Education
Resource
CONTENTS
ACMI ..................................................................................................................................... 3
SCREEN IT 2016
3
The Resource ........................................................................................................................ 3
SCREEN IT COMPETITION CATEGORIES .......................................................................... 4
Screen It in the Classroom ..................................................................................................... 5
Screen It – In your school ...................................................................................................... 5
THEME: MYSTERY
7
To get started ........................................................................................................................ 7
The mystical allure of the mystery .......................................................................................... 8
Storytelling ............................................................................................................................. 9
Unsolved mysteries and urban legends ............................................................................... 10
Puzzles, games and optical illusions .................................................................................... 11
The Human Brain and the Human Body............................................................................... 12
Mysterious Packages ........................................................................................................... 13
Mysterious spaces ............................................................................................................... 15
Sci-Fi mysteries ................................................................................................................... 16
Scientific Mysteries .............................................................................................................. 17
Forensic investigation and adventure. .................................................................................. 18
The Mysteries of the Universe ............................................................................................. 19
Secrets ................................................................................................................................ 20
Secrets and Technology ...................................................................................................... 21
Life’s mysteries: Who am I? What does it all mean? What makes me me? .......................... 22
Start Creating ...................................................................................................................... 23
ACMI
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) celebrates, explores and promotes
the moving image in all its forms. Located in Melbourne’s Federation Square, ACMI
engages with a diverse audience through world-renowned exhibitions, a diverse
cinema program, state-of-the-art production spaces and the Australian Mediatheque.
ACMI Education plays an integral role in fostering a passion for and an understanding
of the moving image, supporting both teachers and students to build creative skills and
knowledge.
SCREEN IT 2016
Screen It is a national moving image competition for primary and secondary school
students. Each year Australian students are invited to meet the challenge of making
their own videogames, animations or live action films in response to a theme. The
theme for Screen it 2016 is Mystery. This theme is designed to stimulate ideas and fuel
student creativity.
A key element of ACMI Education’s commitment to screen literacy and the moving
image, Screen It promotes artistry and storytelling as part of a curriculum-based
learning program. Encouraged to use a variety of creative techniques and approaches
to express themselves using the moving image, participants also develop skills related
to problem solving, planning and collaboration.
Winners receive great prizes as well as having the honour of seeing their films
screened in a range of locations online and onsite at ACMI. All participants receive a
certificate of participation and feedback (if requested).
The Resource
Screen It has targeted educational outcomes, and is linked to the Australian
Curriculum.
The introductory section of the resource offers teachers stimulus for introducing the
theme of Mystery to students, and you are advised to choose the ideas and activities
that best suit your students’ interests, year level and, of course, the curriculum.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 3 of 23
The subsequent sections offer a framework for working with students in their chosen
moving image form and supporting them as they learn about the production process.
To complement the resource, the ACMI Education team hosts a comprehensive
videoconference program designed to give practical advice and creative inspiration.
https://www.acmi.net.au/education/student-programs/screen-it/
SCREEN IT COMPETITION CATEGORIES
This year Screen It introduces three age categories where the majority of students
producing the work are in:
‒ FOUNDATION TO YEAR 4
‒ YEAR 5 TO YEAR 8
‒ YEAR 9 TO YEAR 12
Three moving image categories:
‒ ANIMATION: create an animation between 30 and 180 seconds.
‒ LIVE ACTION: create a live action film no longer than three minutes for
Foundation to Year 8 students and up to 5 minutes for year 9 to 12 students.
‒ VIDEOGAME: create a Videogame playable on a Microsoft Windows, Apple
Mac computer or iPad.
Awards go to:
‒ Best Animated Film
‒ Best Live Action Film
‒ Best Videogame
‒ Best Overall School Entry
‒ Special Mentions
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 4 of 23
Screen It in the Classroom
Creating simple animations, live action productions and videogames can be fun,
engaging, and highly educational learning projects to undertake with students. Such
projects allow students to develop many and varied skills by involving students in:
•
developing an original idea and researching information
•
writing a storyline and a script
•
creating a basic storyboard
•
planning a production or game structure
•
designing and creating animation characters and sets, or game characters
and moulds
•
casting actors, selecting or creating locations and dressing sets or moulds
•
learning practical production skills including camera, sound recording, acting
and directing
•
developing team work, time management and planning skills
•
learning post-production skills including editing, sound effects, music, titles
and credits
•
testing compiled games and analysing the responses of different people
•
programming or coding concepts
•
interaction and game design
Screen It – In your school
A Screen It entry can also be embraced as a cross departmental project engaging a
wider range of students. Your school may have a student or group of students who are
seeking an extension activity or who are naturally motivated to oversee the production
of the project in collaboration with a guiding teacher. These students could occupy the
roles of producer and director and draw on the expertise and skills of the school
community.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 5 of 23
•
English/Literature teachers and students could research the idea and
develop and write the script.
