Lucia

• Why is Lucia in hospital?
• What does Lucia see flying?
• What does the flying creature represent? What does the little ball represent?
• Using Sound On/Vision Off, listen to the first two minutes of the film without watching it. Ask pupils to note what sounds they can hear. What do they think are making these sounds? What else do the sounds remind them of?
• Watch the sequence in the X-ray room (with sound and vision). Discuss what sounds help you to imagine where Lucia is when she watches the flying ‘object’?
• There is no dialogue in Lucia. How do we understand the story and get pieces of information through use of close-ups on objects, things, people and their reactions? Use freeze frames or printout stills from the film to discuss.
• Note ways that the camera makes us ‘see’ what it wants us to see in this film (for example the drip, the moon, the fish, the X-ray of the skull).
• Ask pupils to note any moments where they feel uneasy or worried for Lucia (e.g. when we see the shadows at the bottom of the bed, the shadow of the nurse entering the room, and when we see the person with the syringe). Discuss where the camera is in these shots and why the camera is in this position.
• Show the sequence from 02:12 to 02:50 (Lucia getting out of bed, opening the door, and walking down the corridor). Discuss where the camera is for this sequence and why the camera is in this position.
• Why does the fish changes colour and then change again when it swallows Lucia’s ‘ball’? Why are these colours used?

• What kind of music can you hear in the film? How does it make you feel?
• How would the film have been different if the characters had been real, not animations?
• Watch the title sequence. Discuss what is happening to Lucia? What kind of photographs are being taken and why? Encourage children to share their own experiences.
• Watch to the point where the camera zooms onto the drip (00:57). Discuss what is happening. Where is the film set? What or who are the shadows? What is hanging up above Lucia? Why is it there? Those children with experiences of hospital will be able to add detail and share their own ideas about what is happening.
• Build up a word bank of words relating to health and hospitals.
• Ask if any pupils have been ill or been to hospital or visited someone in hospital. How did they feel? Discuss experiences.

WRITE

• Write a character profile of Lucia: what is she like, what is her family situation. How do Lucia’s feelings change in the film? What is the turning point? How do you know?
• Write a story about a major event in your life, such as a visit to the hospital.
• Write stories about hospital experiences or re-tell Lucia’s story in short prose form.

FILMMAKING

• Investigate how to re-tell Lucia’s story – or tell their own hospital story – using a simple animation program.

DRAW

• Draw a self-portrait of what it is like to feel sad or lonely.

STEM

• Can buildings speak? Explore shape and patterns in buildings with corridors and rooms like schools and hospitals.
• Investigate parts of the body and the five senses.
• Investigate X-rays – what are they, who discovered them, who invented the X-ray machine?

SOCIAL STUDIES

• Investigate the environment around your school: find out where the nearest hospital is and how to get there from school and home.

RESEARCH

• Research and compile an illustrated report (with photos or drawings) of people who help us: doctors, nurses, other hospital workers, police, etc.
• Investigate sounds, symbols and signs in hospitals.