The Sandman: review and novelisation

Transcription

1 The purpose of this unit of work is to undertake a brief study of the short animated film, The Sandman*, and to produce two pieces of writing coursework: a review of the film (analyse, review, comment) a novelisation of part of the film (imagine, explore, entertain). The unit has been designed to get two pieces of coursework out of students very quickly, and make it possible for them to achieve grade C with relative ease. However, students wishing to achieve A grades may need to undertake more intensive study and focus their first piece of writing on analysis rather than review. Teaching sequence: Phase one: review Learning objectives: 1. Understand and use typical conventions of film reviews. 2. Experiment with narrative devices. 3. Sequence a narrative for the best effect. 4. Provide descriptive detail to develop setting, atmosphere and character. 5. Vary sentence types, lengths and structures for effect. 6. Paragraph effectively. 7. Deploy technical vocabulary usefully. 8. Use a wide range of punctuation accurately and effectively. Core teaching Copy Resource 1 onto card, one copy per student pair or trio. Cut the paragraphs and the purposes into individual cards. Give each student pair or trio a set of the six paragraphs. (Hold back the purposes.) Tell students that the cards are the six paragraphs of a review of the latest version of King Kong. Ask them to put them into a sensible order. After a few minutes, stop the class and ask them to explain how they are deciding which card should go where. For example, they should explain why the paragraph beginning with However cannot be the first one. Extension Look at other reviews in order to identify their structures, typical language and genre conventions. Computer game reviews are often both challenging and engaging. See for example: m/reviews.php?site=psm Ask the class to continue the exercise, but give them sets of cards from the purposes column. Tell the class that once they have decided the order of the paragraphs they should place next to each paragraph the purpose that best fits it. They must use all the purpose cards and each one once only. Take some feedback, concentrating on what helped students to put the paragraphs into a viable order. Ask them also about what sort of reader is being targeted (see extension) and how the language choices attempt to entertain as well as inform. To help students think about what sort of reader is being targeted, show them a series of photos of people from different classes, occupations, genders and ages and ask them which person they think would respond best to the review. Find images in Google images Page 1 of 9

2 Display Resource 2 and show students various features of the review. Use Resource 3 as a guide. Show students how the review matches some of the grade criteria listed in Resource 4. This will help them to understand those criteria in practice. Give students some background to The Sandman (see and then show them the film. Help them to think about how the review structure you applied to King Kong could be adapted for The Sandman and which aspects would be irrelevant. Show The Sandman again and talk about some of its technical features (such as mise-en-scène and non-verbal codes). Teachit has a good prompt sheet for technical features called Watching film or broadcast fiction. Find it at Teachit > Resource libraries > KS4 > Media & Non-Fiction > Media Studies > Film. Follow this link: Teach and demonstrate the writing of the first paragraph of The Sandman review, paying explicit attention to how to use the criteria in Resource 4 to guide the writing. Give students a while to write their first paragraph. Repeat the process for each paragraph. Spend some time getting students to study the film closely. At first just show them the opening either without the sound, OR with only the sound. Ask them to say what sort of film this is, what sort of audience is being targeted and what will happen in the rest of the film. (A good place to stop is just after the boy is pushed out into the dark hall by his mother.) For more able students teach the writing of an analytical essay or contrasting reviews aimed at different sorts of reader. Study a wider variety of animation styles: e.g. Spongebob and Family Guy. *The Sandman can be accessed at OR Page 2 of 9

