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Tumbleweeds Film Festival offers workshops for kids, resources for teachers

Children can get hands-on experiences in VR, sound effects and special-effects makeup during March movie event.

(Jonathan Hickerson | courtesy Utah Film Center) A child watches a virtual-reality program, at the 2017 Tumbleweeds Film Festival. The 2018 edition of the festival, set for March 2-4, will include a clubhouse of activities, and three workshops — one of them about VR.

A trio of workshops — covering virtual reality, sound effects and special-effects makeup — will add hands-on experiences for kids attending the Tumbleweeds Film Festival, Salt Lake City’s movie event for children and youth.

The Utah Film Center, which presents the Tumbleweeds festival, announced its lineup of workshops, teacher resources and clubhouse activities for the festival, which runs March 2-4 at Library Square and the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.

The Tumbleweed Clubhouse will be available for free for Library Square patrons at the City Library’s Urban Room (main lobby) and The Leonardo’s entrance atrium. The Clubhouse will feature more than 20 craft and technology activities, including virtual-reality games from Playful Corp., Indonesian shadow puppets with the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, do-it-yourself visual puzzles from Salt Lake City Maker Faire and more.

Early-bird passes and family sponsorships for Tumbleweeds are on sale now at the Utah Film Center’s website, UtahFilmCenter.org/twds2018. Individual film and workshop tickets go on sale Jan. 10.

The workshops and free teacher activities are as follows (with descriptions from the Utah Film Center):

Workshops

“It’s All In Your Head(set) – Take a Trip with Virtual Reality” (all ages) • “You’ve probably heard of virtual reality, or ‘VR,’ but have you really tried it? With the help of VR pioneer Ryan Buchanan, you will take a trip to the next frontier of virtual reality and learn how a smart phone and set of goggles can transport you to a new world. And guess what: you might just learn something along the way, so join us for this trip of a lifetime!”

“Feel the Noise – Making Sound Effects for Film” (8 and up) • “Stop. Hey, what’s that sound? Most of the time when we watch a movie we aren’t thinking about the sounds we hear. But, just like the visuals on the screen, sound has a huge impact on us as an audience. In this workshop, YOU are the sound designer. You’ll start with a silent film and add ALL of the sound effects and music you want. The professional sound designers at BluFire Studios will guide you through the process of designing the soundtrack for your new film.”

“Special FX Hollywood Makeup” (10 and up) • “ ‘People don’t usually pay attention to makeup in a show unless it’s done wrong,’ says Curtis Kidd. And now, with over 20 years of experience doing stage and special-effects makeup, prosthetics and costume design for productions like ‘Frightmares,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Little Mermaid,’ he is onsite at Tumbleweeds to teach you how to get your zombie face on, or make you look like you just stepped out of a boxing ring.”

Free activities for teachers

Festival Field Trips (for grades 1 and up) • “The week leading up to the festival we are proud to offer school screenings in Salt Lake City and West Jordan, each with a postfilm discussion. All participating teachers will receive a study guide packet. This year we expand our offerings with a special Thursday all-day event that combines a film screening, postfilm discussion and workshops. Underwriting for bus/transportation support is available. Reserve your class field trip today, seats will fill up quickly: utahfilmcenter.org/fieldtrips."

Film Spark Teacher Workshop (teachers of all subjects, in teams of three or more; grades 6-12) • “Film can spark conversation like few other platforms in the classroom can, so the Utah Film Center created Film Spark to help teachers with a curriculum that provides structure for discussing important global topics. At Tumbleweeds, join the Utah Film Center and documentary director Jean Michel Dissard, from the highly acclaimed film ‘I Learn America,’ for a free Film Spark workshop focused on integrating award-winning documentary films into your classroom. Each participating school team (three or more teachers grades 6-12) receives a Film Spark Volume I curriculum guide containing 12 documentary DVDs and corresponding, standards-linked study guides, and Utah State Board of Education relicensure credit. To sign up, email rwray@utahfilmcenter.org. To learn more about the specific Film Spark documentary titles and to watch their trailers, visit utahfilmcenter.org/filmspark."