Teacher Lesson Plans - Create a Class Film
Introduce the topic (10 minutes)
The teacher should ask for movie genre types from the students and try write them all on the board (such as horror, comedy, etc). They can also ask for examples of each, and which countries are best at making which type of film.
Preparation (40 minutes)
Explain to the class that we will try to make a class film, which will have several acts and a variety of genres. Ask them to form themselves into groups of 5 and then give out the handout. Each group will represent a different scene and hence a different genre. Assign genres and tell them that each scene should last about 4 minutes.
Presentation (40 minutes)
Run through the film scene by scene, telling the class which things they should look out for. In order to make it easier to understand, the teacher could assign a prop to each character. A final review of the film at the end of the lesson is also a good idea.
The Handout (one to each group)
The characters (Name/Sex/Age/Occupation/Interest)
James McDoogle/Male/16/High school student/Kung Fu
Nancy Stimple/Female/8/Primary school student/Gambling
Professor Lemonhead/Female/56/Professor/Older men
Craig David/Male/25/Singer/F1 Racing
Bobby Boombastic/Male/89/Professional dancer/Playing drums
Rules
There are rules for each scene which must be obeyed. It’s up to the group to decide how to obey them, but they cannot be ignored.
Some useful information
In each scene, whatever happens to the characters must be undone by the end of the scene. For example, if one character breaks their leg, it must be fixed by the end of the scene. This is important to make the film flow without continuity problems. Additionally, no characters are allowed to be related, but only friends or strangers.
Scene 1: Action
As the opening scene, you should find a way to introduce the characters. The characters will enter a dangerous situation, and subsequently 1 character will accidentally hurt 2 others. 1 character will win a large amount of money, which is later stolen by the others by spending it all on strange things.
Scene 2: Love
2 of the characters will fall in love, 2 of the characters will become worst enemies, and at least one character should forget who they are.
Scene 3: Horror
2 characters will become scared by animals, and at least 3 characters should play a practical joke.
Scene 4: Science Fiction
All the characters travel to another country. 2 of the members will like travelling, 2 characters will hate it, but 1 character thinks they haven’t gone anywhere.
Scene 5: Tragedy
4 of the characters should die, with 2 of them dying from accidents, and another 2 being killed by the remaining 1 character.
