studyguide

OPAL DREAM
A STUDYGUIDE BY CHRISTINE EVELY AND GARY SIMMONS
www.metromagazine.com.au
www.theeducationshop.com.au
About the film
Opal Dream (Peter Cattaneo, 2006) is the story of Pobby, Dingan
and the Williamson family, set in an Australian opal-mining community. Pobby
and Dingan are the invisible friends of Kellyanne (Sapphire Boyce), the 9-year-old
daughter of opal miner Rex Williamson (Vince Colosimo). The story is told through the
eyes of Kellyanne’s 11-year-old brother Ashmol (Christian Byers), who, like his father,
is annoyed by his sister’s obsession with her imaginary friends.
T
he film is a funny,
funny uplifting and
touching story of the bizarre and
inexplicable disappearance of
Pobby and Dingan, and the impact
this has on not only Kellyanne but also
her family and the community.
community
claim, and is accused of trying to steal
opals. Dubbed a ‘ratter’ by the townsfolk, he soon becomes embroiled in a
scuffle and ultimately a court case, for
which the whole town turns out to see
him get his just desserts.
While Rex pursues his dream of striking it rich in the opal mines, the Williamson family struggle to make ends
meet and to fit into the community.
community
Kellyanne’s
Kellyanne’
s mum, Annie (Jacqueline
McKenzie), works in the local super
supermarket. Like Kellyanne, she too is a
little dreamy,, and you soon realize
r
she
doesn’tt always find it easy to be posiposi
tive about the realities
r
of outback life.
Meanwhile, without her imaginary
r
ry
friends, Kellyanne develops a mysterious and debilitating illness that seems
almost to be making her disappear
too. Increasingly concerned about his
sister’s wellbeing, Ashmol springs into
action in an eff
f ort
ff
r to save his little sister
rt
and also the reputation of his father.
r
r.
Despite his previous annoyance at his
sister’s embarrassing relationship with
Pobby and Dingan, he decides he must
enlist the local community to help find
Kellyanne’s missing friends.
Kellyanne’s loss and the journey to her
recovery becomes a rite of passage
story, not only for Ashmol but for his
family and, ultimately, the whole town.
Through his search for Pobby and Dingan, Ashmol shows his family and the
Using Opal Dream in
the classroom
Opal Dr
Dream is based on the awardwinning novel Pobby and Dingan by
Ben Rice. Both the book and the film
explore a range of cross-cultural and
sometimes sensitive themes, including faith, belief, dreams, loss, grief,
family relationships, community, love,
honesty, trust and imagination – all
within a whimsical Australian tale that
balances drama with humour
humour.
This film of
offers many opportunities
to link with classroom topics at both
primary and lower secondary level and
to include values education related
to real-life personal and social issues. After viewing the film, teachers
can engage students in discussions
and activities that will assist them to
develop and clarify their values and
attitudes, to understand the value
SCREEN EDUCA
EDUCATION
Dad has the bright idea of taking
Ashmol, Pobby and Dingan out for a
day at the mines. However Kellyanne
is devastated when he ‘forgets’ to
bring her two friends home again.
He eventually gives in and returns to
the mines to search
sear for Pobby and
Dingan. Unfortunately,
Unfortunately, while searching
sear
he strays too close to a rival miner’s
miner’
townsfolk that you don’t always need
to see to believe.
2
positions of others and to gain further
understanding of their place in the
world. T
Together teachers and students
can explore themes and issues of a
personal nature, along with themes
related to human relationships and coexistence within a community.
Learning and teaching
experiences
Middle and upper primary and lower
secondary teachers can select from
the following information and activities
to introduce or follow up the film and
develop knowledge about narrative,
screen literacy and key themes.
The information and activities provided
in this guide aim to assist teachers to
develop student understandings, skills
and attitudes from across key learning
areas including English, Health, The
Arts, Studies of Society and Environment and Science.
Before viewing the
film
Story ladder
Read the short novel Pobby and
Dingan to the class. Discuss students’
reactions to the book and create a
story ladder showing key events in the
story.
story
Investigate
As a home task encourage students to
locate and gather as much information
as possible about opals and opal minmin
ing in Australia. Y
You might begin with
the following websites:
http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/mines/
fossicking/opal.html
http://www.opalcapitaloftheworld.
.opalcapitaloftheworld.
com.au/
Create
eate a class chart in which students
can record
d gathered
gather information. In
groups
oups of three
thr have students draw
upon the data chart to suggest quesques
tions related
elated to opals or to opal mining
they would like answered.
answer
Allow students who have seen the film
to tell a little about how the film plot
relates
elates to the book. Explain the idea of
not giving away too much of the story.
story
The book, Pobby and Dingan, is set in
Lightning Ridge. Place students into
small groups and ask them to write
possible descriptions of a setting for
the film Opal Dr
Dream. As a class, share
and discuss similarities and dif
differ
ferferences in the groups’ descriptions. Find
out how and why each group decided
on particular ideas for their description.
