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Written by Victoria Giummarra
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Saturday, 04 July 2009 08:15 |
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I recently had the pleasure of teaching a term-long Contemporary Cinema unit to a Year 10 class undertaking a cinema studies elective. My aim was to expose students to as many ideas, styles and techniques as I could, and one of these was Bollywood film. Depending on the cultural make-up of your class, your students (or yourself!) may not be particularly familiar with Bollywood cinema, so this provides a great spring-board for new learning. But, where do you start? I began with an introduction to what Bollywood cinema is all about. In short, Bollywood is the informal term used for the Hindi language, Mumbai-based film industry. The word Bollywood itself is a blend of the words Bombay (former name of Mumbai) and Hollywood (the centre of the US film industry). The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema, but it is actually only one part a much bigger Indian film industry. Bollywood cinema began in the 1930s and some of the glamour of Hollywood’s golden era (and musical genre) can still be seen in the films today. Common conventions of Bollywood films include formulaic story lines, choreographed fight scenes, song-and-dance routines, melodrama and larger-than-life heroes. They are sometimes known as ‘masala’ films for their excellent blend of genres – soap opera, romance, musical, action – and make a good genre study themselves. In teaching Bollywood, you can always begin with what the students will know and connect with – why not show them some of the song and dance sequences in the popular film “Moulin Rouge”, as Luhrmann himself admits to being inspired by Bollywood cinema. Then there are always the more Westernised versions of Bollywood cinema, such as the 2004 Gurinder Chadha film, “Bride and Prejudice”, which make the style and conventions of Bollywood initially more accessible. But the real examples of Bollywood come from India itself and two great films to use in the classroom (that are both engaging and accessible) are “Lagaan” and “Salaam Namaste”. “Lagaan” (2001), by director Ashutosh Gowariker, is a history lesson in itself. Set in the Victorian period (1893), when India was still under British rule, the film looks at the ways in which the British Raj oppress and dominate the Indian people from the local village of Champaner. When a young village boy decides to stand up for his people, a superb battle takes place…in the form of a cricket match! “Lagaan” has it all – romance, gentle comedy, high drama and the typical musical sequences. It provides an excellent insight into the values held by different cultures and generations. As a film, it is well crafted, with a solid story, engaging characters and high production values. It could be described as a more traditional Bollywood film but was much-loved by my students, who felt great empathy for the Indian people and their way of life. “Salaam Namaste” (2005), directed by Siddharth Anand, is quite different to “Lagaan”. It is a much more modern form of Bollywood cinema, and much of its appeal lies in the fact that it was shot here in Melbourne. (There’s definitely ‘insiders’ humor in seeing the characters dance in front of football stadiums, city shops and the local haunts we all frequent!) The film revolves around two young Indians who are living away from their families in Melbourne. Although they begin hating each other, they quickly fall in love, yet it is not all smooth-sailing. There is the typical high drama, romance and melodrama, making it a good comparison to other Bollywood texts. The film is shot and edited in a much more upbeat fashion than “Lagaan” and the song and dance sequences almost resemble music video clips, which possibly helps to make the film more appealing to a young audience. Accessing Bollywood films can prove a little more tricky than Hollywood movies; however, Melbourne now has many Indian supermarkets, many of which also have a small film section. I found “Bollywood Blitz”, an Indian DVD store in Dandenong, to be particularly well stocked and extremely helpful in offering suggestions of what may be appropriate. If you do decide to teach Bollywood film, just remember – most run for at least 3 hours (and are traditionally screened with an intermission!), so make sure you have plenty of classroom time. Teaching Bollywood is a great way to expose students to films that they would normally never watch. It can provide a study in genre and conventions, narrative, values or simply film appreciation. Teaching Bollywood is also a wonderful way to extend your own practice beyond just Western mainstream texts, or spice up a tired curriculum. |
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Written by Roger Dunscombe
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Monday, 18 May 2009 01:05 |
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Well it’s been a really big year in Media and the reports keep rolling in. I became chair at the AGM last year and I have really enjoyed my first year in the hot seat. It is a privilege to serve in this position and to be a part of such a dynamic and progressive organisation. ATOM vic has an enviable reputation as one of the leading subject associations largely because it provides one of the largest and strongest arrays of services to its members. From the awards, the publications Metro and Screen Ed, the professional development, curriculum development, curriculum and classroom support right to the list server Atom provides quality support and tireless promotion for media education. This year has been no exception. This has been an exciting year which has seen ATOM vic look to new horizons within Victoria, nationally and internationally. But first I would like to acknowledge the work of my predecessor, Meg Hannan. Meg became chair after Atom had suffered through a very chaotic time, it had appeared to lose sight of its goals and charter, it had an uncoordinated structure and approach and was in dire financial straights. Meg spent her time at the helm righting the ship and she left Atom in a strong and stable state. A state that has enabled us to take a more outward focus, knowing the house is in good order. This outward focus has been one of my own goals as Chair, to allow ATOM to play its role on larger stages both nationally and internationally.
