TWO DAY WORKSHOP ON FILM APPRECIATION
for
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES
module
14-15, December 2010
17-18, February 2010
module developed by
k.m. unnikrishnan
diet kasaragod
Introduction
Every generation has developed its own tools for its survival in the areas of production, distribution and consumption. In tune with the development of tools in these areas, educating the young mind also necessitated changes in the tools. The great, constant renovation and development of various knowledge and economy and need for talents of high quality and high skills called for educational reforms, which runs through the ELT too.
Objectives of the workshop
To ensure that teachers teaching English
Understand that each person interprets and reacts emotionally and intellectually to films in different ways.
Analyze how the film did or did not have personal relevance, citing specific examples from the film based on the holistic experience of the viewer.
Recognize how visuals communicate and construct meanings.
Explain what is meant by frame, shot, scene and sequences and how they are used to construct and convey meaning.
Read and interpret visual texts by developing the basic concepts and language of visual images
Identify basic story elements found in all film narratives, including character, setting, conflict, rising action, conflict resolution, and theme.
Explain the differences between literary expressions and films.
Identify the role of sound elements in constructing meaning in films and incorporate necessary sound elements in screenplay.
Introduce the English Language Teachers with the scope of using films as a pedagogic tool in their classroom.
Recognise the potential of films for making the students actively engaged in learning which involves inquiry, exploration, questioning, prediction, application and reflection and creation of ideas or positions.
Processes of the workshop
The workshop look at films as system/s of meaning created through visuals and sounds. The process will be anticipation and prediction of meaning, describing the experience, reacting personally to the theme, plot and feelings through oral, graphic, written and body-kinesthetic modes and analyzing and synthesizing the elements which created the meaning form multiple perspectives. So naturally the process would have pre-viewing, viewing and post-viewing experiences. Following are some of the things that would happen in each stage of experiences when we consider Film as a pedagogical tool in English classrooms.
Pre-Viewing: Activate the students' background knowledge before showing the film and link it with body-kinestheic.
Have a large group or small group discussion of the theme. Ask what they know already. Ask what they'd like to know.
Ask them to predict from the title what they think the film will be about. Will it be a comedy? A drama? A documentary? Ask them to predict the story line.
Introduce students to the general vocabulary: one way of doing this is to assign a reading activity based on the same theme as the film.
Show a scene without the sound. Have students write or discuss possible dialogue.
Draw frames in anticipation
Viewing: Try to give the students a specific task while watching the film (initially only).
Assign individuals or groups to follow the actions of a particular character.
Give students a set of questions about the content: characters, plot, specific bits of dialogue, etc
Revise and expand their predictions (from pre-viewing) as they gain more information.
Post-Viewing: Relate the film to the students' own lives or the world in general.
Oral experiences : (Eliciting) Personal responses on the films on their memories, feelings and situations, Retelling the story, Finding parallels in Mal. Cinema, Finding out a similar situation in life, Compare that character's life/actions/ideals with their own, What happens after the movie is over? Class or small group discussion ideas- How would the movie have been different if certain characters had taken different actions?, Debate the pros and cons of a controversial theme in the movie, What happens after the movie is over?
Written experiences - Listing of events, Writing the story, Listing the character traits, Writing a letter to your friend about the film, Writing dialogues of a scene, Finding out another title, Personal journal, Developing a scene, Developing a thulika chitram, Writing and comparing the story, Remaking the story in the present day, Why I want to write a screen play? Review the film, Choose a character, Compare that character's , life/actions/ideals with their own, What happens after the movie is over?, How would the movie have been different if certain characters had taken different actions?
Graphic experiences- Drawing the images, Developing a poster, Drawing peach orchard, Drawing the peaches coming alive, Drawing a poster for the circus, Drawing landscapes
Body-Kinesthetic experiences- Games, Role play, Dramatisation, Visualisation
Day-1
Course briefing
In 1888, George Eastman devised a still camera which produces photographs in sensitised paper which he sold using the name Kodak. In 1888, Etinne Marey builds up a box type moving picture camera which uses an intermittent mechanism and strips of paper film. In 1888 Thomas Alva Edison, inventor of the electric bulb and the phonograph decides to design machines for making and showing motion pictures. Realising the commercial and business potentials of motion picture, the Lumierre family, who were the biggest manufacturer of photographic plates in Europe, decides to design a camera. Lousi and Auguste design a camera which serves as both a recording device and a projecting device. They call it as Cinematograph. The Cinematograph uses flexible film cut into 35mm wide strips and used an intermittent mechanism modelled on the sewing machine. The camera shot films at 16 frames per second and this became the standard film rate for nearly 25 years. Thus Cinema became an appearance of continuous motion created by motionless images that have been arranged in an appropriate succession.
