THE FILMMAKING PROCESS
To be a writer, you need a pen. To be a painter, a brush. To be a musician, an instrument. But to be a
filmmaker, you need the collaboration of others to bring your vision to the canvas that is the movie screen.
— Martin Scorsese, Director
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CHAPTER
TWO
Scope & Sequence
Who is the author of a film — the director? the screenwriter? the actors? The screenwriter may be the person who pens the
script, but words alone do not make a movie. Surely the actors are the most recognizable names and faces associated with a
film, but the actors do not author the film. The director is the person in charge of all the creative aspects of a film and has
the most complete understanding of the story content, narrative structure, and design. And yet even a director does not
work alone.
Film is a unique art precisely because it requires a collaborative creative process. A variety of professionals and craftspeople
work together to make a film. Some have expert knowledge of light and technology. Others are experts in sound, music,
design, and construction. In this chapter, students study this collaborative process. The lessons move through the three
stages of production. We begin with planning the film’s story, structure, and “look,” then move on to filming the action on
the set. Finally, in the last lesson, we take students into the studio, where the film editor assembles the raw footage into the
final film, and where the composer and sound-effects editor create the soundtrack.
Contents
Lesson 1
Activity A
Activity B
Lesson 2
Activity A
Activity B
Activity C
Lesson 3
Activity A
Activity B
Lesson 4
Activity A
Activity B
Activity C
The Director’s Vision
Three Stages of Production
A Film’s Visual Design
Getting Ready — Pre-Production
The Screenwriter’s Role
The Production Designer’s Role
From Script to Storyboards
On the Set — Production
The Cinematographer’s Role
The Actor’s Performance
In the Studio — Post-Production
The Film Editor’s Role
What Stays, What Goes, and Why
The Music Composer’s Role
Film Study Standards
1.0 Film Language. Students learn to read and interpret visual text by developing a film vocabulary, identifying editing
techniques, and analyzing film elements within selected scenes.
3.0 Production and Creative Expression. Students understand that film is an expression of a director’s personal vision
produced through a collaborative process. Students understand and distinguish the various filmmaking roles that
contribute to the final work of art.
5.0 Cross-Curricular Connections. Students first tap their knowledge of other disciplines to study a film. They then apply
what they have learned about film to other disciplines, making connections between film and literature/language arts,
film and history/social studies, film and other arts, and film and sciences.
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3
4
Lesson 1 The Director’s Vision
Teacher Overview
Making a film is a creative process that happens in three stages — pre-production, production, and post-production. Lesson 1
provides an overview of these three stages and introduces the concept of the “director’s vision.” While many different people
contribute to making a film, the director is the one person who has the greatest understanding of how all the parts fit
together to make a whole. The director’s vision, therefore, is not just the film’s narrative structure as studied in chapter 1.
It is also the film’s look and overall style.
The director achieves this by working with the cinematographer during pre-production, planning how to photograph each
scene. The director may or may not use storyboards to communicate his ideas to the cinematographer. In this pre-production
phase, the director also shapes his vision for the film by working with the production designer to create the sets and
costumes. Production is the actual shooting of the film “on the set,” when the cinematographer and the actors do most of
their work. Post-production begins once filming ends, when all work shifts from the set to the studio. Working with the film
editor and music composer, the director assembles shots into scenes, and the scenes into the final film. Even these tasks are
driven by the director’s vision.
Students will study in more detail the specific filmmaking roles in subsequent lessons.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
identify the three stages of creating a film;
describe the director’s role in each stage of production;
explain what is meant by the “director’s vision” and the “collaborative process.”
Key Terms
(Note: Most terms are defined within the activity text that follows. You may also refer to the glossary.)
pre-production, production, post-production, collaboration, director, director’s vision, visual design, storyboard
Lesson 1 Materials
Activity
Activity A
Three Stages of
Production
Print
DVD
Graphic Organizer 2-1: What Happens
During Pre-Production?