3 Phase two: novelisation Learning objectives: 1. Entertain a reader. 2. Write informatively and entertainingly at the same time. 3. Sequence a text for the best effect. 4. Support opinions with examples and reasons. 5. Vary sentence types, lengths and structures for effect. 6. Paragraph effectively. 7. Choose words to have a deliberate impact on the reader. 8. Use a wide range of punctuation accurately and effectively. Core teaching Take a short section of The Sandman and demonstrate how to write it as fiction, paying explicit attention to how to use the criteria in Resource 5 to guide the writing. Here is an example (taken from 3 minutes 8 seconds in): Breathing heavily, Tim leaned against the door, his tiny quivering body holding it closed. Was it the cold or fear that made him shake all over? The slam of the door rang eerily through the dark chambers of the creaky old house. Tim pattered quickly across the endless chasm between door and bed and leapt in panic into the safety of the covers. Gasping and wide-eyed with fear, he stared into the room. He was alone. Create reader-writer groups, each with three or four students. The purpose of these groups is for the members to peer-assess each other s writing-in-progress at a couple of points along the way. They should give each other feedback against the criteria in Resource 5. Extension Study the novelisation of a couple of short sequences from popular films. Novel versions of recent films are usually available from good bookshops. Alternatively, take a novel that has been filmed and compare a couple of corresponding sections from the two media. Then ask students to story-board the film version of another extract from the novel. A good text to work from is Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr, which was filmed as Paper House. See the opening of the film here: dnm Page 3 of 9

4 Resource 1 (copy onto card and cut up into individual cells) Paragraphs This summary might make the film sound ridiculous. It isn t. For a start, in the film s sweatier sequences the ape is simply awesome and he moves fluently and very realistically. At the heart of this computer-generated ape is another mighty and moving performance from Andy Serkis (who also played Gollum in Rings), and there are some genuinely romantic scenes between the ape and Ann (played by Naomi Watts). The special effects are kept low-key for the film s first hour while we get to know the main characters as they travel to Kong s island to shoot a movie. When they arrive, the lead actress, Ann, is kidnapped and offered to Kong as a sacrifice to keep him happy, while the rest of the actors and crew get set upon by an assortment of terrifying and murderous local monsters. This section of the film is wild and bloody, but still finds space for an unlikely, but strangely believable love to grow between Ann and the giant ape. Kong s romantic activities are put on hold by his capture and shipping back to New York where he is put on show. But you can t keep a good ape down, and soon he is angrily tossing around bits of New York and its inhabitants. Some will love this movie; some will hate it. Just go and see it. It s a monster. Many people were delighted when Peter Jackson director of the wonderful Lord of the Rings trilogy decided to re-make the 1933 classic, King Kong. However, it was not long before King Kong went the same way as The Lord of the Rings: Jackson over-spent by 19 million and the final bill for the movie was a record 116 million. The only downsides are that the film is bum-numbingly long and the opening does drag a little especially when you are looking forward to the action and special effects, and although Kong himself is very impressive, some of the other monsters look a little jerky. However, the film studio survived long enough for Jackson s King Kong to hit the cinemas, and although giant apes may have little in common with Hobbits, Rings fans will be delighted to find a lot of familiar elements in the new King Kong. For a start, it is a whopping 3 hours long, and it is full of spectacular visual trickery. People who like their films to fill the screen to bursting are going to love the gobsmacking computer-generated effects, and these are produced by the same team that worked on the Lord of the Rings trilogy Page 4 of 9

5 Purposes Background Good points Bad points (Criticisms) Plot (Story) Who will like it and why? Conclusion / Recommendation Page 5 of 9

