We went to the cinema this morning for the first of the films we’ve booked to see through filmeducation over the next week or so. Today we saw Earth which was probably the one I was least expecting the children to sit quietly through as its a documentary rather than an animation or a story. We arrived early and saw Allie, Leo and Pearl in the foyer aswell as a couple of other semi-familiar faces of local HEors we know on a smile and nod type basis having crossed paths with at various places before. We sat right at the front as usual, for that full on cinema experience and were joined by Allie, P & L down there. The room quickly filled up with various school groups, probably the busiest screening we’ve been for for a filmeducation event.
I like going to the cinema like that, you know that there won’t be peace and quiet in which to watch the film, you know there will be lots of shushing, kerfuffles as children get up to go to the loo and a scramble to get out before the school parties start lining up and blocking the aisles, but I also know that if Davies and Scarlett talk to me or need to get up to go to the loo themselves then no one is going to get fed up with you.
Earth was very much a film that, Scarlett particularly, needed to talk bits of through as they happened. There were several incidents of animals attacking other animals, which she is fine with but needs to talk about as she watches. There was some breathtaking filming of scenery and ariel shots that had the audience exclaiming over – I enjoyed Davies and Pearl’s simultaneous ‘whoa!’ at one point 😆 and it was interspersed with some light relief such as ducklings on their virgin flight, furiously flapping their little two day old wings but still landing with a full body slam on the forest floor of leaves. I learnt a few things – probably almost imediately forgotten again, but interesting anyway.
Scarlett got restless towards the end and sat on my lap for the last bit so we could whisper to each other but having driven home singing along to Queen at the tops of their voices they went straight to the playroom to get the toy animals out, have dug out examples of all the animals from the film and are recreating bits of it coupled with their own imaginative additions. It always amazes me how little sitting very still listening to every single word and paying complete undivided attention is actually required by children to learn ever such a lot.