English in Years 7 to 9

Screening Shorts links the use of short films in developing cineliteracy with the National Framework for Teaching English: Years 7, 8 and 9. The bfi offers a model of learning progression in cineliteracy in Moving Images in the Classroom (2000), suggesting a five-stage pathway to becoming cineliterate. Each stage is divided into three areas of key learning outcomes - film language; producers and audiences; messages and values - and a fourth area of experiences and activities that might form part of a student's entitlement at each stage.

Note about film selection

You may feel that some of the films in this compilation are not suitable for some students in Years 7 to 9. For example, that the language used in Accident may preclude its use with younger students; and the final scene in About a Girl may make uncomfortable viewing. However, The Man with the Beautiful Eyes would work just as well with Year 7 as it would with Year 10; and similarly The Most Beautiful Man in the World would engage a younger audience, even if the darker, more sinister, possibilities of the film are not instantly apparent to them. You will need to exercise your professional judgement in determining the suitability of any of the films for classroom work, balancing the learning opportunities that the films offer with the needs and experiences of the children, their ages, abilities, and sensitivities.

Still: The Most Beautiful Man in the World

The Most Beautiful Man in the World

The teaching suggestions here build on the starting points offered in Screening Shorts.

Connecting with Framework for English objectives

The following examples indicate some of the ways short films can be used to support specific linked objectives in the English curriculum. The objectives can be tracked through the framework in Years 7, 8 and 9, so students can be made aware of the progression in their own learning about film.

Year 7 Reading

  • Objective 8, 'infer and deduce meanings using evidence in the text, identifying where and how meanings are implied.'
    The Literacy Framework doesn't specify that print texts are the only texts to be studied, and short films offer alternative ways in to understanding processes of inference.

Sample activity Playing the sound on a film without showing the image allows listeners to 'fill in the gaps' in a story and guess what is happening. For example, play the opening sequence of The Little Things and ask students to guess the setting.

  • Objective 10, '… recognise that audience responses vary.'
    The listening activity above will demonstrate to students that every reader/viewer/listener responds in different ways to the same textual material. Sound work is especially effective for this - the same music and sound effects will stimulate very different pictures in people's imaginations.
  • Objective 11, 'recognise how print, sounds and still or moving images combine to create meaning.'
    Sample film The Man with the Beautiful Eyes The film is based on a poem (PDF, 50kb) by Charles Bukowski. Read the poem first, then play the film with the sound only, and then with the visuals only. At each stage allow students to contemplate what meanings are derived from sound, image and printed word in isolation, before considering the meaning of the total film when the three elements are combined.

Year 7 Writing

  • Objective 5, 'structure a story with an arresting opening, a developing plot, a complication, a crisis, and a satisfying resolution.'
    Sample activity 'Writing the film', that is, reproducing the narrative of a film as a piece of prose will give students a story scaffold to help them with creative writing. They could discuss whether any of the films in the pack follow this conventional narrative model. Accident, The Most Beautiful Man in the World, The Man with the Beautiful Eyes, and Two Cars, One Night hardly offer 'satisfying resolutions', and few start with arresting openings.
  • Objective 6, 'portray character, directly and indirectly, through description, dialogue, and action.'
    Sample activity As above, 'writing the film' activities enable students to carry out 'writing craft' work, without the anxiety of creating stories from scratch. Writing different versions of the interaction between Romeo and the girl in Two Cars, One Night, from each of the character's perspectives, would enable students to reflect on how character can be established in writing.
  • Objective 7, 'use a range of narrative devices, eg withholding information.'
    Sample activity Again, using written versions of individual films will reveal to students aspects of the writer's craft. How, and when, in a written version of the film, would one reveal that The Little Things is set on George's birthday?