The Lumierre brothers came to be known as the inventor of moder cinema. They produced a series of one-shot films and exhibited it through out the world. But the inventor of cinema themselves said at alter stages, “Cinema is an invention with out a future” . Facilitator asks, “Do you agree with this statement? Why?” Participants arguments are summed up into the following areas of arguments.
It is an art form in constant relationship with other art forms – theatre, photography, video, dance, music, performing arts, multimedia etc
Cinema is a commodity produced by an industry and circulated by a trade
It is a technological product, constantly changing with change in technology
It is a medium of mass communication
It is a pedagogic tool
Film as a pedagogic tool
To date, people have created many teaching methods for teaching English as second language. With the rapid improvement on learners’ communicative abilities, researchers presently are not satisfied with these devices and begin to study new ways. When the film was invented immediately, film was widely used in many different fields, such as science, literature and foreign teaching. In the western countries, a lot of linguists have paid more attention to the audio-visual method and studied it, which connects sound with pictures. This teaching method was very helpful and useful for beginners to understand language skills and to remember contexts or new and complex patterns and words. Although teachers find the memorization and pattern practice exercises useful for the early stages, they feel a need to build a bridge from those highly structured activities to the freer and more creative use of the language.
It was pointed out: “a potential drawback of the audio-lingual method was its tendency to be dull and uninspiring for both students and teachers. ” Films, with their colors, movement and varying shapes, present new images to the mind and act as a great stimulus to the imagination, as film can show various parts of the world and the changes and development of form. It is this power of films that we intend to capture and transfer to our ELT classrooms.
In addition to this students cultivate new knowledge outside the school, at home or in the community or though the media-visual, print and oral. Experiencing the visual and print media has become a critical factor in the present day life of students, teachers and every one in the community. New knowledge acquired through all these must be respected in the pedagogic process. Moreover the knowledge produced through visual media demands and ensures active engagement of the viewer. If we capture this magical power (of new media like films), will it not be possible to transform teaching and learning more active both for the teacher and for the student?
Moreover the the present day students should be able to decode, understand, evaluate and write through, all forms of media and films and they should be able to read, evaluate and create text, images and sounds, or any combination of these elements. How does the teacher guide the students to acquire tools, concepts, processes and strategies to view, analyse and appreciate films of different genre so as to make them critical viewers? This is a critical issue to be addressed by any a teacher empowerment programme in Kerala.
We are getting more and more concerned with application of pedagogical tools of the present era for helping students to acquire languages. But the challenges we face are,
How to make language acquisition process active so that the students become active participants in the acquisition of the target language as a system?
How to help students build confidence in dealing with the language?
How to adapt films/movies not as objects of entertainment but as a tool for developing an efficient pedagogic model for language acquisition?
How to design classroom procedures on students’ visualising, listening and speaking abilities?
These are the overarching goals of the attempt to use film as a pedagogic tool in ELT but this workshop will focus on developing an early and preliminary glimpses towards film appreciation and using films as pedagogic tools.
1. Film and Meaning
Films are unique, in the sense that multiple things happen simultaneously on the screen, as layers of images and sounds work together, which throw diverse information to us, the viewer. The first time we see a sequence of moving images, we immediately start receiving information and this information compels us to pay attention to what happens. We start creating meaning. We naturally begin to piece the narrative/narratives, using inference and other critical thinking skills based on the information received by us. Thus we could say that we are creating meaning. When this happens, we call this ‘reading’ a film.
So all this reading is primarily based on the information we receive while viewing a film. If we couldn’t gather any information, we can’t make any meaning out of the film and we can’t read it. Which are the channels of information to which we pay attention when we watch a film?
Activity-1: Channels of information
“Think about a film which you have seen recently. Close your eyes. 1,2,34.. Now you are sitting inside a theatre. The film begins. You are viewing the film. The story line started evolving in your mind. You are able to predict what would happen next. A narrative began to build up in your mind. You are now making meaning out of the information received so far. You have started reading the film.”
