewmembers begin to Themes and motifs detail but because it’s silhouetted you mysteriously disappear and Morello can skip over the detail and just go for threatens to tell Griswald. Belgon Here are some of the themes and a raw form, what it should look like … again sedates him and he awakes motifs in The Mysterious Geographic it’s silhouette. It’s a way of creating to learn that all except himself and Explorations of Jasper Morello: mystery too within those places. Belgon are ‘awaiting her needs’. More- llo is chained to the bridge to steer the Good and evil I like my Shadowland stories to come ship home. out of … a reaction to an environment – The dangers of unrestricted sci- and then the characters get placed • The island initially appears to be ence within those environments and you a wondrous discovery. How does – Redemption for past sins develop a story that way … setting in Morello feel about it? – Sacrifice different times governs that. • This chapter deals with the eth- – Forgiveness ics of scientific research. Draw – Love The Mysterious Geographic Explora- up a chart outlining the risks and – When things fall from one’s grasp tions of Jasper Morello is the first in a benefits of the decision to take – Man is a small cog in something proposed ‘trilogy’ of four animations the cocoons back to Gothia. What greater involving Jasper Morello’s adventures would you have done? – Every man has a purpose but the story does not begin with this • Discuss whether Belgon is a gen- film. Lucas has created an entire chro- ius or evil with your classmates. • Take one or more themes and ex- nology of the Shadowlands. plain how the film explores them. Chapter 4 One Degree • What does the film have to say As Lucas describes it there are three about this theme? Support your ages of the Shadowlands: After revealing to Belgon that the jour- answer with evidence. ney is nearly over and the beacon will • The first age was the primitive guide the ship the remaining distance, The Shadowlands times when it was more agrarian Morello discovers that he too is to be and very tribal fed to the creature. Reflecting that Somewhere in the twelfth dimension • The middle ages are more of an ‘one degree had changed his life, it where light does not reflect lie the industrial time might do so again’ Morello swings the Shadowlands. A dark world of gothic • The third age (the radium age) ship off course and Belgon is thrown horror, of spindly figures in windswept they’ve developed flight but they overboard. He clings to the side of the landscapes and skeletal animals run- haven’t quite worked out electric- deck pleading for mercy but Morello ning from unseen terrors. ity. They’ve all sorts of fantastical cannot reach him. Belgon is crushed. inventions but they’ve still got the Morello decides to sacrifice himself in In the Shadowlands, Anthony Lucas social morés and limitations of that the hope of saving his wife by intrave- has created a dark world that is at Victorian age, the way they relate nously connecting himself to the crea- once familiar yet unknown and un- to each other, the ostentation of it,

ture, but in one last desperate attempt knowable. the formality of it. SCREEN EDUCATION to live he lowers the temperature of the hold. The film closes with theHier - Anthony Lucas on the Shadowlands: Evocation: The act of calling up a onymous sailing into the distance. place, image or feeling by suggestion. The Shadowlands is … a technique • Look back at the predictions you but from that technique it’s grown and Helmut Bakaitis (voice of Claude made before viewing the film, how evolved so I tried to make a culture Belgon) on the Shadowlands: It’s as though there’s a dance of death that fall under the categories of steampunk texts introduce a vocabu- and you dance past all these rather fa- Victoriana and science fiction. lary that is deliberately old-fashioned miliar places like the house in Psycho • What do you think this conjunction yet imbuing this vocabulary with [Alfred Hitchcock, 1960], the elm tree of eras contributes to the film? slightly altered meanings. that’s weaving and wailing in the wind and the skeletons of animals that are The language of Jasper • Here are some terms that ap- rushing past the sound of howling and Morello pear in the film or can be used banshees, but you’re quite happy to when discussing it, cartography, be there because you’re going to die The language of the text is very academia, debauchery, fantastical, anyway. steampunk, that is, it is a postmodern dirigible, hypothesis, postulation mix of eighteenth century exploration • What do these words mean? Can The things in Shadowland are the terms, gothic Victoriana and romantic you add any others? enduring power of love, the transmi- period dialogue. The dialogue is old gration of souls, animism and by that fashioned, spare, mannered, polite. Historical references I mean that everything has a spirit whether that be a tree, whether that be • Find some examples of steampunk Steampunk is both imaginary and ref- a rock, whether that be a cloud. The language in the film and explain erential. When we watch The Mysteri- other theme is vampiric which is life why you chose these. ous Geographic Explorations of Jasper feeds on life, on itself until it dies. • How does the language of the text Morello we see machines that remind affect the audience? us of the past or might have existed The city of Gothia • Why do you think that Anthony in some form during Victorian times. Lucas chose to construct his dia- The text also references actual events,