•
Art/Studio Art/Design teachers and students can create a ‘look book’ for the
film, source and design props and costumes.
•
Drama teachers and students could cast the film and rehearse the scenes
with actors.
•
Media/IT/Art teachers and students might take on the role of designing
storyboards, being responsible for the shooting of the film and recording of
the sound, as well as editing the project.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 6 of 23
THEME: MYSTERY
“The most beautiful experience
we can have is the mysterious. It
is the fundamental emotion that
stands at the cradle of true art
and true science.”
Albert Einstein
The Screen It theme is designed to motivate your students and this year’s theme is
particularly tantalizing.
You and your students can interpret this theme in any way you like!
Think of all the things that have ever mystified you, questions without answers,
puzzling stories with unexpected endings and riddles that leave you scratching your
head.
Maybe your students will be inspired by a road they have never travelled down, the
house with the closed blinds, hidden thoughts and feelings, the mysteries of the
universe, the world under a microscope, the curious feeling if déjà vu, an unidentified
sound or a hidden treasure.
To get started
Use prompts to generate a variety of ideas and possible approaches.
•
What words spring to mind when considering the word mystery?
•
Give each student a bunch of sticky notes and ask them to write a different
word or idea on each page. Students can stick their responses up on the
wall. Group similar responses and discuss.
•
What are some of the feelings that unexplained or puzzling events, objects,
answers or sounds evoke/create.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 7 of 23
•
Download the Screen It 2016 poster. What mysteries does it portray?
The mystical allure of the mystery
•
Why are people so fascinated with the unknown?
•
Why is it so much fun to solve riddles and puzzles?
•
What are some unsolved mysteries that have captured your students’
imaginations?
•
Share and compare responses.
Everyday life is full of unsolved mysteries and riddles:
•
-
Where is that other sock?
-
What happened to my keys?
-
Where did the milk go?
-
Why don’t spiders stick to their webs?
-
How do ants know where the honey is kept?
Ask students to add to this list and, then, work in groups to come up with (a)
scientific (b) silly and (c) magical explanations for each of these mysteries
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 8 of 23
Storytelling
"Nobody reads a mystery to get
to the middle. They read it to get
to the end. If it's a letdown, they
won't buy anymore. The first page
sells that book. The last page
sells your next book."
Mickey Spillane
Most stories are driven by a mystery to be solved or a question to be answered. We
keep reading a book, viewing a film or playing a game because we want to find out
what happens in the end. Some stories are particularly puzzling and mysterious.
•
In groups, students share stories that have kept them guessing. They need
to be careful not to spoil the ending for others, or perhaps other students
might like to unravel or solve the mystery. Do they know of
stories/films/games that do not offer viewers/players a solution to the
mystery?
•
Ask students to work in groups to write the first paragraph of a mysterious or
puzzling story and then work together as a class to come up with a
satisfying solution.
•
Using the same opening paragraphs, try working on an ending that leaves
the viewers or players in suspense, puzzling over what might have
happened. (Picnic at Hanging Rock is a famous example of this kind of
storytelling strategy.)
•
Screen or display images that evoke a sense of mystery: a closed door, a
shadowy landscape, the night sky, Stonehenge, the human brain. Working
in pairs, students can focus on the image that particularly captures their
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 9 of 23
imaginations. Why is this image so mysterious? In a few sentences sketch
out the story evoked or suggested by the image.
Many people love the thrill and adventure of the mystery genre: clues, suspects,
detectives and motives. Find out what the students know about the Mystery genre and
discuss:
•
What are the codes and conventions of the Mystery genre?
•
What videogames, films, TV shows, books or animations fit into this genre?
