MOVIE CRITIC

1. Unit overview 2. Activities 3. Supplemental Activities 4. Integrated Literacy and Other Academic Skills 5. References 6. Resources

Movie Vocabulary What’s In a Production Studio! Thinking About Camera Angles Camera Movement Making a Movie Sound Track Storyboard Movie Critique Outline Checklist for the Movie Festival

MOVIE CRITIC

Objectives: To be able to understand the elements of a movie production in order to increase the

participant’s appreciation and critical assessment of film. To learn different techniques involving movie making To be able to critically write a movie review To be able to select appropriate movies for a specific audience and provide rational for that

selection. To reinforce writing and reading skills Specific Reading Activities:

Reading books and handouts about various concepts related to movie making including books and website material about props, special effects, movie reviews

Reading movie reviews Reading technical information related to movies

Specific Writing Activities:

Writing a prewrite about movies or completing a KWL about movie making Writing reflections about various subjects throughout the unit Writing the interview questions or prewrite for a field trip Developing a Pre-production package for a movie Writing a movie review Preparing all the support material including writing flyers and letters for the movie

festival Writing a Thank you letter to guest speakers

Culminating Event: Sponsoring a film festival for the after school program or an elementary school program Note: 1. Having the festival at an elementary school makes the selection of movies easier because the

participants know that the audience is younger than them and therefore there will be potentially less argument about choosing inappropriate movies.

ACTIVITIES (Although the Film Festival Activity is described last in this unit, it should be started early on in the process, since it requires time to organize it. Planning for the festival should be an integral part of all the sessions.)

Prep: 1. Bring in books, articles and website lists about movie making, movie critiques,

fan magazines, etc. 2. Screen movies that you think will be appropriate to bring in for the unit.

Provide a list to the participants and let them choose the ones they will critique.

Remember: On the first or second day, hold a meeting with the yearbook committee that volunteered for the unit. Discuss what they might need to take pictures of and what stories they will write for the yearbook. Activity One Unit Introduction 1. Talk about how by the end of the unit they will be putting on a film festival. (The staff will

have to decide whether the festival will be for the middle school program or for an elementary school program.)

2. Complete the first two columns of a KWL Chart asking about what they know about how movies are made and what they know about what makes a good movie and what they would like to learn about movies or write a prewrite in their journals reflecting on the following questions:

What is your favorite movie and why? Why do you go to the movies or watch them on TV? If you could make a movie about anything, what would make it about?

3. Watch a short movie and have them write a review based on what they thought about it and why. Put the responses on a chart. (Save the chart to contrast the sophistication of the responses with the participants’ final critique.) The following videos deal with adolescent themes and are 30 minutes or less.

Dinky Hocker The Electric Grandmother It’s no Crush The Color of Friendship

4. Ask them if they notice the sound effects, the sound track, the characters, the camera angles when they watch movies. Tell them that these are the things that they will be working on during the unit.

5. Play word games with the vocabulary listed on the sheet. You can do these games throughout the unit. Check out the types of games you can play in the tool kit. Note: If you want the participants to practice their decoding skills, have a contest between small groups to see which group can correctly pronounce the words on the list using the “Decoding Summary Sheet” and “Syllabication Rule Summary Sheet.” Make sure each person in the group can pronounce all the words independently before awarding the groups their points. Actor: Someone who has a part or role in a movie

Cast: all of the actors who play a role in the movie Camera Angle: The view held by within the lens of the camera and which is projected

caused by how the camera is positioned for shooting. Critic: a person who expresses opinions about what think is good or bad about a movie Cutting/ Editing: The process of changing from one shot to another accomplished through

the camera or by the splicing of shots together by the editor. director: a person in charge of a movie who tells the actors/staff such as the camera crew what to do

Frame/still: individual images filmed in quick succession, developed, and projected giving the illusion of motion

Location: where the film or specific scene is shot Producer: the person(s) who make the arrangements for the movie production including

getting the money and organizing the process of filmmaking Scene: A part of a movie in which one action happens. The series of scenes makes up the

total movie. Script/Screenplay: A written text of a film that includes the dialogue as well as other

directions Score: The background music throughout a film Shot: Refers to one constant take by the camera, usually filmed at one time with one

camera. Sound Track: The dialogue, music, narration and sound effects. Studio: A place where movies are made or produced.

Activity Two Making Movies 1. Watch the section on a movie DVD that describes how a film is made. Movie reviewers

have recommended the following DVD’s of PG movies that have good descriptions about how the movies were made:

Monsters, Inc. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The Two Towers The Nightmare before Christmas Avatar

2. Discuss what surprised them most about what they saw. 3. Watch the movie. Have the participants write a reflection and then talk about how knowing

how the movie was made affected the enjoyment of the movie itself. Activity Three Tools of the Trade: Equipment needed for making movies

Have a scavenger hunt to find the meanings of the words on the vocabulary list found in the resources.

