Teacher:...... Class:...... Title: Heroes – The ordinary, the extraordinary and the contrived Unit Outline Unit duration Objective: Students will learn about the ways texts manipulate the responder. They will learn to think critically 10 Weeks (30 Lessons) about images presented for specific purposes in a variety of media, which will teach them to be discerning viewers, and enable them to make informed decisions and choices. Big ideas/key concepts Why does this learning matter? The key concepts I want students to learn about are: The learning matters because:  What makes a person a hero?  it is important to be visually literate.  There are different types of heroes (superheroes,  a development of appreciation and understanding of a broad range of text types can be ordinary heroes, contrived heroes, professional achieved through studying film. heroes, heroes of circumstance – accidental heroes  We live in a highly visual world, and are constantly being bombarded by images from the etc.) media. Critical literacy is highly important as students need to know how they are being  Why do people need heroes? Why are they manipulated by the images and the media they are exposed to everyday, so they can make important? up their own minds. Place in scope & sequence/Building the field Target outcomes 3 – A student selects, uses, describes and explains how different technologies affect and shape This unit follows a novel study, where students looked at meaning. characterisation, setting and theme in a novel of their own 4 – A student selects and uses language forms and features, and structures of texts according to choice. In this unit they looked at narrative structure, book different purposes, audiences and contexts, and describes and explains their effect on meaning. reviews, biographies and a variety of other text types 8 – A student investigates the relationships between and among texts. (depending on the activities chosen by students to complete). In term 1 students were introduce to visual 9 – A student demonstrates understanding of the ways texts reflect personal and public worlds. analysis in their study of picture books and advertising. 11 – A student uses, reflects on, assesses and adapts their individual and collaborative skills for learning with increasing independence and effectiveness. Assessment:  Part A (due week 6?) – Students are to collect and annotate 2 different texts.  Part B (due week 9?) – Powerpoint presentation What the students need to know/ have done at the end of this unit: . Students need to be familiar with the metalanguage of film. . Students need to have a working knowledge of how film techniques are used to convey certain images of heroism. . Students need to have applied their knowledge to prepare and present a Powerpoint presentation, which depicts their understanding of the concept and importance of heroism as seen in a minimum of three different texts. Students Students Learning Experiences Evidence of Resources Quality Teaching Reg/ learn to: learn about: Learning Date 9.8, 9.9 INTRODUCTION TO HEROISM Intellectual Quality 2  Define heroism (Langford strategy) – Students work Butcher’s Put the students into groups of about 4. in a group paper Each student gets 3 minutes to write a definition of what they think a hero is. Students come Textas Significance They then pass their definitions around the circle. up with a  Deep knowledge Each member of the group reads the definition and definition of a [Red and blue  Understanding underlines what they think are the key words. This hero dot stickers –  Problematic continues until everyone has read everyone else’s for a multi knowledge definition. vote]  Higher-order Students then call out the words underlined on their thinking piece of paper, and one group member writes the words onto a piece of butcher’s paper for everyone to  Metalanguage see.  Substantive They then eliminate the superfluous words (double communication ups, synonyms etc). Quality Learning [If needed, have the group multi-vote to figure out the Environment words they think are most important, red dot = 2  Explicit quality point blue dot = 1 point] criteria As a group they use the words they have voted on to  Engagement write a group definition which everyone is happy with.  High expectations 4.12  Brainstorm different types of heroes (super Participation in Optional:  Social support heroes, ordinary heroes, professional heroes, brainstorm butcher’s 6.1, contrived heroes, accidental heroes, reluctant paper, textas S1 Background heroes, anti-heroes) knowledge S4 Inclusivity 4.12  Brainstorm a list of examples of heroes that the Students Optional - participate in Butcher’s  Students’ self- students know. OR regulation 6.1,  Group work – one student is the scribe. discussion. paper and  Student direction Students take turns going around the circle and textas 9.2, 9.3 9.6, 9.7, 9.8 naming one hero each. (The scribe records Categorisation Significance these names). If they can’t think of anyone, of heroes in Rulers – to  Background 11.5, 11.6 11.13 they say pass. They have five minutes to think table draw table knowledge of as many heroes as they can.  Cultural  Categorise – as a class/ in small groups have knowledge the students categorise their examples of  Knowledge heroes by placing their names in a table – integration Types of Heroes  Inclusivity  Discuss – use the table as a starting point for  Connectedness discussion. Do some heroes fit into more than  Narrative one category? Why might this be? Does this discussion change your definition of what it means to be a hero? How? 9.5  Y- Chart: Students are to use their definitions Y chart ICT Intellectual Quality for a hero to construct a Y chart (outline Page 11.6 11.13 164 Innovative Teacher’s Companion - ICT), detailing what a hero looks like, sounds like and 3

