Teacher Facilitation Guide

Program Overview
Media & the Arts is a research-based curriculum that focuses on the art of filmmaking and the impact of film media in our culture. Students view video interview segments featuring three successful filmmakers and producers. These interviews serve as a springboard for students' own research. A list of online resources is provided to support student research.

Viewing/Facilitation Strategies

Introduce the Media & the Arts topic and video segments. Ask students to share examples of their current knowledge, experiences, and questions related to filmmaking and the role of film in our culture.
View the video segments as a class, in small groups, or individually.
Facilitate student selection of one of the research projects listed below which fits their interests and grade level.

Research Project Overview

Grades 4-6

Student Academic Standards

Students understand the characteristics and components of media
Students use viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.
Students understand that a variety of people are involved in the creation of media products including actors, directors, cinematographers, producers, scriptwriters, graphic artists etc.)
Students understand techniques used to convey messages in video media.
Students understand techniques to establish mood in visual media.
Students know how to gather and use information for research purposes.

Projects and Investigations:

The Reviewer
Filmmaker James Cameron states in his interview that "a movie can be more than just telling a story. It can be a piece of art." What do you think he meant by that statement? Read James Cameron's complete interview in the Gallery of Arts to learn about his ideas. His latest blockbuster movie was The Titanic. Some people thought it was a spectacular story and an artistic triumph in filmmaking. Other people did not agree. Everyone who saw it used their own criteria to rate the movie.

A professional movie or film reviewer writes about a film for newspapers, magazines, or the Internet. He or she presents opinions about whether the filmmaker was successful in telling the story and artistic in the way the story was told. To a filmmaker, the reviewer can be a very powerful person. A good review can mean people flock to see the movie. A bad review can cause people to stay away. It is important that a reviewer is fair and bases opinions on evidence. Consider several movies you have seen recently. Select one that you feel strongly about. Write a review of this film. Then research other reviews of this film. How are your opinions the same or different from those of other reviewers? Describe the ways you feel the filmmaker achieved his or her goals.

Grades 7-9

Student Academic Standards

Students understand the characteristics and components of media
Students use viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.
Students understand how different elements in film help establish plot, setting, and character in visual narratives.
Students understand the variety of messages conveyed by visual media.
Students understand which different elements from films and other visual media appeal to him or her.
Students understand reasons for varied interpretations of visual media.
Students understand techniques used in visual media to influence or appeal to a particular audience.
Students know how to gather and use information for research purposes.

Projects and Investigations:

Capturing the Audience
All filmmakers want to draw an enthusiastic large audience to see their work. They want their films to be commercial successes so they can go on to make more films. But Francis Ford Coppola says that sometimes "the stuff that's your best idea or work is going to be attacked the most." Filmmakers often have to balance the desire for audience appeal and acceptance with their own artistic vision. They might want to make a film that is riskier - one that takes viewers into new areas, but are aware the audience may not be ready to accept it.

Think about teenage movie viewers like yourself. How do filmmakers make sure that their films are going to capture the teen audience? What elements such as, themes, plots, characters, and/or special effects elements must the film possess? Make a list of the things that ensure film success with teens. Then, identify a film that you consider riskier - one was unusual and artistically more interesting. Who was the filmmaker? Was this film an example of his or her best work? What risks did the filmmaker take? What new elements did he or she introduce? Why is this film an example of quality work? Why did it still manage to speak to at least some teens - to you? Use your information and opinions to write an essay comparing a standard formula teen film and a film appropriate for teens that is artistically and technically challenging for both the filmmaker and the viewers.

A Moment in History
Producer Ron Howard had never been into space (and had little desire to go there) but he became very interested in "recreating for the audience the experience of going into space." He used the dramatic true story of the historic Apollo 13 space mission to create this experience in film. Filmmakers have often used actual historical events to take viewers into the past to experience a Civil War battlefield, the life of a Roman Gladiator, or the tragic sinking of the Titanic to name but a few.

Read the complete interviews of Ron Howard and James Cameron in the Gallery of Arts. Both filmmakers created history-based films that had a powerful impact on audiences. They brought a dramatic event to life in a way that gave viewers a new understanding of historic events. Consider the elements that make a successful film that is based on an historic event. What is required in filmmaking to make this re-creation successful? Must it always been absolutely factual in story and character? How do special effects pay a role? Research reviews of successful history-based movies. Select a historical event that you find interesting that has not yet been made into a film. Create a two-page proposal to develop this historic event into a successful film.

Grades 9-12

Student Academic Standards

Students understand the characteristics and components of media
Students use a range of strategies to interpret visual media.
Students use a variety of criteria to evaluate media.
Students understand how images and sound convey messages in visual media.
Students understand the effects of style and language choice in visual media.
Students understand the ways in which image-makers carefully construct meaning.
Students understand the extent to which audience influences media production..
Students understand how to make multimedia presentations using text, images, and sound.
Students know how to gather and use information for research purposes.

Projects and Investigations:

Humans and Technology - Technology and Filmmaking
Twyla Tharp is both a choreographer and dancer. A choreographer designs and crafts dances. The choreographer teaches the movements to dancers and stages the work for performance. In her interview Tharp describes the role of both improvisation and tradition in the art of setting dances. As an innovative cutting-edge choreographer she has often pushed dancers and audiences into new areas of movement. She maintains that "in and of itself, breaking rules is not an art." But building from existing rules and moving in and out of tradition is the work of choreography. Research Twyla Tharp or another innovative choreographer for stage, film or music video. What elements of movement, sound, costume, and set do they manipulate as they set a work? Create a multimedia presentation about the role of the choreographer that includes a profile of the work of a choreographer you admire.

The Independent Film
Have you ever wanted to make a short film or video? Do you see yourself as the screenwriter? A director? An actor? The cinematographer? What story you would like to tell in film? Is it a fictional tale or a documentary about a real-life issue or human interest story?

James Cameron advises aspiring filmmakers to "Just do it. Just pick up a camera and start shooting something. Don't wait to be asked because nobody is going to ask you and don't wait for the perfect conditions because they'll never be perfect." Many young filmmakers take his advice and write, direct, film, and promote their own short low-budget independent films. Film festivals are available that feature independent films from local small events to something as successful as the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Research the independent filmmaking opportunities for young people in your area.

Develop a plan for a short film. Focus on the aspect that you are the most interest in and hook up with others who could work on it with you. Develop a short synopsis that includes them, narrative summary, and intended audience. Develop a preliminary script and some rough storyboards. Run your idea by people whose opinion you trust. See how far your idea takes and as Cameron says, "Pick up the camera and start shooting!"

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