Reading in the Dark: Using Film As a Tool in the English Classroom. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 456 446 CS 217 685 AUTHOR Golden, John TITLE Reading in the Dark: Using Film as a Tool in the English Classroom. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL. ISBN ISBN-0-8141-3872-1 PUB DATE 2001-00-00 NOTE 199p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 38721-1659: $19.95, members; $26.95, nonmembers). Tel: 800-369-6283 (Toll Free); Web site http://www.ncte.org. PUB TYPE Books (010) Guides Non-Classroom (055) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Classroom Techniques; *Critical Viewing; *English Instruction; *Film Study; *Films; High Schools; Instructional Effectiveness; Language Arts; *Reading Strategies; Units of Study IDENTIFIERS *Film Viewing; *Textual Analysis ABSTRACT To believe that students are not using reading and analytical skills when they watch or "read" a movie is to miss the power and complexities of film--and of students' viewing processes. This book encourages teachers to harness students' interest in film to help them engage critically with a range of media, including visual and printed texts. Toward this end, the book provides a practical guide to enabling teachers to ,feel comfortable and confident about using film in new and different ways. It addresses film as a compelling medium in itself by using examples from more than 30 films to explain key terminology and cinematic effects. And it then makes direct links between film and literary study by addressing "reading strategies" (e.g., predicting, responding, questioning, and storyboarding) and key aspects of "textual analysis" (e.g., characterization, point of view, irony, and connections between directorial and authorial choices) .The book concludes with classroom-tested suggestions for putting it all together in teaching units on 11 films ranging from "Elizabeth" to "Crooklyn" to "Smoke Signals." Some other films examined are "E.T.," "Life Is Beautiful," "Rocky," "The Lion King," and "Frankenstein." (Contains 35 figures. Appendixes include a glossary of film terms, blank activity charts, and an annotated resource list.)(NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement aisiteMititir EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) his document has been reproduced as krreceived from the person or organization originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Hyto TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 t NIL Reading in the Dark NCTE Editorial Board: Jacqueline Bryant, Kermit Campbell, Willie Mae Crews, Colleen Fairbanks, Andrea Lunsford, Gerald R. Og lan, Jackie Swensson, Gail Wood, Paul Bodmer, Chair, ex officio, Peter Feely, ex officio Reading in the Dark Using Film as a Tool in the English Classroom John Golden Grant High School Portland, Oregon National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 Staff Editor: Tom Tiller Interior Design: Doug Burnett Cover Design: Diana Coe Digital Imagery ©2001 Photo Disc, Inc. NCTE Stock Number: 38721-3050 ©2001 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans- mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho- tocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the copyright holder. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a fo- rum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Film photos: Museum of Modern Art/Film Stills Archive. Courtesy of Colum- bia Pictures (The Remains of the Day), MGM (North by Northwest), Miramax Films (Life Is Beautiful), Paramount Pictures (The Conversation, Rear Window, and Ver- tigo), RKO Pictures (Citizen Kane and Notorious), The Samuel Goldwyn Com- pany (Henry V), Twentieth Century Fox (Edward Scissorhands), United Artists (Othello and Rocky), Universal City Studios (Do the Right Thing), Universal Pic- tures (Crooklyn, Frankenstein, and Psycho), and Warner Bros. (The Color Purple). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Golden, John, 1968- Reading in the dark : using film as a tool in the.English classroom/John Golden. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8141-3872-1 (pbk.) 1. Language arts (Middle school) 2. Motion pictures in education. I. Title. LB1631 .G619 2001 428.4dc21 2001042754 6 For Laura, who honestly believes that anything is possible and who started me on this by asking, "Why not?" And for Eleanor, who arrived just in time to be included here, and to spit up at least once on the manuscript. vii Contents Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii 1. Film Terminology and Cinematic Effects 1 The Shot 1 Framing 3 Focus 6 Angles 8 Camera Movement 12 Lighting 15 Sound 17 Editing 20 Mise-en-Scène 25 Putting It All Together 26 Playing Director 34 2. Film and Reading Strategies 36 Predicting 36 Responding to the Text 42 Questioning the Text 47 Storyboarding 53 Soundtrack 58 3. Film and Literary Analysis 61 Characterization 61 Setting 66 Point of View 71 Symbol 82 Irony 88 4. Teaching a Complete Film 96 The Lion King 98 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 102 Crooklyn 106 King of the Hill 113 Life Is Beautiful 117 8 viii Contents Frankenstein 125 Bride of Frankenstein 129 Rocky 132 Smoke Signals 139 Cyrano de Bergerac 143 Elizabeth 148 Appendixes A. Glossary of Film Terminology 155 B. Blank Activity Charts 157 C. Annotated List of Resources 168 D. Index of Films Discussed 172 Author 175 9 ix Figures 1.Use of paper "cameras" to visualize shots 2 2.Long shot in The Color Purple 4 3.Deep focus in Citizen Kane 7 4.Low angle in Othello 10 5.High angle in Vertigo 11 6.Low angle and upward tilt in The Conversation 14 7.Varied lighting in Othello 18 8.Eye-line match series 24 9.Mise-en-scene in Do the Right Thing 27 10.Mise-en-scene in Citizen Kane 28 11.Long shot in North by Northwest 31 12.Mood in Citizen Kane 38 13.Setting in Rear Window 40 14.Prediction chart 42 15.Sample viewing/reading log 43 16.Levels of questioning chart 49 17.High-key light in The Color Purple 52 18.Storyboarding chart #1 55 19.Storyboarding chart #2 57 20.Soimdtrack chart 59 21.Characterization chart 63 22.Characterization in The Remains of the Day 65 23.Characterization in Henry V 67 24.Setting chart 72 25.Point of view in filmsubjective, authorial, and neutral 75 26.Shift toward subjective perspective in Notorious 77 27.Authorial point of view in Notorious 78 1 0 x Figures 28.Symbol tally sheet 83 29.Bird as symbol in Psycho 85 30.Setting contributes to irony in Edward Scissorhands 93 31.Relationships in Crooklyn 109 32.Innocence amid horror in Life Is Beautiful 121 33.Tender moment in Frankenstein 127 34.Expressionism in Frankenstein 128 35.Costuming, framing, and performances suggest theme in Rocky 136 1 1 xi Acknowledgments If the actual writing of this book was a lonely exercise, the learning, back- ground, and assistance I needed to complete it involved a lot of dedicated and talented educators, family members, friends, and students who guided, directed, taught, and encouraged me. First of all, some folks at the College BoardLola Greene, Steve Green, and Trisha Callendergave me a number of opportunities to present and de- velop many of these activities with their support and guidance. The real genesis of this project was a conversationor argument, de- pending on whose version you hearwith Bill McBride of Colorado State University about a film project in the Pacesetter program. To anyone who knows him, Bill is a champion for teachers and their ideas. And since I let him win that argument, he introduced me to Pete Feely, of NCTE, who actually thought we could try the ideas out as a book and who has shown patience beyond any reasonable expectation. Tom Tiller, an editor at NCTE, improved this project immeasurably with every suggestion he made. He did such a won- derful job that I will be sending him all my students' essays to edit from now on. Thanks to Gary Cowan of Nashville Public Schools, Jenny Oren Krugman of Miami-Dade Public Schools, Karen Kerlin of Fulton County (Geor- gia) Schools, Rojulene Norris of Prince George's County (Maryland) Schools, and Linda Christensen of Portland Public Schools for letting me practice and refine many of these strategies in presentations to their teachers. To Gary, a special note of thanks for recognizing something in these strategies long be- fore I did and for helping me to define the structure of this book to fit what teachers really need. Though I've always had an interest in film, Cynthia Lucia of New York University and Enie Vaisburd of the Northwest Film Center gave me the con- cepts and tools to be able to talk about it. Much of what I have written here came from their wonderfully engaging classes. Teachers are sponges, and I soaked up many great ideas from other educators that found their way into this book. Thank you to David Whitley, formerly of Nashville Public Schools, Ann Foster of Brevard County (Florida) Schools, Karen Nu lton of the Educational Testing Service, Jo Ellen Victoreen of San Jose Unified District, Betsy James of the College Board, Flora Levin and Robin Knapp of Fulton County (Georgia) Schools, and David Quinn of Edmonds Woodbury High School in Washington.