Little Big Shots - Secondary Teachers - Sydney Opera House

LESSON TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES RESOURCES REGISTER
PRE­SHOW ACTIVITIES
1 THE SHORT FILM
This activity is an opportunity for your students to reflect on the form of the short narrative film.
• Discuss the classical narrative film structure with the class. The following web link may be useful.
Classical Narrative Structure: http://inpoint.cinematheque.bc.ca/pdf/LanguageofFilm02.pdf
The short film is a particular type of film. Unlike the feature film, the brevity of its running time means that the film maker must
plan their ideas and concept carefully to ensure what they want to achieve can be covered in the shorter screening time. Like a
short story, characters and situations need to be developed and communicated quickly so that the complication can be
introduced within the early minutes of the film.
• View a selection of short films with your students. You may have copies of Tropfest DVDs or you can view short films
online. A couple of web links are provided below. You will need to preview these short films before screening them for
your students to check they are age appropriate.
National Film Challenge: http://filmchallenge.org/2011-Finalists/2011-finalist-the-night-rider.html
Film Shorts – The Greatest Short Films Online: http://www.filmsshort.com/festival-winners/Oscar-Winners-Short-
Films-1.html
• Ask your students to watch the films you have selected. As they watch the films, ask them to identify aspects of both story
and plot. They can use the Short Film Analysis Worksheet to help them distinguish between story and plot.
• As a class, discuss some of the features of the narrative structures of short films. Compare these features with the
narrative structures of feature films.
Computers with
internet access
Interactive
Whiteboard with
internet, or DVD
player
Short Film Analysis
worksheet