Why is it called The halfling project?
In 1978 I was studying film making and in particular animation - one of my tutors introduced me to the animated Lord of The Rings - which had just been released - and I was hooked. So I read the books, studied the author, and later introduced it into my own dramatic work.
Oddly around the same time I was introduced to Lord of the Flies - in the form of the 1962 film, and Apocalypse Now [1979] proving that I was at my most receptive at this time as all three still feature in my work now.
Anyways moving forward many years later for reasons I will not dwell on here I had the nick name PompousHobbit and decided to use it on a new information work on autism and youth development, as well as on social media.
As the work devloped it changed, and as it changed I felt it needed a less personal name - the project after all was not about me, but those who took part within it.
I felt the influence of Lord of The Rings fitted the project well, and I had after all built much of the early features around Middle Earth and Hobbits. It also gave children an interesting dimension to latch onto rather than the usual clinical approach towards the autistic spectrum - it's key focus.
Hobbits are small creatures which we do not see , they look like many of us in miniture, but do not belong - sound famililar?
So why not The hobbit project - well for one it does not sound right to me, and for another it is technically copyright.
When setting up a public longterm work - you do not want copyright claims each time you place a article exhibit a photograph or upload a video. Whilst copyright in 2018 has become more understanding it still applies - but with fair use aspects.
i for example do not normally object to work of mine being shared solongs it is not for personal profit out of context or against the wishes of others involved.
Halfling has no such issues because there were halflings long before Lord of The Rings.
Here is a short history:-
Originally, halfling comes from the Scots word hauflin, meaning an awkward rustic teenager, who is neither man nor boy, and so half of both. Another word for halfling is hobbledehoy or hobby. This usage of the word pre-dates both The Hobbit and Dungeons & Dragons. The German surname Helbling has a similar origin.
You can see how this fits rather well with the aims and participants of The Halfling project.
Once decided and registered The halfling Project went online in 2014 and extended a year later with the early version of act4wardcalled Halfling Pro.
I changed this to act4ward to seperate acting and performance, the major feature of act4ward from the special needs remit.
Those working on act4ward may or may not be on the spectrum, the whole point of The Halfling project is to make the point that as far as appearance is concerned an autistic child looks no different from a neurotypical child.
The Halfling Project also is male biased with most of the work with boys [or mixed groups].
This is for the simple reason that as a male I cannot - nor should I try to relate to the issues faced by girls growing up, and at the time I began working with young people woman could work with boys and girls, but males with boys only as a general guideline.
Also my early youth work was with The Scouts - who at the time was boys only and this became usual in most of my work later.
Whether you work on The Halfling Project or act4ward you will be very welcome.
Big changes are building this year for the project with the making of InvisAble Me a joint work bringing once again The Halfling project and act4ward together.
Whilst talking titles of work the spelling of Invisable Me is intentional - and comes from a work of mine in 2013 now extended for the project.
I hope you enjoy your time on this and the allied websites - feel free to get in touch - see the contact page.
William David - January 2019.
The acting of Gollum - Jonathan Thorp [19] with the film style version and Luke Blackmore [18] with the more traditional book version. Both Jonathan and Luke began with The Halfling project and extended into act4ward. Their input to the project has been priceless in it's promotion and advancement. [2018]
