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Puppet delights

Shooting a movie is no longer the privilege of the rich or skillful cameramen.

Even an 8-year-old with a computer can become an amateur movie producer.

Steven Spielberg, the Hollywood action movie director, has cooperated with the Lego toy company to create a moviemaking set called the “Lego Studio” aimed at sharing his experiences in movie production.

“This toy set consists of Lego bricks, a personal computer camera, software and a handbook,” said Mr. Julian Chow, the assistant product manager at the Lego Hong Kong Limited.

Dinosaur attacks come with this moviemaking set. “The scene is established with Lego bricks.

“Dinosaur visits, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are some of the choices.

“The handheld PC camera is then used to capture what is happening within the scene.”

Earthquakes are shot by shaking the camera whereas the effect of magma extrusion is created by diverging two Lego blocks and exposing the drawn magma inside.

More than a hundred types of sound effects and background music as well as voiceovers can be put into this short movie with the accompanying software.

“The finished movie can be saved in a file and sent to friends and relatives by e-mail,” Mr. Chow said.

But critics say the modern and sophisticated designs of today’s toys are said to have induced individualism and hindered creativity among children. Prof. Catherine McBride is a children psychologist at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Said she: “Children’s imaginations and creativity are cultivated through transforming the separated Lego bricks into different structures and objects.”

According to Prof. McBride, Lego nowadays, however, often introduces particular models in which the structures and forms are usually predetermined.

The merits are limited. Mr. Chow does not see eye-to-eye with Prof. McBride on this matter.

Said Mr. Chow: “In the Lego Studio set, children can make use of the bricks from different scenes.

“And they can put them together forming their ideal scene.

“Bricks in all series are compatible with each other.

“We hope to integrate the virtual world and reality as to improve children’s creatvity and imaginative powers.”

Apart from children’s creativity, whether Lego Studio induces individualism is another concern. Prof. Cheung Yuet Wah, a sociologist at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, admitted that toys are more tailored for individual gratification nowadays.

Said Prof. Cheung: “During my childhood, playing with toys was a group activity.

“Popular toys like marbles were definitely boring if you played alone with them.

“But parents of the current generation often spend most of their time working.

“They tend to buy toys for their children that are played with on an individual basis.”

Nonetheless, both Prof. McBride and Prof. Cheung said it was inappropriate to say if a particular toy would intensify individualism in a child’s development.

Said Prof. McBride: “Children may like to share their toys with their peers to show off.

“Children can thus develop their negotiation and communication skills.

“On the contrary, say if children just play the Lego Studio with computers, their social skills will deteriorate.

“Therefore, whether the toy itself has a negative impact on children’s social skills is hard to be determined.

“As to kids, every toy is merely a tool and their usage determines its effect instead.”

Unlike Prof. McBride and Prof. Cheung, Mr. Chow dismissed the possibility that Lego Studios enhanced individualism of children.

“When we designed the Lego Studios, we assumed that it would be a group toy,” Mr. Chow said.

“Although a kid can make a movie himself, it is more efficient if he works with others.

“Different people can perform different duties like cameraman and director.

“Besides, we strongly recommend kids to make movies with their parents.

“This enhances parent-child relationships.”

Above all, Prof. McBride has made recommendations on the future development of Lego.

Said Prof. McBride: “Lego should provide children with more free bricks than predetermined models. “Each child is given the chance to create and construct her unique toy models.

“More female figures or elements should be added to Lego sets since most of the designs are targeted at boys.

“And bricks can be larger in size so that it can be user-friendly to little kids as well.”