•
Share some favourite examples and try to identify the elements that make
them successful.
Unsolved mysteries and urban legends
How many famous unsolved mysteries and urban legends do students know about? In
groups, students could present one to the class using the PechaKucha format
(http://www.pechakucha.org) where presenters are limited to 20 slides and are only
allowed to speak for 20 seconds each slide.
Examples include:
•
The Yeti or the Abominable Snowman
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2vGYLC87gU)
•
The Loch Ness Monster (http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/lochness-sci)
•
Crop circles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYkyFgt1hZk)
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 10 of 23
Puzzles, games and optical illusions
There is still some debate as to how optical illusions like flipbooks, thaumatropes,
zoetropes and mutoscopes trick our eyes and brains into morphing a series of still
picture into a moving image. Persistence of vision was the theory of choice
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YismwdgMIRc) until recently. Now Beta Movement
and the Phi Phemonena are part of the explanation – but it is still a bit of a mystery!
Get inspired!
•
Check out the optical illusions at ACMI’s Screen Worlds exhibition:
http://www.acmi.net.au/acmi-channel/2014/elaborate-illusions/.
•
Find out more about animation toys such as flipbooks and thaumatropes.
(For example, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e1GKG-Gmjk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0z8QUKgPRA )
•
Create your own optical illusions.
(For example, www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/whirling-watcher)
•
Play games and watch movies and animations based on puzzles or games.
(For example, www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/stories/s2209434.htm
http://generator.acmi.net.au/gallery/media/wcft-world-connect-fourtournament)
•
Solve some of these brainteasers:
www.oneminutemysteries.com/samplechapters.pdf
•
Visit ABC Splash for puzzles related to Language and Maths. For example:
http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/digibook/965656/sound-and-letter-mysteries
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 11 of 23
The Human Brain and the Human Body
“Everything we do, every thought
we've ever had, is produced by
the human brain. But exactly how
it operates remains one of the
biggest unsolved mysteries, and
it seems the more we probe its
secrets, the more surprises we
find.”
Neil de Grasse Tyson
Many aspects of the human brain and body are a mystery, including how we perceive
moving images in films and animations.
•
As a class, find out more about the mysteries of the body. Some
suggestions:
-
What do we need to eat to stay healthy?
-
Why do we need sleep?
-
How do we remember things?
•
Encourage students to find out about some of the strange medical beliefs
and practices of the past and share them with the class.
•
The mysteries of the human body and mind have inspired many stories,
films and videogames including Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein and
even SpongeBob SquarePants
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdAJtsIiQ6U ). Ask students to
contribute more examples from their own reading, viewing and playing of
videogames.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 12 of 23
Mysterious Packages
Encourage students to be active thinkers:
•
Bring in a box wrapped in layers of paper. Students can guess what is
inside.
•
Hide something and leave a trail of clues for students to decipher.
•
Make the next homework task a choice from a lucky dip. Customise the
tasks to add a bit of tension – some students receive a “get-out of
homework free” card, while others may be required to present it in an
unexpected format (in song, in a strange font).
In pairs and then as a class, share and discuss the feelings and responses generated
by the chosen activity.
Continue the discussion by considering the following topics:
•
why wrap gifts,
•
the most unexpected gift you have ever received,
•
the appeal of the lucky dip, the jack-in-the-box or surprise toys hidden inside
chocolate eggs or plastic capsules,
•
the excitement of receiving an unexpected parcel in the post.
•
the popularity of unboxing and unwrapping videos
(for example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcsagUBRBK4;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeaj0y-hje4).
•
why TV shows hide things behind mystery doors, introduce surprise guests
or challenge participants to cook using a mystery box of ingredients.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 13 of 23
As a class, create a chain story that begins with an unopened package.
•
Each member of the class adds a sentence to the story and each new
addition begins with the words “The Package”.
•
The challenge is to keep the story going without revealing what is in the
package until you get to the last person who can decide the solution to the
mystery.
When students begin planning their productions, they can build a connection with their
audience, by drawing on the feelings and responses evoked by mysteries and the
unknown.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 14 of 23
Mysterious spaces
“It was the sweetest, most
mysterious-looking place any one
could imagine. The high walls
which shut it in were covered
with the leafless stems of
climbing roses which were so
thick that they were matted
together."