Activity Four Analyzing camera angles and camera movements 1. Give out the list of camera angles/camera movements and their definition.

2. If you have access to a video camera, have the participants try as many of the angle shots and movements as possible.

3. For other shots, see if you can find examples of clips or find clips to show. 4. Show them the clips that they filmed or discuss the clips that they saw. Have them write a

few minutes about how they think the different types of angles and movements would affect the viewers’ feelings while they watch the movies.

Activity Five Pre-production Packet 1. Inform the participants that they are going to act as producers who are responsible for

planning a film production. 2. Break the group into pairs. Each pair is to produce a pre-production filming packet of a

children’s book. They will make A storyboard that includes camera angle choices A sample sound track Casting and selection of film location (see the “making a movie” worksheet)

3. Each pair should present their storyboard, actors, filming location and selection of angles and sound track and be able to defend their choices. You can add some fun to this part of the activity by having a panel of “producers” who listen to the presentations and select the movie that they will give the money to for production.

The following two activities can be done independently or part of the Pre-production packet development Activity Six Storyboarding

1. Show the storyboarding section from the DVD extra material from Sixth Sense or Antz. Sixth Sense is PG 13 so the movie itself will not be able to be shown in the school but the review indicates that the storyboarding section is excellent.

2. Have the teams complete a storyboard for a children’s book. The directions for storyboarding are included in the resources.

3. (Optional) Have them note on their storyboards the camera angles they think would be effective for each of the scenes.

Activity Seven Sound Effects Have the teams complete a sound effect tape for a children’s book. The directions for developing a sound effect tape is included in the resources Activity Eight Movie Reviews 1. Bring in some reviews of popular movies and have the participants read them and discuss

what the reviews included in their articles. You should bring in different reviews for the same

movie and have the participants compare them. Some popular websites for movie reviews include

a. Rotten Tomatoes: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ b. Reelviews: http://www.reelviews.net/movies.php c. Your local newspapers

2. After watching a movie and using the Critic Form included in the resources, have the participants critique the movie they saw.

Have them individually rate the film Talk about their ratings and list terms used on the chart paper

3. Have them write up a critique as if it were going to be published in a newspaper. Activity Nine Elementary After-School Film Festival 1. Talk about the district/program guidelines on what can be shown in the school. 2. Talk about movies that might be appropriate for the audience. If you having an elementary

festival, they will have to think of movies that k-3rd graders would like, 4th through 5th graders or maybe one movie per grade level.

3. Invite the coordinator or teacher of the elementary school program to talk about what is possible and what is not possible.

4. Have the participants brainstorm how they want to organize the festival and prepare questions for the program coordinator to see what is feasible and permissible. For example,

1. How many movies could be shown, 2. Whether popcorn can be served, 3. What would be the best day for the festival, etc 4. What kind of publicity needs to be developed, 5. How the participants will introduce the movies to the audience?

5. Provide the participants with the checklist for the festival planning and implementation, and

add the other assignments that were generated by the brainstorm activity. 6. Use the activity planning sheet to make assignments and spend a few minutes of each session

checking in with the group on how things are progressing. 7. Final selection of movies: The final selection of movies for the movie festival should be

made by the group and approved by the leader. The participants should be able to justify their choice using terms that they have learned in the critiquing process.

8. Develop flyers to advertise their movies. These flyers should include the name of the movie, the stars, and a review of the movie. Remind them that the review has to make sense to the age of the audience that will be watching the movie. Talk about how they should design the flyer to attract a first grader and what words would they understand.

9. Distribute or post the flyers at the elementary school. 10. Put on the film festival. Activity Ten Reflection time 1. Participants will gather together and do an evaluation of the club. (What went right and

what they would do differently next time?)

2. Participants will decide what they will put in their “time capsule” from this club. i.e. , materials, (one of the special effects projects, ticket stub,) and quietly place them in the capsule and close it.

3. Have the yearbook committee in charge of this club discuss what pictures and stories that had gathered for the yearbook.

SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITIES

1. Visit a movie theater and get a tour of the projection rooms and talk to the manager about

how movies are ordered, marketed etc. 2. Go to a video production studio or to a TV or college studio. Have them check off the

equipment and write a short description about what they saw at the studio on the checklist provided in the resources.

3. Invite a professional or amateur filmmaker to come in and talk about their process. Many high school and community colleges have media classes that include filmmaking that can be a source for guest speakers.