“Now analyse your experience. Which are the channels of information to which we pay attention when we watch a film?” Facilitator elicits various answers from the participants.
Activity-2: Channels of information - poster and a film clip
Pre - viewing of film (Outubro poster)
Facilitator presents a poster and asks the participants to predict:
Predict from the poster what they think the film will be about.
Will it be a comedy? A drama? A documentary? Why do you think so?
Discuss with your partner on the possible theme of the film. Can you predict the story line.
Can you say the 'where', 'who' and 'when' of this film from the poster?
Eliciting predictions.
Viewing the film (Outubro film)
Facilitator gives the participants the specific task of ascertaining to what extent their predictions have come true while watching the film clip along with the task of identifying various channels of information contained in the film clip. The format will be like this.
| Information about, | The information | From where did you get this information? |
| Where? Where does the story happens? |
|
|
| When? When does the story takes place? |
|
|
| What? What is happening in the story? |
|
|
| Who? About whom does the story deals with? |
|
|
| How do they feel? |
|
|
Facilitator continues the discussion after giving sufficient time to the participants to complete the format in pairs.
How did your predictions come true? To what extent?
How did viewing the film clip affect your earlier prediction (seeing the poster)?
What you think the film will be about?
Will it be a comedy? A drama? A documentary? Why do you think so?
What may be the the possible theme of the film? Can you predict the story line.
Can you say the 'where', 'who' and 'when' of this film now?
What information did you get from viewing the film? How did you get these information?
Which are the channels of the information?
Facilitator develops their answers into concept map consisting these elements.
Images which are photographic, moving and multiple
Graphic traces which we read off the screen
Recorded speech
Recorded music
Recorded noise or sound effects
These channels of information are called ‘raw materials’ of a film. Why do we call them as raw materials of a film? Because we process the information contained in these 'materials' in order to process it for getting the meaning contained in the text, that is film.
Activity-3: Information and meaning
How could a film maker construct different experience or meaning, even if the theme, plot, event and characters are the same?
Facilitator exhibits the ‘Hotel’ scene of Oru Manushyan without any discussion. He/She asks the participants to work in pairs; look for as many images, graphic traces, recorded speech, music and noises and sounds. Let them articulate what they have identified using the channels of information that they had identified earlier.
Discussion questions
How does the film make you realize that this land is far away from ours?
Which are the sounds (types) used in this scene? What information does each convey?
What would happen to your experience if we include western rap music instead of the old Hindi song?
Then what changes in meaning will happen?
If one of these five primary raw materials is significantly altered or deleted, every viewer would have to rethink his/her experience and meaning.
Activity 4: All the five
How does films interweave all the five channels of information? Faci presents the clipping Schindlers' list and asks them (working in five groups) to identify what information each channel presents in the clip, the meaning it creates in our minds and find out how it is achieved.
Each group can highlight a specific situation for presenting their findings.
2. The passion towards films
“There are many words which are synonymous with the word film. Which are they?” Participants starts uttering the words like, movie, cinema, kino, padam and silma also.
Activity 5: The common passion
Faci takes the most popular one among them and places the word in the centre of the chart and asks the participants to come up with words which propped up in their minds when they heard the word CINEMA. Using the initial words presented by them Faci starts building up a concept map of verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs and asks them to develop the map further in groups of two. After 5 to 8 minutes Faci develops the map using those words found out by them. “If students of yours develop a concept map which will be the words in it?” Faci asks them to develop another map and finds out the words which occur in both. “Why does this happen? The passion is same across generations towards the films. But how dies the film manages to sustain the passion in people irrespective of their age, status, sex and place of birth?”
3. Film and Meaning
We've discussed the power of films in creating meaning in the minds of a viewer, through these channels of information or raw materials. What do we mean by ‘meaning’ generated by a film in the minds of viewers? ‘Meaning’ is cognitive maps formed in the minds of viewers through understanding the theme, plot and characters of the film. But how does this ‘meaning making’ happen in films?
Activity-5: What's 'meaning'?
Facilitator introduces the film, Cinema Ticket, before screening.
Facilitator then engages in the discussion with teachers to elicit their personal response.
Could make any meaning out of this film? What is it about?
Could you tell me the theme, plot and characters of the film?
Did the film influence (in either subtle or obvious ways,) the way you think about the world, reality, or our society?
