Week 4-Creating the extras

WHAT WE DID

This week our class began creating all the extra’s that would be placed around and on the cow. We had planned our design and had decided that we would create a farmer, calf, homeless man and other little things such as trucks, cars and buildings to place on and around our cow.

HOW WE DID IT

The creation of these props has been a bit of a long process. We had to track down many different materials and put a lot of stuff together to get the right effect. To create our farmer and calf we used Styrofoam, metal rods, and plaster. We used fabric and stuffing to create our homeless man and used cardboard and paint to create our cars and buildings.

WHY DID WE DO IT ?

So we didn’t just make these things to look good. We actually had a bit of reasoning behind our creative madness. Firstly, the cars, trucks and buildings, well we made these to represent the exports of Australian beef industry. The buildings are being used as factories and outlets, where the trucks and cars are taking the beef away to the consumers.
The reason behind the calf was selective breeding. By this we mean that farmers selectively mix and match certain cows, (young cows, older cows and different breeds) so that when they breed with each other their offspring don’t release as much methane gas.

Now the farmer, we created the farmer for a few reasons. Our reasons are that farmers play a massive role in the beef industry. They don’t only breed the cows, but they look after them too, as well as many other animals. This is why he is such a big part of our display. To show that farmers take care of the animals. Not only that, but because farmers are breeding the cows, they play a major role in feeding and clothing the community.

Finally, the homeless man. As a class we decided to incorporate a homeless man to show that the community stretches out to everyone and isn’t limited to everyday people. A community includes everyone, even if they can’t sustainably feed and clothe themselves. The homeless man is also used to emphasise the fact that cows can be used in food and clothing, and that these products can be exported around the world and to all kinds of people.