This year saw the creation of a new national peak body of media education called, appropriately enough ATOM national. This body was formed at a meeting in Melbourne last December and consisted of reps from Queensland, ACT, South Australia and Victoria. ATOM nat is composed of one delegate from each of the State branches. Atom National immediately applied for and was granted membership to the National Advocates for Arts education – the peak body for arts education, which has two representatives from each of Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual Art It is due to this body that the Arts have been included in Phase 2 of the National Curriculum to be rolled out in 2012. I would like to formally acknowledge the work hard work that body did before we joined and I am very proud that ATOM is a member and I feel privileged and proud to serve as a delegate. This National curriculum work is one of the most important developments that has occurred in Media education in this country to date.
Other achievements over the year have included the strengthening and development of relationships and strategic partnerships with organisations including Screenrights/Enhance TV, the Herald Sun, AFI , Screen Australia and, of course, the VCAA. ATOMvic has also build on and strengthened its relationship with other Media bodies in Australia and internationally.
I would like to express my thanks to the Atomvic board, the sub-committees, the hardworking employees of Atom in PD and publications and to all Atomvic members for their support for Atom vic and their help in making us a stronger organisation. We will also be facing the challenge of our education officer Amber leaving at some stage this year and as we know from the struggle we had replacing her when she went on family leave, she will be sorely missed and hard to replace.
I look to a very exciting year ahead with increased participation in the National Curriculum, stronger links with other states, and internationally and the further development of strategic partnerships. Hopefully too over the course of next year we will be able to announce a star-studded international cast for our next National conference. In keeping with Rudd’s education revolution – viva ATOM! Composition of Atom Board 2009 Roger Dunscombe Chair Karen Koch Assistant Chair Melinda Roberts Professional Development Simon Wilmot Atom Awards Andrew Renaut Publications Board Members Brett Lamb, Steve Guage, Victoria Giummarra, Lisa Worthy, Julie- Anne Smith. Peter Tapp and Amber Nelson. The Board expresses it's appreciation for the services of Liza Bermingham who has resigned her Board position. Liza was a hard working and dedicated Board member and her services will be missed. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 12 June 2009 04:22 )
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Written by Augusta Zeeng
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Friday, 30 January 2009 03:19 |
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ATOM has an email list that enables media teachers to share teaching and text ideas, classroom activities and resources as well as assistance in searching out that movie that would be really good for teaching x but the local video shop doesn't supply it. ATOM teachers have great ideas and a wealth of knowledge and this is where to share them. If you would like to become a part of the list, select the 'teachers' menu above, and scroll down to ATOMvic Email List. To send an email to all people on the list (about 400 presently), you can either: To reply personally to an email from the list, simply click their email address and create a new message. If you click 'reply' in your email program, your response will go to the entire community. This is very handy when thanking someone for a resource, or when information is for their eyes only. Each day, a member of the email list can expect around ten emails. Some people check the email only intermittently and find it very frustrating that their inbox is clogged with a bunch of emails. The best way to get around this is to create a rule in your email program that sends them all to a designated folder. All emails from the list are prefaced with [atomvic] to help you with this. To help the list run smoothly, we have a few rules: |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 February 2009 10:43 )
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Written by Augusta Zeeng
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Tuesday, 20 January 2009 22:49 |
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New to teaching? Returning to teaching? Need some fresh ideas for your classroom? The 'New and Returning Teachers of Media' days are just for you! Days cover VCE and VELS and cover everything from timelines and texts to activities. Book online now (we don't accept online payments but will bill your school). Sessions are $125 each for members, or book in to three for only $300*. Not a member? Become a member here. *bookings are not transferrable |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 January 2009 06:30 )
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Written by Victoria Giummarra
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Sunday, 20 July 2008 10:09 |
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Whether you’re teaching Media as a unit in the primary curriculum or at the senior secondary level, there will come a time when you will need to make choices about what film or television texts to use. When it comes to text choice, there’s no real rule about what’s right or wrong - but there are a few things to consider. Firstly – the topic. What is it that you are actually studying? Is your chosen text going to be used to explore storytelling and story construction (film narrative)? If so, it needs to be ‘heavy’ in production and story elements (because whilst they are in all films, some definitely use them better than others). Will the text be used to highlight production values (or what can be done on a particular budget or with certain technology)? Will it be used as an example of a genre study? If so, does it have all the typical conventions that you’d expect or want to discuss? Will the text be used to paint a portrait of society at a particular time? Or is the text’s purpose solely to provide an appreciation of filmmaking as a medium for communication? Understanding the teaching or pedagogical raison d'être behind the text choice is what is most important. There are films or TV series we love or we know our students will love, but if they’re not great examples for the topic being studied, then they won’t best demonstrate what it is you are actually trying to teach…and then they fail. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 July 2008 01:34 )
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