Read and discuss ‘Q&A with Director Peter Cattaneo: Setting’ (below)
where he talks about his research and
selection of a location for Opal Dr
Dream.
Have each group of students use their
research and descriptions of a possible setting to explain why they agree
or disagree with Cattaneo’s selection.
Q&A with director Peter Cattaneo:
Setting
The film is set in an opal-mining
town in outback Australia. What
preparation did you do to familiarize
yourself with that world?
I didn’t know anything about opal mining befor
before
e I rread
ead the book. I started
my rresearch online, looking at Lightning Ridge and Coober Pedy – both
opal-mining towns in Australia. I went
on a rrecce
ecce [r
[reconnaissance]
econnaissance] and met
some of the miners in Lightning Ridge
where the book is set. I ended up
wher
shooting in Coober Pedy because it
offered
offer
ed me mor
more
e dynamic visuals. The
book is full of descriptions of a barr
barren,
arid landscape, as Ben [Rice] wrote it
having visited Lightning Ridge during
a drought. When I went to Lightning
Ridge I was surprised to find gr
green,
fertile pastur
pastureland with the odd opal
mine scatter
scattered around. Then I went
to Coober Pedy and saw the extraor
extraordinary geology and I knew it was defidinar
nitely the right place to make the film.
I went down a few mines and spent
time in the bars wher
where all the miners
meet at the end of the day
day, as well as
the famous Bor
Bore Baths in Lightning
Ridge, which is a gr
great place to hear
mining tales. Down a mine in Lightning
Ridge I found myself chipping away
away,
hoping to find something. Y
You get the
bug straight away – it’
it’s an amazingly
vertiginous thing going down the tunnel into the darkness, then when you
get to the bottom, you feel the terrible
weight of all this earth on top of you.
And then you start chipping away and
you think, ‘If I just went one little chip
further I might find something’ and
then you hear a scrape. All the miners
stop when they hear this scrape of the
potch and they all come scuttling over
over,
but usually it’
it’s just potch, which is the
milky stone which is not opalized. I
found it ver
very hard to leave – I just kept
chipping away and chipping away
away. I
found it a gr
great education and I hope
that audiences worldwide will be as
intrigued by Australian opal mining as
I was.
Predicting action
Ask each student to record three ideas, either as illustrations or sentences,
about the events they think will take
place in the film. Share and display.
SCREEN EDUCA
EDUCATION
Introducing the shared
experience
Describing settings
3
Viewing the film
It is ideal if students view the film
firstly for enjoyment, without interruption, in a cinema setting. It is helpful to
then re-screen the film or key scenes
with particular questions or a focus in
mind for close analysis. Some teachers prefer to ask pairs or groups of
students to be responsible for reporting to the class on particular aspects.
Depending on your classroom program and the needs, interests or abilities of your students, close analysis
may focus upon:
-
the visuals and sounds in the
opening and closing scenes
key events in the plot
character development
relationships between characters
settings
use of the camera to convey
meanings
use of the soundtrack to convey
meanings
themes including faith, belief,
dreams, loss, grief, family relationships, community, love, honesty,
trust and imagination along with
opal mining and being Australian.
After viewing Opal
Dream
Class discussion
time with sound. Discuss the role
of the soundtrack. Consider music,
other sounds and narration. Who
is the narrator? Why do you think
the filmmakers decided to have
Ashmol tell the story?
Film review
Have students draft a film review for
the school newsletter that includes
information about the main characters and a short synopsis of the plot.
Students might also include information about the cast and opinions about
the plot and the acting. They may use
earlier research and information from
the director [above] about the selection of the location to comment about
settings.
Close analysis of the film
Various events in Opal Dream highlight
the effects people’s beliefs, hopes,
dreams, behaviours and actions have
upon others.
•
… we could say that stories have
sequences that are more circular than
linear. That is they start from a known
point, head off on a singular or interrelated series of episodes and finally
resolve things.1
Plotting narrative events on a timeline
or as a story ladder will help students
to discover the way Opal Dream
moves from one stage to another.
From the orientation where the scene
is set, viewers are led through a series
of events comprising the complication,
and then the sequence turns full circle
and concludes by creating a resolution
of the problems facing the characters.
Story Ladder
•
Mining for opals has become an obsession for Rex. Despite the fact that
he has had no good strikes, he seems
convinced he will strike it rich.
•
•
•
•
List examples from the film that
support this point of view.
Explain how Rex’s obsession with
opals is, or is not, reflected in each
of his children’s personalities.
