Home Sweet Home

Ages: 7-11
Contributor:
Sam Collins

Watch this beautifully animated 3D short film about a house which escapes from its suburban foundations and sets off on an epic journey.

Which of the activity ideas below will you try with your children?

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

The film has a lot of settings. Stop the film (for example, at 0:13) and write a description of the setting.
Pause the film at 0:29 and write a new story that might take place in this setting.
Pause the film at 0:29 and write an estate agent’s advert. How would you persuade people to buy one of these houses?
Stop the film at 0:40. Why does the house decide to move?
Compare the film to Disney’s Up! What are the similarities and differences?
Write the story of the film as a narrative.
Choose a point in the film and write a conversation between the two houses.
Write a newspaper report of what happened just before 02:47.
Make a comic strip of the story.
Write your own story about another inanimate object that comes to life and goes on an adventure.
What are the house’s hopes and dreams? Retell the story from the house’s point of view.
Watch the trailer for the film. Why do you think the makers chose those scenes? What would you include in a trailer for the film?

This clip shows how the storm was built up in layers. Stop it as each new effect is added. How many effects are there?

This clip shows how the fire is built up from layers. Use an art package to make a fire picture that is built up in layers.

Look at the webpage for the film. Design your own webpage to promote it.
Use a graphics package to make an image in black and white and then add colour, like this from one of the filmmakers.

Make your own sunset picture, like the one at 09:08.
Look at the concept drawings by one of the filmmakers. Design a house in the style of the film.
Look at how the filmmakers changed the houses for different parts of the film: Make a picture that shows a house in its original state, frozen and broken.

Watch the “Duelling banjos” section (03:42 – 03:54). Discuss how the music is a conversation between the characters. In pairs create a “call and response” piece using tuned percussion.

Make a map of the journey.
Look at the human geography in the film. Identify the man-made structures (e.g. bridges, dams, factories). What purposes do they serve?
The houses travel through lots of different weather conditions. How many different ones can you identify?
Research storms. How are they formed? What damage can they cause?

Have you ever moved house? What does it feel like?
In the film, the houses go through a lot of changes. When have you had to cope with change? How did you feel about it?
Describe the relationship between the houses and the kennel.
The houses age during the film. How do they change? How do people change as they get older?
Watch the ice sequence (from 04:09 – 05:00). Have you ever tried doing something that scares you?
Why does the house hide behind the tree at 01:21? How does it feel when you try to make a new friend?
The houses portray different emotions throughout the film. How have the animators given the impression of a house with emotion? How do our facial expressions (and body language) tell others how we are feeling?