When Violetta discovers Fun Kid, Gonzo, is disintegrating because no one remembers him, she resolves to help. Meanwhile, Chester’s attempt to make Mapplethorpe’s death more comfortable backfires.
Episode 4: ‘ Remember me’
Task 1: Year 7 English
Director, Nick Verso, was inspired to make Crazy Fun Park after the death of friends when he was a teenager. ‘I never really spoke about [the deaths],’ he says. ‘There was no language for a teenage boy to process grief and what happens when you watch somebody’s life get ripped away from them.’
The death of a loved one or someone we know can be difficult to speak about — even though talking might be helpful. Death is an uncomfortable topic and is often considered taboo in our culture. Violetta is closer to death on a daily basis than most of us and is comfortable talking about it.
In pairs, create a written or digital advertisement for Violetta’s father’s funeral home that has a fresh take on death or aims to remove the taboo that surrounds it.
Definition:
Taboo: when a specific activity or subject is considered widely offensive or embarrassing to do or speak about.
AC9E7LA02: Year 7 English | Language: Language for interaction with others | Recognise language used to evaluate texts including visual and multimodal texts, and how evaluations of a text can be substantiated by reference to the text and other sources.
Task 2: Year 8 English
In this clip, we see Gonzo’s younger sister broadcast an old tape of his voice at the radio station she works at — sparking her memory of him and saving him from deterioration. Afterwards, she makes a speech about remembering being important.
Write your own speech about a personal memory that’s important to you. Include lots of detail and sensory language to bring your speech alive.
AC9E8LA01: Year 8 English| Language: Language for interacting with others | Recognise how language shapes relationships and roles.
Task 3: Years 7 and 8 Media Arts
This episode kicks off with Fun Kid Gonzo’s backstory. In 2005 he was electrocuted on the water slide at Crazy Fun Park.
Choose another Fun Park kid and create a backstory for them. Write a 1-3 page script about the day they had leading up to and including their death.
In your script, include:
- scene headings
- character names
- dialogue
- action, and
- transitions.
AC9AMA8D01: Years 7 and 8 Media Arts | Developing practices and skills | Develop media production skills throughout the production process to construct representations using media languages and media technologies.
Task 4: Years 7 and 8 Media Arts
Chester decides to use his life privilege to help Mapplethorpe. He goes to his friend’s house to find the toy dragon that inspires Mapplethorpe to write comics. While there, Chester observes the state of the house. Describe how the director uses sound (music) and composition to reveal how Mapplethorpe’s mum is or isn’t coping with his death. What do you see and hear during this clip to support this assumption?
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.