This is what we call by ‘meaning making’ by a film. But how did this happen? Let us analyse the processes through which the film tried to construct meaning. Facilitator elicits personal reflections or personal responses of the participants through mind mapping.
Memories-What did the film make you think about or remember?
Feelings or emotions-What did you feel as you viewed the film?
Associations-How did the movie mirror your life? Why this movie important to you?
Or the following questions.
Are the characters in the story like you and your family?
Have you lived in or visited places like those in the story?
Could this story take place this year?
How close do you think the main characters are to you in age?
Are there main characters in the story who are: boys (for boys) or girls (for girls)?
Do the characters talk like you and your family do?
How often do you read stories like these?
Have you ever had an experience like one described in this story?
How did the film achieve to arouse your personal reactions? Through eliciting or relating with one's own thoughts, experiences, feelings and concept of the world of reality.
How is this different from that of a book? (in terms of the tools used) Which are they?
(visual images, narration, sound effects, dialogue, music, story or plot, characters, setting, camera angles and focus.)
How do films manage to construct or communicate meaning? How does it differ reading books?
Activity 6: Adding words to the concept map
3. Reading a film and Reading a book
We are familiar with reading books. What do we mean by reading a book? How does it differ (or not) from reading a film? When we talk about reading a film, what we actually mean is looking at the film in great detail to see how it is put together. Instead of the written page while reading a film we are looking at the screen or monitor. We can look at text, books or film for a variety of purposes, we can either read a book or watch a film purely for enjoyment, or we may want to look at it in more depth to see why it actually is that we enjoy it so much.
What happens while we read any a text, for example, reading a poem? We start making individual or personal responses to the text by linking the text with out perceptions, assumptions, experiences, feelings and point of view. What are the tools used by poet in a poem to capture our attention and engage us in meaning making? Read the material given.
Let us read this poem written by Wilfred Owen.
Activity-6: Reading Wilfred Owen -Dulce Et Decorum Est
Facilitator distributes the poem to the participants and asks them, “Give yourself a lot of time to read the poem several times. Trying reading it out loud.” Then he/she asks one among them to read the poem loud. “As you read, write down every observation, question, or feeling you get from the poem as you read. Pay special attention to how the poem begins and ends. Use your notes as entry points to begin your analysis of the poem. Ask yourself what elements in the poem lead you to the particular observation and how the poet achieves this effect.”
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(Wilfred Owen , 8 October 1917 - March, 1918 )
Dulce et Decorum Est -It is sweet and right to die for your country.
Discussion questions
How does it make you feel?
How has the writer created the feeling?
What tools did the writer apply to arouse your personal reactions to war, agony and death?
The facilitator asks the participants to scan the material to identify the tools applied by the poet in the poem. Participants present them with examples drawn from the poem.
Activity-7: Reading images
“Does this happen in the case of images too? films too? As with any other creative text, each person will have an individual response to a film. How? Does the film maker use the same tools which are used by a writer of a poem, novel or a story? Let us see. Look at the images”.
Discussion questions
How do they make you feel?
How did that happen?
How has the image created the atmosphere?
What tools did the film maker apply to arouse your personal reactions to war, agony and death? Are they the same that of a poem? (Think about lighting, the angle of the camera, where the figures and objects have been placed within the frame, size of the shot etc)
Activity-8: Reading films
“Does this happen in the case of films too? As with any other creative text, each person will have an individual response to a film. How? Which are the tools that a film maker use? Let us see.”
Pre-view- Discussion
Asks the participants to remember the most beautiful image in their mind vividly. Think of the sounds accompanying the visual too. Does it move? How?
Viewing the scene (Peach Orchard)
Facilitator gives the participants the specific task of focusing on searching for the tools used in the last scene of the film.
How is this scene different from what you have chosen?
What did you feel when you saw it and remembers it?
How did the film maker achieve this feeling through this scene?
Re-view of the last scene (Worksheet-3)
Facilitator distributes Worksheet-3 and the participants discuss the tools used by the film maker to communicate the meaning and feelings. Facilitator sums up the tools used in films.
Faci shows up again and points out
the placement of objects and figures-depth of shot, mis-en-scene,
distance from camera/size of shot-long, medium, close-up,
use of colors,
angle of shot-high/low/ eye level,
lighting- Background lighting, mood lighting, stage lighting, soft light,
use of sound
Diegetic sound: It is sound that the characters can hear as well as the audience, and usually implies a reaction from the character. Also called "literal sound" or "actual sound":
Voices of characters;
Sounds made by objects in the story; and/or like heart beats of a person
Source music, represented as coming from instruments in the story space.
