The pictures

• During the Second World War, Australians went to the cinema for recreation, information on world events and, for some, an escape from the realities of life during wartime. Newsreels depicted the British royal family, Hollywood stars and war heroes, and significant events. The Australian government used the cinema to promote propaganda about the war.
• Cinesound was the most successful Australian studio during this era. It produced a number of Australian feature films, including a series of films based on Steele Rudd's 'Dad and Dave' characters, as well as newsreels and documentary films. In 1943, Cinesound's documentary Kokoda Front Line! won Australia's first Academy Award.
• As a class, discuss the favourite types of films available in Australian cinemas in the 1940s. This discussion should highlight the fact that the majority of films screened at this time were imported from Britain or the USA.

1. Students could research the names of the most popular films of this era to make a class list. They should try to find films from different categories: drama, comedy, documentary, etc. Divide the list into three columns to identify if they were produced in Australia, the United States or Britain.
2. The class should also list famous actors associated with each film.
3. You could refer to the following link at australianscreen, 'Australian film and television chronology – The 1940s', http://aso.gov.au/chronology/1940s/

• Following their research of films screened during 1948, ask students to create a movie guide for a local cinema from the time. They could make a pamphlet with the movie programme and a short description of each film to be shown. The guide could also include images from some of the movie posters of that era.
• As a comparative activity, students could look at movie guides available today in the local newspaper. They could assess the differences between their 1948 cinema guide and a cinema guide today.
• Refer to Screen Australia Digital Learning for further resources for this activity, http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/learning/

Student Activity Sheet H7.1: Create a 1948 movie guide

• In this episode, Jen and her girlfriends are infatuated with the movie stars of the era, leading them to take a movie poster from the local cinema. Movie posters in the 1940s were large and glossy, depicting fabulous portraits of lead actors.
• You could obtain some sample movie posters from your local cinema or from the local library and display them in the classroom.

1. As a class, brainstorm ideas about what makes a movie poster appealing. Discuss the layout, images, text, graphics and artwork style associated with movie posters.
2. Discuss how effectively the posters you have displayed advertise the film. What are some of the advertising techniques used? Ask the students to evaluate how successful each poster is in advertising the movie.

• Ask students to make a movie poster that represents a movie from the 1940s. They should consider the layout, images, text, graphics and style of artwork. After planning the design of their poster, they could use a large poster-sized A2 card to lay out their design elements. To help with ideas, provide students with samples of posters and obtain images from the 'Stills gallery' on the My Place for teachers website.

Student Activity Sheet H7.2: Make a 1940s movie poster

• Charles Chauvel's 1940 movie Forty Thousand Horsemen was Australian cinema's first worldwide success story. In the following decades, many other Australian movies would also gain international success.
• Ask students to create a list of the most successful Australian movies, particularly ones that achieved international popularity. As a class, discuss how Australia is presented in some selected movies: for example, Australia (2008), Man from Snowy River (1982), Crocodile Dundee (1986) and Finding Nemo (2003).
• As students research movies of the past, make comparisons to moviemaking in Australia today. Select four well-known movies with 'Australiana' themes to use as examples in the class discussion and ask students to discuss why they think these themes are so apparent in Australian productions. Refer to the australianscreen website for clips such as Crocodile Dundee: australianscreen, http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/crocodile-dundee/

• Ask students to research the history of Australian moviemaking to create a timeline using pictures gathered from the internet. The timeline can include as many Australian film productions from 1928 until today as students wish, but the chosen movies should include Australian themes. The following websites may be helpful:

1. australianscreen, http://aso.gov.au/
2. Screen Australia Digital Learning, http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/learning/

Student Activity Sheet H7.3: Australian film timeline

• This clip commences with an old movie newsreel. Ask students to record what they remember about the information in the film reel. What was the most significant information given? Was it the birth of Princess Elizabeth's first child, Prince Charles?
• Discuss the ways information is relayed to the audience in this newsreel. Examine the images, text on the screen and the voice-over. Have students think about why they know this news story is about the birth of Prince Charles. What's missing here? Ask students to think about the reasons why there are no photos of the baby prince on this newsreel. Ask students to think about what this newsreel would look like if it were made today. What information would today's audience expect to see and hear?
• Discuss the purpose of the newsreel. Why is it important? Discuss the media technology available at this time in history without TV. How did people acquire their information?

• Ask students to review the main features of the newsreel as a text type and to think of a current news topic of interest. They should plan a short newsreel to share using an electronic media device, adding photos and a voice-over, before presenting it to the class.

Activity Sheet E7.1: Old-fashioned newsreel

• Jen and her friends spend a lot of time discussing heroes, and they are quite clear about who they think is a hero. As a class, identify the people the girls see as heroes. Do students agree or disagree with the girls' thinking? Ask them to explain why or why not.
• Discuss the complexities of Jen's situation further with the class, using the following questions as discussion prompts:

1. Why do you think Jen is comparing her father to Prince Phillip and American movie stars?
2. How do her feelings tie in with heroes?

• Discuss the concept of heroes by using a Y-Chart to list the qualities students feel are important in heroes. Ask students to reflect on people seen as heroes in our community today.
• Ask students to look through newspapers and magazines for ideas about heroes and compile a list of candidates. Students could then write the reasons they consider their selections to be heroes. Once this list is complete, have students review it and compare it to the choices of heroes made by Jen and her friends in the clip. Discuss the idea of celebrities as heroes, and ask students to consider whether people become confused about the difference between celebrities and heroes.

• Have students work individually, or in pairs, to develop a definition of a hero and then provide their criteria. Ask them to list heroes who match the criteria. For example, Lance Armstrong could be classified as determined and Jane McGrath as courageous.
• Part of the girls' discussion revolves around whether heroes need to be nice or handsome. Ask students to respond to the following questions:

1. Do you think a hero has to be a good or nice person?
2. Do you think being handsome is better than good or nice?

Student Activity Sheet E7.2: What makes a hero?

• Discuss the purpose of a film cinema poster. As a class activity, look closely at the 1948 poster in the clip and note its characteristics. Ask students:
• Who is featured? (You will need to refer back to the film clip for more information. It shows Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Phillip.)
• Describe how they think Jen and her friends see Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, giving evidence from the text.
• Have students consider the following questions:

1. Why do you think Jen and her friends felt like they did about the royal couple?
2. Why would Australian girls in 1948 think Prince Philip was a hero?
3. Why do you think people looked up to royalty so much at this time?
4. Do you think Australians today feel the same way about British royalty?

• Discuss the role of Prince William and Prince Harry as the some of the youngest members of the British royal family today and whether these princes are viewed as heroes or celebrities like Princess Elizabeth in 1948?

• Have students look for examples of contemporary film posters and compare them with the 1948 version. What are the similarities and differences?
• Compare the film poster examples and identify the main text features of the film poster genre. Ask students to create individual film posters for a fictional film version of their favourite book. They will need to consider questions such as: What style of film is it? How will that influence the poster design? Who is the star? What is the tag line or slogan?

Student Activity Sheet E7.3: Being royal and famous