PAUL KELLY - STORIES OF ME - Representation in Documentaries

Students will explore the documentary Paul Kelly – Stories of Me and focus on the nature of representation, including how documentary makers construct a representation of their subject. Students will collaboratively brainstorm their ideas, questions and puzzlement around three prompts, and make their thinking visible by noting their ideas down on butcher’s paper. They will apply their new understanding by describing the different ways that Paul Kelly is represented throughout the documentary.

This lesson uses sections of Shark Island Production’s Paul Kelly – Stories of Me as learning stimuli. Teachers are required to create an account on the film’s website to view the film. Upon registration you will be given a code – give this to your students so that they can access the film too.

Key points to explore:

• A person can be represented in different ways through selection of detail, form and medium of the text.
• The representation of a person can be affected by the nature of a text.