NEOMAD (ATOM Study Guide)

NEOMAD aims to bring attention to the rich Indigenous cultural resources of the Pilbara in Western Australia, equally as rich as the vast mineral resources of the area. As part of the Yijala Yala Project, a group of thirty young people from Ieramugadu (Roebourne) in the Pilbara have been collaborating with Sutu, creator of the multi-award-winning NAWLZ interactive comic series. This has seen them applying a complex colouring system to more than 200 scenes for three months to create each episode of NEOMAD Over the past two years these young people have been developing their digital media skills by using Photoshop and graphic tablets donated by Wacom, initially creating animations for an online game featuring the Love Punks, a group of tech-savvy adventurers intent on bringing positive change. Play the game at http://www.lovepunks.com.

While NEOMAD is a fictional fantasy, it is based on real people, places and stories that connect them to their country.

NEOMAD is made up of three comic book episodes and some related live-action videos. These are all also incorporated into an interactive version designed for tablets, containing animated comic book pages, sound effects, music and spoken dialogue. A feature of the dialogue is that it has been recorded and spoken by the actor-participants who play the roles both on the page and in the videos. Where Indigenous language is used by the characters, readers may tap the comic pages' dialogue bubbles and the words will appear in English translation.

Synopsis:
NEOMAD follows the story of the Love Punks, fourteen young, techno-savvy heroes who speed through a digitised desert full of spy bots, magic crystals and fallen rocket boosters branded with a mysterious petroglyph. They learn more about their culture from the Murujuga Rangers and adults in their community. When a gigantic tourist shuttle heads towards a sacred constellation, with the help of the Satellite Sisters they save the world from intergalactic catastrophe!

Curriculum links:
This study guide is aimed at upper secondary school levels, with broad relevance to English, Media and Film Studies, Art, Indigenous Studies, Humanities, History, Cultural Studies, Environmental Studies, IT, Psychology, and Ethics and Philosophy, as well as library skills and to cross-discipline areas of personal and interpersonal development. Note that there are many topic links between curriculum areas (e.g. comic strip art and computer graphics).