Interdisciplinary Project – Movie analysis

Intermediate

Project – Movie analysis

By teacher Daniele Krauz

Level: All
Subject: logical skills, behavior understanding, cultural studies.
Interdisciplinarity: EFL – movies – music – psychology – history
Multiple intelligences: all

Introduction

In this project the students are invited to develop a critical analysis of a movie. We are proposing a diversified view of the movie approaching all the Multiple Intelligences of the group and connecting them with interdisciplinary issues.


These tasks can be developed with students of any level of linguistic acquisition, so it is interesting to repeat them frequently, changing the ability each student has exercised before and changing the themes of the movies. This is an easy way to compare the student progression and to negotiate the linguistic development.

The texts presented as examples of production were produced by Essencial Ciências e Artes students from different levels, in my classes. All the texts can be found at http://www.essencialensino.com.br/Students_production.htm .

The worksheet with the activities to be presented to the students for the project is available at http://www.essencialensino.com.br/movie.htm .

On the Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_production , there is a list with all the steps of film production, as the page may change it may be necessary to search for the category film production. This information is useful for the students to realize all the professional skills involved in an artistic production.

Objectives

Enlarge the possibilities of art interpretation in the students’ repertory.
Open space for the students to express themselves in their best abilities.
Sensibilize the students for all the aspects that involve an artistic production.

Activities

1. Read and clarify all students tasks. 
2. Watch the movie (not till the very end). 
3. Take all necessary notation during the movie. 
4. Pairs rewatch parts of the movie if necessary and solve the tasks. 
5. Round table showing all the results. 
6. Publication of written critics. 
7. Grammar points observed in the students’ production.

Students Tasks

1. Story prediction

Grammar points ð If-clauses, futures.

Vocabulary ðcontrast linkers, conjunctions.

Logic/Mathematical – linguistic – interpersonal – intrapersonal

Watch a new movie chapter by chapter stopping to predict the next chapter:

      Make hypothesis for the sequence of the story using the if-clauses.

e.g.: If Seth tells Maggie he is an Angel she will probably feel more attracted to him, but surely he will not tell her before she falls in love for him. (City of Angels - 1998)

2. Movie technology

Grammar points ð open

Vocabulary ð description of place, mood, adjectives.

Visual/Spatial

After watching the movie take a good look in the commentaries of the producers, cheek up the different technologies which were used to produce the picture and sceneries. What were the difficulties to produce the movie, have you though about those things while watching?

      Observe the visual production of the movie, the background, the sceneries, the colors, visual effects, the details on the clothes and places, objects, etc.

      How important or effective are all those points for the quality of the movie and the story?

      What kind of feeling do those visual aspects cause, how do you feel about them?

      Compare two different scenes and show how the visual influences on the mood and the impression the viewer has.

3. Speech analysis

Grammar points ð simple present.

Vocabulary ð adjectives.

Linguistic - Musical

      Analyze the language, difficulty of understanding, accents, rythm, etc.

      Copy some lines of a dialogue and act them out with the same characteristics of the actors’ accents. Record the audio.

e.g: City of Angels

By Luan Fonseca (basic) and André Frutuoso (elementary)

This is a linguistic analysis of the speech of the characters from the Movie City of Angels.

This analysis finds the differences among the characters’ speeches. The characters of the movie are: Seth, an angel who falls in love for Meg, who is a great doctor, Seth’s friend Cassial, another angel and Mr. Messenger who is a former angel. 

Luan Fonseca

Meg: the language of Meg is easy to understand because she opens the mouth to speak and sometimes she speaks slower than others. It’s easy to understand where words connect.

André Frutuoso

 Meg: Her language is easy, is possible to understand the context of her speech. Sometimes Meg speaks a little fast because of the linking of the words and her pronounce is interesting and clear. She moves the lips and it help us to understand better her English.

Luan Fonseca 

Seth: he speaks very slowly and he closes a little the mouth, he seems be sleepy it’s not so hard to understand.

