Schools : Wow ! Georges Méliès in VR : a dream ! Resources

Le Voyage dans la Lune, Georges Méliès

 Credits : Copyright 2011 Lobster Films/ Fondation Groupama Gan/ Fondation Technicolor

https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/

"My friends, I address you all tonight as you truly are; wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventurers, magicians... Come and dream with me."

Georges Méliès

Wow! Visiting the Google home page today, May 3rd, I found an unusual but 'magnifique' Doodle of man with a pristine suit. 

Georges Méliès in 1938

https://en.wikipedia.org/

He is French filmmaker Georges Méliès (1861-1938), an illusionist and stage magician before he turned his hand to cinema in its earliest days in Belle Epoque Paris. Méliès was an extraordinary visual stylist and technician who is still much admired a century on.

Google Doodle VR:

The video celebrates magic and cinema and explores Méliès’ work in illusions like duplication tricks and double exposures, a replacement trick, and a cache illusion where elements look like they’re disappearing. 

“In addition to being a magician, Méliès was an expert storyteller, so it was important for the Doodle to have a clear story. We approached it as if it were a ballet or play you watch at the theatre, where you get to choose where to look. In these situations, the spectator becomes the camera, editing their own film,” said Hélène Leroux, project art lead of the Doodle.

Google Doodle Celebrating Georges Méliès

https://www.google.com/doodles/

Best known for the unforgettable image of a scowling celestial body annoyed that a rocket ship has crashed into its eye in A Trip to the Moon (1902), Méliès was most recently seen in Martin Scorsese's film Hugo (2011) where he was played in old age by Sir Ben Kingsley.

A work of science fiction, inspired partly by stories by people like Jules Verne. In the almost 13-minute film below, a group of space explorers travel to the moon, encounter a tribe of strange beings, capture one, and return to Earth. Méliès himself played the crew’s leader, Professor Barbenfouillis.

"Méliès’ contribution to the seventh art was revolutionary. In a time when cinematography was nascent and almost exclusively documentary-style, Méliès single handedly opened the doors of the dream, the magic, and the fiction. He accomplished this fundamental act by uniting the universes of Robert Houdin with the chronophotography and cinematography of Marey and the Lumière brothers."

Google Doodle Celebrating Georges Méliès

https://www.google.com/doodles/

"Over a hundred years later, we can thank the pioneering mind of Georges Méliès for much of the cinematographic wonder and special effects we see today."

The Doodle? The first ever presented as a 360 degree VR animation. Melies is an entirely fitting subject for this innovative new approach.

Google Doodle Celebrating Georges Méliès

https://www.google.com/doodles/

A charming illusionist, an adventurous queen of hearts and an evil green man journey through early cinema, film magic and love. 

Georges Méliès, 1861

https://prabook.com/

Some biographical notes:

Méliès was born in 1861, the son of luxury shoemakers who, after attending the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand, completing military service and serving an apprenticeship as a clerk in London - hunned the family business to work as a conjurer at the Theatre Robert-Houdin in Paris.



GoogleDoodle Celebrating Georges Méliès

https://www.google.com/doodles/ 



Here, Melies developed a fondness for stagecraft and visual effects, working  with mechanical automata, trapdoors and lighting, eventually selling  his boot factory shares to his brothers and buying the theatre outright. 




Méliès at his studio in Montreuil, France

https://en.wikipedia.org/




After seeing the Lumiere Brothers sensational moving picture camera in action in 1895, he rushed out to establish his own studio and began making films that featured clever illusions and tricks created by experimenting with double exposure, cutting and rewinding, building on his theatrical innovations.

Using elaborate painted sets akin to those of Paris's music halls, Méliès was a true pioneer who played a key role in the evolution of cinematic technique and the medium's storytelling grammar.

































Google Doodle Celebrating Georges Méliès

https://www.google.com/doodles/


Specialising in horror and steam punk science fiction, taking inspiration from the fiction of late Victorian visionaries Jules Verne and HG Wells, his most famous film remains A Trip To The Moon, which starred acrobats and dancers from the Folies Bergeres and the Chatelet ballet.





























































Le Voyage dans la Lune/ A Trip to the Moon, 1902

Star Films/ Geo Méliàs, Paris

https://en.wikipedia.org/



Other celebrated works including The Vanishing Lady, The Haunted Castle (both 1896), The Astronomer's Dream (1898), Bluebeard (1901), The Impossible Voyage(1904), The Merry Frolics of Satan (1906) and Baron Munchausen(1911).