Basic sound effects, e.g. dog barking, car passing; as it is in the scene
Music coming from reproduction devices such as record players, radios, tape players etc.
Non-diegetic sound: It is sound which is represented as coming from a source outside the story space, ie. its source is neither visible on the screen, nor has been implied to be present in the action. Also called "non-literal sound" or "commentary sound":
Activity-9: Identify the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds
Use the film clip from the last scene from Peach Orchard and let them write the sounds.
4. Film tools and Story
“Let us revisit the tools used in films for conveying meaning to the viewer. Will these tools alone will make a film? What else do you require for conveying meanings through films? What would be the medium in which you apply these tools?” Facilitator elicits the medium in which the tools are applied by film maker.
Theme
Plot
Story and events
Characters
Pre-view- Discussion
“How do these tools operate in this medium? How does the film maker use these tools to present the theme, plot, events and characters?”
Viewing the film (Peach Orchard)
Facilitator distributes Worksheet-4 and discusses the questions raised and use it as an opportunity to present the film.
Post-view of the film (Peach Orchard)
Each group focuses on one aspect of the worksheet and they present in the plenary.
The Peach Orchard
Hina Matsuri, the Doll Festival, traditionally takes place in spring when the peach blossoms are in full bloom. The dolls that go on display at this time, they say, are representative of the peach trees and their pink blossoms. One boy's family, however, has chopped down their peach orchard, so the boy feels a sense of loss during this year's festival. After being scolded by his older sister the boy spots a small girl running out the front door. He follows her to the now-treeless orchard, where the dolls from his sister's collection have come to life and are standing before him on the slopes of the orchard. The living dolls, revealing themselves to be the spirits of the peach trees, berate the boy about chopping down the precious trees. But after realizing how much he loved the blossoms, they agree to give him one last glance at the peach trees by way of a slow and beautiful dance to Etenraku (music brought from heaven). After they disappear the boy finds the small girl walking among the treeless orchard before seeing a single peach tree sprouting in her place.
Activity-11: Identifying shots
Facilitator dramatically announces that he/she is going to screen a film and challenges them to identify the differences between this film and the Peach Orchard.
Let them analyse the number of scene, shots and nature of shots in it based on the following elements.
How many scenes are there in the film, The Waterer and the Watered?
How many shots?
Which are the types of shots used?
How is this film different from Peach orchard?
Because of these differences, does Peach orchard have any advantages?
How do different shots ensure the feeling of continuity and change to the viewer?
Activity-12: Shots in a scene
Facilitator exhibits the clipping from Megha Dhaka Thara to show how the shots occur in a film. Let the participants tell the following,
How many shots in the clipping?
The type of shots used and what is included or excluded in each frame(L.S, M.S, C.S; wide/long shots)
The purpose of the shot-what do they define and what is signified.
What does the first shot do?
Look at the last shot in which the lady, her brother and the moving train. What is the distance of each one of them from camera?
What does it try to define and what is signified?
The scene-transition from one scene to another
DAY-2
Activity-13: Do you like your neighbour?
Have all the participants sit in a circle. One person will approach someone in the circle and ask the question "Do you love your neighbor?" The person can answer in two ways,
a. "No, I don't love my neighbors"
The people sitting on both sides of him now stand up and try to change seats before the person who is it jumps into one of their chairs. Whoever is left standing is it and continues the game.
b. "Yes, I love my neighbors, but I don't like people who ____"
S/He fills in the blank with anything that refers to anyone in the group, like "who are wearing jeans" or "who have beards." Those people then jump out of their chairs and must find a new seat. The person left standing continues the game by asking a person in the group "Do you love your neighbor?"
Activity-14: Find the best character
“Which is the character that still haunts you?” Let the participants come up with sufficient reasons too. After one or two, the particpants will give few traits and others have to identify who the character is. The faci tires to identify the traits of characters identified by the participants.
Activity-15: Characterisation
Pre view discussion
Facilitator asks them the trait on which the game is based. “Does this particular trait alone describe the whole characters? Which are the other traits constituting the character of a person?”
