Hello, Muscles

• Watch until 00:33 and look at the colours in Victoria’s and her mum’s bedrooms. What do you notice and what does this suggest?
• The film is shot with a handheld camera throughout. What is the effect of this? Why might the filmmaker have chosen to do this?
• Freeze-frame the film at 02:30. What is the effect of this extreme long shot?
• Freeze-frame the film at 05:03. How is a bond established between Victoria and the shopkeeper?
• Watch the montage from 05:45 to 06:55. What story is being established here, and how? How does the editing contribute to the montage?
• What is the symbolism of the dog in his cage? What is the symbolism f the dog’s name – Samson? What about Victoria’s name?

• The true meaning of Victoria’s mum saying “I need him” and Victoria’s real reason for building up her muscles is revealed from 11:10. Did you see this coming? What did you think “I need him” and the muscle-building meant before seeing this?
• Freeze-frame the film on the statistic at 11:55 – that nearly one million young people in the UK have caring responsibilities. Did you know or suspect this? Even given this number, many young carers are actually not identified – why might this be the case?
• What do you think caring responsibilities might look like? What impact could these caring responsibilities have on a young person’s life? Draw a human
• silhouette and annotate it with physical roles and responsibilities (e.g. around the hands and feet) and emotional tasks, around the head and heart.
• What does the word ‘responsibility’ mean to you? What positive connotations does this word have? What negative connotations?
• Can you think of any other films, TV shows, books etc. that feature a young carer? If so, how are young carers represented? If not, why do you think this is the case?

WRITE

• Write a personal essay about a time you were given a specific responsibility. What did you have to do? How did you cope with the situation?
• Write a short story about someone discovering their inner strength.
• Write a haiku about strength.

FILMMAKING

• Make a short film bringing awareness to people about young carers and highlighting support that is available.

DRAW

• Design your own piece of keep-fit equipment.

MUSIC

• Make a playlist of five to ten songs about strength. Which one speaks to you the most? Why?