None
Graphic Organizer 2-2: What Happens
During Production?
Graphic Organizer 2-3: What Happens
During Post-Production?
Graphic Organizer 2-4: Putting It All
Together — Three Stages of Production
Activity B
A Film’s Visual
Design
Screening Sheet 2-1: The Director’s Vision
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Film Clip 2-1: The Director’s Vision
Concept
1
The process for making a film occurs in three stages — pre-production, production, and post-production. While many
people contribute to making a film, the director is the one person who has the greatest understanding of how all the parts,
or filmmaking tasks, come together to create the final film.
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Engage
Write the following quotation from director Martin Scorsese on the chalkboard or overhead projector. Ask students to
freewrite for two to five minutes on what they believe the director means. You might consider circling key words, such as
collaboration and vision.
To be a writer, you need a pen. To be a painter, a brush. To be a musician, an instrument. But to be a filmmaker, you need the
collaboration of others to bring your vision to the canvas that is the movie screen.
Explain & Explore
Introduce students to the three stages of production by distributing and displaying
Graphic Organizers 2-1:
What Happens During Pre-Production?; 2-2: What Happens During Production?; and 2-3: What Happens During
Post-Production? Review the key concepts on each illustration as suggested below.
Pre-Production
Pre-production involves all the work necessary to plan the film. The screenwriter’s role, for example, involves writing
and/or revising the script. Production design involves researching and creating sets (both interior and exterior sets)
as well as costumes and makeup. Storyboards are drawings of the numerous shots that make up a scene. Casting
involves choosing the actors to play each role.
Production
Production is the work completed “on the set.” It is the actual filming of the movie. Ask students to suggest what
choices the director, the cinematographer, and the actors might make. The cinematographer’s choices include
lighting, distance from the camera to the subject (such as close-ups), camera movement, and camera angles. The
actor’s choices include how to portray the character — not only how to deliver a line verbally but also what body
language to use in order to communicate effectively to the audience.
Post-Production
Post-production is the work completed “in the studio.” Once filming ends, a movie must still be assembled, in much
the same way as jigsaw puzzle pieces fit together to create a single image. First the picture is assembled, then sound
is added. Explain the difference between a film editor’s job and a sound editor’s job. The film editor assembles the
visual images into a logical sequence so that the story flows smoothly from one scene to another. The sound editor
assembles the elements of the sound track, dovetailing it neatly with the images on the screen. Finally, explain the
music composer’s tasks. These include creating music to reflect the mood and action and to motivate or suggest to
an audience what will happen in certain scenes.
Define collaboration. Collaboration means working together. Explain that a film is different from other creative processes
because making a film requires the knowledge and talents of a variety of people. This is due, in part, to the technology
required to bring a film to the screen.
Distribute and display
Graphic Organizer 2-4: Putting It All Together — Three Stages of Production. This graphic
organizer is more challenging to read than the previous three. Draw students’ attention to the three lines extending from
the Director’s Vision box into all three stages of production. Students should understand that the director is the one
person who has the greatest understanding of what the final film will look like and who works with the other film
professionals to bring that vision to life on the screen.
Ask: How does Graphic Organizer 2-4 help explain what collaboration means?
Close
Tell students that subsequent lessons in this chapter will explore each filmmaking role in more detail, so that by the end of
the chapter they should understand more completely how a film develops from concept through completion.
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Concept
A movie’s visual design is the “look” of the final film. In planning this look, or design, the director considers many different
factors, including elements of lighting, set design, and costuming and makeup.
Engage
Write the following equation on the chalkboard:
Director’s vision = story’s content + narrative structure + the film’s visual design
In chapter 1, students learned what is meant by the story’s content and the narrative structure. Explain that in this activity,
they will learn the final element in the equation, the film’s look. Review, if necessary, story content (basic story elements of
characters, setting, plot, conflict, theme) and narrative structure (how the story is told). Then ask students to suggest an explanation for the last element in the equation, the film’s visual design. Encourage thoughtful responses by prompting:
Do actors all look and dress alike in films? How do their looks differ?