Viewing the film
Observe the character that Gopi presents in three clips from Kodiyetam and analyse the character’s traits.(Worksheet-5)
Talk
What are the expressions, vocabularies, idioms, slangs and vocabularies that the character uses in his/her talk?
How does the character talk-the way he/she speaks?
Is he/she talkative or not? Why?
Behaviours
Is he/she violent, passive, brutal, compassionate, shy or exhibitionistic?
How does it reflect in his/her behaviours and in talk?
What is his/her peculiar behavioural trait or mannerisms?
How does his/her behavior reflect in his/her walking, movements, gestures and during interactions?
How does he/she behave if he/she is mad, sad, glad or scared?
Appearances
Which are the clothes he/she normally uses?
Does he/she exhibit any preference to clothes or costumes? Which? Why?
Does he/she exhibit any preference to colours? Which colours? Why?
Based on your analysis, fill this table using appropriate words
Which are the words that you will use to describe each one of the traits of the character?
| Traits | Nouns | Verbs | Adjectives | Adverbs |
| Talk |
|
|
|
|
| Behaviours |
|
|
|
|
| Appearances |
|
|
|
|
| Nature/Thoughts |
|
|
|
|
Faci fills the chart using the words identified by the participant. Based on the chart, he/she asks them to write a profile of the character.
5. What is dialogue for?
Good, effective dialogue arises out of character, situation and conflict it reveals: character and moves the story foreword. The character on screen is usually more articulate than he would be in life-even when a naturally inarticulate character is being presented-for good dialogues is an intensification of normal speech. So-called realistic speech is hardly real at all: although it may create that illusion, the confusions, excesses, fumbling and backtracking of ordinary conversation have been trimmed away, and the dialogue has been direction and a pattern. In addition most every day social niceties are dispensed with unless they serve some useful purpose in the scene at hand.
Activity 16: What does dialogue do?
“So what does dialogue do in a film?” The facilitator presents a clipping from ‘Mukahamukham’ with out any detailed introduction of earlier scenes and events. Let them predict the theme, reveal the characters, identify an immediate problems, what would happen next, and the tone of the cinema.
Post view discussion
Predict the theme, reveal the characters, identify an immediate problems, what would happen next, and the tone of the cinema.
How did you manage to do these things even with out prior information?
What was the contribution of dialogue in this?
Are they another function that dialogue do?
The points to be arrived are:
To suggest the theme/a theme
Set the tone of the scene
Reveal the characters
Present an immediate problem, and Advance the plot
What are the dangers of dialogue? There certain things to be remembered while writing dialogue.
There is an action going on and there is no need to replicate it through dialogue
Not only that action is going to carry a significant part of information, but that the actors themselves, with their physical presence and their voices will also make immense contribution.
Talk is a small part of what we do as human beings, and it should be a small part of how we expect to tell our stories to the audience. Instead provide clear-cut action which can be visualized.
7. Editing
“How will you describe your journey from your house to here? You may detail events by events or places by places or persons by persons whom you met, or things you saw on your way or sounds you have heard on the way or combining all these together. But if you present the journey using the medium of film how will you present the same? What all will you 'show' in it?” The facilitator elicits the participants reactions to the issue raised . “How will you select the images? What will be the logic and structure in which you will arrange them?”
Now you are thinking about an audio-visual language, in which visual and sound fragments that exist for for a certain time are selected, arranged, sequenced and presented bearing in mind the eye, ears and mind of the spectator. The process of joining visual shots and sound shots in a certain logical order to create continuity for continuous seeing and hearing and understanding by the spectator is called editing.
Why does film do this? Since film is make believe, cinematic time and space are not real time or real space. Space and time are manipulated (contracted or expanded) in cinema and editing that effectively executes this manipulation. Of course, the audience will fill the gap that the editor leaves while constructing scenes and sequences. Even if you show only part, the audience's mind will get the effect of whole.
How does the editor ensure continuity (to be felt to the audience)?
Activity 17: The art of make-believe
Pre-view discussion: How does the editor ensure continuity (to be felt to the audience)?
While view: look for the ways through which the continuity is felt to you.
Post view discussion: How does the editor ensure continuity (to be felt to the audience)?
1.Order of shots:
How did the scene begin? What type of shot was it? Why was the shot put there?
Which are the other shots used then?
Could you remember any close shots used? When and why?
