The Shadow

• As a class, discuss the historical significance of news broadcasting via radio. Students could investigate what significant broadcasts were made in the 1930s. They could also look at how broadcasts were produced and by whom. The following websites will help prompt discussion:

1. Modernity, Intimacy and Early Australian Commercial Radio, 'Talking and Listening in the Age of Modernity: Essays on the history of sound', Bridget Griffen-Foley, http://epress.anu.edu.au/tal/mobile_devices/ch10.html
2. Australian Broadcasting Commission, http://www.abc.net.au
3. History of the ABC: 1930s, http://www.abc.net.au/corp/history/75years/timeline/1930s.pdf

• Radio plays were popular entertainment in Australia in the 1930s. The Shadow was a serial based on a comic book by the same name, and it is a great example of a radio play that appealed to a younger generation of listeners.
• Ask students to participate in a question and answer activity about The Shadow radio play.

1. How does the story come to life on radio? What elements have the radio producers used to recreate the stories and hold the listeners interest?
2. Other than dialogue, what sounds did you notice in the clip The Shadow?
3. How do you think these sounds have been created?
4. Why do you think radio plays were so popular with people before television came to Australia in 1956? Are radio plays still being broadcast today and if so, where?
5. What other types of radio programs were available to listeners in 1938, other than radio play serials?
6. As a follow-up activity, ask a senior family member about the radio programs they remember? Which did they like and when did they listen to them?

Student Activity Sheet H8.4: The Shadow: questions and answers

• The Shadow began as a narrative character in an American radio show, Detective Story Hour, in 1930. By 1931 The Shadow had been published as a comic magazine, and it survived for almost two decades. The character was given its own radio show in 1937, and throughout 1938, a young radio personality called Orson Welles played the lead role. Read about the history of The Shadow at 'Orson Welles' The Shadow', http://www.downunderdvd.com/TheShadow.html

• Ask students to create a short episode of a radio play serial with roles for at least four people. They will need to source a script with roles for these people. Other students may like to be sound technicians and recorders. Ask the students to bring in comic books about super heroes to spark their imagination. They may create their own short script, or use one they have found.
• Ask students to follow the steps below:

1. Select a known script, or write your own short script.
2. Storyboard the action and calculate the time the script will take to present; about five to ten minutes is sufficient.
3. Decide on theme music and work out what sound effects are needed to help tell the story and draw the attention of the viewer.
4. Practise your lines as a group and time your sound effects to the action.
5. Use a digital program to record the radio play, or use the microphone application on the desktop computer. You may also use a tape recorder.
6. Share the radio serials with the whole class.

Student Activity Sheet H8.5: Write your own radio play

• In this clip, Colum deals with coins rather than notes. Ask students to research what coins were used in the 1930s. Students can research the denominations of currency during this era and illustrate them on a chart.

• Ask students to work with a partner to find diagrams, or photos, of the coins used in the 1930s. On an A3-sized poster, students compare the coins used in 1930 against the coins used today. Coins of today can be traced or rubbed with a pencil with paper over the top of them. Encourage students to investigate what types of emblems or illustrations were used on the old coins and compare them to the emblems used today.

Student Activity Sheet H8.6: Coins of all ages

• Discuss with the class the situation in the clip where Colum and Thommo earn some extra cash working for the shopkeeper Mr O'Sullivan. Discuss the work of Mr O'Sullivan (the shopkeeper and SP bookmaker) and what students think is involved in his work and his attitude towards it. Discuss the fact that SP bookies were illegal and consider what this might mean for the involvement of the two boys.
• Have students create a list of the tasks the boys had to do. Have students consider the reasons why they think Colum and Thommo were doing this job. What might have been the risks? Discuss why they were willing to take such risks.
• Revisit the clip where the two boys run down the lane on their return from collecting bets and bump into the policeman. Ask students to identify and discuss the possible ramifications for the boys from this encounter. What the boys are doing is illegal and they are truanting from school.
• Students work in small groups to devise ideas for ways in which children can earn money today that are safe and legal.

• Ask students to think about how they would feel if they were in this situation and were caught by the policeman. Have students draw this scene as a three-frame comic strip. They should draw the boys, using facial expressions and actions, with thought captions to show their feelings as the situation unfolds, for example, 'Oh no, this can't be happening. Will he tell mum?'

Student Activity Sheet E8.5: Not strictly legal

• Discuss what the audience learns about the currency used in 1938 through watching this clip. Ask students to note all the information they can about money, and what messages the clip conveys about it. Look closely for clues in the dialogue and action. Have students name the coins and the slang used for money, for example, what does 'a couple of bob' mean? Ask students to find out what a bob is worth today.
• Invite students to interview older people, for example grandparents, to see what they can find out about money before decimal currency. Have students research pre-decimal money to find out why the names 'shilling', 'bob', 'sixpence' and so on were used.

• Encourage students to find examples of old currency to bring to class and compare with today's coins. Have students research the comparative value of the old currency and today's money. They should list the prices of everyday items (for example, milk, a newspaper, lollies, a loaf of bread) today and in 1938.
• Ask students to create two newspaper advertisements for a basic commodity. The first advertisement should be designed to be published in 1938 and the second design should be for a newspaper publication today.

Student Activity Sheet E8.6: A couple of bob

• As a class, discuss the role of the radio in this clip. Ask students what they think the radio symbolises. Why is the radio in Miss Miller's window? The positioning of the radio is evidence of the circumstances of the listeners in the street, including Colum and his family. What does this tell the audience about Miss Miller? She is obviously wealthier than her neighbours, but she is also thoughtful and generous because she is sharing her radio with them.
• As a class, discuss the availability of radios at this time and their accessibility to the general public.

• Ask students to undertake library and internet research on the history of radio technology and the impact of it on family and community life in the 1930s. They should present this information as an oral report to the class.

Student Activity Sheet E8.7: Radio times

• The boys were seen reading the comic book The Shadow. As a class, discuss why comics may have been so popular at this time. Have students find out more about other comics, which were popular in Australia in the 1930s. Students can also find out which comics from today were around in the 1930s.
• Discuss the role of this comic book in the story. Have students discuss:

1. What does this contribute to the story?
2. How is Colum affected by the notion of a being a hero and helping his friend who is in need?

• Ask students to create the front cover for a comic book about a new hero whose goal is to help his or her friends in need. This process includes naming the hero, thinking of  talents and superpowers, designing an appropriate costume, and creating a slogan such as Superman's 'Faster than a speeding bullet ...'
• For further work on super heroes and comic book characters, see activities for Legacy of the Silver Shadow at http://www.actf.com.au/learning_centre/title_pages/lss_tp.php