Have you ever paid attention to the lighting in the film or to the soundtrack? Do light and sound have colors or shades of
meaning?
Name some movies you’ve seen recently that have had bright and colorful images or some movies that have had darker
colors and shading.
Explain & Explore
Introduce the screening activity by sharing this information with students:
Making a film is sometimes compared to piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle has many parts. In the first stage of
putting the puzzle together, the person often refers to the picture on the puzzle box in order to figure out how all the pieces fit
together. A film also has many different pieces. The director has the mental picture of what the final film will look like once
all the pieces are fitted together.
Distribute
Screening Sheet 2-1: The Director’s Vision. Review the Word Builder terms and the activity, which has
two parts. Part 1 is a pre-screening discussion of statements made by directors. These statements are taken from the film
clip that they will watch later. To help students comprehend the film clip, they should first discuss the statements. Explain
that they will have an opportunity to revise their responses on the chart after screening the film.
Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-1:
The Director’s Vision, Part 1 — Pre-Screening Discussion
(Note: Student responses made before viewing the clip may differ somewhat from those made after viewing.)
Quotation
What You Think the Director Means
Miloš Forman: “You have to be a
little bit of a writer, a little bit of an
actor, a little bit of a cameraman, a
little bit of a dictator, a little bit of
a shrink.”
Unfamiliar words include shrink, a psychologist, or someone who
understands how other people think and behave. Interpretations will
vary but should focus on the main idea that a director has to know all
the stages of filmmaking, as well as how to communicate with others
and how to motivate people.
Rouben Mamoulian: “The eye of
the camera must be the eye of the
director. It is absolutely inevitable
because you are telling a story in
images.”
The words are familiar but the concept of the “eye of the camera” may
be unfamiliar to most students. The camera’s lens is its eye and the
person who controls what the cinematographer photographs is the
director. The director works with the cinematographer in selecting not
only what to shoot but how. The resulting images, when edited together,
tell a story.
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Martin Scorsese: “Film has its own
language, its own grammar —
camera shots...movement...the
editing of scenes...the mise-en-scène,
the actual placing people in the
frame and moving them around.”
Again, most words are familiar and yet the concept of film language
may be new to most students. The director is saying that film has its own
language — through shots, movement, cuts, and composition. Explain
that placing people in the frame (the area the camera sees) and moving
them from one place to another within the frame is called composition.
They will learn more about composition and mise-en-scène in chapter 3.
George Lucas: “Technology is used
to tell a story, and that’s the whole
point. It is really the filmmaker and
the storyteller and how well they are
able to tell a story that counts in the
end. The techniques they use are
really a by-product of that process.”
Unfamiliar words include by-product, something that occurs as a
result of doing something else. Interpretations should focus on technology
as a tool for bringing the director’s vision to life. Telling a good story is
what the director’s vision is ultimately about.
View
Film Clip 2-1: The Director’s Vision. After viewing, discuss student observations. Answers will vary.
Recommended answers are below.
Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-1:
The Director’s Vision, Part 2 — The Screening Activity
1.
Name some of the people with whom the director collaborates in making a film. The screenwriter, the cinematographer, and the film editor. In addition, the actors, the costume and set designers, the sound editor, and the music
composer all collaborate with the director.
2.
How is making a movie like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle? Answers will vary. When fitted together, a jigsaw puzzle
makes a whole picture. The individual puzzle pieces — like individual shots and scenes — by themselves may have color
and shape and line, but they do not present the whole picture. The part they play in completing the image is fully realized
when the entire puzzle — or film — is assembled.
3.