Frances Hodgson Burnett,
The Secret Garden
Many places have a particular atmosphere. What makes a place creepy, uncanny,
alien, intriguing, lost or mystifying?
•
Ask students to think about a space they know that has a special feeling or
ambience.
•
Can they identify the mood of the place and the feeling it evokes?
•
What features evoke this mood?
The history of a place changes the way we think about it. Once you know the secret
stories, you can never see it in quite the same way.
•
You might like to show students some images or videos of particular places
and ask them to describe the feeling that these places evoke. You could
then provide them with some context about the history of these places and
ask them to consider how this changes their initial impressions.
•
As a class, you could explore the Memory Places worksheet and consider
the connection between present-day spaces and the past:
https://www.acmi.net.au/education/learning-resources/memory-places/
•
Focus on the way that camera, lighting and sound can communicate the
secret life of a place. When you make your own works consider how you
can create mood using these production techniques?
Try experimenting with filters and effects to create the impression of footage from the
past.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 15 of 23
Sci-Fi mysteries
“The Truth is out There”
The X-Files
The universe is so huge and contains many secrets. One of the great mysteries is
whether there is life somewhere other than earth. Many filmmakers and videogame
developers have tried to imagine what extraterrestrial life might look like.
•
Working together as a class, list as many of these imaginings as you can.
You might like to identify your favourites and discuss what makes them
successful.
•
Ask students to imagine and share with the group their own version of
extraterrestrial life.
UFOs feature in many sci fi mysteries.
•
Students can research some UFO stories as a starting point for a discussion
about why people find them so fascinating and are so keen to believe in
their existence.
•
Older students could find out more about the conspiracy theories that have
grown up around stories about a flying saucer in Roswell New Mexico and
Area 51.
•
In Australia, the disappearance of lone pilot Frederick Valentich after he
reported seeing UFOs is considered by many people to be an unsolved
mystery. You can find out more about it here:
www.abc.net.au/archives/80days/stories/2012/01/19/3411597.htm
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 16 of 23
•
If students want to explore the way that people respond to mysteries, they
could compare sceptical accounts of this incident with versions of the story
told by believers.
•
Younger students will enjoy the Pixar short animation Lifted and its depiction
of what might happen if a UFO visited during the night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY1_HrhwaXU
-
After viewing, break down features such as character, story and
world to assist students in planning and creating their own work.
-
Use the worksheets developed for the Dreamworks Animation
Exhibition to help your students to organsie their thoughts and to
keep a record of their observations.
https://www.acmi.net.au/media/444349/dreamworks-worksheets.pdf
Scientific Mysteries
Sci fi films and videogames are inspired by the mysteries of science, using them as a
launching point for stories driven by imagination and invention. Here are some scientific
mysteries designed to fire students‘ imaginations.
•
Dark energy - We can't see it and we can't feel it, nobody knows what it is,
but we know it exists.
•
Dark matter – It may or may not exist but scientists spend a lot of time.
•
Time - Why does it only move forward?
•
The lifetime of the universe
•
How did life originate?
•
How many dimensions of space are there?
If you want to inspire students with some mysteries that do have a solution, visit the US
Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/archive.html
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 17 of 23
Forensic investigation and adventure.
Challenge students to plan a mystery-filled narrative based on forensic investigation:
Can the audience use their savvy science knowledge to solve the mystery you present
them with? Here are some sleuthing film, animation and videogame ideas from Fizzics
Education to get you started:
•
Shipwrecks & salvage… which vessel have the marine archaeologists
discovered?
•
Who stole the parrot? Our prize-winning parrot has gone missing…trace the
clues to find the culprit!
•
Forensic frenzy... can your scientific team put the evidence together in time?
•
Cryptic codes; someone has hacked your computer but left code traces as
to who they are…
•
Which bug is this? The museums need your help to put order to their
collection chaos.
•
Digital dilemma; We’ve lost our top secret satellite… can the team work out
how to find it?
•
Wow, you’ve just discovered that there is a hidden message in your
favourite song! Now, how to work it out….
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 18 of 23
The Mysteries of the Universe
“It seemed to be a necessary
ritual that he should prepare
himself for sleep by meditating
under the solemnity of the night
sky… a mysterious transaction
between the infinity of the soul
and the infinity of the universe.”
