The Piano - Some Resources

Another post prompted by a Tweet. We recently saw the below Tweet and our answer was of course, "Yes", but knew our full response wouldn't possibly fit in a Tweet, so here's the blog post answer...

Between us, we've taught the English module based upon 'The Piano' since it was added to the English curriculum. Every year we've been amazed by the writing it produces. 

We've not written about our work with 'The Piano' before as we were a little unsure about its copyright status. However, in October 2015 Aidan Gibbons, who made the short, told us "it's a free for all".

So, here's what we've got to share...

- First of all, just listen to the sound track. What do the children think the film might be like? 

- Watch the film through and collect responses via a Google Form.  

- Carry out a film review: 

Created with Padlet

- On a tablet, take screen captures and make memes that can be used when writing about the film.

- We edited the original animation. Does the order of the scenes change the narrative?

- We've played the film with a Yakety Sax soundtrack and a Ludovico Einaudi soundtrack instead of the original, as well as playing it with the sound off to show how much the sound track impacts. We can't share those here as we don't have copyright permission for the music.

- Some of the above resources and others can be also found here.

- If you write a voiceover, use some technology to put it onto the original film:

Dipdap Writing Prompt

As the father of an eleven-month-old baby, I've recently become aware of CBeebies. For me, one programme has stood out. I can't get enough of Dipdap. No words, an animation and a story to follow in a about three minutes. Brilliant! 

Copyright owners: I'd love to add a Dipdap image here. May I?

"Series in which a drawn line creates endless challenges and surprises for the unsuspecting little character, Dipdap"

As I watched it more, I realised its potential for using it as a writing prompt in class:
- narrative voiceover of what's happening on screen;
- character descriptions;
- pause the video and predict what might happen next;
- write a script of an episode;
- plan an episode;
- film an animation in a similar style.

I will use this to accompany the Film Narrative unit of English work in Year Five. There are numerous copies of Dipdap episodes on YouTube. I'm unsure of which, if any are there with the permission of the creators of Dipdap and have therefore not included any in this post.