Answers the ALOTO practice film test

1. Answers the ALOTO practice film test Your answers will not be exactly like the ones on this slide – use your own judgement!

2. Question one • Shot: Close up • Effect: allows viewers to focus on Kit’s upset face and her fear of going up against her sister / pitching against her sister • A = Shot • M = Shot and effect

3. Question two • Shot: Either Long shot OR point of view shot (from Dottie’s perspective) • Effect: Allows viewers to see how upset Kit feels from her failure facing Dottie because of how she’s surrounded by her team who are watching the game while she’s crying by herself OR allows us to see what Dottie sees and how she is focusing on her sister and how upset she is – we know Dottie does care about her sister. • A = Shot • M = Shot and effect

4. Question three • Shot: Mid Shot • Effect: It shows the character’s body language in the background, in this case, it shows Dottie’s shock or surprise at Kit’s hit, as well as the suspense felt by the crowd in the background, who are all standing in shock, waiting to see what happens. • A = Shot • M = Shot and effect

5. Question four • A = must mention how either diegetic or non-diegetic sound changes and have some appreciation of mood/atmosphere • M = must give specific examples of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound, how the sound changes, and some appreciation of mood/tension. • E = must give specific examples of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound, how the sound changes, and how they create mood/tension both BEFORE and AFTER Kit hits the ball

6. Question four (cont.) • Diegetic sounds include: the sound of the crowd clapping and cheering (this fades in and out to allow the exchange between Dottie and the pitcher to be heard), whistling, the commentator announces every strike • How it changes: crowd gets louder, we hear the sound of the ball connecting with the bat, the commentator’s voice gets louder and more urgent (he talks quite a lot)

7. Question four (cont.) • Non-diegetic sounds include: the music (slow horns playing low notes with strings playing runs of high descending notes over them, cymbals rolling and drums playing in time with the horns, a lone trumpet playing over the top, strings sustaining one long note). • How it changes: music becomes louder and the horns play all together and at quite a high and faster pitch, the music slows down and gets lower as Kit and Dottie collide

8. Question four (cont.) • Mock answers: • A = The music changes from being quite low to being played quite high when Kit hits the ball. It shows the excitement of the atmosphere when she hits the ball all the way to the edge of the field. • M = As Kit is striking out, there isn’t that much diegetic sound – the sounds of the crowd fade in and out as they clap and cheer. When she hits the ball, the sound of the crowd gets louder and we hear the ball connect with the bat. (cont. on other slide)

9. The non-diegetic sound changes from horns playing low notes in time with drums to louder and faster music, with the horns playing at a higher pitch when Kit hits the ball. This shows the tense atmosphere before the hit, because the way the diegetic sound fades out to let the low music sound creates a suspenseful feeling and we don’t know if Kit will hit the ball. Answer for E on next slide

10. E = As for Merit, plus a clear explanation of how diegetic and non-diegetic sound create mood/atmosphere both before and after the change, ie: • Before Kit hits the ball, the atmosphere is tense because the sounds of the crowd is a bit faded and the commentator only speaks to announce the strikes, suggesting that both the crowd and the commentator are holding their breaths, waiting to see what till happen. The music is also quite percussive, as if going “dum-dum-dum” after every strike, and the horns tend to play ascending notes, like they are leading up to something. [CONT OVER PAGE]

11. When Kit hits the ball, the mood changes to one of excitement and triumph. The horns play louder and faster, the excitement of the crowd as they wait to see if Kit will get a home run. The crowd get louder as well, also showing this excitement.

12. Question five • A = names the effect (Slow-motion/slow-mo) • M = names the effect and gives some appreciation of tension (ie. The slow-motion draws out the time it takes Kit to run and makes it exciting for the audience.) • E = Same as Merit, plus gives a detailed explanation of the development of tension, mentioning the show-down between the sisters. (ie. Not only could Kit’s run win the game, but the sisters have been in competition for most of the movie. Using slow-mo draws out this competition further and puts us at the edge of our seats because we’re not sure if Kit is going to win or if Dottie is going to come out on top. The slow-motion mirrors the tension that both women must feel.)

13. Question 6 • Shot – mid shot/medium shot • Effect – allows us to see Kit’s body straining as she runs and also the determination on her face as she prepares to run into her sister. • A = shot • M = shot and effect

14. Question 7 • Shot = close up • Effect = we see the expression on Dottie’s face – she looks almost scared of Kit’s determination but also fairly determined to stop her. • A = shot • M = shot and effect

15. Question 8 • Shot = Close up • Angle = High angle (more of a bird’s eye view though) • Effect = we see the ball fall from Dottie’s hand. Emphasises the significance of dropping the ball – this means that Kit has beaten her sister and that the Peaches have lost the final. • A = shot • M = shot and effect

16. Question 9 • Shot = two shot • Effect = allows us to see the contrasting feelings of two characters. In this case, Dottie is smiling a little which shows she is proud of her sister’s achievement, but Jimmy looks quite upset, which shows how seriously he had started taking woman’s baseball. • A = shot • M = shot and effect

17. Want a final score? • E = 1E + 4Ms + 2As • M = 5Ms + 2As • A = 7As • Add them up (note: if a student gets 4Ms and 3As, they still only get an Achieved!) • Give them a score and write an encouraging comment on their paper. Return with a smile!