How would you teach a child about Christianity without denying evolution?

Religion and science are different things. Take the bible (or any other religious work) as metaphor. It is storytelling as Myth. It may be based on historical facts, but its purpose is not to teach history - or science - but to illuminate moral questions, and the human condition through mythological storytelling. Science is about facts and its isn't till you get into deep quantum physics  - Big bang etc - that the two start to blur and it becomes a philosophical conundrum

Science doesn't contradict faith. It only contradicts Dogma. Faith is about stuff Science cannot and never will be able to explain. Read between the lines of the Bible and don't take it literally, and there is no conflict. Also remember it was written by people living in a very different period and culture. Things chance. Attitudes change. But basic moral values don't, as the ten commandments demonstrate.This is true of all religions.

Born in Burma and orphaned during a rebel incursion, Pushkana was taken in by the theatre community and overcame hysterical blindness to become the country’s most acclaimed set designer by the age of 18. Coming to Australia with a tour of Burmese culture and arts, he decided to stay and has been worked in theatre and film for the next ten years on productions ranging from Beckett to Shakespeare, the acclaimed ‘Military Must Die’ and ‘Beefcake Boys Revue’. Winner of the Theatre Arts Young Designer of the Year Award, Mortal Fools was his first and only feature film. 

Pushka, as he was affectionately known, made many friends in the local film and theatre industries and will be sadly missed.

"Tomorrow..." Is an action-adventure, and starts a bit slow with some rather cliched stereotype characters. It also has some very on-the-nose dialogue throughout. But despite all this, it has a strong performance from the lead (Caitlin Stasey) and a couple of very well done action set-pieces. But more importantly perhaps it doesn't suffer from the thing that has plagued so many Aussie films in my opinion - pulling it's punches. Too many films in the past simply don't take their story and their lead character as far as they could. They stop short of going all the way, which leaves one with a very unsatisfying result. "Tomorrow..." could have gone a bit further but given it's target audience (teenagers) it still went to places most Aussie teen flics avoid.

"The Loved Ones" was more full-on than I expected. It's a horror film that actually goes all the way. It doesn't pull it's punches. And by the end of it you are quite exhausted, and feel like you've really been on a harrowing journey. The script is taught and well-structured, simple and compelling. The performances are all excellent, and the cinematography and direction terrific. The music is also outstanding. I really didn't think I would like the film as much as I did, since I am not a huge horror fan, but I recognize a well-made film when I see it.

Both these film give me hope for the Aussie film industry. Especially as "Tomorrow..." did so well in the cinemas, and "Loved Ones" was financed by Screen Australia and Film Vic.

Congrats to all involved in both films. Keep it up.

Part 1-

Part 2 -

First impressions of the show - lots of 3D. Both JVC and Sony were showing off very small professional quality 3D cameras. Small as in the-palm-of-your-hand small. JVC also had some impressive new 3D monitors, and a box that would convert 2D images into 3D on the fly. They were spruiking it more as a post-production tool where you could adjust the stereoscopic settings suitable for each scene or shot - but even just on a default setting converting The Fifth Element in real time it looked pretty impressive. Don't know how it would hold up on long-term viewing but I can imagine a possible consumer product there as a 3D conversion set-top box.

The two new top of the range cameras that most impressed were the Arri Alexa, and the prototype for the new Sony 8K digital camera - the F65 CineAlta. Both sport a simplified menu interface and button controls, solving the one of the biggest bugbears of DOPs that the camera are just getting too complicated. A DOP wants to shoot not mess with menus. 

The Lemac stand was very busy showing off the range of gear they have to offer - including the Red Epic, a Canon 5D with all attachments and peripheral looking like some digital Frankenstein monster; and the new Steadicam Tango - a jib arm that you wear with a vest which opens up a whole new range of fluid shots in awkward places. Intended for lightweight HD cameras around 3Kg. Wait till you see the video demo of that one!

Had a look at the new Newtek Tricaster, $49k for the full system, but this is a compelte production   studio in a box for 8 camera recording and streaming. This is the system that the new TWiT studios are going to use and it would be great is film schools started teaching this process - IP-TV - as this is where the future of broadcasting is.

On the lighter side we ran into a fellow showing off some old tech from his personal collection. Great stuff - Laser discs, old reel-to-reel VTRs, a microbee. Ahh the memories.... 

1. Thou shalt not bore
   Keep the story moving. End every scene with a mini-cliffhanger that always has the reader (audience) asking – ‘what happens next’. Something that drives the action forward into the next scene. Even if the final film suffers from poor production values, bad acting, bad sound design, and so on, at least – thanks to the script - it isn’t boring.
   
   
2. Know thy Genre
   Every story has a genre. There are genre’s and sub-genre’s. There are stories that mix genres (generally not more than 2 at a time). In fact most stories are a genre mix. There are 'Genre' films (Horror, Sci-fi, Thriller, Crime...); but every film will fit a genre or mix of genres. Know the genre you are writing in. Know what has been done before in that genre. Know the clichés and conventions so you can either avoid them, or turn them to your advantage.
   