Think of other shots like long shot, medium shot, low angle shot, high angle shot etc. How are they ordered? What was the effect?
Could you sense any sound shots? Where and what?
2. Length of shots
Which was the lengthiest shot in this sequence? Why was it so?
What are the other features of that shot?
Which are the determinants for fixing the length of shot? -Image size, how much information it should convey, rhythm and pace of the scene.
3. Rhythm
Each shot has an inherent rhythm depending on the camera movement, actors movement etc. Editing should correspond to this internal rhythm while creating the rhythm of editing. Editing(cutting) style and rate decide the rhythm of editing.
4. Pace
Pace is the cutting rate. Action scenes contain scenes with fast cutting rate(fast pace or tempo) and also slow-pace scenes.
These are called as the tools of editing.
Activity 18: The toosl of editing in French Connection
Pre-view discussion: How does the editor ensure continuity (to be felt to the audience)?
While view: look for the ways through which the continuity is felt to you.
: Look at the sound shots
: Look at the tools used for editing in this sequence.
Post view discussion: How does the editor ensure continuity (to be felt to the audience)?
Which are the sounds did you hear in the film? Name the sounds.
What do you feel while viewing the film? Name your feelings/mood.
How did the film maker achieve this?
How does the editor ensure continuity (to be felt to the audience)? Look at the tools.
Look at the order of shots, length of shots, rhythm and pace of the editing of the film. How do they ensure the tempo of the film and narrative continuity?
So what are the choices and decisions made by the film maker while producing/editing the film?
8. Story, Screenplay and Film
For a film, there have to be a story, of course. Think of a short story written in a piece of paper. Will it contain the raw materials, their nature and combinations so that you can readily make a film?
Activity-19: Story and Screen play
Facilitator distributes a chapter from the novel/small portion from the short story, ‘Mathilukal’ and asks them find out the theme, plot, characters and events in groups of three. They present it in the plenary. Let them also identify the tools applied by the writer in order to convey the meaning/message/feelings/personal responses.
How will you tell this story through the medium of film? If you want to make a film of this story, what else do you require? What decisions you have to take?
Discussion may lead to the following points,
Find out the meaning that (the part) the story intends to convey.(Power, Authority, Submission, Domination etc)
Find out/Dig out the written words, images, sounds, music and noises from story which convey this meaning.
Convert the written word into images, sounds, music and noises, through which the meaning can be created
Invent alternate images, sounds, graphics, music and noises to convey the same meaning or add to it.
Substitute the images, sounds, graphics, music and noises,
Sequence the images, sounds, graphics, music and noises,
Integrates the images, sounds, graphics, music and noises into the narrative, and
Write a a description of these decisions, ie, screen play.
How did you foresee and decide these raw materials, their nature and their combinations when you are going to develop a film? This is the the process that happens while developing a screen play for a film. Screen play digs/invents out each one of these raw materials and decide their nature and combinations. So what happens when you develop a screenplay based on a written story? Write the screen play.
and then the screenplay of that portion. In threes, they identify the things that happen while developing a screenplay from a written story. Compare and analyse the scenes of two pair groups against the scene written by Adoor.
What are things and processes that happen while developing a screen play from a written story?
Find out the features which would have improved the quality of scene written by Adoor and by the groups, vice versa.
Faci asks them to present their findings arrived through discussion. They may be like this.
Find out the meaning that (the part) the story intends to convey.(Power, Authority, Submission, Domination etc)
Find out/Dig out the written words, images, sounds, music and noises from story which convey this meaning.
Convert the written word into images, sounds, music and noises, through which the meaning can be created
Invent alternate images, sounds, graphics, music and noises to convey the same meaning or add to it.
Substitute the images, sounds, graphics, music and noises,
Sequence the images, sounds, graphics, music and noises,
Integrates the images, sounds, graphics, music and noises into the narrative, and
Write a revised scene.
All these together constitute the content and narrative structure of the film.
Activity-20: Story, Screen play and Film
The participants view the film strip of ‘ Mathilukal’. After viewing the film strip facilitator holds a discussion on the following. (Worksheet-4).
What is the meaning that (the part of) the film conveyed?
Which are the images/visuals used in the strip to convey the ideas of submission and authority? (Are they different from yours?)
Could you identify any images/signs used connotatively? What meaning did it make in your mind?