Compare and contrast the personalities of Rex, Annie, Kellyanne,
Ashmol, Rex’s lawyer, and the
‘wronged’ miner. What characteristics are similar and different
between these characters?
What does Opal Dream reveal
about the people who live and
work in this opal mining community? Have students use Worksheet
1, on the following page, to explore
this question.
Learning about narrative
Structure and elements of
narrative
Narrative texts may include a recount
of a family outing, a novel, short
story, a picture storybook, a television
soapie, a live-action film such as Opal
Ask students to retell Opal Dream.
Record each key event on a paper
strip, then spread all sentence
strips on the floor. As a class,
arrange strips in the order that
events occurred in the film. Compare with the story ladder created
after reading the novel.
During the next few days discuss
each of the events recorded on
the strips. Record details students
remember on butcher paper. Get
students to talk about what happened. Ask them:
- Why do you think this event
was included in the film?
- Which characters were involved?
- Where did it take place? What
was the setting?
- Was it an important event in
the story? Why or why not?
- Was this part of the film trying
to give a message? If so, what
is it?
Using a timeline to examine
cause and effect
Use a large roll of paper to recreate
a timeline showing the sequence of
events in Opal Dream by pasting the
sentence strips about 15cm above the
bottom of the paper roll.
Examine the timeline to discover the
SCREEN EDUCATION
•
As a class, review ideas related
to settings and events that were
recorded before watching the film.
Were students’ ideas close to the
film? Was the film enjoyable? Why
or why not? What parts of the film
were the most engaging, the most
exciting, and the most believable?
How did the filmmakers achieve
this? What were some of the different feelings evoked by the film?
How did the filmmakers achieve
these feelings in the audience? In
what way/s would you change the
film if you were one of the filmmakers? Why would you make these
changes?
Discuss the opening scenes of
the film. If possible, re-screen the
opening sequence without sound.
What do the visual images tell you
about the film’s story? Where is the
film set? How can you tell?
Screen the sequence again, this
Opal Dream provides an opportunity
for teachers to explore with students
the structure and elements of a story.
Discuss as a class:
•
•
Dream or an animated film.
4
Character
How is the character
introduced? What do you
see and hear?
Describe personality
traits of the character.
Give examples from the
film.
Explain why the character is important to the
story.
What does the character
tell viewers about life in
this opal mining community?
Ashmol
Kellyanne
Rex (Dad)
Annie (Mum)
Rex’s lawyer
Sid Fraser
(wronged
miner)
Vera Dunkley
SCREEN EDUCATION
WORKSHEET 1. STUDENT NAME: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
5
way each event in Opal Dr
Dream relates
to and builds upon previous events.
Record students’ ideas, related to
cause and ef
effect, in the space below
each sentence strip.
Add comments about the ef
effect/s of
each event on particular characters
above each sentence strip.
Settings
A number of dif
different settings are
utilized in Opal Dr
Dream, for example:
exterior drive-in, exterior mining area,
ar
interior mineshaft, interior hall serving
as a courtroom,
courtr
interior of the Williamson home and the interior of the
supermarket.
•
Add notes to the timeline recording
ideas.
Story
tory maps
tor
Story maps ar
Story
are
e pictorial rrepr
epresentaepresenta
tions in simple map for
form.
m. Construction
of a stor
story map involves complex understandings of rrelationships between
characters, settings and time. Emphasising the process of map construction
can highlight to students the value of
talk in clarifying their understanding of
the film.2
•
Each setting assists the viewer to
separate events and characters and
the role
role of each character in the nar
narrative.
•
•
Why do you think each setting was
selected?
What is the importance of the setset
•
Refer to previous activities detailing key characters and places or
settings found within Opal Dr
Dream.
Use these to assist students to
create a map showing the settings
in which the action takes place in
Opal Dr
Dream.
Have students work in small
groups to discuss the following
questions and then report ideas to
the class:
- What do you think it would be
like living in Lightning Ridge?
Dream
- How do the Opal Dr
filmmakers use images and
sound to convey ideas about
life in this mining community?
Consider climate, living and
working conditions, leisure
e pur
pursuits, services and availability
of goods.
Characterization
Opal Dr
Dream makes clever use of
particular personalities linked to each
main character to explore emotions,
feelings and behaviours, and to raise
interesting questions about human
relationships. Discuss:
•
•
Who are the main characters in
Opal Dr
Dream?
Who are the other characters?
Describe the appearance, personality,
behaviour and attitudes of each main
character
character.
Who am I?
Play guessing games where students
take turns to portray a character from
SCREEN EDUCA
EDUCATION
Use the Opal Dr
Dream timeline to
examine the settings featured
featur in the
film. Begin by listing the setting in
which each event occurs. Write
W
a brief
description of the setting the first time
it is featured, and add this information
to the space above the events on the
timeline. Ask students:
ting to each key event?
