If Chuck Norris were to travel to an alternate dimension in which there was another Chuck Norris and they both fought, they would both win.

Yr 7 Media Arts

Strictly Ballroom

Our First Film Study

This term we begin our Media Arts course by watching the Australian film Strictly Ballroom, directed by Baz Luhrmann.

The film tells the story of Scott Hastings, a competitive ballroom dancer who wants to break the strict rules of ballroom dancing and create his own style. Along the way, he meets Fran, an unlikely dance partner who helps him discover confidence, creativity and individuality.

But this course is not just about watching a movie.

As Media Arts students, we will explore how filmmakers create meaning using:

camera shots
music
editing
costumes
lighting
performance
audience reactions

While watching the film, we will learn how directors carefully choose shots and sounds to make audiences feel excitement, tension, humour and emotion.

One of the most important ideas we will explore is:

Films are constructed. Every camera angle, close-up, reaction shot and music choice is planned to help tell the story.

After studying the film, we will begin creating our own short production. You will work in teams to film and edit a short scene using the same filmmaking techniques you discover in Strictly Ballroom. You will learn:

how to frame shots
how to use cameras safely and effectively
how editing creates emotion
how music changes meaning
how spectators and reactions help tell a story

By the end of the course, you will begin thinking like real filmmakers: not just watching media, but understanding how it is made.

Exercise 1 - Shot Identification

For this exercise you need to choose a scene where there is dancing and an audience watching the dancing and reacting to it. You'll grab a still from each shot (command + shift + 4) and paste it into a Canva project, then you'll add a description of each shot using the correct terminology and finally you'll explain why you think the director (Baz Luhrmann) chose that particular framing. When you're finished, you later share with the teacher for assessment.

Terminology
Framing: Wide Shot (WS) Medium Shot (MS) Close Up (CU) Big Close Up (BCU)
Camera Angle: high angle, low angle, eye level

TIP: don't forget you can visit the digital photography school if you get stuck on terminology, or to learn a bit extra if you get ahead.

Close-up (CU) Low Angle

In this shot, Barry Fyfe looks at the dancers who he has just penalised so they lost the competition. Luhrmann used a close up with a slightly low camera angle to make him look powerful. His expression shows smugness and he looks like he rules over the outcome of the competition - he's a boss.

Big Close-up (BCU) Eye-Level

In this shot, Luhrmann used a big close up to capture the highly emotional moment when the character has realised that she and her partner didn't win the dance competition. It's an eye-level shot, because this helps the audience connect with the character as an 'equal'.

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