A film’s “look” is the overall visual design, determined by the director. To explain this concept, the film clip uses
shots from two classic films, Citizen Kane and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Explain how the “look” of these two films
differs. Students may readily note that one film is in black-and-white and the other is in color. Beyond color, however, the films
differ significantly. Citizen Kane uses light and shadow in a dramatic way as well as unusual camera angles. For example,
the director uses an extreme close-up of a man’s mustached mouth as he whispers “Rosebud.” The shot of the house in the
snow fools the audience into thinking they are looking at a snow scene, when in fact, as the camera pulls back, we see that
they are looking at a miniature house in a snow globe which the man is holding. 2001: A Space Odyssey has a futuristic
design. A dominant visual element is movement, the rotation of people and objects and the feel of weightlessness.
4.
The narrator says, “The director’s vision spans from conception to completion.” What does this mean? The conception
is the idea for the movie before anything is written or planned. Completion is the final movie released in theaters and on
video. So the director’s vision covers every step of the filmmaking process.
Think More About It
Return to part 1 of this screening sheet. Now that you’ve seen the film clip, do you have a better understanding of
what each quotation means? Read what you wrote in column 2, then change or add new information to your answers.
Answers will vary. Emphasize the key points, that a director is the one person who has the most complete understanding of
how the final film will look, and that this vision determines how all the members of the cast and crew complete their jobs.
Close
Return to the equation that began the activity and ask students to explain in their own words what is meant by the film’s
visual design: Director’s vision = story’s content + narrative structure + the film’s visual design. Emphasize that a director’s vision
will vary from one film to another. Movies have different looks, but this is not by accident. It is by design.
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Lesson 2 Getting Ready – Pre-Production
Teacher Overview
A film’s overall look may exist in the director’s imagination, but the screenwriter and the production designer are the people
who actually create the fictional world of the movie. The screenwriter imagines the world through words. The production
designer turns words and the director’s ideas into real-life sets. Many movie scripts are original ideas that the screenwriter
develops. To Kill a Mockingbird, however, was an adaptation of a very successful novel. Activity A begins by explaining what a
film adaptation is and then provides a guided discussion on the five-step adaptation process.
In activity B, students learn that the production designer meets with the director to review the script in detail. Research is
often an essential first step in production design. In designing the sets for To Kill a Mockingbird, for example, the production
designer needed a good understanding of history and small-town America, as well as fashions of the 1930s. The next step is
sketching set designs and/or building miniature models of sets. Once the director approves the designs, construction begins.
In short, the production designer is part historian, part artist, and part architect.
Storyboards are a tool that many directors use in communicating his or her ideas to the production designer in the planning
stages of the film. Activity C provides students a rare look at storyboards for a dramatic scene in To Kill a Mockingbird. The
screening activity allows students to compare the drawings with the actual shots in the film.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
explain the role of the screenwriter in making a film;
identify steps in the process of adapting a previously written/published story into a screenplay;
explain the role of the production designer in making a film;
understand that storyboards are a tool that help the director and the cinematographer plan the shots in the film.
Key Terms
(Note: Most terms are defined within the activity text that follows. You may also refer to the glossary.)
screenwriter, adaptation, production design, production designer, props, scale, storyboard, establishing shot, reaction shot, body double,
stunt double
Lesson 2 Materials
Activity
Activity
A
The Screenwriter’s Role
Print
Reading Activity 2-1: The Five-Step
Adaptation Process
None
DVD
Classifying Activity 2-2: The Trial
Reading Activity 2-3, Enrichment:
Reinventing a Scene
Activity B
The Production
Designer’s Role
Graphic Organizer 2-5: What Is
Production Design?
Graphic Organizer 2-6: What Does the
Production Designer Do?