At first the city looks very Victorian, logue in this way? modifying and developing them for its SCREEN EDUCATION but on second glance it is more remi- • How does the language of the film own narrative and thematic purposes. niscent of science fiction texts, albeit contribute to the development of For example the primary mode of with machine age flying machines and themes in Jasper Morello? transport is dirigibles, balloon like air- airships. ships. In 1937 the most famous airship The Mysterious Geographic Explora- the German zeppelin the Hindenburg • Create a list of features of Gothia tions of Jasper Morello and other crashed and burned whilst landing. Anthony Lucas

This event horrified people around • Research the history of vampires company, 3D Films, he has animated the world as the footage was seen in literature and film, what are the numerous TV commercials, children’s on newsreels and it was hinted that key themes that recur throughout television and a national TV station sabotage was involved. vampire texts? identity series for SBS television. • What similarities do you see be- • Watch Jasper Morello again, can tween traditional vampire themes The Mysterious Geographic Explora- you find any other references to and those of Jasper Morello? tions of Jasper Morello premiered at real world events? • The specific form and content the prestigious Annecy International of each vampire story usually Film Festival in 2005 where it won the Vampire fiction reflects the underlying concerns Grand Prix, the first time for an Aus- of the time and place in which the tralian film to do so. Since then it has Vampirism in zoology or botany refers text was published. What do you won many awards including two AFI to those creatures or organisms that think are the twenty-first century awards, an IF Award and Flickerfest’s prey on the blood of others. We all concerns expressed in the story of award for Best Animated Short. It has know of leeches, mosquitoes and Jasper Morello? also been nominated for an Oscar® at bats but a belief in animal and human the 78th Academy Awards. vampires has also been a mythic or Animation and folkloric tradition in many cultures for Filmmaking Influences on Anthony centuries. The popularity of vampire Lucas’ work fiction, another subgenre of gothic Director and animator fiction, rose in Victorian times and Anthony Lucas Lucas sees his greatest influence as continues to this day. The best known Edgar Allen Poe:

is Bram Stoker’s Dracula published in Anthony Lucas is a graduate of the SCREEN EDUCATION 1897. Jasper Morello contains clear Swinburne Film and Television School. He’s got a way of being depressing vampiric elements not the least of The Mysterious Geographic Explora- unlike any other writer I’ve ever read. which is the striking similarity between tions of Jasper Morello is his fifteenth [His stories] wallow in … melancholy the first film vampire, Count Orlok and short film. His short films have been … an incredibly self-indulgent de- Claude Belgon. in competition at Cannes, BAFTA®, pressing experience … [they] are so Annecy and with his production utterly bleak. The way he describes landscape is how I think of the Shad- owlands. It’s very stark and there’s a lot of horror.

I read Jules Verne when I was a kid and I think they’re so imaginative. It’s like the beginning of super technology – submarines and giant airships and his fantastical machines, it’s a constant source of inspiration, particularly the illustration style of those times.

• Read or listen to Edgar Allen Poe and Jules Verne online at Project Gutenberg: • http://www.gutenberg.org/

Lucas claims not to have drawn inspiration from the work of illustrator Lotte Reiniger and Indonesian Wayang puppetry. Rather he claims that watch- ing the black and white 1933 classic King Kong (Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack) with its romantic landscapes was a greater influence. seen in Lucas’ station identification Later it was the works of famous stop works for SBS. motion animator Ray Harryhausen. • Watch King Kong to see how this It was chance that led to the Shadow- film might have influenced the land concept. Whilst working on cel development of the Shadowlands.