Evaluation of Unit Teacher Evaluation Comments/Variations How did the unit ‘rate’ in these areas ? Time allocated for topic Student understanding of content Opportunities for student reflection on learning Suitability of resources Variety of teaching strategies Integration of Quality Teaching strategies Integration of ICTs Literacy strategies used Numeracy strategies used

Date commenced:

Date completed:

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Board Notes # 1

Deconstructing Visual Texts When deconstructing visual texts it is important to consider the following features (although not all of these features may be evident in every visual text):

Purpose (Why Structural Features (What Context (Where is was it created?) type of text is it? What the source located?) structure does it follow?)

Subject matter (What is it Visual text Content (What is in it?) about?)

Engagement with the Compositional features responder/ viewer (How Mood, emotion, (How is it arranged on does it make us feel/ symbolism and expression the page?) react?) (Are there any symbols used? What is the tone of the text?)

Board notes # 2 Shot Type A shot is one uninterrupted image with a single take or mobile framing:  Extreme close up - A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very large, most commonly a small object or part of the body.  Close up - A framing in which the scale of the object shown is relatively large; most commonly a person’s head seen from the neck up, or an object of comparable size that fills the screen  Medium close up - A framing which the scale of the object is fairly large; a human figure seen from chest up would fill most of the screen.  Medium shot - A framing in which the scale of the object is of moderate size; a human figure seen from the waist up would fill most of the screen.  Long shot - A framing in which the scale of the object would appear nearly the height of the screen  Extreme long shot - A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very small, a building, landscape or crowd of people would fill the screen.

Board notes # 3 Camera Angle Camera angles are used extensively to communicate meaning and emotion about characters:

 Low-angle shot: Looking up at a character or object, often to instill fear or awe in the audience;  Straight-angle shot: Looking at an eye-level angle to a character or object, giving a sense of equality between subject and audience;  High-angle shot: Looking down on a character, often to show vulnerability or weakness;  Canted or Oblique: The camera is tilted to show the scene at an angle. This is used extensively in the horror and science fiction genre. The audience will often not consciously realise the change. The most obvious use of this technique is found in the 6

'Batman' TV show and original movie (when the villains were on screen, the camera would show them at a canted angle). 7

Board notes # 4 Sound  Diegetic sound –sound that exists in the world of the film, that is, characters can hear it e.g. foot steps, explosions, helicopters, wind etc. Diegetic sounds are used to add reality to the scene.  Non-diegetic sound – sound that is not in the world of the film, that is, characters cannot hear it. E.g. soundtracks, background music. These sounds are used to add tension, evoke emotion, personify a character or place etc.

Board notes # 5 Lighting Another important part of each shot is lighting. The lighting varies depending on the mood that the director wants to create. In scenes where the feeling is happy and pleasant the director will probably use high key lighting. The scene is brightly lit and there are very few shadows.

In a scene where the atmosphere is one of misery or terror, low key lighting would be appropriate. Here the lighting is gloomy and there are lots of shadows. What light there is tends to pick out only certain things in the shot such as face, eyes and hands.

Board notes # 6 Mise-en-scene This is a French word which literally means ‘everything that is in the scene’. It incorporates design, performance/ actors, and even camera elements and editing. ♫ Design – the location of the scene (interior/ exterior), props, costume, make up/ hair styling and colour. ♫ Performance/ actors – shape/ size, gender, race, movement. ♫ Camera elements – focus, zoom, track, tilt, pan, shot type, lighting and shadow, composition ♫ Editing - Transition (cut, fade, dissolve, wipe), other visual effects, structure It is important to remember that everything is placed in front of the screen for a reason. It may be to develop plot, add to realism, or develop our understanding of a character.