How does each setting help to tell
the story?
6
•
•
•
•
Opal Dr
Dream and class members guess
the identity of the character
character. Portrayal
of characters might take the form of
mime, or alternatively
alter
students could
improvise
ovise a phrase or sentence they
think would be said by a particular
character.
character
Character matrix
List each character from
fr
Opal Dr
Dream
along the top row
row of a matrix. Below
each character list words that describe
physical features,
es, ways of moving,
personality,, behaviours, actions or
other characteristics. (See W
Worksheet
2, on the following page)
•
•
•
What is the role of each character?
Why is each character included in
the story?
Why does each character have difdif
ferent
ent characteristics?
•
Report card
Create a simple report card using a
rating scale for a character from Opal
Dr
Dream
by listing contrasting characteristics, for example, dreamy/realistic,
impractical/practical, calm/aggressive,
thoughtful/impulsive. Allocate small
groups the task of creating report
cards for key characters.
Character development
•
As a class, use the timeline created earlier to discuss the development of main characters from one
event to the next. Discuss ways
that the actions and dialogue of
other characters and the events in
the film story contribute to character development and to the film’s
•
•
•
themes or messages.
Discuss as a class how the per
personalities, dialogue and actions of
characters in Opal Dr
Dream help to
create a sense of what it would be
like to live in an opal mining community. Ask students to consider
whether they think this might be an
accurate representation of the type
of people who live in an opal mining community. In what way/s have
the filmmakers used stereotypes to
contribute to character portrayal?
Encourage students to provide
reasons for their opinions.
Discuss whether students think
the characters in Opal Dr
Dream are
believable. List techniques used
by the filmmakers to make the
characters seem ’real’. Encourage
students to provide evidence from
the film to support their opinions.
Encourage students to visit the
film’s website to find out more
about the actors cast in the film
and other people involved in production.
Using what has been
learned
The creation of a good story involves
more than knowledge of the basic
structure of narrative, it also requires
opportunities to write or create ideas.
Opal Dr
Dream provides students with
a simple model upon which they can
SCREEN EDUCA
EDUCATION
Use the character matrix to guide a
class discussion using questions such
as the following:
•
How do dif
different characters communicate with or relate to each
other?
How does each character change
or develop during the story?
Is Annie (Mum) important to the
story? Why or why not? How
important is each of the other
characters to the story?
How does each character help
convey the story's message?
Compare the roles of male and
female characters in the film.
Compare the adult and child roles
in the film.
7
Kellyanne
Ashmol
Rex (Dad)
Annie (Mum)
Vera Dunkley
Lawyer
(David)
‘Wronged’
Miner (Sid
Fraser)
Physical
features
Body
language,
movement of
character
Facial
expressions
Personality,
attitudes
Behaviour,
actions
Style of
dialogue
– examples
of words or
phrases
Habits
Other characteristics
SCREEN EDUCATION
WORKSHEET 2. STUDENT NAME: __________________________________________________________________________________________________
8
base the development of their own
stories.
-
Orientation: Sets the scene, introduces
key characters and aspects of their
personality.
Problem/complication: A problem or in
this case several problems or complications are introduced that need to be
solved or resolved.
Resolution: The problems or complications are solved.
Encourage students to complete a
story outline, using worksheets 3A
and 3B, to build understanding of
techniques they can use to create their
own stories.
Opal Mining
Dreams and disappointment
Ask students to explain how opal
miners cope with disappointment. Encourage them to give examples from
the film to support their ideas.
Investigate
•
•
Making films in an opal-mining
community
Have students work in groups to list
things they might need to consider if
they were planning to shoot a film in
an opal-mining community.
There were also certain challenges that
I hadn’t foreseen at all. I had no idea
what a hassle the bush flies would be.
When you’re out in the opal fields it’s
quite windy and we’d have flies and
dust and very strong sun. So I’d go to
work with sun block – about factor a
million – and then sun glasses because
the white ground was very flare-y,
and then goggles, because the dust
was blowing in my eyes. And then I’d
have a fly net to keep the flies off and
then muslin soaked in insect repellent
wrapped around my head, along with
a sun hat. So no one actually saw my
face for the first month of the shoot,
which wasn’t ideal but it was the only
way I could survive.
Opal mining and safety
•
Have the class read ‘Q&A with Director Peter Cattaneo: Shooting in the
Outback’ (below). Review and discuss
things that might need to be considered when planning to shoot a film in
an opal-mining community.
Q & A with director Peter Cattaneo:
shooting in the outback
•
What was it like when you actually came to shoot in the Australian
outback?
