A Period of Change (1870 - 1950)
Day 2 - The Roaring 20's (The 1920's)
Activity 1 | Popular Culture - The Silent Movie
The 1920s saw a massive surge in the number of people going to the movies. Huge new cinemas were built in both Auckland (The Civic Theatre) and Dunedin (Empire De Luxe). The most popular type of movies showing at local NZ cinemas were ‘silent’ films. Gold Rush is an example of an iconic silent film. It features a famous actor named Charlie Chaplin.
Watch the trailer for Gold Rush. On your blog, tell us what you think the movie is about. There are no words spoken movie so you will need to pay careful attention to what the actors are doing! Do you think you would enjoy watching a silent film? Why/Why not?
The Gold Rush | Charlie Chaplin
Activity 2 | Art Deco
In the 1920s a new artistic movement emerged in New Zealand (and around the world). It was called ‘Art Deco.’ The picture to the right is a classic example of an ‘Art Deco’ piece. Take a close look at the painting. Do you like it?
On your blog, give the painting a rating out of 5 stars (1 star = terrible painting, 2 stars = pretty bad painting, 3 stars = okay painting, 4 stars = good painting and 5 stars = amazing painting). After you’ve rated the painting out of 5, tell us why you gave it that rating.
Right: Self Portrait By Tamara de Lempicka
Bonus Activity | Crossing the Tasman
In 1928, a crew of four men flew, for the first time, across the Tasman from Australia to New Zealand. One of the men on board the Southern Cross airplane was a New Zealander named T.H. McWilliams. His job was to operate the radio in the airplane. Unfortunately, the radio stopped working shortly after take-off and the rain and ice were so heavy that the pilot, Kingsford Smith, couldn’t see out of his front windscreen. Yikes! Fortunately, the plane made it all the way across the Tasman landing in Christchurch after a 14 hour trip.
Imagine that you were a member of the flight crew. Write a poem that describes how you would have felt when you landed safely in Christchurch after such a long trip. Remember, there are lots of different types of poems, and they don’t all have to rhyme. You can read more about different types of poems by clicking here.
