EAL Lesson: talking about film

Film

Image found on Unsplash and taken by Jakob Owens
@jakobowens1

Audience and Purpose

Directors create films to entertain and engage an audience. Films can also have the purpose to unsettle their audience by focusing on political, historical or ethical issues.

What is your memorable film?

Think of one film that has entertained, engaged or unsettled you. It could be a film that you enjoyed for its beauty or maybe it led you to think about a serious issue or ignited a new interest.

How were you engaged?

There are many films that I have found entertaining but one film genre that ignited an interest for me were the musicals of the 1950s and 60s. I first watched these films decades after they were released but I was intrigued and captivated by the cinematography and overwhelmed by the costumes.

One of these films is Funny Face, a 1957 American musical romantic comedy, directed by Stanley Donen with unforgettable music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. I was amazed by the costumes, the settings and the overall atmosphere created by the film.

I wondered about the people who had created these costumes and discovered fabulous costume designers such Adrian and the inspirational Edith Head.

Task

  • Leave a comment: connect and extend an idea in this post
  • Record a 3-minute podcast in which you talk about a memorable film and describe how the director used one particular film technique that engaged you the most.
  • Use this Google doc to prepare your notes.
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8 Comments
  1. Hi everyone. I recently watched one of my favorite movies, A Night at the Opera, with my wife and two young daughters. This is an old movie from the 1930’s. It is a comedy starring the Marx Brothers. I didn’t know what my children would think of it. The plot doesn’t make much sense, and the comedy is very silly and slapstick. I thought my children would groan through the entire production, but instead they laughed very hard. And sometimes they were laughing at me because I was laughing so hard. My favorite moment was when my fourteen year old daughter exclaimed hysterically, “What am I even watching!?!” I think they were really surprised to see characters in a movie try to make the audience laugh even when the jokes and the silliness wasn’t actually advancing the plot. Today, so much of movies are so tightly scripted and budgeted that we rarely see onscreen events that seem completely spontaneous, improvised, and completely unpredictable. I miss that in movies!

  2. Hello

    Robin Williams in “Dead Poet’s Society” was special for me because it truly inspired a change in thinking within me to really seize the day and take control of you’r own destiny. Your really make your own luck in the end. Although you will have a few bumps on the road if you believe in your own possibilities, lady luck will start to turn in your favour more times than not.

    You can worry your life away,
    not knowing what each new day can bring for you.
    Or wake up to each new day as you go on
    Realise all the love that flows on around you.
    If you believe. if you believe in you,
    every thing you thought is possible…

    George Harrison – If you Believe – 1979

  3. Hello Ms.Ronney
    One of my memorable movies is called Gifted. This film intrigued and captivated me by the exquisite acting skills and film technology of Gifted. I have also been engaged by the contagious facial expressions of actors. Chris Evans, a famous Amercian actor who has participated in Marvel Comics as Captain America, was one of the protagonists in Gifted. The Gifted has unsettled audiences successfully not only by itself but also by the words it wants to convey ” Love is more important than success.”

  4. My memorable film is Suffragette. I watched part of that movie on ABC one evening and bought the DVD next day to finish it. This film is set in early 20th Britain. The overall plot of the movie is about ‘vote for women’ which related to me as a female. Growing up I took many rights for granted such as being able to vote and go to school. This film shows me these women before me, those who fought for our rights more than 100 years ago. They were treated wrongly and they sacrifice themselves for our rights. When I finished the film, one of the lines Meryl Streep said stuck in my head ” We do not want to be law breakers, we want to be law makers.”

  5. I connected to a film that is memorable for me. It is called “Get Out” which is a horrible film but has a deeper meaning. In front of each role in the dialogue hints and clues to the back which makes the audiences feel really excited and intrigued.
    After watching this film, it made me think about the different ethnicity for people and the justice society.

  6. Hi Mrs, Rooney,
    After watching the trailer, I believed Funny Face was a fabulous movie. One of my memorable films is called Ella Enchanted. I read a novel called Ella Enchanted when I was young and I loved it very much. I found there was a movie based on this novel so I was interested in it. It was a fantasy romantic comedy film. The film was full of love and friendships along with struggles. I appreciated its beauty and it also affected me somewhat at that time because from Ella’s story I learned not to give up hope and then we can overcome all difficulties, which was very important to me in my childhood.

  7. One of the most memorable films I have watched was ‘The Shawshank Redemption’. The film tells of a banker called Andy Dufresne and his experience in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murder of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. After Andy escapes from prison, he writes a letter to Red and said:” Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free.” Andy’s story made me realise that you should always have hope and this can encourage you to keep going.

  8. Among all the films, War Horse was the most memorable one for me. It was a British war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg in 2011. The film reeks with the undying optimism of Spielberg and develops into the themes of redemption and the overcoming ability of the human spirit. It made me think about faith in humanity and the message of the film.

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