animation the upper lights blew and • Look at some of Harryhausen’s SCREEN EDUCATION Lucas was left with the backlighting of works, they are available online at the lightbox. This intrigued him and led YouTube and at The Archive: to the development of his first film in • http://www.archive.org/details/ the series, Shadowland a short anima- MotherGooseS tion which is included on the DVD. The How do you think the work of this influence of this technique was also famous animator influenced Lucas’ Illustration 1: L-R: Count Orlok’s shadow; Dr Claude Belgon

style and the themes in his work? use of tone and introduce colour? character’s design then use these clues • Take a still from The Mysterious • Why does he do this and what to come to understand them. Character Geographic Explorations of Jasper does it suggest to the audience? design includes physical appearance, Morello and draw in the detail that voice and, in the case of animation, the is obscured by the use of silhou- When we think of The Mysterious Geo- way the character acts in relation to the ette, which do you think works graphic Explorations of Jasper Morello situations in which they find them- better? Why? we are likely to remember it as shot selves. This is known as ‘acting with a • Watch Shadowland to note the in silhouette yet this is not entirely the pencil.’ It is surprising how complex a development between Lucas’ initial case. Some aspects of the film have silhouetted character can be. idea and The Mysterious Geograph- more detail than others. Examine a ic Explorations of Jasper Morello range of scenes, locations, characters Character design also makes use of • Having seen both films make some and objects to note the subtle varia- the audience’s pre existing knowledge predictions about the themes and tions in the construction of silhouette. of character types. By referencing storylines of the next three films in classic or previously known character the series: • What is in silhouette and what is types and traits audiences add their - Jasper Morello and the Return not? knowledge of these characters to the of Claude Belgon • Why do you think Lucas chose to complexity of their understanding and - Jasper Morello and the Ghosts construct each element in the way expectations of characters in a text. of Alto Mea he did? Some characters are stereotypes; - Jasper Morello and the Eben- • What does this variation contribute others are countertypes or archetypes. ezer of Gothia to the film? Some characters do not fall into any of • Lucas wants to make the fourth these generalizations. Shadowland in the ‘trilogy’ a feature Stereotypes, Countertypes and Ar- film, what do you foresee as the dif- chetypes: Stereotypes are standard- Dr Claude Belgon’s character, for ex- ficulties involved in such a project? ized ideas or images which are used ample, bears a striking resemblance to to describe a group of people, things Count Orlok, the first film vampire, in Production design or ideas. A countertype is a reverse the famous silent filmNosferatu (F.W. stereotype and are created to pro- Murnau, 1922). This is not by chance; Both silhouette and colour are signifi- vide a positive message. Archetypes referencing Orlok is a clever way of cant elements in the production design are original or excellent examples of adding suspicion to the audience’s of The Mysterious Geographic Explora- their type. Archetypical characters reading of his character. (See Illustra- tions of Jasper Morello. Analyse the use are those who exemplify perfection, tion 1) of tone and colour in the film. whether it is good or bad. Study the characters in The Mysteri-

• What colours are used to construct Character design ous Geographic Explorations of Jasper SCREEN EDUCATION different locations in the film? Morello. • How does the use of colour in The design of characters in films is in- different scenes contribute to tended to reveal information about their • For each character describe how audience interpretation of each personality and motivations. Audiences character design suggests what location? consciously and subconsciously read type of person they might be. (See • When does Lucas break out of the the codes and conventions of each following page) 10 Mr. Jasper Morello Physical characteristics, voice, acting: Morello’s character design suggests that he is:

Navigator, 3rd Royal Cartogra- phers, Difference Engine Operator 2nd Class. Morello’s career was in some doubt after the collision at Weather Station 2C41 in the Lawrencian quarter, and the sub- sequent loss of a crew member.

Captain Otto H. Griswald Physical characteristics, voice, acting: Griswald’s character design suggests that he is:

Aeronaut Captain, 7th Class. A known enthusiast for keel haul- ing within the service until the ban of said disciplines.

Dr Claude Belgon Physical characteristics, voice, acting: Belgon’s character design suggests that he is:

A renowned biologist from the Academy. Only Resolution crew member not of the service. Highly controversial in relation to his views on the Sickness and his many Altitude experiments on animals and humans.

Engineer Kemp Physical characteristics, voice, acting: Kemp’s character design suggests that he is:

First Engineer of the Ironclad RES. Found not guilty of rape and debauchery charges, Prevost Provinces, October 1258.

Linesman Kovacs Physical characteristics, voice, acting: Kovacs’ character design suggests that he is:

A Lawrencian émigré to Gothia in the fall of 1272, Kovacs first worked in the Gothian docks where his brute strength and abili- ties distinguished him.