Victor Hugo
We are part of a universe that is so immense, it is impossible for the human mind to
grasp its size. The invention of ever-more powerful telescopes has led to many
amazing discoveries and theories but we can only ever know only the tiniest fraction
about what exists beyond our solar system.
•
List some of the mysteries of the universe.
•
Which of these mysteries might make the most interesting subject for a
short film or video?
•
Set a timer and give students a minute to think about a short film or game
inspired by a mystery of the universe. Break them up into pairs and allow
two minutes to compare ideas and come up with a single preferred concept.
Join pairs of students into a group of four. Give them four minutes to pitch
their ideas to each other and then work together to create a single concept.
Pitch these ideas to the class and share constructive feedback.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 19 of 23
Secrets
“The greatest secrets are always
hidden in the most unlikely
places. Those who don't believe
in magic will never find it.”
Roald Dahl
Everyone loves a secret, but they can be difficult to keep.
Ask students to reflect on the following questions:
•
Why are secrets so tantalising? Why does it feel so bad to be the only one
not in on a secret?
•
Why are they so hard to keep?
•
What kinds of things do people keep secret?
•
Ask students to use one of the following prompts as the stimulus for a film,
animation or game. They have only one side of an A4 page to communciate
as many ideas about the story they want to tell and/or the world in which
events will unfold.
•
-
the secret of success
-
secret language/codes/messages
-
whispered secrets
-
magical worlds
-
secret garden
-
keeping/telling/revealing secrets
-
buried treasure
-
behind the closed door
Plan a hidden secrets tour of your school, suburb, town or some other
special place. (Some examples are
http://hiddensecretstours.com/tour/lanes-arcades/;
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 20 of 23
http://secrettours.com.au/; http://www.silverkris.com/stories/8-secret-spotssingapore-will-surprise-you )
•
Show students photographs of ordinary-seeming people and ask them to
imagine that each one of them has a (different) secret. Describe these
secret lives.
•
Younger students might like to imagine the secret life of their pets or their
toys.
Secrets and Technology
In 1872, Eadweard Muybridge solved the mystery of whether all four hooves of a horse
leave the ground when it gallops:
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/windows/southeast/eadweard_muybri
dge.html
In The Private Life of Plants, time lapse photography revealed secrets about nature
and the way that plants grow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puDkLFcCZyI
Microscopes, telescopes, x-ray machines reveal information that would otherwise have
remained a mystery.
Robots can reveal secrets hidden at the bottom of the sea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dTq20x1d4M
•
Ask students to choose a technology that has helped solve a scientific
mystery and using one image and three sentences describe to the rest of
the class what it is and what it has revealed.
•
What are some of secrets you would like to unearth or mysteries you would
like to solve. Design a technology that will help you do this – the crazier and
more unlikely the better!
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 21 of 23
Life’s mysteries: Who am I? What does it all mean? What
makes me me?
Ask students to reflect on the following questions, as they consider who they are and
their place in the world.
•
What makes us who we are?
•
Who defines our identity? Us or others?
•
When do we feel most ourselves?
•
What does it mean to be true to oneself?
•
How many different people are you? Make a list.
Ask students to write a quick response:
•
What makes you special?
•
When have you surprised yourself?
•
What does it mean to act out of character?
Films, books, games, music and art can help us learn more about ourselves.
•
In pairs, students share and describe creative works and experiences that
have taught them more about their secret selves.
Now it‘s time for the students to ask the questions.
•
Challenge them to come up with a list of Big Questions about life’s
mysteries.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 22 of 23
•
Keeping each students‘ contribution anonymous, compile these questions
into a single list. How much overlap is there? Are there some mysteries that
every human being thinks about and puzzles over?
Start Creating
Once students have reflected on the range of possible approaches presented by the
theme and have begun developing their ideas, you can guide them in creating the best
Screen It entry possible. Check out the Screen It production resouces on how to make
live action , animation and videogames.
And remember, you and your students can take part in ACMI’s Screen It
videoconference program where you can get tips from ACMI’s expert education team
and ask any of your burning questions.
FREE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE – Screen It Primary and Secondary Teacher Resource Kit 2016
Page 23 of 23