   
3. Thou shalt avoid redundancy
   Don’t have characters or a Narrator telling us what we’re seeing, or talking about something we’ve already seen. Don’t have characters repeating themselves (unless it is some kind of character trait). Don’t have a character tell another what we the audience already know. In fact I would take this further and say you should avoid characters saying anything that the audience might anticipate. If we can guess what they are about to say – don’t say it. Rather, have them skip to the line after the obvious response, or say something totally unexpected (while keeping in character of course). This hooks back into Commandment #1.
   
   
4. Thou shalt handle exposition gracefully
   Most stories require some exposition at some point. This is where you have to convey information to the audience so they can understand what’s going on. It is often difficult to get this information across without it sounding like a lecture, or a character spouting it for no other reason than that we the audience need to know. Avoid having a character tell another what they both already know. Try to integrate expositional dialogue in a character or story moment. Make it do something else, aside from convey information. Arguments are often a good way to get exposition across without the audience realising. If at all possible, do it visually.
   
   
5. Thou shalt recognize that film is a visual medium – write visually.
   Show it, don’t say it. There are exceptions of course with stories that rely on witty or poetical dialogue, often based on stage plays. No-one tells Tarantino or Kevin Smith to be less wordy, that's their thing. But the more you can show visually without characters telling us what is going on, the better. This extends to removing dialogue that is simply not necessary when a well acted close-up can say just as much – if not more.
   
   Some of you may be thinking about Shakespeare right now. The best Shakespeare films are those that are not afraid to cut dialogue (however wonderful it may be) in favour of presenting the same information visually. A lot of Shakespeare’s dialogue is there because he had to work within the limitations of the stage. You don’t.
   
   
6. Thou shalt not direct 
   Do not pepper your script with camera angles, or references to Wide Shots, Close-up, Slow Motion, Tracking shot, or other technical guides which are the domain of the Director. Instead, indicate how you imagine a shot to look in how you describe it. Give the reader a clear mental picture of the action, rather than a technical description of how you think it should be filmed. Technical descriptions like this only detract from the read and offend potential directors.
   
   There are exceptions of course, and if a moment demands that you explain a shot to convey the proper mental image then do so – but do it no more than once or twice in a script. 
   
   This applies even if you intend to direct the script. For now you are not the director; you are the writer. And you are not the only person who is going to read this script.
   
   
7. Thou shalt keep thy paragraphs small
   Large blocks of text look daunting. A long dialogue speech in a screenplay is unusual and usually not recommended (see 5 above). Try to have paragraphs of action describe what can be visualised as a single shot in the film. It should be broken up into bite-sized chunks of one or two sentences. It can even be one word. And it is acceptable these days to use Italics and CAPITALS and EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!! To get a point across sometimes.
   
   
8. Keep it Simple Stupid
   In most cases the dialogue characters speak should be simple and uncomplicated. No big, clever words; and avoid qualifiers (adjectives and adverbs) whenever possible. Apply the KISS principle always. The same is true for action paragraphs and stage directions. Avoid flowery descriptions; just get to the point. Also use active rather than passive language. ‘He opens the coffin’, is stronger than ‘He begins to lift the lid on the coffin.” 
   
   There are exceptions here too, depending on the style you want to evoke for the film or a particular character’s vocabulary. Some writers are renowned for their colourful and verbose descriptions, which can add to the fun of reading the script and help give a sense of the intended style through the words. As well as colourful, unusual dialogue. As long as it is true to the characters and situation this is a good thing. But most of the time short and sweet is the best approach. The same is true of whole scenes – usually keep them short and to the point. No more than 2 pages as a rule (some writers of course [Like Aaron Sorkin] break this 2-page rule regularly, but they know what they are doing. Be sure you do too before you write a ten-page dialogue scene). 
   
   
9. Story is king (or Thou shalt kill thy babies when necessary) 
   This refers to deleting lines, or whole scenes, if you find they are not serving the story or the character – despite them being the best thing you’ve ever written. A joke or line, or scene, or entire sequence may be brilliant in itself, but if it isn’t serving the story – cut it. If you can remove it, and it doesn’t affect the story adversely – then it doesn’t belong there.
   
   
10. Though shalt use the proper format
    A good story, well told, will always win out regardless of how it has been written down. Nevertheless the correct formatting and presentation gives a good first impression to the reader, and indicates that you are a writer who knows at least how to present a screenplay. It also makes it easier to read for experienced readers, for whom the familiar formatting becomes invisible.

I feel a writer also has a responsibility to use correct english. To phrase things appropriately, to spell correctly, and to avoid meaningless phrases like “in the fullness of time” or “If I’ve told you once I’ve told you a hundred times” (who actually ever says this?).  This is balanced with the need to have characters talk in a way that is real to them – even if it is grammatically wrong; and have action paragraphs break the rules sometimes for a desired effect. All I ask, Is that you know what good English looks like – even if your characters don’t.