"Are we going to watch the movie?"
I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard this in class whenever I've introduced a new novel. It usually takes this pattern:
"Is there a movie of this?"
"Are we going to watch the movie?"
"Hey, everyone: we're going to watch a movie!"
It takes about eight seconds for this conversation to morph away from the book in their hands and toward the idea of watching a movie in class. Now that's education.
Well, I got tired of it, so I decided to do something different.
After reading Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, I told the class that we wouldn't be watching the movie. We'd be studying the movie. This statement was greeted with expressions of excitement layered with suspicion. So I passed out the three-page worksheet, explained the basics of storytelling using the genre of film vs. literature, and we were off.
Well, not really. They complained. They didn't like the idea that their pure, unadulterated pleasure of movie-watching was going to be interrupted by work. I was ruining the pinnacle of student existence: two or more days without any work to do, watching a movie. And it rarely depends on how horrible the movie is; the mere fact that it's a movie makes them deem it good. You would have thought I had torn up the Constitution right in front of their eyes. They didn't like this idea one bit, no Sir. I was actually going to require that they think as they watched the movie.
And the questions! Not just "How was the movie different?" but "Why did the film maker choose to eliminate this scene, or add that, or use this particular camera angle?" "How does the actor's interpretation of the character bring out personality traits that we know are essential to the telling of this story?" Like that.
The first day I paused the tape frequently, showing elements of camera work: the establishing shot, the high angle, the close-up, the pan. Editing techniques like cross-cutting & justaposition of elements. They were irritated because they wanted to watch a movie & I kept stopping to ask them to actually look at the art of film making. But by the end of the first day, they were watching the film critically, with an eye to the storytelling skill of the screenwriter, director, editors, score writers, and actors. They answered my questions, and took their own notes in the margin. They were given permission to think for themselves, to apply knowledge they already had to evaluate the same story and themes presented in a different medium.
On the second day they started making comments about how the music was key to establishing mood. I asked why music is important to film. They said "Because it's about emotions." I smiled and let the tape roll.
Two and a half days is a significant chunk of class time, considering everything I officially have to accomplish before the state testing (not to mention June). But I think this was time well-spent.
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