[It was] marvellous to shoot somewhere where everywhere I looked
there was a fantastic image, where
the landscape was so striking and the
desert light was so pure. We shot a lot
of exteriors at the end of the day and
the beginning of the day. You get this
low desert light that is quite amazing.
And the town itself was very visual – a
one-horse town that was like a time
warp with a drive-in … it made a really
nice change for me to not be in some
grey, English supermarket car park,
trying to make it look cinematic, which
I’ve been doing for years.
•
What was it like shooting in Coober
Pedy?
•
Shooting in Coober Pedy was great in
terms of the light, the geography and
the architecture and the fact that it
was just a little town. I had a mountain
bike that I could ride from my motel to
whichever location we were shooting at.
In Opal Dream Rex (Dad) uses explosives as one of his mining techniques. Ask students to consider
whether they think the film conveyed appropriate messages about
the importance of safe handling of
explosive devices. Ask students to
offer an opinion and explain their
reasons about whether they think
it was appropriate to include this
aspect in the storyline.
Broaden the discussion by asking
students to think about whether
Opal Dream conveys information
about other dangers associated
with opal mining.
Challenge students to investigate
the history of accidents in Australian opal mines. Students might
find out the frequency of accidents
over a given time period, how
incidents are handled and changes
in the way dangers and risks are
managed.
Mining and tourism
•
As a class list ways students think
opal mining and tourism might be
linked. Ask students to provide
evidence of links between mining
and tourism shown in Opal Dream.
Building on student knowledge
related to opal mining, safety and
tourism, have students develop a
safety checklist for people wishing
to visit opal-mining areas. Students might consider water, clothing, footwear, the sun, heat, and
notifying others of your whereabouts.
SCREEN EDUCATION
As a class, list all the things students have learned about opals
and opal mining from viewing Opal
Dream.
Have students work in pairs or
small groups to use books, CD
ROMs, DVDs and the internet to
investigate aspects of opal mining. Students could select from
aspects such as those that follow.
- Write a report that incorporates
images and descriptive paragraphs to explain what opal is.
- Write an explanation about how
opal prices are determined.
- Use graphs or other visual
representations to show how
much opal is produced in
Australia and to compare this
with opal mining production
throughout the world.
- Use maps to show where opal
mining occurs in Australia.
- Use PowerPoint or similar software to create a presentation
that shows the different types
of opal mined in Australia.
- Create a flowchart detailing
stages of opal mining, from
its removal from the ground to
-
availability in retail stores.
Create comic strips to show
different techniques that have
been or are being used to mine
opal in Australia today and in
the past.
Create a glossary of opal and
opal mining terms.
Locate opal-mining communities such as Lightning Ridge
and Coober Pedy on a map of
Australia. Add other relevant
towns, natural and built features.
9
Themes
Hope, faith, belief and
fantasies
•
•
•
•
•
loss or the death of loved ones.
During the film Annie (Mum)
compares Kellyanne’s imaginary
friends with her father’s quest
for opals. As a class discuss
whether students think the two
are
e similar
similar. Encourage students
to explain why or why not.
List and compare the hopes,
beliefs, dreams and fantasies of
Rex, Ashmol, Mum and Kellyanne.
In what ways are they similar and
dif ent?
differ
Happiness and dreams
During the film, Mum asks Ashmol if
he is happy. He replies, ‘So long as
there’s opal waiting to be found and
there’s always something to dream
about.’ Ashmol also says:
When you believe in something, that’
that’s
when it’
it’ss rreal
eal and that’
that’ss what makes a
person rreal
eal too: how they dr
dream
eam and
how they shar
share
e their dr
dreams;
eams; when
they’re
they’r
e with you or even after they’r
they’re
e
gone; because a dr
dream
eam is for
forever
ever,
ever,
like my mum and dad or my sister
sister.
We’r
We’r
e’re
e all dr
dreaming
eaming together
together,, and that’
that’ss
what’ss rreal,
what’
eal, that’
that’ss what’
what’ss rreal,
eal, for
forever
ever.
ever.
•
Ask students to work in groups
to consider the quotes above and
explain what they think Ashmol
may mean. Share ideas as a class.
Read ‘Q&A
with director Peter Cattaneo:
Book to Film’ (below) to the class, then
discuss why Peter Cattaneo decided
not to enable the audience to ‘see’
Pobby and Dingan. Do students agree
with his decision? Why or why not?
Q&A with director Peter Cattaneo:
Book to Film
Do you have an idea of what Pobby
and Dingan look like?
I do. In the book ther
there
e ar
are
e wonderful
descriptions of Pobby and Dingan – of
Pobby speaking English or whistling to
be understood, and having a wooden
leg, and of Dingan’
Dingan’s hair cut. Many
things ar
are mentioned in the book. But
it was always going to be a big challenge – how do I shoot people who
don’t exist? The question was asked
‘should we in fact see them’ through
CGI or prosthetics but I rreally thought
we shouldn’t – because the film is
about imagination – it’
it’s about having
faith in things that you can’t see. But
SCREEN EDUCA
EDUCATION
As a class, discuss reasons why
Kellyanne has imaginary friends.
