Lesson Plan

Opening sequence
View the title sequence at the beginning of episode one of Noah and Saskia. Discuss what students think the sequence is trying to achieve? What meanings or ideas do students construct?

As a class describe each of the different actors who introduces Noah and Saskia in the title sequence. Consider the ethnicity, accents and looks of each actor. Why do you think each one might have been selected? What do you think the filmmakers were trying to achieve by selecting these particular actors?

Play the sequence again, this time without sound. Ask students to notice the clothing, hair and make-up of each actor. Discuss how each of these features contributes to the meanings attached to these people.

Play the sequence once more and listen carefully to the dialogue of each actor. Why do you think these words were selected? How does the dialogue contribute to the meanings viewers might create from this sequence?

As a class discuss who students think each of these kids might be? What might each one of them be like? What makes you think this? Create a short pen portrait (a short paragraph describing the specific qualities of the character) for each one, then give each a character name that reflects the description. Explain choices for names.

Consider: Are any of these descriptions similar to you? Explain how they are alike or different.

Who am I?
Pose the questions: Who am I? How do I become the person that I am? Distribute worksheet 11 ‘Who am I?” Have each student draw a self-portrait and record words or phrases about themselves under each of the headings. Have them paste the sheet into their workbook.

As a class discuss how students think they have each developed their personalities.

Who are you?
Assist students to pair up with a person they will be able to work with successfully. Provide each student with worksheet 12 ‘Who are you?’ Each student is to complete the worksheet to show his or her perceptions of their partner. Remind students of the need to be sensitive to one another’s feelings and warn them that they will be sharing the worksheet with their partner when it is complete. It is important to interact with and guide students throughout this activity.

Ask students to share their perceptions with one another without showing their partner the worksheet. Encourage students to question one another about how opinions were formed and to discuss the similarities and differences between one’s own perceptions and the perceptions of others.

Conclude the activity by discussing the way individuals are judged by others and the possibilities for judgments to be incorrect or unfair. Think about some of the ways people form conclusions about others, for example, noticing appearance, listening to how someone speaks, observing a person’s actions, listening to the opinions of other people.

How good are our perceptions?
Engage students in some experiments involving optical illusions. Encourage students to locate optical illusions from library books or on the Internet. Discuss the idea that sometimes our brains create meanings that are not accurate.

Am I who I appear to be?
Have students paste their partner’s worksheet perceptions into their books with their own worksheet. Ask them to compare their own perceptions with those of their partner, and then write a reflection about how they see themselves, or their identity, compared with how other people see them.

Don’t judge a book by its cover
Have students contribute to a class graffiti board of sayings that relate to this discussion, such as:
• Don’t judge a book by its cover.
• He/she is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
• There’s more to him/her than meets the eye.
• Still waters run deep.

Identity
What if your identity was based on a lie? What if you can hide behind an identity you have created for yourself? Noah and Saskia follows the journey of self-revelation for the two main characters who have each created a new identity. In the beginning they each develop a persona through their avatar that they are able to hide behind.

Prepare students to view episode one of Noah and Saskia with a view to finding out:
• Who is Saskia?
• Who is Noah?

Have each student create a detailed concept map for each character to show what he or she has discovered. Share concept maps as a class.

Discuss how the choice of actor for each role affects the audience’s understanding of each character’s identity. Consider how Noah’s identity would have been affected if the actors for Noah and Clive swapped roles. Have some fun imagining other actors swapping roles, for example, the actor cast as Theresa playing Saskia. How do creators of films and television programs use stereotype to help an audience construct ideas about a character’s identity?

Avatars
In episode one Saskia enters Webweave, a chat space, where she hopes to meet up with Max Hammer. She has no idea who Max Hammer might be. To enter Webweave Saskia must create a persona for herself; an avatar. Discuss the meaning of the word avatar. Compare dictionary meanings. What does it mean in the series?

View episode one again and also episode two. This time, ask students to work in groups of six and to take notes using the worksheet 13 ‘Who is Noah? Who is Saskia?’ taking particular notice of the following:

1. The avatar Saskia selects when she enters Webweave for the first time is a paper bag. Why do you think this avatar was selected? What impression does it give you about Saskia and her personality?

2. While in Webweave, Max says to Saskia, “ Reality is what you make it. This reality is mine”. What do you think this means? Does Noah’s avatar (Max) reflect who he really is? Why or why not? Do you agree that reality is what you make it?

3. When Saskia decides to re-enter Webweave she says this time she will choose an avatar that says something about her self and her independence. What does she mean by this? Do you think she is independent? Does the new avatar (Indy) she creates, reflect who she really is? Why or why not? What does Saskia mean when she says, “I don’t lie, I imagine.”

Have each group report their ideas about each of the three questions to the class.

As a class discuss how the avatar selected by each character reflects each character’s feelings about him or her self? How does the avatar selected by each character affect the way he or she is perceived by the other character?

Virtual vs real identities
In the first episodes we see the construction of Noah and Saskia as online avatars, Max and Indy. As a whole class on a whiteboard, or in groups, list advantages and disadvantages of ‘real time’ and virtual relationships, for example, advantages might include freedom from immediate peer group pressure and embarrassment; connecting with people from all around the global; finding people with similar specialised interests; getting a different point of view. Disadvantages might include the inability to ‘physically’ communicate (share laughs, hugs, smiles, etc); being seen as a ‘geek’; the dangers – are they who they claim to be?

