Cineliteracy is the name we give to the area of study that involves the interpretation of film. The study of film is very significant today as a large amount of the information students are required to process is visual.
During Cineliteracy lessons, students learn how to read the screen, including the understanding and interpretation of bias and the impact of digital enhancement and manipulation. They then learn how to write the screen in the form of a script. The script is translated to film and students enjoy the full production journey – producing, directing, acting, filming, editing and promoting their own film.
The Cineliteracy Project was originally funded by the DEC Priority Schools Program to support student Literacy and Numeracy development. Over the years, Cineliteracy has grown to encompass many areas of the curriculum: Information and Communication Technologies, both traditional and visual literacies, numeracy, visual arts, performing arts and media studies.
To date, Ulmarra Public School's, UPS Productions...Never Down, has produced four films, three claymations and one 2D animation. All films have received broad acclaim with the claymation, "The Honeymoo is Over" being one of four films short listed in the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards. The documentary, "Ulmarra ~A Bend In The River", has been described as an outstanding example of a student documentary. The 2003 environmental film on the effects of global warming, "The Phantom Energy Waster" was ahead of its time in leading school programs in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The school won a state wide award and grant for its outstanding environmental work. The 2008 animation of a local Aboriginal Dreamtime story, "The Giant Eel", was short listed in the 2008 ATOM Awards.
Each November, UPS Productions.....Never Down screens a short film at the Big River Public Schools Film Festival. Many other Clarence Valley Schools also participate and the event is well attended.