Screening Sheet 2-2: Creating Worlds
Activity C
From Script to
Storyboards
Film Clip 2-2: Creating Worlds
Part 1 — Forrest Gump’s House
Part 2 — Creating Middle-earth
Still 2-1: Storyboarding To Kill a
Mockingbird
Screening Sheet 2-3: From Storyboard
to Screen
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Film Clip 2-3: From Storyboard to
Screen
Concept
1
An adaptation of a novel into a screenplay involves a step-by-step process that includes compressing the characters and
events of the novel into the uniquely visual narrative structure necessary for a film.
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Engage
Write this sentence on the chalkboard or overhead projector. It comes from chapter 12 of Harper Lee’s novel.
After one altercation, Jem hollered, “It’s time you started being
a girl and acting right!” I burst into tears and fled to Calpurnia.
Ask students to rewrite this line of prose into a screenplay format. Responses should read something like this:
JEM
(annoyed)
It’s time you started being a
girl and acting right.
Scout, crying, runs to Calpurnia.
Explain that a screenplay looks different than a book does. For one thing, in a script, all dialogue is written centered on the
page and is not enclosed in quotation marks. Characters’ names appear in all capital letters. Emotion or attitude is enclosed
in parentheses. Action is usually briefly stated and placed on the left side of the page. You might wish to repeat this brief
warm-up activity with other lines from other stories.
Explain & Explore
Distribute
Reading Activity 2-1: The Five-Step Adaptation Process. Review the Word Builder terms. Assign this
sheet either as silent reading or as homework. Then follow the guided discussion questions below.
Guided Discussion
1. A screenwriter reads a story a number of times before starting to write the screenplay. Each time the writer
reads the story with a different purpose in mind. What are two different purposes identified in step 1? One,
to understand the story and what happened. Two, to understand the story’s themes. The screenwriter may also read
additional times to more fully understand the tone and “spirit” of the story and characters.
2.
What specifically does the writer summarize in step 2, and what do some writers use to help them organize
their outline? The major events in the story; they sometimes use index cards.
3.
How does step 3 differ from step 2? In step 3, the writer identifies a purpose for each possible scene in the film.
The writer is beginning to plan how “visually” to translate the prose into a script. Step 2 involves simply listing all the
things that happen, not why.
4.
What types of scenes or events might a writer place in act 1? in act 2? in act 3? The writer will place exposition, or
scenes that reveal background information, in act 1, as well as the inciting incident. In act 2, the writer will place events
that show rising action and the climax. In act 3, the scenes that resolve the conflicts will be placed.
5.
Why does a writer usually not include in the screenplay every scene from the book the film is based on? A film’s
narrative structure limits how long a film can run. Emphasize that J. R. R. Tolkien’s popular The Lord of the Rings novels
were adapted into three separate but related movies. Otherwise audiences would have had to sit almost seven hours to see
the entire story. Another reason is that some novel scenes are not visually interesting or dramatic. Too much dialogue or
too little dialogue can slow down the pace of the film.
Distribute
Classifying Activity 2-2: The Trial to more clearly explain step 3 in the adaptation process. Review the
Word Builder box. Some scenes have more than one purpose, and students might wish to debate specifically what each
scene contributes to the overall story. Accept all reasonable responses. Suggested answers follow.
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Answer Key for Classifying Activity 2-2: The Trial
Scenes That Reveal Character
Ewell’s testimony; Mayella’s testimony; Tom’s testimony; Dill crying;
Calpurnia entering courtroom in concern; Atticus making closing argument
Scenes That Establish Setting
Scout, Jem, and Dill sitting in balcony with Reverend Sykes
Scenes That Show Conflict
Sheriff Tate’s testimony; Ewell’s testimony; Mayella’s testimony; Tom’s
testimony; Dill crying; Atticus making closing argument
Scenes That Advance the Plot
Sheriff Tate’s testimony; Atticus making closing argument; children returning
to courtroom to hear jury’s verdict; Atticus leaving the courtroom
Enrichment
Explain why a screenwriter often reinvents a scene. Cutting a scene from a novel can leave a hole in the story’s fabric.
