Output details

Toy Tempest

Brief Description

A stop-motion animation inspired by Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, available as a DVD. The story is told through mime and music making it suitable for all ages and language groups but is aimed at young people studying literature, drama and art. The film is currently being screened at The V&A Museum of Childhood, by the education department for visiting school groups. Previously screened at the FLIP International Animation Festival, Wolverhampton 2011 and now held in the collections of: The Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of Childhood, London, Pollock’s Toy Museum, London.

Research Rationale

As well as William Shakespeare’s Tempest, Arnott drew upon influences from other island adventure stories for the narrative including Swift, Defoe and Stevenson. The visual style acknowledges Ray Harryhausen and his work on Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and The Golden Voyage of Sindbad (1973). Using toys to represent the protagonists, the narrative was simplified and the number of characters reduced from Shakespeare’s original text. Children have related particularly well to the toys and the animation, following the story with apparent ease. This proposition has been borne out by the audience the response to the piece.

Strategies Undertaken

Created using iStopmotion, found objects and toys, the characters were filmed against green screen backdrops, composited into live action settings through the use of Adobe Premiere and After Effects. The realistic backgrounds aid the scale of the figures and develop a surreal and dreamlike quality within the piece. Following discussions with younger viewers it was revealed that they are able to re-tell the story with no prior knowledge of the original text. This is attributable to the style and form, facilitating a sublimal understanding of Shakespeare.