Create a list of other leisure activities that draw upon imagination,
such as viewing films, reading
r
books or playing electronic games.
In what ways are these types of
activities similar to and dif
different
from
om each other?
Talk
T
alk about dif
differ
ferent ways people
might cope with problems
pr
or sadness in their lives. In particular
particular,
discuss loneliness and bullying.
Encourage students to be sensitive to the feelings of one another
during discussions. T
Teachers may
need to be aware
awar of students who
need additional support during or
following discussions of a sensitive
nature.
Discuss how Kellyanne felt about
the loss of her friends. How did the
filmmakers convey her feelings?
Talk
T
alk about how sad feelings and
other emotions can be very strong,
str
sometimes almost seeming to
overpower our lives. As a class,
discuss some of the feelings we
might have when a person or living
thing that is special to us dies.
Allow those students who wish to
share
e personal experiences with
•
10
I did have a very strong visual image
in my mind of what they would look
like, and when I revisited the classic film Harvey, the portrait of Jimmy
Stewart and his rabbit gave me the
idea for a scene where Kellyanne
draws her imaginary friends – which
isn’t in the book. We sent descriptions
of Pobby and Dingan to the school in
Coober Pedy and had lots of children
draw their impressions. I chose what
I thought were the best and they became the images of Pobby and Dingan
we see in the film.
Discuss
•
•
As a class discuss what makes
Ashmol decide to help Kellyanne
to find Pobby and Dingan.
When Ashmol returns after
checking the mine for Pobby and
Dingan, he tells Kellyanne that he
found lollipop wrappers and the
opal from Dingan’s bellybutton.
Why does he tell her this?
Have students read ‘Q&A with director Peter Cattaneo: Themes’ As a
class, discuss: what did they find out
about the film and about Peter Cattaneo’s reasons for making it that they
didn’t know from viewing it? What do
students think his messages about
imagination might be?
Q&A with director Peter Cattaneo:
Themes
Why did you want to make this film
– what was the appeal?
What are some of the themes in the
film?
The thing that really appealed to me
I read a great book by Marjorie Taylor
about children who have imaginary
friends. I think there’s a misconception
that only lonely, troubled children have
imaginary friends. The book points out
that in fact all sorts of children have
imaginary friends – they can be really
creative, imaginative kids or they can
be not very creative at all; they can be
only children or the oldest of five or
the middle of three; they can be lonely
or quite sociable – there aren’t any
rules.
There are some wonderful drawings in
Marjorie’s book and this inspired the
closing credits sequence of pictures
on ‘real’ imaginary friends from all over
the world.
What makes Opal Dream special?
The main thing for me is the story: it’s
a really great story and it seems to hit
a collective unconscious nerve … it’s
about faith and dreams.
Representations of reality
Have students work in groups to
consider:
overseas, has to be classified by the
Classification Board before it can be
made legally available to the public.
Some publications also need to be
classified.
•
•
Use the Australian Government
Office of Film and Literature Classification website to obtain a copy
of the current Guidelines for the
Classification of Films and Computer Games: http://www.oflc.gov.
au/special.html
Ask students to find out the purposes of these guidelines. Read
and discuss sections as appropriate with the students in your class.
Opal Dream shows several aspects
of life in this opal-mining community
that some people may find unsettling
or offensive, for example: Rex taking
Ashmol to a pub; characters smoking;
Rex being accused of being a ‘ratter’;
the rival miner aiming a gun at Rex
and the discharge of the weapon; or
the fight outside the pub.
•
As a class, discuss whether it is
appropriate to include such events
in films that may be viewed by
young children. Consider whether
students think the PG classification
is appropriate for this film. Have
them justify their opinions.
Debate
•
•
whether they think the representation of an opal-mining community
in Opal Dream reflects reality;
what messages about being
Australian might be conveyed to
viewers who have never been to
Australia.
Students might consider scenes
showing Kellyanne’s dreaminess and
fantasizing; the fire at the Williamsons’
home; Rex taking Ashmol to a pub;
Rex smoking; Rex being accused of
being a ‘ratter’; the rival miner aiming
a gun at Rex and the discharge of the
weapon; the fight outside the pub;
Ashmol being bullied; Annie being dismissed from her job; Rex ‘divining’ for
opal; the drive-in; and the harshness
of the climate and the arid landscape.
Hold a class debate around a topic
such as: Smoking should be banned in
all films that may be viewed by young
children.
