The OceanMaker

Ages: 10-11
Contributor:
Sam Collins

After the seas have disappeared, a courageous pilot fights against vicious sky pirates for control of the last remaining source of water: the clouds.

Watch this video with your children, and then try some of our teaching and activity ideas below.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

Write a narration for the film.
Watch the video below from 0:36 – 1:08. How successful do you think the filmmakers have been in making Katrina believable? Do you agree with their decisions? What would you have done differently?

There is an interesting backstory to this video. The filmmaker was short of money so instead of paying the artists up front, he paid for them to go away for seven weeks and deferred payment. Watch the video introducing the idea and write the letter / email inviting the artists to take part. How would you persuade them?

Watch some more of the production videos from this playlist and write the diary of one of the artists taking part in the production.
Compare the film to other post-apocalyptic texts, for example, The Hunger Games, The Scorch Trials, and Divergent. What common themes can you see between them?
Write the prequel – how did the world get like this?
Watch the trailer. How have the makers compressed the story into the trailer? Does this make you want to watch the film?
Write the story from the point of view of the person in the lighthouse.

There are several different types of aeroplanes in the film, from Katrina’s biplane to a huge airliner. Research propulsion systems for different types of planes. How do planes fly?
Find out how binoculars work.
Find out about the lenses in lighthouses and how they work. Explore this site for more information.

Watch the video below (from 1:30 – 1:59) about the sound and how it is used to give the planes personality. Can you record and mix your own sound effects?

Stop the film at 1:05 and look at the rainmaker design. How do you think it works? Design your own version.
Discuss the designs for taking rain out of the clouds. Design your own version.

Stop the film at around 1:25. Discuss how the binoculars frame the shot. Make your own paintings with a binocular frame.
Look at the palette of colours used in the film. Make your own picture of the terrain using the same colours.

Watch the ‘Behind the scenes’ video below. Listen as the composer speaks about how he wrote the music (between 0:50 – 1:33). What do “epic” and “orchestral” mean? Why are they appropriate for this film?

Why did they use live musicians? How do you think the film would be different if they had made the music digitally?
Listen to what the conductor says about the musicians (between 2:53 and 3:08). Why are those qualities important?

Research where lighthouses are usually positioned. What does that tell you about the terrain in the film and how it has changed?
Considering how the water cycle works, do you think that the main idea about the water all being stored in the clouds is convincing?
Research different cloud types using this site.

Research famous droughts in history? This might include The Dust Bowl (USA, 1930-1936), The Great Famine (China, 1876-1773) and Africa (1981-1984). What effect do drought conditions have on people?
Make a fact file about famous lighthouses.

Who do you think has rights to the water?
Katrina sacrifices herself to make it rain. Do you think she did the right thing?
The way that the film was made meant that the team working together got a lot done in a short space of time. When have you worked in a team and got things done quickly?