Satellite By Catrina McKenzie, 90 mins, Australia, 2013 Educatin Resurce 1
The Nightingale, China/France, 2013 Educatin Resurce ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 2
CONTENTS CONTENTS 1 Satellite By... 2 Befre Visiting ACMI... 2 Cuntry... 2 Cnnectin t Cuntry... 3 Culture and Knwledge... 3 After visiting ACMI... 5 Share yur respnse... 5 Narrative... 5 Visual language... 6 Sund... 6 Strytelling... 7 Symblism... 7 Setting: The Imprtance Of Place... 8 Characterisatin... 9 Explre Further... 9 1
Satellite By Catrina McKenzie, 90 mins, Australia, 2012 Satellite By is abut a by whse grandfather says t him, Yu are always running away wh are yu? It is a metaphr fr a by wh is like a satellite mving thrugh the stars. At the end f the film he knws where he is frm. He knws his place in the Milky Way. Catrina McKenzie 1 Set in the Kimberley regin f Western Australia, Satellite By tells the stry f Pete (Camern Wallaby) wh lives in an abandned drive-in with his grandfather Jagamarra (David Gulpilil), whm Pete calls Jubbi. Jagamarra is determined t pass n knwledge and culture t his grandsn, but Pete is a reluctant learner. Hwever, when Pete and his friend Kalmain get lst in the remte cuntry f the Bungle Bungles, their survival depends n the lessns Pete s grandfather has taught him. Befre Visiting ACMI Cuntry This is a stry abut cuntry and abut place. Explre the significance and cncept f cuntry by lking at a language map f Australia: (http://www.indigenusinstyle.cm.au/wpcntent/uplads/2012/09/aus_map_cver ed_text_lined.jpg) The film begins in the Wyndham area f West Australia and the bys travel acrss cuntry t Kununurra. Lcate the tw pints f the bys jurney n the map. Satellite By is the first feature filmed in the regin f the Bungle Bungles in Purnululu Natinal Park. Find ut mre abut this Wrld Heritage Site and its significance t its traditinal custdians the Kija peple. Jagamarra tells Pete that Wyndham, the place where they are living, is nt their cuntry. Jagamarra cmes frm Ylngu cuntry and the language he speaks is ne f the Ylngu Matha languages f nrtheast Arnhem Land. 1 Satellite By, Deadly Vibe, 20 June 2013, N. 196, http://www.deadlyvibe.cm.au/2013/06/newfilmsatellite-by/ ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 2
Find Ylngu cuntry n the map and nte its distance frm the cuntry where the film is set. Within the wrld f the film, viewers are nt expected t knw exactly where Jagamarra cmes frm, but because place and cuntry are such a significant part f this film, this extra knwledge will enhance an understanding f the stry and the significance f language and cuntry. Cnnectin t Cuntry Find ut mre abut cnnectin t cuntry: In the dcumentary Kanyini, Uncle Bb Randall explains the cnnectin t cuntry as neness He says, If yu re alive, yu cnnect t everything else that is alive. Watch this clip and explre the ideas cmmunicated: https://www.yutube.cm/watch?v=w0swivr1hxw Cnnectin t cuntry is interrelated with what has becme described in English as the Dreaming. Rachel Perkins intrduces this cmplex cultural and spiritual belief system in her dcumentary The First Australians. What is particularly interesting abut this interpretatin is the way that Perkins uses film language t cmmunicate the ideas she is representing. After watching this clip, discuss the way film language adds t the strytelling prcess: http://as.gv.au/titles/dcumentaries/first-australians-episde-1/clip1/ Nte: Teachers as yu explre this cncept with yur students, be aware that it has been tidied up in mainstream discussins. Read this article t gain insight int the cmplexities f using a single idea t discuss the many, many Indigenus cultures within Australia: Dreamtime and The Dreaming an intrductin, Christine Judith Nichlls, The Cnversatin, Jan 23 2014 http://thecnversatin.cm/dreamtime-and-the-dreaming-anintrductin-20833 Culture and Knwledge Satellite By directr Catrina McKenzie highlights respect fr Elders in her discussin f the film s purpse: I wanted t say: listen up kids because this knwledge wn t be arund frever. 2 Why are stries s imprtant? 2 Catrina McKenzie Directr f Satellite By, Mumbrella, 28 June 2013, https://mumbrella.cm.au/catrina-mckenzie-directr-f-satellite-by-164152 ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 3