Using the camera to tell a film
story
In making Opal Dream, a variety of
technical and symbolic codes and conventions were used to help tell the story.
Have students read ‘Q&A with director
Peter Cattaneo: Production Design’
(below), then ask whether students
think the director achieved his goals.
Q&A with director Peter Cattaneo:
Production Design
Film classification
How did you want the film to look?
In Australia every film and computer
game, whether produced locally or
Robert Humphries is the DOP on the
film … I knew I wanted the film to have
SCREEN EDUCATION
I had read Ben Rice’s novel Pobby and
Dingan … and I loved the story. I found
it very moving and very funny. It dealt
with universal themes of belief and
dreams in a wonderfully original and
charming way. So I was determined to
make the film from that point on. I met
Ben and persuaded him that I was the
right man to turn his book into a film! I
collaborated with him from that point
on in writing the script. It always takes
a while to develop these things and
it was in fact four years exactly from
when I read the book to when I made
the film.
about the story was its grand universal
themes of faith, belief, dreams, loss
and love and family. They’re themes
that cross all cultures.
11
WHO ARE THE KEY CHARACTERS IN YOUR STORY?
Name of the character
Describe the character’s personality
Describe or draw the character and their costume
WORKSHEET 3A. PLANNING A STORY. ORIENTATION. DRAW THE OPENING SCENE IN YOUR STORY. STUDENT NAME: __________________________________
PROBLEM/COMPLICATION
Describe or draw the main problem faced by the characters in your story.
What other problems or complications happen during the story?
RESOLUTION
What events or action occurs as characters solve the problems or resolve the complications?
How does your story conclude or end?
SCREEN EDUCATION
WORKSHEET 3B. STUDENT NAME: ________________________________________________________________________________________________
12
Camera distance – shot types
Viewers can be provided
ovided with dif
differ
ferferent types of information depending
on the distance of the subject from
the camera; for example, long shots
can be used to convey a large amount
of information. These shots can help
set the context for where action is
taking place. Other shot types include
the close-up, extreme close-up and
medium shot.
Medium shot
SEE MIDDLE TWO IMAGES
Medium shots provide information
about events or action in a film. If
people are in this shot then it is usual
to see them from about the waist up.
Explain why the filmmakers may have
decided to include these shots in
Long shot
SEE TOP TWO IMAGES
A long shot can be used to give the
viewer information about the setting.
Discuss the way in which these shots
create meanings that may relate to
isolation, vastness, emptiness and
space. How do these images contribute to the film’s main themes?
Opal Dr
Dream. How do these images
contribute to viewers’ understandings
of the personalities of each character
and their relationships with each other
and to the storyline?
Close-up
SEE BOTTOM TWO IMAGES
SCREEN EDUCA
EDUCATION
a str
tro
tr
rong vi
vis
isual sid
ide
id
de wi
w th
t out bein
i g glo
in
l ssy
lo
s
sy
an
nd wi
w th
t out bein
i g th
in
t e ste
t re
te
r oty
typ
ty
ypic
i al
outb
t ack vi
tb
vie
iew,
w so Bob seemed to
t be
t e id
th
ide
deal guy
uy.
uy
y. It wa
w s cle
l ar to
le
t me th
t at
t belililie
to
ieve
v in
i th
t e im
i agin
i ary
in
r fr
ry
fri
rie
iends
d we
ds
w
had to
t cre
r ate
re
t a vve
te
ery
r re
r al wo
w rl
rld
ld,
d, so we
w
wante
wa
ted to
t kke
eep
e it sim
imp
mple
l , beauti
t fu
ti
f l and
gra
rap
aphiiic
c wi
with
t a lilim
imite
ted colo
l ur palllllle
lo
let of
mute
t d hues. Bob
te
b and I we
w nt fo
f r a ‘wh
w ite
wh
t
te
heat’ lo
l ok wi
w th
th str
tro
rong backl
klilig
kl
ight and as
f w blu
fe
l e skkiie
lu
ies as possib
i le
ib
l . We
W lo
l oke
k d
ke
at a lo
l t of fil
film
lms th
t at have
v a big
ve
i sense of
ig
s ace. Absen
sp
nce and sp
s ace is
i a th
t eme
i th
in
t e fil
film
lm: K
Ke
elllly
lya
yanne’s
’ lo
’s
l st th
t ese im
i agiin
inary
r fr
ry
fri
rie
iends
d and th
ds
t ere
r is
re
i someth
t in
th
i g
about th
t e outb
t ack wh
tb
w ere
r yo
re
y u fe
f el lilik
ike
ke
y u tu
yo
t rn
r a corn
r er and ki
rn
kin
ind of di
dis
isap
app
ppear
i to
in
t th
t e hori
riz
ri
izo
zon. Th
T at sense of in
i fin
fi ity
ty,
ty
y, of
wid
wi
ide
deness wa
w s ve
v ry
r im
imp
mport
rta
rt
tant.
t
t.
