Episode 1: ‘I don’t want to grow up’

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Chester and Mapplethorpe are inseparable — their friendship cemented by their outcast status in their small town of Asphodel Heights. But a trip to Crazy Fun Park, an abandoned theme park on the edge of town, will change their lives forever.

Task 1: Year 7 English

From the beginning of the series, we understand that Chester and Mapplethorpe are best friends who have different ideas about what the future holds for them. Identify quotes in the following scene that reveal the two character’s contrasting views on the future.

AC9E7LY02: Year 7 English | Literacy: Interacting with others | Use interaction skills when discussing and presenting ideas and information including evaluations of the features of spoken texts.

Task 2: Year 8 English

One late afternoon, Chester, Mapplethorpe, and Violetta sneak into Crazy Fun Park so Violetta can take photographs. Once inside, they come across the mechanical fortune teller, Baba Vanga, who predicts Mapplethorpe’s future. Watch the following scene once, then again with the sound turned off. Write your own dialogue for this scene to change it, including a fortune prediction from Baba Vanga.

Definition:

Baba Vanga (1911–1996): a Bulgarian mystic and clairvoyant who gained widespread popularity for her alleged ability to predict the future. Born Vangelia Pandeva Dimitrova, she lost her sight during a storm at age 12 — an event she claimed developed her paranormal abilities. Baba Vanga's predictions included global events and natural disasters.

AC9E8LA07: Year 8 English | Language: Language for expressing and developing ideas | Investigate how visual texts use intertextual references to enhance and layer meaning.

Task 3: Years 7 and 8 Media Arts

The opening sequence of a television series or film establishes its world and anchors the audience in a specific time and place (the setting) via technical and symbolic elements and story principles.

Watch Crazy Fun Park’s opening sequence then describe how the director uses TIME, PLACE, COMPOSITION, CHARACTER, NARRATIVE POSSIBILITIES and THEMES to establish the Crazy Fun Park world for the audience. Use specific visual and audio examples from the opening sequence to support your answer. Place your answers in the table below and compare them with a partner.

Definitions:

Narrative possibilities: the possible ways the story might unfold, based on what the audience has viewed so far.
Major themes in Crazy Fun Park: grief, adolescence, and friendship.

TECHNICAL / SYMBOLIC ELEMENTS AND STORY PRINCIPLES	VISUAL EXAMPLES	AUDIO EXAMPLES
Time
Character: Chester
Character: Violetta
Narrative possibilities

AC9AMA8D02: Years 7 and 8 Media Arts | Developing practices and skills | Reflect on their own and others’ media arts works and practices to inform choices they make during the production process.

Task 4: Years 7 and 8 Media Arts

Study this image of Mapplethorpe and Chester and describe its composition. Composition is the arrangement of elements (the subject/s and objects) you see in the image. What does the image’s composition tell us about Chester and Mapplethorpe, and their friendship?

AC9AMA8E01: Years 7 and 8 Media Arts | Exploring and responding | Investigate the ways that media arts concepts are used in media arts works and practices across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts.

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