OVER THE HEDGE

Headnote

A Study Guide

INTRODUCING THE STORY

After a long winter nap, Verne and his friends awaken at the beginning of spring. They soon discover that something long, tall and green has appeared in the middle of their woodland home.

Before they can adjust to the change in their environment, RJ arrives. RJ has a problem of his own, in relation to a very large bear and a missing food supply. Sensing a solution to his problem, this opportunistic raccoon quickly attempts to convince the band of friends that the world over the hedge is the 'gateway to the good life'. Here strange creatures called humans live to eat, rather than eat to live!

Verne is not only a little jealous of RJ's ability to be convincing, he's also suspicious of all his fast-talking. Verne tries hard to convince his blended 'family' to stay on their own side of the hedge. However RJ definitely has the gift of the gab and soon has the group believing that there is plenty to gain from capitalizing on the habits of their over-indulgent neighbours. And so the small group sets about following RJ to the land of plenty over the hedge ...

USING THE TRAILER IN THE CLASSROOM

The following activities draw upon the Over the Hedge trailer to help primary teachers to introduce some general concepts related to animation. These ideas are then drawn upon to explore Over the Hedge (Tim Johnson & Karey Kirkpatrick, 2006) a little more closely.

ANIMATION

In a live action film, the story is told by capturing action with a camera. However, Over the Hedge is an animated film. It was not shot using a camera but created using computers. To make animated films, animators create a series of still images or pictures, one frame after another, with small changes made in each frame. These are then screened sequentially and quickly to create an appearance of movement.

In the past, animators would have had to draw by hand many, many thousands of drawings on cels to create a film like Over the Hedge. However, like many other recent animations, Over the Hedge was not hand drawn but created using computers. Animations can also be created in a variety of other ways.

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