Reading in the dark

1. Reading in the dark Using Film as a Tool in the English Classroom

2. It’s movie day! • Take out a sheet of paper and write down a book that was made into a movie. Keep that with you for a short activity during intermission ….

3. Directors are poets too! • Like a writer or poet the filmmaker uses various devices and techniques for desired effect. • One decision a director (like a writer) has to make is how the object will be positioned within the shot and the how it will be framed.

4. Nihal’s giveaway • Surprise! You all get Cameras!

5. Camera Angles • Roll up your piece of paper and use it as a camera “lens” • Long Shot: You see entire body of person, or skyline (used to establish scene) • Close up Shot: Fills 80% of scene with object – i.e. cheek with tear drop, person holding object. Intimate and person, also used to ‘reveal’ • Medium shot: from waist up, common in real life. “neutral shot”. Lacks detail. Reality TV…

6. Lighting • Low-key Lighting: (turn off all lights) with just projector lighting…see shadows? Darkness? Used in Horror films… • High-Key Lighting: (lights on) no shadows! Used in comedies, musicals, romantic comedies, characters are seen with no threat or misunderstanding. • Bottom/lighting: (with flashlight turned up on someone’s face) used to make someone appear evil, hiding something, morally ambigious.

7. sound • Often overlooked (no pun intended) it is equally important as visuals. Violin can make us sad and a gun shot can make us jump. Diegetic Sound: Any sound that can logically be heard by a character within movie. If character speaks or dog growls. Nondiegeticsound: Think of being a character in the movie Jaws. “Duh duhn – duh- duhn”… you wouldn’t get out of water when audience hears the sound. Right? Only for audience. Internal Diegetic Sound: Character is talking to himself. Director like a writer – wants to give information to audience (Forest Gump Narration).

8. Editing • It all boils down to what the director decides to put into his or her frame or soundtrack. Common type of edit is called “cut” (editing two shots together with no transition). Watch PowerPoint for Example • The Fade: image on screen slowly fades away and the screen becomes black. • The Dissolve: The image begins to fade out, but instead of to black it dissolves into a new image. The Crosscut: a quick cut from a quiet town to a shot of missiles screaming across sky. The audience knows the missile is headed towards town.

9. Putting it Together • Apocolypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979): • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLRmVMVP7NQ • 1 - If the director’s aim was to create a sense of confusion and/or displacement, what elements of the scene helped him achieve this? • 2 – Trace the sounds throughout this scene. Try to classify them as diegetic, internal, diegetic, or nondiagetic. Have a reason for your response. When does there seem to be more than one sound? What is the effect? • 3 – How did the lighting and framing choices affect the scene?

10. Film & English Comp • Film and Literature are not enemies. They should work together because they share so many common elements. • Film makes leap from text to analysis easier. • Examples of films included with lesson plans in book: • Citizen Kane (1941), Ghost (1990), Titanic (1997), Crooklyn (1994), Life is Beautiful (1998), Rocky (1976), Elizabeth (1998), The Lion King (1994).

11. Now grab some popcorn! • Thanks for watching….