Tragically, after more than 500 short films, Méliès's career collapsed with the onset of the First World War.

Google Doodle Celebrating Georges Méliès

https://www.google.com/doodles/

Education:

Back to the Moon VR/ Voyage dans la lune is an animated Doodle, interactive short celebrating the artistry of French film director and magician Georges Méliès. 

Invite your students to click on and they will be presented with a YouTube player that brings the quirky figure, French filmmaker Georges Méliès, and his creations to life in a wonderfully animated 360-degree short. 
Wow! Teachers can't miss this lovely resource in VR. Include it into your school curriculum. Develop some interesting activities in a cross-curricular project. 

Google Doodle Celebrating Georges Méliès

https://www.google.com/doodles/

Other resources:

Google is calling it a VR Doodle, which it is, sort of. Back to the Moon will be part of the Spotlight Stories app, which works with Cardboard and Daydream headsets. 

Back to the Moon

https://store.steampowered.com/app/

Games/ Apps:

Back to the Moon, a celebration of Georges Méliès

A charming illusionist, an adventurous queen of hearts and an evil green man journey through early cinema, film magic and love. Back to the Moon VR is an animated, interactive short celebrating the artistry of French film director and magician Georges Méliès. 

Directed by Fx Goby and Hélène Leroux. Produced by Nexus Studios.

• iTunes

• Android

It will also be available for high-end VR headsets, such as the HTC Vive, through Steam and Viveport.

Explore original Georges Méliès memorabilia and discover the story behind the invention of the first cinema studio and special effects by visiting the new Google Arts & Culture exhibit, created in collaboration with The Cinémathèque Française in Paris, France.


Making of:

En français:

Les enseignants trouveront aussi d'excellentes ressources:

Parcours, Le Paris de Georges Méliès
http://www.pariscinemaregion.fr/paris-de-georges-melies

France Culture : 1902 Méliès 'le voyage dans la lune' (podcast)
https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/breves-histoires-de-la-culture/1902-melies-le-voyage-dans-la-lune

Je suis émerveillée. Je n'arrête pas de revoir le Doodle. Époustouflant!

G-Souto

03.05.2018
Copyright © 2018G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Schools : Wow ! Georges Méliès in VR :  a dream ! Resources by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

Sources: Google Doodle/ Wikipedia

Education : Talking about World Water Day #waterReuse

http://www.unesco.org/

World Water Day is observed on March 22 every year. A day to recognize the importance of earth's most precious natural resource was proposed 20 years ago (1992) at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). 

The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. It has been held annually since then. Each year, UN-Water — the entity that coordinates the UN’s work on water and sanitation — sets a theme for World Water Day corresponding to a current or future challenge. 

http://www.worldwaterday.org/

Water is the essential building block of life. But it is more than just essential to quench thirst or protect health; water is vital for creating jobs and supporting economic, social, and human development.

Today, there are over 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to home, spending countless hours queuing or trekking to distant sources, and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water.

UN-water

http://www.worldwaterday.org/

2017 Theme: Why Wastewater?

This year, UN focus on wastewater and ways to reduce and reuse as over 80% of all the wastewater from our homes, cities, industry and agriculture flows back to nature polluting the environment and losing valuable nutrients and other recoverable materials.

We need to improve the collection and treatment of wastewater and safely reuse it. At the same time, we need to reduce the quantity and pollution load of wastewater we produce, to help protect the environment and our water resources.

Access to safe water and sanitation services is essential to the human rights and dignity, and the survival, of women and men across the world, especially the most disadvantaged. 

This is vital for progress across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – water links all 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their interconnected targets.

http://www.unwater.org/

World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about taking action to tackle the water crisis. Today, 1.8 billion people use a source of drinking water contaminated with faeces, putting them at risk of contracting cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio.

Facts and figures:

Wastewater: the untapped resource

Globally, over 80% of the wastewater generated by society flows back into the environment without treatment.

• 
  
• The quantity of wastewater produced and its overall pollution load is increasing.