André Frutuoso 

Seth: He has a hard language because he doesn’t open his mouth. He doesn’t move the lips so much and it can be difficult to understand what he says. He has a low voice and when he links the words it’s harder to comprehend. The words endings are not pronounced. 

Luan Fonseca 

Cassial: his language is easy to understand because he sings the words and phrases. He cuts some words and phrases. He cuts some words making it slightly hard to understand until the end of phrase.

André Frutuoso 

Cassial: He has a clear language and pronunciation, the rhythm is very good. Sometimes he speaks fast and some words are hard to get but is not totally incomprehensible. 

Luan Fonseca 

Mr. Messenger: He has a strong voice and he speaks much slang, sometimes it can make the understanding difficult, his is the second hardest speech to comprehend. He is got a closed pronunciation but the rhythm of the words is good. 

Luan Fonseca 

Mr. Messenger: he closes the mouth, and speaks very fast and uses slang he cuts the words and his lines are very hard to understand.

André Frutuoso

4. Personality growth

Grammar points ð Simple present, pasts.

Vocabularyð personality description, verbs of action.

Interpersonal - Intrapersonal

      Pick up one character and make a total description of his/her psychologically, culturally and emotionally.

      Put yourself in the character's place and explain why this person acts and thinks that way.

      Explain how you would feel in the character's situation, how you would behave.

      Pick up a scene that is most emotional or expressive for you and explain the importance and impact of it.

e. g.: What dreams may come.

By Mariana de Paula Drewinski. Essencial Languages. Basic. 2/12/2006.

In the movie 'What dreams may come,' Chris and Annie meet in a lake and he falls in love for her. They get married and have two children. One morning the children go to school with a neighbor and Marie and Ian die in an accident. Four years later, Annie needs some paintings for an exposition, but she can't take them. Annie asks Chris to take the pictures. In the way, Chris dies in an accident too. He doesn't believe he's dead because he can see people and Annie, he can see a person he believes is a doctor. He doesn't understand. Annie feels Chris, but she doesn't believe he's there. Annie thinks she's crazy. Chris goes to heaven but she doesn't understand what is happening. He meets Marie and Ian, but they are different.

Annie suicides and she goes to her hell. Chris goes to save her, but he needs to feel her to find her in the hell. His love for her helps him to find her, but she doesn't remember him. They talk and he decides to leave heaven for living whit Annie in hell, but he gets to saves her. In paradise, Chris, Annie, Marie and Ian live as before.

The most interesting character person for me is Ian. He is a very good boy, he has just got 13 years old. He studies for his father, he tries to be like him. Ian likes to help people; in hell, he tries to help his father but he can't.

After his death, he changes. In the first moment, Chris doesn't recognize him because he is very different. In hell, Ian shows his responsibility and Chris sees him. In the beginning, Ian is very accepting, he does all things his mother and his father say. He is very accepting, but later, Ian talks whit Chris and he becomes authentic. 

Albert (Ian): Drink it. Just think it's coffee and it'll be.

Chris: Okay, It's coffee...    Tint...acrylic.

A: Why is this so hard?

C: What?

A: Your brain is meat. It rots and disappears. Did you really think that's all there was to you? Like you're in your house right now. You're in your house! It doesn't mean you are your house. House falls down, you get up and walk away.

C: Now, it looks like I rebuilt.

A: You see your body because you like it. We're seeing what we chose to see. Let me show you something.

C: It's real. Where is all the paint?

A: You don't need it anymore. This is your world now. Thought is real. Physical is the illusion.

This part is more interesting for me because in heaven Ian teaches Chris about that place, the child teaches the father. It's very beautiful because I can see connection between them, they talk like good friends, they are best friends. They have a spiritual connection.

Logical/Mathematical - Kinesthetical

      Analyze the sequence of the story, how logic it is, how convincing,

      How expressive the artists are, how good  the direction and the writing were.