Bluey

Well, I don’t know if you’ve seen the cartoon series of Bluey.  It was developed in Australia and is a series of stories about a family of Blue Heeler dogs.  Two female puppies (Bluey and Bingo) and their parents (Bandit and Chilli).  

Johnathan has been enamoured with this from when it was first on Scottish tv.  He has seen the BBC and Disney ones that I know of, but if there are others elsewhere, I’m sure he’s found them.  We have seen them all multiple times and it’s actually a series that isn’t too bad to watch as an adult.  Not only that, but he has been “following” the Bluey community and telling us what they are saying, too.

There are a few things that I have been surprised at but not in a bad way.  One is that they can do a really tiny change to the corners of the mouths or change the eyes slightly and it’s a really tiny movement that brings a LOT of emotion with it.  From what Johnathan has shown me of other animators talking about learning their craft or displaying emotion of any description is that you need LARGE movements to express them clearly so the watcher can understand what is meant.  And yet, these are so tiny, but clearly indicate what is intended to the viewer.

And you know what?  In some ways there can always be an element of “this is the only way to do it” in every discipline in the world and then somebody discovers/realises/invents/uses another way.  And it goes to show that the common way of doing things isn’t always necessary.  

If you look at planners vs discovery writers (for example), they are different and equally valid ways of writing, but you can use a combination of the two as well.  Basically, you need to do it how it is right for you.  Some people are better at things done one way and others another.  

As a teacher, it’s good to know different ways to teach things because not everybody learns in exactly the same way.  So you need to know how to explain to the child who struggles, as well as those that learn the way you do.  And if the child isn’t feeling great, or is distracted or off sick, they may not understand the first time they hear something, anyway.

Being open to new ideas can be hard for everyone.  But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.  It’s actually the way we grow, change and develop as a society.  And so that’s why we have to be willing to at least listen and see if there is some idea or sense of it being right, because we don’t know everything and every possible way to do things.  

Do you think it’s possible for you to look at your craft/business/hobby/whatever and discover something new?  It’s not easy, and yes, you’ll probably make many mistakes before you find/learn something but that’s ok.  It’s normal.  This is what people in the past did to see if new ideas/concepts etc would work.  Many of them didn’t, but some of the ideas took off and flew in different directions and created other things, or morphed and changed into something else.  

I hope the following encourage you - I find Thomas Edison inspiring he & his team spent years trying to invent the electric light bulb. Two quotes of his I really like are “ I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  And “ Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.”

Why not give it a go?  You never know until you try.