Water Day 2017

credits: UNESCO

https://www.facebook.com/unesco/

• 
  
• Pollution from untreated wastewater has adverse effects on human health: 1.8 billion people use a source of drinking water contaminated with faeces. The combination of inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene, and unsafe drinking water is today still responsible for an estimated annual burden of 2 million diarrheal deaths.
• 
  
• 663 million peoples still lack improved drinking water sources, and global demand for water is expected to increase by 50% by 2030.
• 
  
• The opportunities from exploiting wastewater as a resource are enormous. Safely managed wastewater is an affordable and sustainable source of water, energy, nutrients and other recoverable materials.

http://www.unesco.org/

In fact, water shortages and lack of access may limit economic growth in the years to come, according to the 2016 United Nations World Water Development Report.

The report  was launched on 22 March, World Water Day, in Geneva. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2016, titled "Water and Jobs" contains the latest findings, fact and figures.  

Fresh water for all

http://visual.ly/fresh-water-all

Education:

Each year the UN focuses on an aspect of water and the forthcoming event clearly links in with agriculture and nutrition. 

"When a billion people in the world already live in chronic hunger and water resources are under pressure we cannot pretend the problem is ‘elsewhere’."

Coping with population growth and water and jobs here some acts that will help with:

• follow a healthier, sustainable diet;

• consume less water-intensive products;
• reduce the scandalous water wastage;
• produce more food, of better quality, with less water.

Goal 6

credits: Elyx Yak

www.un.org

So, we must discuss all these items in school curriculum. And bring some new habits to our students and their families.

Target: Primary to Secondary education; Vocational Education.

Curriculum: Cross-curricular Civics; Sciences; Languages; Arts.

World Water Day is an opportunity to learn more and be inspired to tell others. Teachers can read reports, watch videos and download teaching material from the UN-water website to explore in the school curriculum they're teaching.

http://www.who.int/

Let your students use their devices and meanwhile ask them to take some notes doing internet research about countries where the water is a great gift or on the contrary there is no water or countries that use source of drinking-water contaminated.

It can be a good start to an open discussion in the classroom. It will depend from the resources you will chose for the level you are teaching.

Promote your event by adding it on the UN-water global map and share your activities with the world.

After that, ask your students if they know how much water they consume every day and how can we change our diet and reduce our wastewater.

http://www.worldwaterday.org/

Resources:

• The wasters guide to wastewater:

We’re all wasters when it comes to wastewater. Every time we use water, we produce wastewater. And instead of reusing it, we let 80% of it just flow down the drain. We all need to reduce and reuse wastewater as much as we can. Here are three ideas for all us wasters!Turn off the tap while you’re brushing your teeth or doing dishes or scrubbing vegetables. Otherwise you’re just making wastewater without even using it!

1. Put rubbish, oils, chemicals, and food in the bin, not down the drain. The dirtier your wastewater, the more energy and money it costs to treat it.
2. Collect used water from your kitchen sink or bathtub and use it on plants and gardens, and to wash your bike or car.

The water passing through us and our homes is on a journey through the water cycle. By reducing the quantity and pollution of our wastewater, and by safely reusing it as much as we can, we’re all helping to protect our most precious resource.

Wasters! Take quick quiz.

Teachers will have other good resources here

Zoe makes a splash/ app

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/

Apps for kids:

Zoe makes a splash! is an app developed by the Environment Directorate General of the European Commission.

I wrote about Zoe makes a splash! in 2012. This interactive storybook is a resource for Teachers & Parents,

It can be used in the classroom or with family to teach kids about the importance of water in our society, how to use it in moderation, the impact of polluted water on wildlife and habitats and the benefits we get from clean water.

Target: 7-11 years-old

Levels: Primary education; Elementary education.

Languages: Available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Polish.

Devices: iPhone; iPad; smartphones.

Download: Free

• iTunes

• Google Play

Zoe Makes a Splash! is an interactive digital storybook aimed at children between the ages of 7 and 11 and is free to download. 

To read the book here. There some Teaching notes here.

I hope that this app Zoe Makes a Splash! and other resources on this post help teachers for inspire projects and actions about Water Day and wastewater. 

Young students will have fun learning about how they can care about how important water is and many children and young people have no water or comsumme pollutes water. They will be caring on wasterwater.

"The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction."

Rachel Carson

G-Souto

22.03.2017
Copyright © 2017G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Education : Talking about World Water Day #waterReuse ! by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.