Likewise, compressing time can leave out some important details necessary to understanding a character’s motivation for
an action that will occur later in the story. To fill in the holes, the screenwriter may reinvent a scene. The writer takes the
essential elements of the scene — characters and intent — and recasts the scene in a different time or place.
Distribute
Reading Activity 2-3, Enrichment: Reinventing a Scene. Read then discuss the questions. Recommended
answers are below.
Identifying Details
1. Characters: What characters did Horton Foote omit? Miss Stephanie Crawford. Remind students that she is not the
only character Foote omitted from the screenplay. Some students who have read the book will know that Atticus’s
sister who comes to live with the children is also omitted.
2.
Setting: Where and when does this action take place? It is night outside Tom Robinson’s home after Tom has been killed.
3.
Action: What did Foote change about the action, and what did he not change? He chose not to have the scene told
through another person, reporting on what happened. He deleted Atticus’s wry comment about Ewell’s tobacco. He
didn’t change, however, Atticus’s stoic reaction of not reacting to Ewell’s violence with violence of his own.
Think More About It
1. Why is this confrontation between Bob Ewell and Atticus Finch necessary to include? It foreshadows the
attack on Atticus’s children. Ewell displays in this scene his need for vengeance. Share with students who
have not read the novel that Ewell threatens everyone involved in the trial, such as the judge and even Tom’s
widow. Foote, however, omitted those details and focused on the primary conflict between Ewell and Finch.
2.
Why did Horton Foote reinvent the scene for the film instead of running it the way it was in the novel?
The scene at night outside the Robinson home increases the drama and the tension. To have shown this scene
on Main Street during the day would have had a very different effect. Foote wants the viewer to sense Ewell’s
vengeance, and the darkness helps to achieve that. Also, to set it outside Robinson’s home suggests that Ewell
has followed Finch there, increasing his menace.
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Close
Share this information with students:
Only chapters 17 through 21 in the novel focus on the actual trial of Tom Robinson. By contrast, the film devotes a significantly
greater amount of time to the trial (approximately 30 percent of total running time). Ask: Why might the screenwriter have
devoted so much time to the trial when it wasn’t the main focus of the novel?
Inform students that the studios felt the novel had no real action, no violence, except off-screen, and no love interest. The trial
allows for courtroom drama. It is the rising action of act 2 that eventually triggers the climax, or turning point, of the film.
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Commentary from the Filmmakers:
The Trouble with To Kill a Mockingbird
Learn why most movie studios did not want to make the award-winning novel
into a film. Visit The Story of Movies Web site at www.storyofmovies.org. This
extension lesson includes a screening activity and handouts.
Teachers note: The film clip for this extension activity is included on the DVD
for Chapter 2.
Concept
The production designer works with the director to bring the fictional world of the movie to life on the screen.
Engage
Share this information with students:
To Kill a Mockingbird was not filmed in a small town in Alabama. The filmmakers did indeed travel to the hometown of
Harper Lee, said to be the setting of her novel. However, so much had changed from the 1930s, when the novel is set, to the
1960s, when the film was made, that the filmmakers could not use much of the town as the setting for their film. As a result,
the film was made on acres of land — the back lot — at Universal Studios in California.
Ask students to suggest what might have changed from the 1930s to the 1960s. Guide discussion to include these areas —
transportation, communications, streets, and buildings. While it is easier for students to compare the present day with the
1930s and to note what new inventions today would not have been around in the 1930s, it is more challenging for them to
compare one era of the past with another. Interested students can learn more about the decades of the 1930s and the 1960s
through library and Internet research.
Explain & Explore
Share this information with students:
The production designer for To Kill a Mockingbird learned that a number of houses characteristic of the 1930s, located in
California, were being demolished to make way for a new expressway. The production designer purchased the houses and
moved them to the Universal Studios lot, arranging them to look like a neighborhood.