Mr. Emile LeBrun Physical characteristics, voice, acting: LeBrun’s character design suggests that he is:

The ship’s cook. SCREEN EDUCATION

Mrs Amelia Morello Physical characteristics, voice, acting: Mrs Morello’s character design suggests that she is:

A nurse and loving wife. Daughter of Rear Admiral Balthazar Fortin- bras of the Royal Navy. 11 illustration 2: L-R: Wayang puppetry (Source: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Indonesian/Wayang/SlideShow/index.htm); Still from The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

Character development played by Joel Edgerton and Cap- • http://www.wayang-indonesia. tain Griswald is played by Helmut com Not all characters in The Mysterious Bakaitis. Discuss what each of • http://www.unesco.or.id/ Geographic Explorations of Jasper these actor’s voices contribute to activities/culture/ Morello are what they seem. As the our appreciation of the characters programme/259.php film progresses their character motiva- they play. • Compare The Mysterious Geo- tions emerge. For some, dark secrets graphic Explorations of Jasper are revealed. Animation techniques Morello with Wayang theatre. What are the similarities and differences • Choose the most important Jasper Morello is created using a in style and themes between the characters and explain how each combination of 2D and 3D animation. two? develops. Whilst essentially a 2D cut out anima- • Working in small groups create a • Compare audience understanding tion 3D elements are either added steampunk Wayang theatre pro- of each at the beginning and end or as Lucas calls it ‘faked’ to give a duction for your class. of the film. sense of 3D shadow puppets. The his- • Make some predictions about how tory of shadow puppets is a long one. Make your own characters will develop in the next This film most resembles Indonesian Shadowlands film in the series. Wayang puppetry. (See illustration 2) Anthony Lucas creates places and Sound design Wayang is an Indonesian word for characters first then finds that the plot theatre. When the term is used to refer evolves from these creations. This way Sound is a very important part of any to kinds of puppet theatre, some- of working is quite unusual. More often film, it is especially so in animated times the puppet itself is referred to filmmakers and animators work on films. Close your eyes and listen to as Wayang. ‘Bayang’, the Javanese plot, location and characters together. the soundtrack of The Mysterious word for shadow or imagination, also Geographic Explorations of Jasper connotes ‘spirit.’ Wayang is an ancient Just as Lucas was influenced by many Morello. Listen for sound effects and form of storytelling that originated of the films and books he consumed musical themes. on the Indonesian island of Java. as a child you too will have absorbed UNESCO proclaimed the Wayang ideas, images and emotions from your • Write a list of the sounds that are Puppet Theatre as a Masterpiece of literature and cinema experiences. used to help in the construction of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Hu- Now is the time to put all this together the storyline, characters and the manity on 7 November 2003. in the creation of your own special

themes of the film. and fantastical world. What would SCREEN EDUCATION • Identify the musical themes asso- Wayang stories are lessons of moral- your world look like? Has steampunk ciated with themes and characters. ity, honesty where truth should win or gothic horror influenced you or • Describe how music and sound is against evil. does your creativity spring from other used to convey the idea of steam- sources? punk in this film. • Research Wayang puppetry, here • The voice of Jasper Morello is are some sites that will help you: Working alone or in small groups 12 design a special world only you can Extension activities dominant in your view? imagine. Let your mind run free. • It has been the duty of artists since Choose an essay topic from the list the dawn of time to illustrate the • Design and create locations, char- below: unthinkable. Discuss. acters and the machines and items that fill your world. • ‘The tragedy of Jasper Morello is Conduct a class debate on one of the • Think about colours, themes, that the greatest horror of all lies following topics: mood. Use these to add complex- within man himself.’ Discuss. ity to your ideas. • Early in the film Dr Belgon tells • We have nothing to fear but our • How will you create your world? Jasper that ‘As with the ant, every imagination. You might like to use the shadow man has a purpose, you must • It is useless trying to overcome technique or perhaps another form serve that purpose no matter evil, it has always dominated the of animation such as stop motion, the cost’. What is Jasper Morel- world and always will. cell or Flash would work best to lo’s purpose? Do you think it was • Humanity can only ever find re- convey your ideas. worth the cost? demption through sacrifice. • Pitch your ideas to your class- • ‘Jasper Morello teaches us that we mates and ask them what they all have a dark side, it is how we Making media think, use their contributions to use it that is important.’ What do add complexity to your creations. you think? • Write the script for a new Jasper • Create a brief excerpt of your ani- • Jasper Morello can be read as a Morello animation. mation. tale of goodness triumphing over • Create the storyboard. evil or quite the opposite. Which is • Shoot a scene from your proposal.

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