BFI | Education | Teaching resources | Harold Pinter's 'The Caretaker': Approach 1

Approach 1 for using the film at AS/A2

The role of the director in the film of The Caretaker.

To enable the students to consider how a director communicates his/her view or interpretation of a text so that someone else (an audience) can understand and share it.
To contrast the approaches of film and theatrical directors: the director of the theatre stage can use techniques to point and focus the audience's attention in a broad and holistic way on the bigger 'canvas' of the stage, while the film director is able to use film language - camera, sound and editing - to focus the attention of the audience on specific themes, characters, etc.

Copies of the opening of Act III (pp 58-61, Eyre Methuen edition);
A video or DVD of the film, set at the beginning of this scene;
A TV and video/DVD player;
Stills of camera shots, eg long shot, medium close-up, etc (alternatively you may be able to freeze-frame particular shots in the film itself if you are using a DVD or have a suitable video player);
A storyboard template and/or a digital camera.

Read through the recommended section of the text.
Divide the class into groups of three, and ask them to act out the section with one of the group acting as the director of the scene.
Ask them to make notes on what they were trying to achieve and how, then bring the class back together for a plenary to share and record their ideas.
Look at the same scene in the film and ask students to consider the following questions:
- How does Donner's interpretation differ from their own?
- Where is the director pointing us?
- How does he, and his actors, get his interpretation across?
Watch the sequence again: How does the director use camera shots - close-ups, medium shots, long shots, etc?

Look at the short scene again, reflect on the issues from the last lesson and discuss camera angles - high/low etc.
Record the number of edits used and the effects they create.
Make a shot list or storyboard of the sequence indicating the camera angles and types of shot used.
Then ask the students to act out their version of the scene from the first lesson again, deciding where and how they would use the camera, and where they would edit.
They should record this by either creating a series of still photographs using a digital camera, creating a storyboard or producing a shooting script, listing the shots, action etc.
Look at the film again this time focusing on mise en scène - lighting, sound effects, set, costume, props etc.
Discuss how the film director has used these theatrical elements to construct his view of the play.

Reflect on the issues from the last lesson, then ask the groups to consider what elements they would use to create the mise en scène - lighting, props, set, costume etc - for their version of the scene.
They should act out the scene again, thinking about how they might use these elements of mise en scène, and develop their basic storyboard or shooting script.
They should then finalise the scene, making sure they have made a note of all the elements they want to include.
In a plenary session, discuss how the creation of their scene for film has helped students to understand the role of the film director, and enhanced their understanding of the scene from the play.
The class could film the sequence if you have the time and resources.