Year 7 Speaking and listening

  • Objective 2, 'recount a story, anecdote or experience, and consider how this differs from written narrative.'
    Sample activity A simple recount, in one sentence (or the film industry equivalent - '24 words or less'), of the events of any of the films reveals how complex these narratives are: what 'happens' in Accident? Or in Jus' Gaps? Or in The Most Beautiful Man in the World ? It will also reveal processes of inference (Do viewers 'read' The Most Beautiful Man in the World as threatening? Are George and Tama in The Little Things related?). It will also show how audience responses vary.
Still: Jus' Gaps

Jus' Gaps, Lucy in barbershop

Year 8 Reading

  • Objective 8, 'investigate how meanings are changed when information is presented in different forms or transposed into different media.'
    Sample activity Carry out any of the 'writing the film' activities from above.
    Sample film The Man with the Beautiful Eyes Make a more focused comparison of Bukowski's printed poem with Jonathan Hodgson's animated version.
    Sample film Accident Look at the alterations, ambiguities and adjustments in meaning that occur when a story moves from script to film.
  • Objective 9, 'recognise how texts are shaped by the technology they use, eg colour in animation.'
    Sample activity Turn the colour down in The Man with the Beautiful Eyes and 'colour in' the action with students; what colours are likely to be used, and with what effects? In role as the director of Two Cars, One Night, ask students to explain their choice of black and white film stock for the film (then compare this with his actual answer in the interview provided).
  • Objective 14, 'recognise the conventions of some common... genres, eg Gothic horror.' There are no films in this pack as straightforwardly Gothic as The Sandman (in Screening Shorts), or a piece of techno-thriller like Virus, but there are interesting generic case studies here. 7.35 in the Morning is generically complex (or confused!) and would make an ideal Venn diagram case study (see Thinking about moving image media - genre).

Year 8 Writing

  • Objective 6,'experiment with figurative language in conveying a sense of character and setting.'
    Sample activity Any of the writing activities sampled above could be developed as an exercise in figurative writing, by first studying the 'figurative' nature of much film language. How could a writer convey the sense of stultifying lassitude in The Most Beautiful Man in the World ? How does the animator of The Man with the Beautiful Eyes 'translate' the figurative effects in Bukowski's poem into visual form?

Year 8 Speaking and listening

  • Objective 2, 'tell a story, recount an experience, or develop an idea, choosing and changing the mood, tone, and pace of delivery for particular effect.'
  • Objective 7, 'listen for a specific purpose, paying sustained attention and selecting for comment or question that which is relevant to the agreed focus.'
    Sample activity Listening to the soundtrack of a film, using the Tell Me grids as a focus, will support this objective. Films with especially rich soundtracks, and which don't translate straightforwardly into their images, include 7.35 in the Morning, The Man with the Beautiful Eyes and The Most Beautiful Man in the World .
    Sample activity Oral recounts of films which undergo dramatic changes in tone or mood would be ideal vehicles for challenging 'translation' into verbal language, for example 7.35 in the Morning, The Man with the Beautiful Eyes.
Still: 7.35 in the Morning

7.35 in the Morning

Year 9 Reading

  • Objective 2, 'synthesise information from a range of sources, shaping material to meet the reader's needs.'
    Sample film The Little Things Use the press kit (PDF, 67kb) for to prepare a one-minute feature about the film for a radio programme aimed at teenagers.
  • Objective 7, 'compare the presentation of ideas, values or emotions in related or contrasting texts.'
    Sample films About a Girl and The First time It Hits Compare the representation of teenage girls.
  • Objective 8, 'analyse how media texts influence and are influenced by readers.'
    Sample film The First Time It Hits Watch the sequence, in which the boy imagines a daring skate stunt to impress the girl. It borrows the style of photo-stories or comic strips in teenage magazines and poses the question as to what extent the boy is influenced by what he has read; or to what degree the look and content of the film is shaped by publications aimed at teenagers.
    Sample film About a Girl Explore the links between news stories and film themes. The scriptwriter said that the idea for the film came from reading an article about pregnant teenagers concealing the births of their unwanted babies. Also explore links with other film forms such as music video and pop icons. Evidently the girl at the centre of the film has dreams of becoming a famous singer, and her modelled routines on Britney Spears, influenced by her exposure to the music videos and press coverage of her pop idol; but the film also prompts some enquiry into the ways that Britney Spears' own image was influenced by the styles, concerns and aspirations of her target audience.
  • Objective 10, 'comment on interpretations of the same text or idea in different media, using terms appropriate for critical analysis.'
    Sample film The Man with the Beautiful Eyes Organise students into two groups, one focusing on analysing the film, the other on analysing the poem, without being aware of the other's work. In a plenary session, compare interpretations and discuss the differences.
  • Objective 14, 'analyse the language, form and dramatic impact of scenes and plays by published dramatists.'
    Use the scripts of the films in the compilation to practise this skill.
    Sample films Jus' Gaps, About a Girl Students play out a scripted scene first and then compare their work to the filmed version.

