Activities

1 Talk about the film with the whole class using the Picking the right bird section as a prompt. Make cursory links to other materials such as Babe and Dinosaur. Introduce the following key words:

cartoon

animation

close-up

presentation

image

film media

2 Cut and paste the Gutting it questions onto a Word document and print out for the class. Divide the class into groups, allocating each group a set of questions to discuss and report back on.

3 Chicken characters: Use a box like the one below to say something about each of the chickens.

Name	What they say and do and what that tells you about their characters	What happens to this chicken
Heni
Morag
Agnes
Dot
Idris
Nive
Olwen

Now write about the character of Attila. Look at how Attila’s character is presented in the film, especially at the way in which the film brings out Attila’s difference from the other chickens.

4 Animal characters: Use the box below to look at the other birds in the film.

Name	What they say and do and what that tells you about their characters	Are they a friend or a threat to the chickens?
Sparrow
Magpies
Blackbird
Pheasant

Write about the part the other birds play in the film. Focus on how they are portrayed, and how they are used to move the plot forward and to educate Attila.

5 Writing about a film.

Use this writing frame to prepare and write your own response to the film and the role of Attila.

WRITING ABOUT A FILM
Start by introducing your topic	Say what the film is, what it is about and who Attila is.	The film version of Attila the Hen is a cartoon animation which... The main character is…
Summarise the story	Say what happens, briefly	The film opens on a group of chickens in a battery hut discussing how badly they are treated. Then…
Comment on the presentation	Say what makes this a good film	Visually the film is powerful with… There are powerful images such as… Close-ups like …are effective because… The atmosphere is exciting in places such as where … It is also frightening…
Comment on Attila	Say how Attila is the character who holds the story together	Attila is an unusual hen because… She is also… An example of this is where… She learns about the world as the story goes on. For example… She is lucky as in when… But she is also resourceful…
Comment on meaning	Say what else this film tells you about	Although this is a story about chickens, it also tells us about… And, it makes the audience think more about…
Conclude	Sum up the film and your feelings about it	I liked the film because… The audience could include… because the film works at a number of levels. First, it is a story that children will enjoy but…