Reading, listening, speaking, writing, playing games doing projects about films: учебно-методическая разработка

STEP 1. FILMS AND THEIR POPULARITY

It goes without saying that cinema plays an important part in our life and society remaining one of the most available and popular forms of art. A great number of people find either going to the cinema or just watching a movie at home an exciting way of spending leisure time. Why?

The first reason is that films provide good relaxation for people of all ages and interests. In actual fact, if something funny, romantic or thrilling is on the screen, we can escape our own lives, forget about our everyday cares and feel the heroes’ distress and happiness, in other words, we share others’ emotions. Thus, in a motion picture we are bound to find something entertaining and exciting.

In the second place, it is a well-known fact that through films we learn a lot of different things, get acquainted with foreign countries’ cultures, increase our knowledge of history, as well as of technology, science and other fields of human activity. Besides, very often films teach us good moral lessons, therefore they prove to be very instructive.

The next point is that on the screen we can see famous people, those who are known all over the world. It is true that the younger generation greatly admires celebrated film stars, and consider them as role models. For instance, seeing Angelina Jolly acting in a film most girls try to imitate her in clothes, speech or bearing.

Finally, it should be noted that any film is a piece of art. If everything, from its costume design to music, is done perfectly, this film is bound to become a masterpiece and will be giving its audience aesthetic pleasure forever.

Do the following tasks to the text (reading comprehension, vocabulary exercises, word-building tasks, grammar tasks). (Приложение 1)

STEP 2. CONTENTS OF A FILM

I. Match the following characteristics of a film with their definition and translation:

II. Translate the Russian expressions into English

A typical film has a (название) and a (сюжет) that is a (история) told about in it. Such a (сюжет) consists of events and different (сцен), (изображающие) various (ситуации). On the whole, all things that happen in a film are called (развитием событий).A film can have different settings that is where (события, действия) take place according to the (сценарий). Actors and actresses (играют роль) of these or those (героев и героинь). A lot depends on their (игры): (следовательно) if it is brilliant, their roles produce a deep impression on (зрителей) (а также)  evoke strong emotions in them. The (актеры) who (выступают в главных ролях) in highly-financed  and successful films (blockbusters) are (обречены) to become popular and famous. When a film is (выпускают), it is (показывают) in cinemas and then it sells out on DVDs. The first performance is called a first night or premiere [′premieə].

III. GUESS THE TITLE (a game)

The class is divided into teams. The teacher gives the first team a sheet of paper with the title of a famous film written on it. The second team try to guess the title. They ask the first one questions about this film, using in each of them the following words and expressions:

scene, hero, heroine, ending, script, plot, action, the first night, shoot, produce, depict, play the part of, star, successful, highly-financed

Each member of the second team (in turn) gives only one full answer (consisting of one sentence) to this or that question, e.g.

- Where was the film produced?

- This movie was produced in the USA.

Each question equals to one point. Questions and answers must be correct. Each wrong question or answer adds 1 point to this or that team. The game lasts until any member of the first team guesses the title of the film. Then the roles change, the first team try to guess the title given to the second one by the teacher. The team with fewer points scored wins the game.      

*The same game can be played in pairs.   

* The list of words can be varied by the teacher.

STEP 3. LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Record (mp3, 426 kb) (Приложение 2)

Tasks (Приложение 3)

STEP 4. GENRES OF FILMS

I. Speak about different genres of films and their characteristic features. Discuss in class all the possible characteristics that might belong to this or that genre, count them and define which genre is ‘the richest’ in this term

II. Define if it is true or false

1. In a comedy we are bound to find heroes who fight against something unknown
2. The plot of a historical film is stuffed with love stories
3. A documentary is full of dances and songs
4. A soap opera tends to be shown on TV for a long time
5. A drama is characterized by a happy ending
6. A thriller typically depicts historical events
7. An action consists of many series
8. An adventurous film often tells us stories based on real life
9. A comedy can never keep us in suspense
10. A soap opera has a too complicated plot
11. A horror film amuses a viewer by jokes and funny scenes
12. A musical always evokes the feeling of terror in a viewer
13. A detective has a mystery as a basic part of its plot
14. A horror is intended to make us feel happy

III. Fill in the blank circles (Приложение 4) with possible descriptions of a film’s scenes, plot, heroes and with expressions you would use to characterise your emotions after seeing this or that film (based on the table “genres of films”).

