Help me teach kids stuff with your pony knowledge!

[Dunes]

So! I'm a student teacher at a middle school, and I am working on a lesson talking about artistic style and how it affects the mood of a piece. To start that, I'm gonna talk about cartoons.

I want to compare a clip of

(because it's artsy and Russian and I love it) with a clip from MLP (because it's awesome). Hedgehog in the Fog is kinda eerie, moody, and with subdued colors; yet still intended for kids. My Little Pony is colorful, chipper, and funny, and also intended for kids. I think it would be a good compare/contrast.

MY QUESTION TO YOU, BRONIES: Which pony clip should I pick? I've got that link up there set to the timestamp I'd start the clip at for the Hedgehog one, but I'm at a loss of which Pony clip I could use. There are so many!

(I'm not 100% sure which section this should go in -- apologies if it's in the wrong place.)

[DrMaxwell]

I would suggest the Sisterhooves Social competing scene, or at least part of it, depending on how long the clip needs to be.

[Amarillys]

Ooh, are you an art teacher? I wished my middle school art teacher felt as motivated as you lol.

Er, how about the Smile song clip?

This is the most colorful and chipper scene I can think of, with a happy cheery song complimenting the happy jumpy animation.

[Rosewind]

Find a Pet! It's much more relevant to a middle schooler than Smile is, because it stands so well on its own -- plus it keeps with the theme of animals which allows you to retain the contrast with Hedgehog in the Fog.

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

[Starfox64x]

I'd go with the scene of Fluttershy snapping the bear's neck... Why? Well i think it's an awesome scene first of all... But it also brings up an argument against your theory about how artistic style affects mood...

I'm not saying i want to debate your theory, but when you have one, you should also bring up points arguing against your own theory, and then bringing up rebuttals to that argument to make your theory stand out stronger.

I have an unrelated story that work very well with this way of teaching and lessons that i can share with you in a spoiler below, but again, completely unrelated to ponies and how style affects mood. It's just a story that i would hope encourage you to look for arguments against or contradicting your lesson so that it looks better when you bring up rebuttals against it...

So i was in middle school and we all had to pick a hot button issue to discuss with the class. me and another girl both picked supporting gay marriage (If you dont, that's fine, i'm not here to argue about that, i'm just saying that was our topic) now we were all working on our own presentations, so i was worried that she would have a similar presentation to my own. so i started looking up arguments against gay marriage to see what all the fuss was about.

when she presented, she posted a lot of facts, kinda boring, saying things like 10% of the world is gay, it's great to have partners share health plans, etc etc... the class was asked if there were any questions or comments, and not a single person raised their hand to comment (Keep in mind, i live in Georgia... lots of bible pushers here...) So then i went up later and presented my arguments, but what i did differently was i found the major arguments that were presented against gay marriage, and then i said why that reason was wrong and silly. So i took all the reasons against gay marraige and gave a reason why their logic was flawed... when i finished my project and the teacher asked if anyone had any questions or comments half the class raised their hands and started to tell me why i was wrong about why they were wrong... (mostly just saying 'I'm right and you're wrong!" essentially...

But basically, the whole point of that is if you have a theory or an argument of some kind, like that artistic style affects the mood of a piece' you should have some arguments AGAINST that theory, and then present why you think that that reason is wrong... You'll get a much better response out of your class rather than just spouting out facts and theories...

For example in the show, the art style is often very colorful, pretty, and uplifting... but in this scene you feel a sense of action, shock, and horror, not only becuase of the scene itself, but the MUSIC accompanying it changes to mood from a cheerful trot not five seconds ago, to a scary fight scene between a pony and a bear. the music also has a huge effect on your mood when watching shows. just hearing certain music can create it's own images in your head, so it has a huge effect on how you interpret a scene.

As for the 'it's a cute style, but if the events in the show are horrifying, it'll still be horrifying no matter what the style' towards you, you could argue that when the scene transfers back to Fluttershy rubbing the bear's back, because the style is cutesy, it brings you back into a calm and fun mood, which is a huge gap to jump from when you were just horrified just a few seconds to go, so the style of the show must have made the transition back to fun much more easy.

So yeah, TL;DR version, find or at least come up with some arguments against your own theory, and then explain why you think the counter-reasons are wrong, incorrect, misleading, or whatever... people like arguments, debates, conflict, etc, so if you have just a one sided lesson, they won't enjoy it as much... hope that this all helps ^^

EDIT: and i also hope that i explain my reasoning well enough ^^; I'm always afraid when i make an argument i'm not presenting my thoughts clearly enough...

[weesh]

I don't know about you guys, but when I clicked on the link, I was treated to a 15 second ad for an MLP channel: http://www.youtube.com/PetTVmylittlepony

Also, and this is probably a bad clip, I am amused by the thought of you showing the Rarity's complaining/whining clip.

[Starfox64x]

I don't know about you guys, but when I clicked on the link, I was treated to a 15 second ad for an MLP channel: http://www.youtube.c...tTVmylittlepony

Also, and this is probably a bad clip, I am amused by the thought of you showing the Rarity's complaining/whining clip.

I got that ad too! o-0 I think Google Ads knows more about us than we think it does...

[elsporko]

I agree with the idea of having a clip of a song. I wouldn't go with Fluttershy murdering bears or the Fluttershy is a tree clip because I think middle schoolers would find it easier to compare the hedgehog clip to a song

[SilverSwirl]

It's becoming sentient! Kill it!

[MyLittlePonyTales]

I don't know about you guys, but when I clicked on the link, I was treated to a 15 second ad for an MLP channel: http://www.youtube.c...tTVmylittlepony

Also, and this is probably a bad clip, I am amused by the thought of you showing the Rarity's complaining/whining clip.

Pinkie Pie can't stay in the TV OR on the tracks!

[Thoth]

I'll agree one using Smile or Find a Pet. The animation that occompanies those songs are just GORGEOUS, but it also fits what occurs incredibly well. Whether it be the jumpy, cheerful animation of Smile, to the constantly-moving animation of Find a Pet, they'd both work incredibly well.

I say to use Smile, however. Its animation is just a lot more noticeable and its ability to move with the music and give it attitude is easier to understand.

That's just me, though.

[weesh]

Is the goal to show extreme examples in the show, or a representative clip?

Coming up with something average is kinda hard, but TS's soapbox moment in Feeling Pinkie Keen shows off typical PP, typical TS, and a typical conflict.

[Dunes]

Is the goal to show extreme examples in the show, or a representative clip?

Coming up with something average is kinda hard, but TS's soapbox moment in Feeling Pinkie Keen shows off typical PP, typical TS, and a typical conflict.

The goal is to show how different visual characteristics can affect the mood of a piece. The Hedgehog clip is very muted in color, highly textured, and the characters are more realistic looking. Ponies are brightly colored, vectored, and cute. MLP does have its tense moments, but it definitely has a different feel than the russian animation short, which is much more subdued. I'm gonna use it as a segue into talking about paintings, how the dissonant colors and jagged lines of a Picasso create a much different mood than the delicate, cloudlike brushstrokes of a Monet. That kinda thing!

I'm loving these clip suggestions so far! Thanks everyone.