INTEGRATED LITERACY SKILLS Reading Vocabulary and Concept development Reading Comprehension Identify the structural features of popular media and use the features to obtain information. Writing Strategies Organization and Focus

Choose the form of writing (e.g., personal letter, letter to the editor, review, poem, report, narrative) that best suits the intended purpose

Create multiple-paragraph expository compositions Research and Technology Use organizational features of electronic text Identify topics; ask and evaluate questions; and develop ideas leading to inquiry,

investigation, and research. Writing Applications Evaluation Revise writing to improve organization and word choice after checking the logic of the ideas

and the precision of the vocabulary. The same skills required in critical reading are also required in critical watching of movies. Therefore many of the skills required in the standards related to Literary response and analysis, Literacy Criticism and Writing Responses to Literature are reinforced in this unit Narrative Analysis Analyze the influence of setting on the problem and its resolution Identify events that advance the plot and determine how each event explains past or present

actions or foreshadows future action. Literacy Criticism Analyze a range of responses to a literary work and determine the extent to which the literary

elements in the work shaped those responses. Critique the credibility of characterization and the degree to which a plot is contrived or

realistic. Writing responses to literature Developing interpretations exhibiting careful reading, understanding and insight. Organizing interpretations around several clear ideas, premises, or images from the literary

work. Justifying interpretations through sustained use of examples and textual evidence.

REFERENCES

Videos: The Sixth Sense: Moving Pictures: The Storyboard Process: An interview with M. Night

discussing why he needed to carefully storyboard the movie before he shot it. Antz: A special feature on the DVD illustrates how the movie producers started from the

basic storyboarding of the film all the way to the finished product. Possible Children’s Books for Production Planning Activities

1. Georgia Guback, Luka’s Quilt. Greenwillow, 1994. 2. Juan Felipe Herrera, Grandma and Me at the Flea. Children’s Books Press, 2002. 3. Amy Hest, Jamaica Louise Jones. Candlewick Press, 1997. 4. Patricia Polacco, My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother. Aladdin Library, 1998. 5. Arnold Lobel, Frog and Toad are Friends. Harpercollins, 1970. 6. David Shannon, Bad Case of Stripes. Scholastic Paperbacks, 1998. 7. Vera Williams, A Chair for my Mother. Scott Foresman, 1984. 8. Bill Cosby, The Meanest Thing to Say. Cartwheel Books, 1997. 9. Juanita Havill, Jamaica's Find. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1987. 10. Loretta Lopez, The Birthday Swap. Lee and Low Books, 1999. 11. Charlotte Pomerantz, The Outside Dog. Bt Bound, 1999. 12. Peggy Rathmann, Ruby the Copycat. Scholastic Paperbacks, 1997. 13. Cynthia Rylant, The Relatives Came. Pearson Learning, 1993. 14. Vera Williams, A Chair for my Mother. Scott Foresman, 1984. 15. Lloyd Alexander, The Fortune-Tellers. Puffin, 1997. 16. Jerdine Nolen, Raising Dragons. Silver Whistle, 1998. 17. David Shannon, Bad Case of Stripes. Scholastic Paperbacks, 1998. 18. Gary Soto, Chato’s Kitchen. Paper Star, 1997. 19. Colin Thompson, How to Live Forever. Knopf, 1996. 20. David Wisniewski, Golem. Clarion Books, 1996. 21. Robert Burleigh, Hoops. Harcourt Inc., 2001. 22. Eleanor Coerr, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Puffin, 1999. 23. Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are. HarperCollins Publishers, 1963.

Other References: Lisa O'Brien and Stephen Maceachern. Lights, Camera, Action!: Making Movies and TV

from the Inside Out Maple Tree Press, 1998. American Film Institute website: Many articles and other information that can be

downloaded. http://www.afi.edu/students/student_res.asp

Reproducible

MOVIE VOCABULARY

1. Actor: 2. Cast: 3. Camera Angle: 4. Critic: 5. Cutting/ Editing: 6. Frame/still: 7. Location: 8. Producer: 9. Scene: 10. Script/Screenplay: 11. Score: 12. Shot 13. Sound Track: 14. Studio:

Reproducible

WHAT’S IN A PRODUCTION STUDIO!

1. Sound Stage:

2. Wardrobe area:

3. On-air light and Silent Door Bell

4. Lights:

5. Apple Boxes:

6. Grip Kit

7. Jimmy Jib Camera Crane

8. Doorway Dolly & Track

9. Backdrop

10. Flats

Reproducible

THINKING ABOUT CAMERA ANGLES

High Angle: pointing the camera down to show an object from an extreme angle, higher than eye level, making the object appear smaller. What effect would this angle have on the viewer?

Low Angle: pointing the camera upwards to show an object from an extreme angle lower

than eye level, making the object appear larger. What effect would this angle have on the viewer?

Panorama: showing something in an extreme long shot and moving the camera across the

scene to show a wide expanse. What effect would this angle have on the viewer? Time lapse: showing something change by taking brief shots of it over a long period of time.

