Intersection: Beat
In 2020 we reimagined our NSW Public Schools Drama Company, in partnership with the Australian Theatre for Young People, from plays into a selection of short films.
In this resource, you will find the completed films, a behind the scenes documentary, and a series of insightful interviews with the director, cast, writers, and filmmakers.
There are many ways to translate this eResource into your classroom. We have included some ideas, along with related content from The Arts Unit's library as starting points.
We would love to hear your feedback and share your ideas and outcomes from using this eResource.
About the project
The NSW Department of Education is a strong supporter of arts and initiatives that allow our students an opportunity to work beyond the classroom in order to accelerate excellence.
In the challenging year of 2020, in partnership with the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) we reimagined our NSW Public Schools Drama Company, from plays into a selection of short films.
This project is a collection of that talent and resilience in adapting live performance into the digital space using different techniques and COVID safe practices.
In Intersection: Beat, we have compiled sections from four of the original ten scripts we commissioned with ATYP from young writers across Australia. Our cast, with no screen acting experience, adapted with incredible maturity and ability, from rehearsing online, to working with the camera and finally to blocking using the safe COVID practices of the time. No audience. No ensemble and sometimes with no set at all.
We attempted to use different strategies in each film such as green screen, location, studio, splicing and editing actors into the space as well as cover different styles of plays.
We have accompanied these with interviews and resources that cover our pivot, process and product.
How to use this resource
In this eResource, you will find 4 completed short films, a behind the scenes documentary, a series of insightful interviews with the director, cast, writers, and filmmakers and a film glossary.
There are many ways to use this resource with your students. Here are just a few!
- Perform the plays – scripts are available for purchase through Currency Press Intersection: BEAT
- Explore the behind the scenes documentary and interviews in your classroom
- Analyse the elements of film production with your students
- Explore the transformation of stage to film or novel to film with your students
- Character and/or issue analysis, leading to your own playbuilding piece
- Transform your own scripts into short films, supported by our filmmaking and screenwriting resources
- Stream the performance live to your school community.
As we move towards end of the year celebrations, your short film could showcase in your end of year celebrations, even captured in 360!
View approaches to creating a virtual arts exhibition for support on creating your own virtual arts exhibition
Discover additional drama resources and related content.
The Drama Company 2020