6 Resource 2 King Kong review Many people were delighted when Peter Jackson director of the wonderful Lord of the Rings trilogy decided to re-make the 1933 classic, King Kong. However, it was not long before King Kong went the same way as The Lord of the Rings: Jackson over-spent by 19 million and the final bill for the movie was a record 116 million. However, the film studio survived long enough for Jackson s King Kong to hit the cinemas, and although giant apes may have little in common with Hobbits, Rings fans will be delighted to find a lot of familiar elements in the new King Kong. For a start, it is a whopping 3 hours long, and it is full of spectacular visual trickery. People who like their films to fill the screen to bursting are going to love the gob-smacking computer-generated effects, and these are produced by the same team that worked on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This summary might make the film sound ridiculous. It isn t. For a start, in the film s sweatier sequences the ape is simply awesome and he moves fluently and very realistically. At the heart of this computer-generated ape is another mighty and moving performance from Andy Serkis (who also played Gollum in Rings), and there are some genuinely romantic scenes between the ape and Ann (played by Naomi Watts). The special effects are kept low-key for the film s first hour while we get to know the main characters as they travel to Kong s island to shoot a movie. When they arrive, the lead actress, Ann, is kidnapped and offered to Kong as a sacrifice to keep him happy, while the rest of the actors and crew get set upon by an assortment of terrifying and murderous local monsters. This section of the film is wild and bloody, but still finds space for an unlikely, but strangely believable love to grow between Ann and the giant ape. Kong s romantic activities are put on hold by his capture and shipping back to New York where he is put on show. But you can t keep a good ape down, and soon he is angrily tossing around bits of New York and its inhabitants. The only downsides are that the film is bum-numbingly long and the opening does drag a little especially when you are looking forward to the action and special effects, and although Kong himself is very impressive, some of the other monsters look a little jerky. Some will love this movie; some will hate it. Just go and see it. It s a monster Page 6 of 9

7 Resource 3: teacher guide King Kong review: analysis Background Who will like it and why? Plot (Story) Don t give it all away Good points Many people were delighted when Peter Jackson director of the wonderful Lord of the Rings trilogy decided to remake the 1933 classic, King Kong. However, it was not long before King Kong went the same way as The Lord of the Rings: Jackson over-spent by 19 million and the final bill for the movie was a record 116 million. However, the film studio survived long enough for Jackson s King Kong to hit the cinemas, and although giant apes may have little in common with Hobbits, Rings fans will be delighted to find a lot of familiar elements in the new King Kong. For a start, it is a whopping 3 hours long, and it is full of spectacular visual trickery. People who like their films to fill the screen to bursting are going to love the gob-smacking computer-generated effects, and these are produced by the same team that worked on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The special effects are kept low-key for the film s first hour while we get to know the main characters as they travel to Kong s island to shoot a movie. When they arrive, the lead actress, Ann, is kidnapped and offered to Kong as a sacrifice to keep him happy, while the rest of the actors and crew get set upon by an assortment of terrifying and murderous local monsters. This section of the film is wild and bloody, but still finds space for an unlikely, but strangely believable love to grow between Ann and the giant ape. Kong s romantic activities are put on hold by his capture and shipping back to New York where he is put on show. But you can t keep a good ape down, and soon he is angrily tossing around bits of New York and its inhabitants. This summary might make the film sound ridiculous. It isn t. For a start, in the film s sweatier sequences the ape is simply awesome and he moves fluently and very realistically. At the heart of this computer-generated ape is another mighty and moving performance from Andy Serkis (who also played Gollum in Rings), and there are some genuinely romantic scenes between the ape and Ann (played by Naomi Watts). Background to how the film was made and who its director was. The word however links this paragraph back to the one above. hit the cinemas, whopping, fill to bursting and gobsmacking are examples of slang, informal language that has been chosen to appeal to young people. What other examples of informal language can you find? The special effects links back to the paragraph above. How do the other paragraphs link back? Some of the phrases in the review are chosen to sound jokey to create a light-hearted tone. (For example, to keep him happy ; put on hold ; you can t keep a good ape down ; tossing around bits of ) Where else does the review have a jokey tone? Look at the first two sentences: shortish, followed by very short. This grabs the reader s attention. The next (third) sentence is longer and flowing. You can see how the writer is varying her sentences. Bad Points (Criticisms) Conclusion / Recommend ation The only downsides are that the film is bum-numbingly long and the opening does drag a little especially when you are looking forward to the action and special effects, and although Kong himself is very impressive, some of the other monsters look a little jerky. Some will love this movie; some will hate it. Just go and see it. It s a monster. Long, single sentence that flows and gives a lot of information and ideas. It makes the reviewer sound authoritative like she knows what she is talking about. Look at the series of short sentences here. They give a punchy impact to the ending Page 7 of 9