Could you comment on connotative meaning achieved through shot-angle, mobility, colour, lighting, background, duration of shot, shots precede etc?
How does the film differ from its screen play?
How does the film differ from the story?
How does meaning making differ in the story and in the film? Give examples.
To what extent the screen play form the base for this strip of film to convey meaning?
What is the purpose of a screen play?
(Koyanisquatsi: 11.57-22.42)
Koyaanisqatsi (English pronunciation: /ˈkɔɪ.ɑːnɪsˈkɑːtsiː/ KOY-ah-nis-KAHT-see), also known as Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance, is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke.
The film consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse stock footage of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and music. Reggio explains the lack of dialogue by stating "it's not for lack of love of the language that these films have no words. It's because, from my point of view, our language is in a state of vast humiliation. It no longer describes the world in which we live."[6] In the Hopi language, the word Koyaanisqatsi means "crazy life, life in turmoil, life out of balance, life disintegrating, a state of life that calls for another way of living".[7] The film is the first in the Qatsi trilogy of films: it is followed by Powaqqatsi (1988) and Naqoyqatsi (2002). The trilogy depicts different aspects of the relationship between humans, nature, and technology. Koyaanisqatsi is the best known of the trilogy and is considered a cult film.
9. Film Language
There are two arguments on film, one is 'Film is not like a language' and the other one is 'Film is very much like a language'. The arguments put forth for the first one are, 'Film is not like a language' because,
It is not necessary to learn a vocabulary to appreciate it.
We understand a film not because we have a knowledge of the system rather we achieve an understanding of its system because we understand the film.
Even small children and pets watch film/images.
The arguments put forth for the second one, 'Film is very much like a language' are,
Children even before 8-10 years of age can comprehend a film image the way most adults do.
Every normal human being can perceive and identify a visual image.
Even the simplest visual images are interpreted differently in different cultures.
So some of the methods that we use to study language might profitably be applied to a study of film.
Film presents us with a language that consists of short-circuit signs in which the signifier nearly equals the signified. It presents us with a language that depends on a continuous, non-discrete system in which we can’t identify a basic unit. So we can’t describe it quantitatively.
10. Film and English Language Teaching
Film as an ensemble form of art, as an entertainment media and as a technological medium has been a challenge to many for using it as a pedagogic tool in ELT and in other subject areas across schools and colleges.
Activity-21: Using Les Miserables as a pedagogic tool
1. Preview discussion.
Do you believe that most people are basically good or bad? For example, do you think that most people would obey a law even if no one were looking, or do you think that most people would break a law if they had a chance? Think of examples to support your opinion.
Have you ever witnessed a crime or been a victim of a crime? If so, tell what happened.
Are there any circumstances when committing a crime is acceptable or unavoidable?
For example, if a person steals a loaf of bread because he needs to feed his starving family, should he be punished? Can you think of other examples?
What crimes have you heard about recently in the news?
What do you think is the worst crime a person could commit? Why?
What is the punishment for murder in our country? What is the punishment for stealing in our country?
What is your opinion of the death penalty?
What makes some people become criminals?
In your opinion, does prison help rehabilitate criminals? Why or why not?
Do you ever give money or other assistance to homeless people? Why or why not?
2. Watch the film clip
Then tell to your partner Who, What, Where, and Why. In other words, who are the people, what happened, where did the scene take place, and why did the people do what they did?
(Do your best to use simple past and past continuous verbs.)
Who :
What :
Where :
Why :
4. Post-view discussion.
Do you think that the bishop did the right thing by allowing Jean Valjean, a criminal, into his home? Why or why not? Would you do the same? Why or why not?
What crime did Jean Valjean commit? Why do you think he committed this crime? What was his punishment? Do you think that his punishment was suitable for his crime?
Jean Valjean said that he had a yellow passport. How is this type of passport different from other passports?
Jean Valjean said that his real punishment starts now that he has been freed. What did he mean by this statement?
Why do you think that the bishop lied to the police about Jean Valjean’s theft of the silverware?
Why did the bishop tell JeanValjean to take the valuable candlesticks?
Activity 22: Writing.
Write a summary of the scene you saw. Then write your personal response by answering the following questions:
What was the message?
Do you agree or disagree with the bishop’s actions? Why?
Do you think that Jean Valjean will keep his promise to become a new man? Why or why not?
Discussion on using film as a pedagogic tool. Use Reading material.
