LEARNING ABOUT HISTORY is essentially being told many different stories. And there are multiple ways to tell stories.
On the run up to the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, the stories of the Irish volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army, the British Army and all the civilians caught up in the crossfire have been told in multiple different ways.
From novels, to non-fiction books, tv series to documentaries and graphic novels, to eye-witness accounts and radio programmes, the story of the Rising has been told again and again.
But now a new innovative and original form of the story has emerged courtesy of the people at Irish creative learning company Createschool.
They got together to produce Freedom: A 1916 Story – a stop-motion telling of the 1916 Rising made using Lego.
The movie begins with a young boy complaining about school being boring and talking about the “Christmas Rising” before he is sat down and told the real story of the Rising from his cranky (but kindly) grandfather.
Commissioned by Wicklow County Council as part of their 1916: 2016 commemoration programme, this painstakingly crafted 10.5 minute film was in production nine months.
It features all of the key figures of the Rising in specially-commissioned Lego form as well as specially made mini-proclamations.
Written, produced and directed by Peter Baxter and Joseph Orr from Createschool, historian Pat Liddy was consulted throughout to ensure historical accuracy.
He also voiced the grandfather. A song for the film was co-written by singer-songwriter Leslie Dowdall.
Createschool
Createschool is a creative workshop organisation that has been delivering workshops for over 15 years.
They work with students to help them develop their talents in the areas of moving images, words or music.
Wicklow County Council had put out a request for public proposals for projects to commemorate the Easter Rising.
This was one of the proposals received by the council and they commissioned it on this basis. It had its debut on Monday night and was shown in schools in Wicklow on Proclamation Day this week.
So, without further ado, the story of the 1916 Easter Rising told entirely through Lego:
Like what you see? Check out more of their work at www.createschool.ie
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