It's not often you gain national recognition for a primary school film production, however students from Hobartville Public School have managed to be nominated twice for 'Best Primary School Film Production' at the 2020 Australian Teachers Of Media (ATOM) awards.
Their 2019 film The Boy & the Frog and 2018 production The Swap are featured as finalists along with two other nominees. Hobartville PS is the only NSW Department of Education School represented in this category.
The most recent film, The Boy and the Frog is a romantic comedy about a young boy who falls in love with a frog. After they have a curse placed on them by an evil sorcerer, the Boy and Frog go on an adventure to break the spell.
The script was based on a short story by Year 5 student Darcy Kenny, which was transformed as a class into the rhyming script featured in the final version of the film.
"Dressing up was the most fun part of the film. I enjoyed playing the evil old sorcerer," said Darcy.
Keira Bogie-Morris, who featured as a narrator in the film, said the production was a great learning experience: "I liked helping other people with their lines and learning my own."
In Year 4 at the time, the students went through the process of scripting, storyboarding, editing and producing electronic music for the film. The production process took place over the course of a term.
Classroom teacher and Assistant Principal, Dave Morabito, said: "It was a really fun and engaging experience for the kids. They took their roles incredibly seriously, practising their lines at home and in front of their peers. The end result is a testament to the creative energy that they brought to the production."
The ATOM awards feature films from students all over Australia. Some former winners of the ATOM awards include actress Rachael Griffiths and Oscar-nominated animator Anthony Lucas.
Hobartville will eagerly await the outcome of the awards on November 10, when the ATOM awards will be live streamed around Australia. The featured films will then go on a tour in selected cinemas.