Year 9 Writing

  • Objective 5, 'explore different ways of opening, structuring and ending narratives and experiment with narrative perspective, eg multiple narration .'
    Sample film Accident plays out the cliché that an accident is never seen by any two people in exactly the same way. Students could be asked to adopt the personae of different members of the crowd who gather around the scene of the accident, and then write accounts of the event as seen through their characters' eyes.
  • Objective 8, 'write within the discipline of different poetic forms, exploring how form contributes to meaning.'
    Sample film 7.35 in the Morning A challenging task - put the students into different groups to compose poems of different forms (ballad, sonnet, limerick, haiku, tanka...) each based on the film.
  • Objective 12, 'exploit the potential of presentational devices when presenting information on paper or on screen, eg. font size, text layout, bullet points, italic.'
    Sample films Accident, Killing Time at Home Students could produce a front-page news story, complete with photograph, caption, headline and so on, based on the events in the films. Divide the class into groups to produce a story each for a different kind of publication - local newspaper, tabloid, broadsheet and so on. They could also design a homepage for the disposable friends in Killing Time at Home, or a police webpage for Accident. In the final plenary ask students to analyse how presentational devices and conventions can be exploited and manipulated to present different views of the same event.
  • Objective 15, 'offer general advice or guidelines for action adopting an impersonal style to suggest impartiality and authority.'
    Sample film The First Time It Hits Students could write and respond to the lovelorn skateboarder's letter to an agony aunt in a teenage magazine, explaining his plight and asking for advice.
  • Objective 17, 'cite specific and relevant textual evidence to justify critical judgements about texts.'
    Sample film 7.35 in the Morning Ask students to write a letter from a television spokesperson responding to a complaint about a screening of the film on the day of a terrorist bombing. Encourage them to include close textual reference to indicate that the film was not insensitive or in bad taste.

Year 9 Speaking and Listening

  • Objective 3, 'develop interview techniques which include planning a series of linked questions, helping the respondent to give useful answers, responding to and extending the responses.'
    Sample activity Ask students to hot-seat characters from the films, or role-play interviews with the actors and/or film-makers.
  • Objective 5, 'compare different points of view that have been expressed, identifying and evaluating differences and similarities.'
    Sample film Accident Ask students to identify and compare different responses to both the accident itself and to the police handling of the incident.
  • Objective 8, 'review the contributions they have made to recent discussions, recognising their strengths and identifying areas for development.'
    Sample activity After a structured discussion of any of the films in the compilation conduct a guided review of the discussion using a self-review frame.
  • Objective 9, 'discuss and evaluate conflicting evidence to arrive at a considered viewpoint.'
    Sample film Accident Use the outcomes of the writing activity above and simulate an inquiry or inquest at which members of the crowd are called to give eyewitness accounts. Students in role as the jury then decide what had happened and whether the accident/man's death might have been avoided had members of the public behaved differently.
Still: Accident

Accident

Drama

  • Objective 15, 'write critical evaluations of performances they have seen or in which they have participated, identifying the contributions of the writer, director and actors.'
    Because short films can be screened repeatedly over a series of lessons, students acquire a deep familiarity with them, providing an opportunity for practice in writing critical evaluations of performance.
    Sample films Two Cars, One Night, 7.35 in the Morning Ask students to analyse the performances of the main protagonists. Alternatively, they could focus on the minor actors and consider how they add the to whole performance.
Still: Two Cars, One Night

Two Cars, One Night

In addition to the objectives related to text-level work, the films can also support objectives relating to standard English and language variation, and the development of listening skills.

Sample films Two Cars, One Night, The Little Things, Jus' Gaps, About a Girl, Accident Students can listen to the voice tracks and dialogue and identify dialectical variations from standard English.

Sample film The Man with the Beautiful Eyes Students could consider what makes poetic language distinctive.

Cineliteracy and the National Framework for English

The following table, originally developed for Screening Shorts, matches the key learning objectives of the bfi's cineliteracy 'framework' with the learning objectives of the Key Stage 3 English framework. The table shows the considerable degree of compatibility and commonality that exists between the two frameworks, making the case that students' use of language, written and spoken, can be enhanced and developed through the study of film and that their understanding of printed texts can be strengthened through the study of moving image texts.

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Last Updated: Wednesday, 06-Feb-2008 14:29:04 GMT