What is cmmunicated thrugh stries? What kinds f stries d Elders frm all cultures have t share with the generatins that fllw? What is lst when these stries are nt passed n r are frgtten? Reflect n the passing n f stries in families and cmmunities. Share significant stries in grups and explain t thers in the grup why they are s imprtant. ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 4
After visiting ACMI Share yur respnse As a class share and cmpare immediate respnses t the film single wrd answers are an effective and unintimidating way f starting discussin. Extend these respnses. In pairs, identify the main themes f the film. Share these with the class as a whle. In pairs, discuss what yu think is the key message f the film. With yur partner, write a single sentence that yu feel cmmunicates the message. Share yur ideas as a class and cmpare respnses. Narrative Catrina McKenzie has described Satellite By as an allegry. What is an allegry? In what ways culd Satellite By be cnsidered an allegry? Allegries are ften used t make peple think. As a class share what yu learnt frm Satellite By. (The scene in which Pete decides t g back t Jagamarra culd help prmpt discussin. We see him draw the circles in the dust and then rub them ut again and, because f what we have learnt as viewers, this small gesture is imbued with an enrmus amunt f meaning.) When the end f a film refers back t the beginning, it is called bkending. The strytelling technique f bkending is used t highlight what has changed between the pening f the film and the end. Watch the beginning and the ending f Satellite By and reflect n Pete s jurney and the viewers jurney. Jin tgether in grups and discuss what has changed nt nly in the lives f the characters but in ur wn understanding as viewers. What are sme f the strytelling techniques used t cmmunicate this change? Catrina McKenzie has described Satellite By as a universal stry. What aspects f this stry culd be cnsidered universal? McKenzie s riginal script was much mre actin-packed, but she decided t thrw this away and begin again with the stry f Pete and his grandfather. She decided t create a simpler stry that gave viewers the space t think and see: ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 5
Satellite By is a sculpture, à la Brancusi, a bird in flight. It s the essence f a thing. It needs t be viewed with space arund it - s familiar, yet with enugh surrunding space t allw it t take n the highest stakes pssible. It needs t be familiar, yet simple s we can feel! As a class, lk at sme images f Brancusi s Bird in Flight sculptures s that students can reflect mre thughtfully n McKenzie s apprach t strytelling. Then, discuss the fllwing questins: Hw is Satellite By different frm ther films yu have seen? Satellite By desn t have any subplts, and desn t fill in all the gaps in the stry, including details abut Pete s mther. Hw des this affect yur respnse t the film? Visual language Hw des the visual language f the film cmmunicate imprtant elements f the stry? Cnsider elements such as: a. the use f the disslve at the beginning and the end b. time lapse after Pete cnnects with Jagamarra via the stars c. the shts f the stars d. the framing f natural and manmade bjects and landmarks. What d the wide shts cmmunicate abut the characters and the landscape? (Use screenshts t prmpt students respnses.) When Pete arrives in the twn f Kununurra, the wide shts are replaced by much tighter framing (where there is little space arund the character r bject). What is the effect f this way f filming? What is it telling us abut Pete? Hw des this way f filming prepare us fr Pete s decisin t return t Jagamarra? Sund Listen t the sund f the film. Hw imprtant is the sund design t the experience f the film? Hw des it add t the stry that is being tld? ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 6
Fcus n a particular scene and track the use f sund effects, silence, vice and music. T highlight the significance f the sundtrack, listen t the scene withut vide. What is being cmmunicated thrugh the sundtrack? Strytelling This film is abut stries and strytelling as a way f understanding the wrld. What are sme f the stries that Jagamarra shares with Pete? Many f these stries are tld in Language. Why has Catrina McKenzie chsen t include s much Language in this film? Stries are nt nly cmmunicated thrugh wrds but are shared in many ther ways as well what is imprtant is knwing hw t read them. What are sme f the ther frms f strytelling we (and Pete) learn abut in the curse f Satellite By? Symblism The plt (stry details) is simple in Satellite By but