Rooted

Rooted (2011) 05:14 
Produced at Utrecht School of the Arts (www.hku.nl)

CREDITS: Edwin Schaap (Animation, Editing, Art, Compositing), Jeroen Hoolmans (Character Rigging, Programming, Compositing), Pim Reinders (Environments, Animation, Effects, Compositing), Floyd Angenent (Layout, Modeling, Rigging, Compositing), Vidjay Beerepoot (Music), Ronnie van Overveld (Sound Design & Final Mix)

Teaching Ideas

• Descriptive writing in the opening 30 secs, describe the early morning using senses, imagery, personification. e.g. As birds sang the trees woke up and stretched their branches, huge yawns echoed across the landscape. 
• 1st person description as the tress first see each other.
• Use images of woodland and gnarled trees to describe woodland settings.
• Write a diary extract for the trees, perhaps watching the humans on the bench, describing their frustrations at not being able to touch each other. 
• 2 min 30 secs - Description of setting through the seasons. 
• Discuss how the film shows the passing of time, how can this be shown in own writing? Can we use punctuation for this?
• 3 mins - 3min30s discuss what is happening how the trees are feeling.
• 3.30 Can we build tension?  How does the director build it in the film?  Soundtrack. How can this be emulated in our writing?  Short sentences, phrases punctuated with commas, use of ellipses for effect. Then when all becomes calm sentences become longer and more descriptive.