Week

Key knowledge

Activities/Key questions

1

Text 1

View film – give students background to film's history, production period and why film has been chosen for study.

2

Preliminary discussion of story elements

Discussion and short answer work by students.

•  Students to write a short description of the narrative 200–300 words.

Key discussion points

•  Why was the story told in the way it was?

•  Whose eyes do we see the film through? Does it change?

•  Who were the main characters? What were their distinguishing characteristics?

•  What was the most critical scene in the film? Why?

•  What is the significance of the film's name – what other names could the film have?

3

Text 2

View second film – give students background to film's history, production period and why film has been chosen for study.

4

Preliminary discussion of production elements

Discussion and short answer work by students.

•  Students to write a short description of the narrative 200–300 words

Key discussion points

•  What camera work did you notice in your first viewing?

•  Was there any unusual or particularly effective use of lighting?

•  How was music used in the film?

5

Production elements

•  Camera techniques – what camera angle is used most? What variations are used and to what effect?

•  Lighting – are scenes lit realistically or for effect? What examples can be found for each?

•  Editing – is the editing naturalistic or realistic?

•  Sound – what are the uses of diegetic and non diegetic sound?

•  Mise-en-scene – how does the visual composition develop the story and the narrative possibilities?

6

Story elements

•  Openings and closings – how does information we are given at the start of the film give clues about the narrative. How does the closing scene resolve the narrative and relate to the opening and development of the film?

•  Character – describe the way the characters are constructed

•  Setting – what role does the setting play?

•  Time – how is time structured?

•  Cause and effect – what are the cause and effect links that move the narrative along?

7

Combination of production and story elements

•  How do production and story elements combine to engage the audience?

8

Revision and reinforcement using key discussion topics from the Heinemann Media Unit 3 web update.

9

SAC 1