Interactive Online Activities

Film Education
Film Education online activity; analysis of trailer for German film The Lives of Others. It requires participants to view the trailer and review the effectiveness. Also includes a self-paced learning Study Guide to the film.

DIY Doco
A Screen Australia website that includes practical knowledge and skills under the following three general areas:

1. Documentary styles and genres. Looks at forms such as personal journey, observational, advocacy and essay style.
2. Elements of documentary storytelling. Looks at elements including camera, sound, lighting and editing.
3. Story to Screen. Looks at subjects such as finding ideas, writing pitches, finding platforms and marketing.

Also includes:

• A detailed Site Index which provides the user with an overview of the website
• A complete list of film clips
• A virtual library advises where additional information can be found
• DIY·Doco quiz that tests student knowledge of information provided on the website

Ten Canoes
Interactive activities for editing and designing artwork for a film;

1. Edit your own sequence from 10 Canoes.
   The website includes a selection of clips and timeline a playback function and script excerpt.
   This is great as a basic intro to editing. As an assessment task for Cert 3, students could be asked to complete the interactive activity and then write a list of:
   (i) the correct order of the clips according to the director’s script
   (ii) one or two suggestions for how they could be re-ordered to tell a different story.
2. Create your own Ten Canoes poster.
   A basic tool to create a poster. Good as a fun introductory activity. These can be printed out to be retained as evidence

Screen Australia
Tips on making low-budget features

Scripts
A lot of scripts are online and available for free download. Here are four sites that have heaps in various drafts.
Script-O-Rama
Movie-Page.com
Daily Script
Movie Script Sites and Resources


Production and script resource

Celtx
Free open source Scriptwriting Software. Celtx has all the tools you need to write, organise and collaborate in one modern, internet-friendly, free software application.


Storytelling

Classical Storytelling
Aristotle’s writings about story structure still inform the great writing structure theorists today. Aristotle’s Poetics is available in English translations as well as audio book form from Project Gutenberg

Alternative Storytelling
Michael Haneke, Director of Funny Games, in an interview discussing the film and how it subverts classical story structure and playing with audience expectation. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Multi-Platform Storytelling
True Blood is, Executive Producer, Allan Ball’s [Six Feet Under, American Beauty] new hit vampire series set in Louisiana. In the lead up to the series premier the show was promoted with an elaborate multi-platform experience. Using YouTube and other fake websites to leave clues that built the world of the show and created a groundswell of excitement with an audience. View the blog of the event.

Writing Tips
Free podcasts by Hollywood screenwriter Chris Soth exploring his “Mini-Movie Method”
Episodes include: Want vs. Need, Character Arc & Character Voice, Titles!, Reels...Really?, Let's Give Voice... to Voice., A Dialogue on Dialogue, Using Theme and Arc to Generate Characters


Research
Good sites for keeping abreast of what is being made and what audiences are watching
Internet Movie Database
Box Office Mojo [International Box Office Data]
Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia
The Numbers [box office data, movie news]
Urban Cinefile [news, reviews, Australian box office data]
Variety [international reviews, news, box office data]