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College Prep English IV Name:___________________________________ Mr. Hayward Fall Semester Date:____________________________________ Film Study I Short Animation “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe BAO* Director: Domee Shi Music: Toby Chu Run time: 8 minutes Setting: Toronto, Canada Please write as neatly as you can below. Before viewing: Do you have a favorite animated film? What is it? What do you like about it? How do you think food and family go together? Explain. After viewing: What are your first thoughts and reactions to Bao? Can you compare it to any other film (short or long) you have viewed? What message/theme do you think Shi conveys in her short film? Did you enjoy (or not enjoy) watching an animated short film like this? Explain. Use back if necessary. *First of 35 Pixar shorts to be directed by a woman CPEIV—Film Study Guide 2 College Prep English IV Name:___________________________________ Mr. Hayward Fall Semester Date:____________________________________ Film Study II Short Animation “Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.” ― David Richo ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR* Director: Alison Snowdon and David Fine Music: Judith Gruber-Stitzer Run time: 14 minutes CHARACTERS: Dr. Clement, the dog Victor, the ape Lorraine, the leech Cheryl, the mantis Todd, the pig Jeffrey, the bird Linda, the cat Terms to Know: Fable: a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral. Allegory: a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Before viewing: What stories, books, or films have you seen with animals as characters? List a few. Is there a TV show or a book you’ve read that you can identify as a satire? Do you think the humor in the show or book was light-hearted or more contemptuous, abrasive, accusatory? The former satire is called Horatian (after the Roman satirical poet Horace who was more light- hearted and wanted to amuse…think Pride and Prejudice or The Simpsons); the latter is called Juvenalian (after the Roman writer Juvenal who was angrier and used more irony and sarcasm to CPEIV—Film Study Guide 3 attack individuals, the government, and other organizations…think 1984 or the films Get Out, Office Space, and Fight Club). After viewing: What element(s) of society do you think the film satirizes? Which kind of satire? Explain with support. In a sentence or two, can you convey what the moral is of Animal Behaviour? CPEIV—Film Study Guide 4 College Prep English IV Name:___________________________________ Mr. Hayward Fall Semester Date:____________________________________ Film Study III Short Animation “Hope” is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all— And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard— And sore must be the storm— That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm— I’ve heard it in the chillest land— And on the strangest Sea— Yet—never—in Extremity, It asked a crumb—of me. —Emily Dickinson TWEET, TWEET Director: Zhanna Bekmambetova Music: Yuri Poteenko Run time: 12 minutes Before viewing: the bird in the short film we’ll view today is a sparrow; birds (like above in Emily Dickinson’s poem) are used symbolically by artists and authors. For example, at the end of Hamlet, Hamlet will say, “There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow,” and he will be alluding to the Gospel according to St. Matthew in the Bible: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell./ Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father" (King James version). In other words, a sparrow’s death is part of a larger plan. So, write a few sentences about what birds symbolize to you. How many meanings can you connect to birds? Can you think of any movies, books, or poems where birds were used in a symbolic way? Jot them down. CPEIV—Film Study Guide 5 After viewing: What was the most powerful image in Tweet, Tweet for you? Explain. Does this film work as an allegory? Try to explain the metaphor of the single line running through the film. Finally, of the three films, if you had to rate them, how does Tweet, Tweet rate? Justify your rating. CPEIV—Film Study Guide 6 College Prep English IV Name:___________________________________ Mr. Hayward Fall Semester Date:____________________________________ Film Study IV Short Animation “Symbols can be so beautiful, sometimes.” —Kurt Vonnegut WEEKENDS Director: Trevor Jimenez Music: Andrew Vernon Run time: 16 minutes Symbol: a literary device that contains several layers of meaning, often concealed at first sight, and is representative of several other aspects, concepts or traits than those that are visible in the literal translation alone. Symbol is using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning. Surrealism: the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations. Before viewing: Jot down any symbol you can remember from studying any work of literature you’ve read at CHS. What symbolic meanings or layers of meaning were connected to the object or action? After viewing: By now, you’ve begun to develop—even if just by watching—a sense of how short films use images to explore meaning. In Weekends, Jimenez uses the image of a wooden horse as a potent symbol. What does the horse symbolize to you? How does it contribute to the internal conflict for the boy? Surrealism often employs dream-like images. What surreal image or images caught your eye? What conflict(s) do you think Jimenez is exploring through the use of the surreal in this short film? Use the back of this page. CPEIV—Film Study Guide 7 College Prep English IV Name:___________________________________ Mr. Hayward Fall Semester Date:____________________________________ Film Study V Short Animation THOSE WINTER SUNDAYS Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he’d call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere* and lonely offices? —Robert Hayden (1913-1980); the first African-American to be appointed as Consultant in Poetry to the United States Congress in 1976 (now called The Poet Laureate of The United States); this poem is one of the most anthologized poems of the 20th century. *austere; adj.; severe or strict in manner, appearance, or attitude Tone, in written composition, is an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. Tone is generally conveyed through the choice of words, or the viewpoint of a writer on a particular subject. The tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic, sarcastic, sad, or cheerful, or it may be any other existing attitude. For brief discussion after reading poem: What is the tone of “Those Winter Sundays”? ONE SMALL STEP Director: Bobby Pontillas and Andrew Chesworth Music: Steve Horner Run time: 8 minutes Before viewing: Jot down a few ways parents try to prepare their children for life. CPEIV—Film Study Guide 8 After viewing: How does the tone of One Small Step compare and/or contrast with “Those Winter Sundays”? Please cite specific examples from each to support your ideas. Is there anything that the poem and this short animated film have in common? Explain. CPEIV—Film Study Guide 9 College Prep English IV Name:___________________________________ Mr. Hayward Fall Semester Date:____________________________________ Film Study VI Short Films (Live Action) “When everything gets answered, it’s fake.” —Sean Penn Review: in a tragic play (like in Freytag’s triangle) plotwise, as we’ve studied, there must be an inciting incident followed by a chain or sequence of events that build tension (causing complications) until a climax (moment of most tension) occurs followed by falling action and the resolution (or denouement). MADRE/MOTHER Director: Rodrigo Sorogoyen Music: Olivier Arson Run time: 18 minutes Before viewing: 1. When you think of the ocean and a deserted beach, what are the first thoughts that come to your mind? After viewing: 1. Do you think Madre follows the path, plot-wise, of a tragic play? Explain. What does this short film reveal about the nature of being a mother? Lastly, analyze why the director frames the short film with the image of the empty beach and ocean. What does it make you feel and/or think at the end? 2. In the genre of short films, this is called “Live Action.” Compare viewing “Live Action” to the animated short films we’ve viewed. Do you prefer one over the other? Explain. CPEIV—Film Study Guide 10 College Prep English IV Name:___________________________________ Mr.

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