the stry it tells is layered and filled with meaning. One f the ways that we are asked t think mre deeply abut the message f the film is thrugh the use f symbls. Explre the idea f using symbls in strytelling t express big ideas and cmplex meanings that can t always be put int wrds. In Satellite By, the drive-in screen, prjectin bth and satellite dish stand ut as strange bjects in the landscape. They are a bit like Brancusi s sculptures as the space arund them makes us wnder why they are there and what they mean. The drive-in where Pete lives with his grandfather was built fr the film and was an imprtant part f the stry frm the very beginning. Why d yu think McKenzie chse this setting fr the stry? Hw did yu respnd t it as a viewer? What did it make yu think abut? Think abut the prjectin bth and its depictin as Pete s hme. Describe the way the utside f the bth is sht and what this cmmunicates t viewers. What abut the inside f the prjectin bth what des it lk like? Cnsider lighting, décr, the way it is sht, the way that Pete is framed within the space. What is being cmmunicated abut this space, its meaning fr Pete and its meaning within the stry? ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 7
The satellite dish emerging ut f the remte Kimberley landscape is s strange that we are frced t think abut what is being cmmunicated by its appearance at this mment in the stry. It als draws attentin t the title f the film and makes us wnder abut its meaning. Share ideas abut the presence and rle f the satellite in the film narrative. What abut the title f the film? What des it mean? What des it add t ur understanding f the stry being tld? At ther mments in the film narrative, sund and image cmbine t give a particular mment significance. Ask students t identify thse mments where what we see has greater meaning because it s cnnected with Jagamarra s vice (fr instance, the night sky, the pwer lines, the rck paintings). What is being cmmunicated in these mments? What is it abut the sundscape that makes it s meaningful? Setting: The Imprtance Of Place The filming techniques used in Satellite By cmmunicate an enrmus amunt abut cuntry and its cnnectin t the peple wh inhabit it. Describe the varius lcatins in the film and their rle in the stry. Satellite By is the first feature film t be sht n the grund in the Bungle Bungle Range in the Purnululu Natinal Park in the Kimberley. 3 Hw imprtant is this setting t the stry? What is cmmunicated thrugh this landscape? Other films have featured this landscape but have been filmed frm abve. Why d yu think McKenzie cnsidered it imprtant that her film shuld take place n the grund in cuntry and nt feature sweeping helicpter shts? We never see Jagamarra s cuntry. Hwever, at the end f the film narrative, we see Jagamarra and Pete ging back t cuntry. 3 Filmed entirely n lcatin in the Kimberley regin f Western Australia, Satellite By was made in cnsultatin with Ballangarra Abriginal Crpratin and the Yawrrng Miriuwung Gajerrng Yirrgeb Nng Dawang Abriginal Crpratin. ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 8
Hw has the imprtance f cuntry been cmmunicated thrughut the film narrative? Prvide examples f key mments. Characterisatin Many stries feature a main character wh learns mre abut her/himself as s/he grws t meet the challenges that life thrws up. This kind f stry might be described as a cming f age stry. Hw des Pete cme f age? Use the sheet at the back f this resurce t track the develpment f Pete s character. Jin tgether as a class t discuss and extend yur ideas abut hw Pete has changed and what he has learned. Explre Further Satellite By Press Kit, http://satellitebymvie.cm/dwnlads/pdf/satelliteby_presskit.pdf Stitsn, Rger, Satellite By Study Guide, ATOM, http://cinefestz.cm/wpcntent/uplads/2013/05/sgsatellitebywill1.pdf Find ut mre abut the making f the film frm the directr f phtgraphy, Geffrey Simpsn: https://www.yutube.cm/watch?v=tpwnxpx1gwe Prductin Designer Sam Hbbs explains sme f the challenges here: https://www.yutube.cm/watch?v=kwpkxj-n0ey ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 9
Name f Character: BEGINNING What d yu knw abut this character at the beginning f the film? END What mre d yu knw abut the character at the end f the film? Prvide an example that explains what the character is like in the beginning. Has this character changed by the end f the film? Explain yur answer. ACMI EDUCATION RESOURCE Satellite By 10