The genres of Max’s life
Noah lives in genres. As students view further episodes in the series have them explore episodes that focus on Noah, to find out what genres are represented in Noah’s online comic. In each case how does the genre reflect Noah’s life?

Discuss:
• Why do you think the creative team decided to have Noah use online comics as a means of dealing with life’s issues and concerns?
• How would the series have been affected if the decision had been made for Saskia to explore life through various genres using an online comic and for Noah to explore life through music and talking?

Will the real Noah and Saskia please stand up!
View episodes 10 and 11 of Noah and Saskia. Max and Indy are having ‘virtual differences’ and Noah and Saskia seem to be taking on attributes of their avatars in their ‘real’ world lives.

Discuss as a class: How big is the gap between Noah and Saskia’s ‘real’ selves and their Max and Indy avatars?

Consider how the concept of identity is blurred in this series, since Noah and Saskia are in fact actors playing fictional characters. Each of these fictional characters creates an avatar to represent him or her self when chatting in Webweave, and then each fictional character creates an imaginary representation to show how one another’s avatar might look in ‘real’ life.

Read the comments by Hannah Greenwood (Actor) about the role of Saskia. Notice how she moves between talking about Saskia as ‘she’ and then slips into saying ‘I’. As a class discuss the difficulties that must have been involved in playing a character who seems to have more than one identity.

How did your role contribute to the story and to the themes and messages of Noah and Saskia?
Saskia contributes to quite a few themes, especially self-discovery. The casual day episode was a huge one for Saskia because she had this whole thing about telling people that she doesn’t care what other people think—I don’t care. It is not true I don’t care. I just don’t want to go to school and it is not about Max. I just don’t want to go to school. She had this whole thing trying to talk herself into something that just wasn’t true. A lot of the episodes are about self-discovery. She had to kind of discover for herself that she did kind of have a problem with what other people think, and yes she did kind of care what Max thinks and in the end she had to accept that. Through the whole thing she is taking this amazing journey, and she is taking the audience with her, especially with the monologues to the camera. She is opening her heart to the viewers and telling them to come with me and feel what I am feeling and to sympathise with me. Then her way of expressing is of course with the guitar. She loves playing her guitar.
– Hannah Greenwood -

List references to characters using personas during the series, for example from episode one,
- Saskia’s invention of Indy – the perfect ‘lure’
- Max Hammer and how Saskia pictures him in real life
- Renee’s ‘agree’ and ‘ignore’ techniques, to be used with guys.
Is the issue as simple as being authentic in ‘real life’ and ‘fake’ or ‘acting’ in the virtual world? As a class discuss whether or not we all have more than one persona in our own real lives.

Are there messages in Noah and Saskia?
View episode 12. Have each student make a list of key messages they think Noah and Saskia might have for young viewers. Share and compare ideas and discuss why people might have different ideas about messages after viewing a series like Noah and Saskia?

Read the comments by Pino Amenta (Director) and Hannah Greenwood (Actor) about the messages in Noah and Saskia. Do you agree with the things they have to say? Why or why not?

Do you think the messages of Noah and Saskia are relevant or important to kids in the 21st century and if so why?
You know when you go out and shoot something like Noah and Saskia you don’t think; there is a message here. That is the writer’s job, to put in any messages and ideals and disguise it so it doesn’t become too obvious. I think the messages that were in there were well disguised and presented without being obscure. I think the messages are about being yourself and about bringing that other person you want to be, to the fore. It is also about friendship, which is the most important thing in your life. Life is not about having things. It’s about being a good person. I think the messages Noah and Saskia brings out weren’t hammered to the audience; they were just there, subtly and in an entertaining way. I don’t go out to tell messages. I go out to entertain. The messages have got to be in there without being obvious. –Pino Amenta -

I do think the messages of Noah and Saskia are very relevant to kids in the 21st century because it is all about growing up and pretending to be someone that you are not and then finding out they are not that very different. The whole thing about Saskia is that she pretends to be this independent and fiery sort of person and that is what she is on the inside. Anyway, it is something she says she is dying to be but she already is. It is relevant in that way. So kids who imagine being their ideal person, it is not true, you know it is not true. You can go out there and you can achieve your dreams and Noah and Saskia is relevant in that way. It has a lot to do with self-discovery. – Hannah Greenwood -

Are you really who you seem to be?
View episode 13 of Noah and Saskia. During this episode Saskia expresses a need to know the truth. Ask students what they think she means by the truth?

Find out who says, “It’s about who I am, who I am pretending to be — I don’t know who I am anymore”. Why is this important?

While viewing episode 13 ask students to consider their responses to the following:
• Do the invented characters of Noah (Max) and Saskia (Indy) help them to find out who they are? Why or shy not?
• What is the significance of Saskia’s question to Max, “Are you really who you seem to be?”

As a class, discuss the significance of the images that accompany the scene where Noah and Saskia reveal their real names.

On the line
Have students imagine there is a line running down the middle of the classroom that represents a continuum. Allocate one end of the lines as ‘agree’ and the other end as ‘disagree’. Ask students to consider the following statements and indicate their opinion by standing along the continuum.

• By the end of the series Saskia has moved on – she is exploring who she is through Indy. Noah’s still catching up to her.

Have each student explain the reason/s for their position on the continuum. Students may vary their position but must provide reasons for changing.

Who am I again?
Create one or two of the following to represent your own identity, think about whether or not your representation need to include more than one persona:
- an avatar
- a home-page
- a piece of music
- a logo
- a chat pseudonym.