What effect would this angle have on the viewer? Close-up montage: showing a sequence of short shots, with each shot showing a detail of

something at close range. What effect would this angle have on the viewer? Aerial shot: showing something in bird's-eye perspective usually shot from an airplane or

helicopter. What effect would this angle have on the viewer? Rack focus: focusing on something in the foreground and then changing focus to blur the

foreground object and sharpen focus on the background objects. What effect would this angle have on the viewer?

Reproducible

Camera Movement

Pan - A shot taken moving on a horizontal plane (from left to right, right to). If you want to show a plane flying across the sky, you might use this shot to follow the plane from one mountain top to another. What effect would this movement have on the viewer? Tilt - Camera movement in a vertical plane (up or down). If you want to show a tree but can't get it all in your shot, you might start at the bottom of the tree and go up to the top. What effect would this movement have on the viewer? Zoom - This shot moves you closer to the subject, into a Medium Shot or Close Shot. If you are looking at people walking down the street, and you want to see an individual standing in front of a store, you might zoom in. What effect would this movement have on the viewer? Reverse Zoom - This shot moves you farther away into a Medium Shot or a Wide Shot. If you have a close up shot of a page in a book, and want to see the entire table that it is lying on, you reverse zoom. What effect would this movement have on the viewer?

Reproducible

MAKING A MOVIE

Imagine that you are a producer. Your job is to plan a film version of the book that you have just read. Follow these steps:

1. What name will you give the movie? ____________________ 2. Who will you cast in the roles of the main characters?

Main character Actors Reason for selection

1. __________ __________ __________

2. __________ __________ __________

3. __________ _________ __________

4. __________ _________ __________ 3. Where would you film your movie? List some places where you would film the different scenes? Scene Location Reason for selection

1. _________ __________ __________

2. __________ __________ __________ 4. Mood and Atmosphere: List some sound effects, music for the background

of the movie.

Scene Sound/Music Reason for selection 1. __________ __________ __________ 2. __________ __________ __________ 3. __________ __________ __________ 4. __________ __________ __________

Producers’ Names: _____________________________

Reproducible

SOUND TRACK

Supplies

tape recorder and cassette tape paper, a pencil Different objects that make noise

Bottles with different amounts of water in them, Rubber bands, Old shoes, Empty boxes, A cookie sheet, Plastic grocery bags, A fast-food drink cup with a lid and straw

Music DVD’s or tapes that you think will match the mood that you are trying to build in your movie

Directions:

1. Read the book that you are producing as a movie. List all the sound effects and background music you think would help build the mood of the picture.

2. Make a detailed list of all the sounds you want to create and how you might create them, and in the order that you will make them. Collect any additional noisemakers you will need or music that you will need.

3. Read the book and make the sounds, adding music and dialogue at the moments they should occur. Rehearse until your timing is just right.

4. Make a tape of your soundtrack.

Reproducible

STORYBOARD

Supplies

Picture books or short stories White 8 x 15 construction paper Markers or crayons

Directions: 1. Read a story that includes a series of events. 2. Decide on the major events that you would include in the movie. Make sure you

include what happened first and how the story ended. 3. Fold a piece of construction paper into 8th‘s by folding the paper in half, and

then in half again, and then in half again. 4. Number each of the boxes made by the folds. 5. Draw a separate picture for each of the major events, putting the pictures in

order as they would appear in the film. 6. Retell the story using their pictures.

Reproducible

MOVIE CRITIQUE OUTLINE Title of film: ________________________________________________ Main Characters and Actors: ___________________________________ Director: __________________________________________________ Type of motion picture (Comedy, Drama, Action, Animation, Other) ________________ How do you think the following elements of the movie worked in the movie?

The story: ___________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

The location: (Where the movie was shot?) ________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

The sound effects including the music: ____________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

The acting: ___________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

The camera angles, lighting and editing: ___________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Write a question to the filmmaker that is left unanswered by the motion picture. If you were to make a film on a similar subject or story, what would you do differently? What would you do the same? Other thoughts about the movie:

Reproducible

CHECKLIST FOR THE MOVIE FESTIVAL

Talked over the plans with the program coordinator

Selected the appropriate movies and got approval from the coordinator Developed the flyers for the movies that include

The name of the movie The main actors A short description and review

Delivered or posted flyers Prepared for any refreshments Assigned jobs for the festival Made sure that there were enough video machines and television at the site Other tasks: ____________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Day before the festival: Have the videos Have the refreshments Have the necessary equipment ready Have the assignments clear for who is going to be in charge of which

movie Other: ____________________________ ________________________________ __________________________________

Reproducible

ACTIVITY PLANNING SHEET

Activity ___________________________________________________

Duty Supplies Needed

Who’s Duty

Date to Complete

Update Check in /Report