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Passion, Creativity and the Arts:
Writing for Motion Pictures
Teacher's Student Activities
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Language Arts Integrate with: Art, Math, Social Studies, and Technology
What role does the written word play in the development, promotion, presentation and evaluation of a visual medium, motion pictures?
Students will have opportunities to: develop an understanding of the relationship between writing and human thought and the connection to the making of motion pictures, discuss the communication process as it relates to writing for motion pictures, explore how literature written for motion pictures can move into, through, and beyond the literary work to a new understanding of ourselves and the world around us, relate career opportunities to the writing process, and examine how writing has relationships to a variety of disciplines.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
This structure outlines activities useful in preparing students for the program and in providing post-program enrichment activities. Individual teachers and teams are encouraged to select activities from this matrix to suit their needs.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Provide students with copies of a script from a play or movie. Examine with your students how the writing structure of a script is different from the writing structure of a novel or short story. Play a 4-5 minute segment of a video that includes action, dialog, and unspoken language. Have students translate their recollection of the segment into script form.
ARTS
Request students collect advertisements, posters, video clips and any other kind of visual media designed to promote films and movies. Use these collected materials as focal points of discussion in critiquing the artistic value of each rendition. Review technical competency in the use of the principles and elements of design as well as content analysis.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Choose an existing TV commercial to analyze as a large group exercise. Ask students to determine one overt and one hidden message that the commercial conveys. As a homework assignment, have students select another TV commercial to critique for overt and covert messages. Students should report their findings to the class.
MATH
Arrange a field trip to a local television studio or have a guest speaker come to class to talk about the cost of producing a variety of television programs including commercials and newscasts. How are these costs determined? Where do TV stations get their revenue? What kind of profit margin do TV stations make on commercials? Encourage active class discussion.
TECHNOLOGY
Encourage students to explore the information highway Internet, Prodigy, America On-Line, CompuServe, etc. to find movie and video review information. Print the findings and make the collected data available to students as resources for pre-and post program activities.
LANGUAGE ARTS
In small cooperative groups, ask students to script a 10 minute vignette exposing some interesting aspect of their favorite author. Students should include a narrator, describe the setting and action (including visual and aural clues), and incorporate a variety of characters in developing dialog. Upon refining the script, have students prepare a pitch to a major studio for the production of their film clip.
ARTS
Have students plan a visual ad campaign to promote a particular motion picture (teachers should use discretion in movie selection choices). Ask students to determine the primary audience for their movie and which media is most appropriate to address that audience (television stations/ programs and magazines, newspapers, etc.) Once students have made pertinent marketing decisions, have them create a visually appealing marketing piece directed to the appropriate audience and media.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Have students collect and examine movie and film reviews from the local newspaper, magazines, and/or electronic media. Challenge students to identify persuasive language used by critics. Encourage class discussion on the impact critics have on the success or failure of a particular film or movie. Involve students in a debate or panel discussion around the power of critics to influence an audience.
MATH
Ask students to investigate the cost of producing a current popular movie (check trade magazines, electronic media, etc.), the anticipated profit, and whether the greatest percentage of profit is expected to come from showing the movie in theaters, over cable television movie networks, video rentals, or in extraneous products associated with the movie. Encourage students to also explore where the greatest costs are incurred in the production of a movie (stars salaries, set design, travel on onsite costs, promotions, etc.
TECHNOLOGY
Provide students with the opportunity to participate in student electronic bulletin boards such as Students Forum (CompuServe). Students may initiate a nationwide discussion on career possibilities in writing for the visual arts.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
In what ways can teamwork enhance the creative process?
In what ways do writers impact the movie or film as an end product?
What would the world be like without movies and films?
SECONDARY SCHOOL
This structure outlines activities useful in preparing students for the program and in providing post-program enrichment activities. Individual teachers and teams are encouraged to select activities from this matrix to suit their needs.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Provide students with copies of a script from a play or movie. Examine with your students how the writing structure of a script is different from the writing structure of a novel or short story. Play a 4-5 minute segment of a video that includes action, dialog, and unspoken language. Have students first write a narrative about the general content and message of the segment they have just seen, and then have them translate the narrative into a script.
ARTS
Request students collect advertisements, posters, video clips and any other kind of visual media designed to promote films and movies. Use these collected materials as focal points of discussion in critiquing the artistic value of each rendition. Challenge students to identify strengths and weaknesses in the use of the principles and elements of design and to analyze how well the visual aspects of the piece relay the content.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Arrange a field trip or invite a guest speaker from a local advertising firm to discuss and demonstrate how a promotional campaign might be developed to promote a particular movie. Encourage active discussion. When do you begin promoting a movie? What are the most important parts of a movie to highlight? How much does it cost to implement an effective promotional campaign? Can a promotional campaign hurt a movie?
MATH
Inform students they will be writing a script for an instructional video about a mathematical concept. Then, review the structure of a video script with your students (you may be able to obtain script samples from your local television station). Examine the script for logical sequencing of the program content and structure. In small groups, have students begin sketching ideas for scripting their instructional video.
TECHNOLOGY
Have students view some segments from old movies which incorporated technology-based special effects (the original version of King Kong, The Forbidden Planet, the Godzilla movies, etc.) and compare and contrast with the technological sophistication of newer movies such as Star Wars, The Mask, Jurassic Park, etc. Challenge students to imagine ways in which continued advancements in technology might impact movies of the future (interactivity, virtual reality, etc.).
LANGUAGE ARTS
In small cooperative groups, have students brainstorm to generate three lists. 1) what do we know about writing for movies? 2) what do we want to know about writing for movies? and 3) what can we do to learn more about writing for movies?
As a class and with teacher guidance, write a mission statement, identify goals and objectives, and establish a timeline for a student-directed learning program in the area of writing for movies. Provide ample opportunity for students to reach their stated goals.
ARTS
In small groups, have students select a scene from a movie that included a particularly interesting setting. Challenge students to build a 3-dimensional model of a similar, but new and improved setting for the movie. Students should consider scale, lighting, color, pattern, and all elements and principles of design as they are creating their set. Models are to be displayed for class viewing and critiquing. Student groups should present an oral andwritten defense of their artistic decisions.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Grouped students should produce a fact-based script for a 5-minute You Are There TV news story detailing the events of an historical episode (use whatever issue is pertinent to your curriculum). Student groups should create their story with the assumption that the television medium existed at that time in history. The script should be acted out for the class. If a videocamera is available, have students record the action. Videos which have been refined for content and presentation should be made available to students to use as reference sources.
MATH
In groups, have students script a 5 minute Who is Pythagoras and Why is he Important? video which features students working collaboratively to explain and demonstrate to their peers, the contribution Pythagoras made to the field of mathematics. (At teacher discretion, any topic pertinent to the local curriculum may be substituted) Students should act out the script for the class. If a videocamera is available, have students record the action. Videos which have been refined for content and presentation should be made available to students to use as reference sources.
TECHNOLOGY
Provide students with the opportunity to participate in student electronic bulletin boards such as Students Forum (CompuServe). Students may initiate a nationwide discussion on career possibilities in writing for the visual arts.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- In what ways can teamwork enhance the creative process?
- In what ways do writers impact the movie or film as an end product?
- What would the world be like without movies and films?
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