Social story | GDFL1 workshops

ACMI is a museum - a museum all about movies, TV shows, and videogames.

ACMI is in Melbourne, in Federation Square. ACMI has two entrances, with big ACMI signs at both.

This is the Flinders Street entrance.

This is the Federation Square entrance

If I come to ACMI by bus, I'll be dropped off around the corner from ACMI with my classmates and teachers.

If I am coming by train I will get off at Flinders Street Station with my classmates and teachers. It is across the road from Federation Square and ACMI.

If I'm coming by tram with my classmates and teachers, there are a number of tram stops really close to ACMI as well.

My teachers will know the plan and which entrance to go to to start our day at ACMI.

A staff member from ACMI will meet us outside, and then bring me and my classmates into the building.

If I require wheelchair access, the best entrance is the Flinders Street entrance as it has a ramp. The Flinders Street entrance will bring me into the Ground level of ACMI.

Inside ACMI, there are two lifts to get from Ground Level to Level 1, as well as a lift that goes to Ground Level, to Level 1 and Level 2.

ACMI's exhibition, galleries and workshop spaces are wheelchair friendly.

There are large stairs connecting Ground Level and Level 1.

There are also stairs connecting Level 1 with Level 2.

There are toilets on the Ground Level and Level 1, including accessible toilets.

There will be times when me and my classmates may need to stop and wait as we move around ACMI.

Often there will be places to sit whilst I wait, but visitors can't sit on the floor, and I should not block hallways and pathways.

At ACMI, I'll be doing a workshop, which means I am going to make something - it could be a movie, it could be an animation, it could be something else entirely!

ACMI Teachers will meet us outside the Federation Square entrance and bring me and my class inside past the ticket desk.

Once inside, we will stop at some comfy couches where I can leave my bag safely whilst I use the bathroom if I need.

The bathrooms are very close, and there is an accessible bathroom nearby.

Whilst I wait for everyone to come back from the bathroom, I can look at all the cool, funny, and silly things in these cabinets called 'Curios'.

My workshop will be in a special workshop spaces very close to the red couches. The workshop space is called Gandel Digital Future Lab 1.

This space has lots of seating, and a big screen to watch things on, and we might be lucky enough to use the green screen.

There will be two ACMI Teachers who will work with me, my classmates, and my teachers.

We might even get to dress up in our costumes! My teachers can help me with costumes if I need help.

The ACMI teachers and my teachers will tell me more about this space once our workshop has started.

After the workshop introduction, there will be time for a snack. We will exit the workshop space and either snack on the red couches we stopped at when we used the toilets, or go outside into Federation Square if the weather is nice.

After our snack, I'll put my bag in a cupboard with my classmates. The ACMI Teachers will show us where and can help.

Before lunchtime, I will work with my classmates in the workshop, and we will also visit a special exhibition called The Story of the Moving Image.

When we go down to Ground Level to visit the exhibition, our bags will stay in the cupboards on Level 1. An ACMI Teacher will brings us down the stairs and introduce us to another ACMI staff member at the bottom of the stairs inside the foyer.

This is what the foyer looks like.

Then, we will stop here, and the ACMI staff member will tell us more about the exhibition which is called The Story of the Moving Image.

The ACMI staff member will talk to us about how to be safe in the exhibition, and remind me to enjoy myself!

ACMI staff will also give me a special object called The Lens. I can use this inside the museum, and take it home or back to school with me.

It's mine to keep!

Here is an ACMI staff member holding a Lens.

We will go into the exhibition in smaller groups with my teachers and any other adults that might be helping.

Someone from ACMI will show me how to use my Lens as I go inside through the entrance.

Some sections of the museum have lower light levels to help me see the things that are lit up.

Other areas are brightly lit so I can see everything clearly.

Some displays have headphones I can use to listen to audio content, while others have their sound playing in the space.

I can't climb or step on any platforms inside the exhibition.

I will see a 'No Touching' sign on artworks and precious objects as well.

Once inside, in the first part, there are lots of things to play with, and lots of things to watch as well.

I can try an interactive experience that lets me animate shadows.

I can play with optical illusion toys.

There is something called the Zoetrope.

It is fun to look at, but it also has fast strobing/flashing lights.

There is a warning sign outside the room.

One of people's favourite things is to make a digital flipbook, which I can save on my Lens.

In the next part, I will see lots of old movie cameras and miniature living rooms that have been built inside old televisions.

There is a Games Lab which has lots of old and new video games, there’s even arcade machine games to play! These can be noisy.

The Games Lab is in the middle of the gallery and is very popular. If it is busy, I may have to wait to play a game.

Near the end, there’s a room with comfy seats and touch screens.

This is the Constellation area where I can use my Lens to explore what I have collected in the exhibition.

There’s one last space I can visit before we exit, but it often changes - so I can see what's in there when I visit.

When we exit, we will come out near the big stairs where the ACMI staff member spoke to us about the museum when we started.

From there, my teachers will take us back upstairs to either collect our bags from the cupboard and go to lunch, or wait outside the workshop space for an ACMI Teacher to collect us so we can go back into the workshop.

If the weather is nice, me and my classmates will eat outside in Federation Square, just outside of ACMI.

I will be mindful of seagulls - they won't hurt me, but they will be very interested in my food.

I won't feed them.

If the weather is not nice, the ACMI Teacher will talk to my teacher about a good place that's undercover and close by where we can eat instead.

After lunch, me and my classmates will go back inside ACMI to our workshop space with our bags, and watch what I've made with my classmates on the big screen.

After I've watched this, it will be time to go!

I can say goodbye and thank you to the ACMI teachers before I leave.