IV. QUIZ “A FILM BUFF”

Think about 10-15 films you like (better not very well-known), find the English equivalents of their titles (www.google.ru or www.imdb.com) and prepare a list of questions following the principles:

- the questions are based on the table above;
- in each question you must ask about one different film from your list;
- give 4 alternatives to each question.

e.g. “A lot like love” tells about:

A: scenes of violence B: a mystery which is hard to solve C: a love story which may happen in real life D: myths and legends

Play the game in class or in pairs and count the total number of points each of you will score. Define who is a film buff in your class.

V.Speak about those film genres whichyou enjoy/do not enjoy

STEP 5

I.Write short argumentative paragraphs about those film genres which

a) provide good relaxation for us
b) help us to increase knowledge and learn a lot of things

Use the following:

• In (through) historical (adventurous, comedy etc) films we can
• With the help of …. we can ( are able to)
• Historical (adventurous, comedy etc) films provide ….
• Seeing (watching) …we can…

•Therefore; because;   thus;   as well as;    the main reason is that;

• The table above.

Model: With the help of comedy films, we can relax and forget about our everyday life for at least one hour. The main reason is that they are funny and humorous as well as they always amuse and entertain us by jokes and comic situations in which its heroes find themselves. In them we can enjoy happy endings. Thus, comedies are good relaxation for us because they tend to raise our spirits as well as make us feel happy.

II. Modern films have an evil influence on our behaviour. Do you agree or disagree with the statement? Why?

Outline

1) Think about the introduction of the essay. Try to paraphrase the topic assigned and introduce, thus, the main idea of the essay, the thing you are going to discuss. Better, do it by expressing the main arguments of the supposed opponents: a) There is no doubt that the Lumiers’ invention gave people an absolutely new form of art, which in the course of time became the most highly-admired one. However, some people are convinced that such a passion for films nowadays      may cause serious problems for our society; b) (with the help of a rhetorical question) A great number of people spend hours watching movies, some even cannot live without films to see every day. Those people really consider movies to be their best friends. Has anyone noticed how greatly these ‘best friends’ change our behaviour?

2) Make up a list of your theses (key sentences, reasons) and arguments (supporting sentences) both for and against the statement.

3) Decide what point of view you will support (“for” or “against”). In the second paragraph express your personal attitude and present those reasons and arguments which suit your position chosen (As far as I am concerned…; I personally (dis)agree that…; I am absolutely in favour of…). Do not forget the logical composition: express cause-and-effect relation correctly.

4) In the next paragraph present the reasons and arguments of your supposed opponent (Nevertheless, some will criticize…; some argue that…; on the other hand…). Express your disagreement with these views by your counter arguments (e.g. Some people tend to think that films make us less active because ….- I cannot agree with this standpoint as more and more movies now popularize an active way of life, depict different sports competitions as their themes or settings and tell us about famous sportsmen, thus, inspiring us to do sports and keep fit).

5) Think about the conclusion of the essay. There you should “balance” the contrary arguments (try to group or systemize and paraphrase them) expressing your “hope for the best”. Do not give new information, do not support your theses once again. E.g. To sum it up, I would argue that people will chose something else instead of cinematography to amuse, distract  them and enlarge their knowledge although its evil influence on us is evident. However, I strongly believe that we should pay more attention to what we watch and how often we do it to prevent ourselves from the possible “side effects”.

STEP 6

Making projects on the topic ‘A Film to See”

Divided into groups (2-4 people in each), the pupils choose a film they would present to the rest of the class. The aim of the presentation is to make the audience interested in the movie. Thus, the main requirements are:

1) to prepare a kind of advertisement (oral or oral + visual with the “Power Point” or photos) to excite the interest of the listeners in the film. Doing this the pupils should use the website www.imdb.com (International Movie Database) where they will find the page of their favourite film and afterwards open the page about users’ comments on that film (only positive ones). All these comments are supposed to serve as a language source for the advertisements; 

2) to prepare some information about the cast (actors, actresses),  director, awards given to the film, plot (in brief), the date of the premiere and whatever is curious and interesting about the film (use the link “FAQ” on the page of the film at the same site).

After the presentation, it would be useful to carry out a pall “which of the films presented I will watch by all means”.

SOURCES

1. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 3d ed. – Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
2. Lougheed, L. TOEFL Test Of Written English: Topics and Model Essays / L. Lougheed. – New-York: Barron’s, 2002. – 292 pp.
3. Mann, M. Macmillan Exam Skills for Russia: Speaking and Listening / M. Mann, S. Taylore-Knowles. – Oxford: Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2006. – 168 pp.
4. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 7th ed. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
5. Новый большой Англо-Русский словарь: в 3 т. / Авт.: Ю.Д. Апресян, Э.М. Медникова, А.В. Петрова и др.; под общ. рук. акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна и проф. Э.М. Медниковой. – 7 изд, стереотип. – М.: Русский язык, 2002.