13
The use of a close-up shot enables the
filmmaker to convey important detail.
SEE PHOTO ABOVE: ASHMOL IN MINESHAFT
•
Often this will be a shot that gives
the viewer a good deal of informainforma
tion about a character’s
character’ feelings and
emotions.
How does the choice of a close-up
affect
af
fect what the viewer thinks about a
character?
Production design
•
Exploring personal meanings
•
Questions and group discussions
are powerful tools to help students
tease out the issues, virtues or morals
woven in the storyline of Opal Dr
Dream.
Use the timelines, character matrix
and other activities to assist students
to draw conclusions about the messages within the film. It is important
to recognize that students will each
•
•
•
W e you entertained by the story?
Wer
Why? Why not?
W e there any important mesWer
sages within the storyline?
What was the main idea or issue
conveyed by the story? Which
scene(s) helped to give you this
message?
Who do you think the film is trying
to communicate its messages to?
Why would the filmmakers select
this audience?
How do you know what the film's
SCREEN EDUCA
EDUCATION
There are many decisions made about
the design of a film that help to convey
ideas or messages ef
effectively; for
example, choices related
elated to colour
colour,
lighting, setting, props
pr
and costumes
are
ar
e all aspects that af
affect
fect the atmosphere
pher
e and mood of a scene.
In what ways have the filmmakers
made choices related to production design that give the viewers
particular messages in this shot?
What do you see in the frame? In
particular, consider the use of light
particular
and shadows.
draw from their own prior experiences
to create their own meanings. Since
some students may draw upon painful or difficult personal experiences,
sensitivity will be required throughout
discussions. Questions such as the
following may assist:
14
•
•
•
messages are?
ar
What do the messages mean for
you?
Coming full circle
•
•
•
ily members or friends and share
memories, look at photographs or
videos of the person who has died,
cry when you are feeling sad, send
and receive sympathy cards and
flowers, or respond to sympathy
cards. What part does each of
these things play in the grieving
process? List ways of rememberemember
emembering loved ones who have gone
away or died, rather than forgetting them, and how this makes the
grieving process
ocess easier
easier.
Each of the family members grows
and develops during Opal Dr
Dream.
Discuss the virtues each character
develops that help him or her to
deal with their feelings and solve
the problems
oblems they encounter
encounter.
Which characters do you think
experience the greatest character
development? Give reasons and
SCREEN EDUCA
EDUCATION
The opening sequence of Opal Dr
Dream
begins with blurry images of Kellyanne’s face, then focuses on the
lollipops before
befor we see her playing.
Particular sounds accompany this
sequence, including Ashmol’s
Ashmol’ voice.
Make a class list of all the visuals
and aspects of the soundtrack that
combine to create meaning in the
opening sequence.
Compare and contrast the opening
sequence with the closing scenes
of the film. Discuss reasons various choices of image and sound
may have been included. Think
also about what has not been
included in the frame and on the
soundtrack. Do students think the
closing scenes show the story
coming full circle, reflecting hope
and new beginnings, and closure
as Kellyanne, Ashmol, Rex, Annie
and the local community move
forward following the funeral of
Pobby and Dingan?
List things people can do to help
with the grieving process. For
example, hold funerals, meet fam-
15
•
•
examples from the film to support
your ideas.
Talk with students about creatT
ing a storyboard that shows the
successful resolution of a real-life
problem or decision.
Discuss the use of humour as one
way of conveying messages ef
effectively. Assist students to draft initial
ideas, to share these, and listen
to one another's suggestions and
questions, then have them refine
their ideas and re-draft to make
the storyline more
e ef
effective.
Christine Evely is an Education Programmer at the Australian Centre for the
Moving Image (ACMI).
Reference
S. Davis and C. Evely (1995) Interlinks
Integrated Curriculum in Action,
‘Habitat’, Collins Dove, Blackburn,
Victoria, 1995.
Endnotes
1
Peter Knapp and Jenny Donovan,
T
Teaching
Narrative Writing
W
, Literacy
and Learning Program, Department of School Education NSW,
1994. p.11.
2
Terry Johnson and Daphne Louis,
T
Literacy through Literatur
Literature, Methuen, 1987.
This study guide was produced
pr
by ATOM and funded
by the Australian Film Commission AFC © AT
A OM 2006
[email protected]
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mor information on SCREEN EDUCATION
magazine or to download other free
fr study guides visit
www.metromagazine.com.au
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hundreds of articles on Film as T
Text, Screen
Literacy, Multiliteracy and Media Studies, visit
Literacy
www.theeducationshop.com.au
SCREEN EDUCA
EDUCATION
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