8 Resource 4 The Sandman review: how to get the grade you need Skill Grade D C Everything in the D column, plus A Everything in the C column, plus Use the right style Try to make it sound rather like a review for a teen magazine. Make it sound just like a review for a teen magazine. Use typical film review expressions. Write a sophisticated and entertaining film review for a teen magazine. Make the style just right throughout, using a number of typical review devices. Explain Give some reasons for some of the points you make in the review. Organise your review to support a clearly expressed viewpoint or recommendation. Give good reasons for many of the points you make in the review. Develop your points across the whole review, using plenty of relevant and convincing detail. Make your conclusion well-balanced and thoughtful. Use paragraphs well Put your comments and your paragraphs into a sensible and useful order. Use paragraphs to bring structure and organisation to your review. Structure the whole review effectively and convincingly. Vary your paragraphs length and structure to control your comments and their effect. Use good and useful words Use a range of words, and sometimes choose a word very carefully for meaning or effect. Use a wide variety of words to express ideas very clearly or to have deliberate effects on your reader. Use a wide range of appropriate, ambitious words to create effects or express precise meanings. Vary your sentences Vary your sentences. Use compound and complex sentences. Use a wider range of sentences, change the order and length of sentences for effect. Vary sentence structures appropriately and effectively. Use simple, compound and complex sentences for impact. Punctuate well Use full stops and commas fairly accurately. Accurately use a range of punctuation to organise sentences and texts, sometimes for impact. Use parenthetic commas: for example, the actor who plays Davies, Matt Damon,.. Use punctuation accurately to vary pace, clarify meaning, avoid ambiguity and create deliberate effects. Spell carefully Spell most ordinary words accurately, e.g. review, scene, camera. Spell a wide vocabulary accurately. Spell correctly - even complex irregular words, such as mise en scène. Use past and present Use tenses accurately past and present. Handle tenses very accurately. Change tenses confidently and purposefully. Note: You can watch The Sandman on: Page 8 of 9

9 Resource 5 Sandman novelisation: how to get the grade you need Skill Grade D C Everything in the D column, plus A Everything in the C column, plus Use the right style Try to make it sound rather like part of a story. Try to capture the atmosphere of the film. Interest your reader and keep them interested. Make it sound just like part of a story. Capture the atmosphere of the film. Grab the reader s interest and keep it throughout. Write a subtle and very wellcontrolled story. Make the style just right throughout, using a number of engaging narrative devices. Develop a clear and effective narrative voice. Organise your writing Make the story clear and controlled. Give detail to your ideas and descriptions. Use adjectives and imagery. Make your story coherent and interesting. Develop your characters and settings through use of detail. Use appropriate and effective narrative techniques e.g. multiple narrators, nonchronology, etc. Shape your writing carefully and imaginatively. Use plenty of relevant and convincing detail. Make your ending effective. Use paragraphs well Use paragraphs well and use them for effect. Use paragraphs to make your meaning very clear. Structure the whole story effectively and convincingly. Vary your paragraphs length and structure to control your ideas and their impact. Link paragraphs in ways that enhance the impact of your writing. Use good and useful words Use a range of words, and sometimes choose a word very carefully for the right effect. Use a wide variety of words to have deliberate impact on your reader. Use a wide range of appropriate, ambitious words to create effects or express precise meanings. Vary your sentences Vary your sentences. Use complex and simple sentences for effect. Use a wider range of sentences. Change the order and length of sentences for effect. Use a full range of sentence structures for appropriate effect. Control simple, compound and complex sentences for impact. Punctuate well Use full stops and commas accurately. Accurately use a range of punctuation to clarify meaning, sometimes to give impact. Accurately use a full range of punctuation (probably including colons and semi-colons) to vary pace, clarify meaning, avoid ambiguity and create deliberate effects. Spell carefully Spell most ordinary words accurately. Spell a wide vocabulary and more complex words accurately. Spell correctly - even complex irregular words. Use past and present Use tenses accurately past and present. Handle tenses very accurately. Change tenses confidently and purposefully Page 9 of 9