We acknowledge and respect the Traditional Owners of lands across Australia, their Elders, Ancestors, cultures and heritage, and recognise the continuing sovereignties of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nations.

We respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, who are the Traditional Owners of the land on which the ACTF is based and pay our respect to their Elders past and present.

We are honoured to have the opportunity to learn from the oldest cultural storytellers in the world and seek to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners to share their rich culture and perspectives with children in Australia and around the world via stories on screen.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or text.

Virtual workshops to watch with your primary class

The ACTF delivers fun and engaging virtual learning events, supporting students to learn about how screen stories are told. From screenwriting and storyboarding to creating animated characters and VFX, these events provide access to industry professionals including authors, animators and actors who share tips of the trade and support students in creating their own media.

We’ve rounded up eight of our past workshops which are now available on demand via the ACTF website.

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Light and Colour: The power to create and influence mood (Years F-2)

How is colour used to build a story? How does light create mood? How do animators use colour and light together to create rich screen content we want to watch?

The use of lighting and colour in television has the power to influence the audience’s mood. In this virtual workshop, early years students are introduced to the use of light and colour in ACTF content to learn about how these elements can create stories that build happy, scary, funny or sad moments.

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Lah-Lah’s Adventures: Music for Everyone Webinar (Years F-2)

Join Tina and Mark Harris, two of the lead creatives behind the hugely successful Lah-Lah’s Adventures children’s series, as they encourage students to sing, dance and learn how much fun they can have with music.

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World Building: Stories on Screen (Years F-3)

Why and how do we share screen stories about our world? What story would you like to share – and how will you tell it?

In this virtual workshop, ACTF and ACMI Education guide students in responding to screen stories about our world. This engaging workshop explores storytelling, audience and purpose, where students learn why and how we use screen content to share stories about our world.

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Character, story and animated worlds in Li’l Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers webinar (Years 4-5)

How do creators use inspiration from popular culture to build stories and characters in animation? Learn this and much more as the ACTF speaks to Li’l Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers creator Peter Viska.

Ahead of its time in exploring environmental sustainability and featuring First Nations characters, this classic 1997 series follows the story of Li’l Elvis and his friends who together create a sound that is uniquely their own called ‘Didgibilli Rock’.

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Character and Creature Design Virtual Workshop (Years 4-5)

Join ACTF, ACMI Education, the Australian National Maritime Museum, Producer Avrill Stark and Creator and Art Diector James Brouwer to learn all about character and creature design in the animated television series The Deep.

Combining ocean science knowledge with imagination and creativity, this session unpacks the pre-production process of designing and developing characters and fantastical creatures.

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Hardball Sound Design Virtual Workshop (Years 4-6)

Why is sound so important in television and film? How does sound help bring audiences into a screen world?

Go behind the scenes of the award-winning live-action comedy Hardball, where sound designers from the program share the process of planning, capturing and editing a soundscape. Students will learn about how foley sound is captured and be inspired to create their own foley soundscapes.

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Round the Twist, Storyboarding and VFX Virtual Workshop (Years 4-6)

The storyboards for the children’s series Round the Twist were integral in the production of all the wacky and fun moments in the beloved series. Explore the iconic series and learn the importance of storyboarding when creating VFX (visual effects) and SFX (special effects) with Dennis Nicholson, VFX Supervisor for Round the Twist Series 3 and 4.

This resource also includes tips and tricks to create your own VFX in the classroom.

Scriptwriting: The art of storytelling for the screen (Years 5-6)

Screen stories provide access to innovative ideas, validate our identities and shape our characters. Join the ACTF and ACMI as we go behind the scenes with the creators of the live-action children’s drama series MaveriX to learn about the process of bringing a story to life on screen.

This virtual workshop supports teachers in narrative units of work as it explores story, setting and character, as well as the language structures and features of scriptwriting.