Worldbuilding

WORLDBUILDING FOR CHOREOGRAPHERS, class 1

CLASS 1 - the what
1. We begin with a quote from Jeff Vandermeer's Wonderbook, the Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction. This class uses it a lot, it's an amazing book!

2. Nicole Peeler - the "Paris" exercise
https://nicolepeeler.substack.com/p/worldbuilding-101-an-exercise

3. Comparing versions of Paris (film trailers)
Riffi film (movie trailer link)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVRiC5ysSLk
Compared with the film Amelie (movie trailer link)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UT5xaAfxWU

3. Ekman’s Concise Guide to Natural Movement | SF Dance Film Festival Co-Laboratory link to film we watch at the end of the class:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qscNDdZ8s70

4. Hard Worldbuilding vs Soft Worldbuilding YouTube video
This is a 20 minute video that gives you more detail about types of world building not covered in this class, but useful for context.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcyrrTud3x4

https://drive.google.com/file/u/1/d/10T_dwzsL986nE74fV9ZaF670vYXdBAk0/view?usp=classroom_web

https://www.amazon.ca/Wonderbook-Illustrated-Creating-Imaginative-Fiction/dp/1419704427

CLASS 2: The Where
Resources & References

The song we listen to, to dream about space... listen again here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5niOf54X_iM

Space analysis, 5 questions:
1. List the first 5 words that come to mind
2. Describe what you see as if you are describing it to someone who cannot see
3. Describe the context: where are you, when are you, historical and societal connections
4. How does it make you feel? Describe the mood, the tone
5. Put it all together - draw conclusions. What would this set bring to a work if you did a show here? What kind of metaphors does this space inspire?

How to create the feeling of a space?
Noelle's recommended steps:
1. Look at source imagery and create a mood board
2. Ask yourself the 5 questions above to analyze your mood board (list making is a powerful tool to help you identify what you are seeking, what physical items will build the mood)
3. Use playlists to create an audio mood board capturing the tone of the environment

Case study: The Lost Museum
The Lost Museum is a narrative website. It was made in 2021 when CreativeHub1352's InSitu festival could not happen in person, due to covid. Noelle & Colleen collaborated with a huge number of other artists to create an engaging, interactive virtual platform celebrating art & performance with the theme of “Lost.” The Small Arms Inspection Building (SAIB) is where the live festival was to occur, so we also imagined our digital Lost Museum happening there. As a website, and narrative world, the Lost Museum is filled with stories, short films, interactive gaming, digital features, original artwork, curated collections, and special performances by Mississauga’s creative communities. The Lost Museum features 50+ artists, performers, cultural producers, builders, filmmakers, and designers from Mississauga and GTA’s creative communities, along with the contributions of 250+ local students.

Visit the Lost Museum
https://thelostmuseum.ca/
Downloadable content about the Museum
Creative assignments & tasks for you to try (optional)
More about the Lost Museum
https://www.creativehub1352.ca/insitumultiartsfestival

The lost museum was brought to life for the 2024 in person In Situ Festival
https://www.creativehub1352.ca/insitu-multi-arts-festival

Homework!
Take the idea of the Lost Museum and create your own room in the Lost Museum space.
1. Think about what it would look like - create a space full of objects that are either lost, abandoned, forgotten or discarded.
2. You can mood board and think about the space you would create, and then ask yourself the 5 questions to analyze your mood board.

https://drive.google.com/file/u/1/d/1AIpP74pcE6JZQfE6okpSgxxC7hKRmENX/view?usp=classroom_web

WORLD BUILDING FOR CHOREOGRAPHERS
Class 3 - The Who

CONTENT & LINKS
1. Podcast: the Ecology of Dune
https://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.org/episodes/the-ecology-of-dune

2. 50 Years of Costume - National Theatre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgxcWne7uzg

3. Make a costume at home exercise
- 1 minute to analyze what you see (you can write a list)
- 2 minutes to recreate the image with whatever you have at home
- Option to take a photo to share your costume with us

4. Bring in a project to workshop for next class (the Why)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-w-BCw0BZ4p4kZtEmSu3m7XHWVfNJdib/view

WORLD BUILDING FOR CHOREOGRAPHERS
Class 4 - The Why

Here's the video from our final class, where we talk about the "why" of World Building. That means not only why we work this way as artists, and the way this impacts our work, but also the philosophical implications of world building as a process.

If you are comfortable doing so, please feel free to share your creative project in the comments, or reach out via email so we can start a discussion - and start using these world building tools as they apply to your work.

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We are open to feedback about how we can improve this class, as well as anything you enjoyed.

Cheers,
Colleen, Noelle
& The Frog in Hand Team

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TO-59VH_y1X37PAkGqFV-kmeCUfIkQRP/view