For More Than 1,200 Years, It S Been an Urban Legend on the Scale of Noah S Arc, the Great

English 3-4 (H): Television News Feature Project, “Beowulf”

For more than 1,200 years, it’s been an urban legend on the scale of Noah’s Arc, the Great Loch ness Monster, and Santa Claus. For centuries, people from Scandinavia, to England to Europe and to the shores of North America have asked the same questions: did a super hero named Beowulf really exist, and did a ship carrying a treasure chest filled with home movies, interviews, diaries, psychiatrist reports, newspaper clippings, etc., really sink to the bottom of the English Channel, never to be found?

Well, like King Tut’s Tomb or King Solomon’s Mines, the urban legend is no longer a legend; it’s fact. Yes, divers finally located the long-lost Viking ship in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean and, like a kid who discovers Santa Claus eating cookies in his kitchen on Christmas Eve, those divers recovered all the evidence that would convince even the most hardened skeptic that Beowulf is, indeed, real.

Finally, after 1,200 years, there’s positive proof that the great Beowulf, the evil ogre Grendel, and all the other fantastical characters really existed and their exploits really did occur. And, for the first time ever, the complete story of Beowulf can be heard and seen, in the comfort of your own home. This Sunday at 8 p.m., watch the world premier of “Beowulf: The True Hollywood Story.”

English 3-4 (H): Television News Feature Project, “Beowulf”

Project Situation: You and your news team just recovered a treasure chest that belonged to a Viking documentary filmmaker that contained never-before-seen videos, tapes and reports about Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel’s mom, the Dragon, Hrothgar and his Danes, and Beowulf’s fellow Geats. Included in the treasure chest include home movies of all the characters in “Beowulf,” news interviews, live battle footage, psychiatric reports and recommendations, and medical reports and x-rays. The information corroborates all the information found in the “Beowulf” text and provides additional information that provides additional insight to the motivations and actions of the “Beowulf” characters.

Project Description: Using the “Beowulf” text and the additional information found in the treasure chest, create a news story for television depicting the life of Beowulf. Your objective here is to accurately tell the epic story of this epic hero, develop his heroic and non-heroic traits, and provide psychological analysis of characters from the story. In your feature, please integrate the following scenes to develop your news story;

 Grendel’s initial reign of terror  Beowulf hears about the monster and sails to fight Grendel  Beowulf meets Grendel  Grendel’s Mother exacts revenge  Beowulf meets Grendel’s Mother  Beowulf meets the fire-breathing dragon  The ending of the story

The elements that need to be developed in your production are:

 A 10- to 15-minute video production. Your group may want to watch one of many news shows on television (e.g. 60 Minutes, 20/20, Primetime, etc.) to get an idea what these shows cover.  Text of the script, including stage directions.  Story board that plots out the scenes of your video.

The content requirements include

 Re-enactments of important scenes  Character interviews  Psychiatrist reports on Beowulf and at least two other characters  Discussion of Beowulf being a good or bad role model

Use your creativity. Remember that you are only bound to develop the news story as you understand and interpret the text. You have so many possible strategies here. You may create your own dialogue, setting, and costumes to interpret this text. You need to keep in mind your objective: to make sure that your audience understands the characters and the story.