Guided Discussion
1. What buildings were needed to make this film? The Finch house, the Radley house, other homes on that street, the
Robinson house, the courthouse, the jail, the schoolhouse
2.
What exterior locations were needed? Main street, a downtown section or public square outside the jail, the road
outside the Robinson house, the Radley yard, the Finch yard, the wooded area between the school and the Finch house
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Distribute and display
Graphic Organizer 2-5: What Is Production Design? Review the concepts on the graphic
organizer as suggested below.
Set, Scenery, and Locations
The set is the place or site of each scene. A set may be the interior of a building, such as an office, a courtroom, a
train station, or even a train car. Or the set may be exterior locations, such as porches. Sets are constructed. Scenery
refers to landscapes and outdoor locations, such as mountains, beaches, fields, and a public park. Scenery can also
be constructed, such as the backdrop seen through a window.
Props, Furnishings, and Trimmings
Prop is short for property. A prop is a movable object that is part of a set. Examples include wall hangings, tableware,
computers, street signs, and weapons. Furnishings are the furniture that comprise the world of the film, including beds,
couches, and desks. Trimmings are the decorative elements on the set, including draperies, bedspreads, lamps, and such.
Costumes, Makeup, and Hairstyles
Costumes are the clothing each character wears, everything from hats to shoes. Costumes are also called “wardrobe
items.” Makeup is not only the cosmetics applied to an actor’s face and/or body but also includes hairstyles and wigs.
Distribute and display
Graphic Organizer 2-6: What Does the Production Designer Do? Review each task on
the graphic organizer. Explain that a production designer works with a team of people who each have responsibility for
various aspects of the film’s overall look or design.
Introduce the screening activity. Explain that this film clip has two different segments and explores two different types of
production challenges — creating a realistic location for the film Forrest Gump, and creating the fantasy world of Middleearth for the Lord of the Rings films. By viewing the film, students will learn more about what production design is and
how the production designer works.
Distribute
Screening Sheet 2-2: Creating Worlds. Explain that students will work with a partner to complete the
screening activity. Review the Word Builder terms. Teachers should present one segment at a time, stopping to discuss
student observations. You might need to run each segment more than once. After each segment, allow time for students
to complete the Screening Sheets.
View
Film Clip 2-2: Creating Worlds, Part 1 — Forrest Gump’s House. After viewing, discuss students’
observations. Answers will vary. Recommended answers include those listed on the chart below.
Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-2:
Creating Worlds, Part 1 — Forrest Gump’s House
1.
Rick Carter says that a film begins as a “blank canvas.” What does he mean? In the first stages of making a
film, there are no visuals or sets. The production designer, working with the director, must imagine what the sets will
look like and then begin to design them.
2.
Rick Carter says that the production designer’s role is to create a “visual filmscape.” You probably know
what a landscape is, but what is a “filmscape”? A filmscape is everything the audience sees on the screen
— from set designs like the Gump house to exterior locations. You may wish to emphasize also that a filmscape
involves more than just physical locations or buildings. It includes costumes and props, or as Rick Carter says,
“everything that is not literally the characters and the narrative.”
3.
Identify three stages involved in designing the Gump house, as shown on this film clip. First, the designer created
an illustration or drawing of the house. Next, the illustration was altered on a computer program called “Photoshop”
so that the designer could see how the house might fit into a physical setting with trees and grass. Third, the designer
built a façade, or fake front, of the house and placed it in a physical location.
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Think More About It
Why did the designer create so many different versions of the house? Why not just build the house? Answers
will vary. Emphasize that all designers work first in sketches and often miniature models before constructing a building
to scale, or in its proper dimensions. This ensures the design is right and satisfies the director before investing money in
the final construction.
View
Film Clip 2-2: Creating Worlds, Part 2 — Creating Middle-earth. After viewing, discuss students’
observations. Answers will vary. Recommended answers include those listed on the chart below.
Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-2:
Creating Worlds, Part 2 – Creating Middle-earth
1.
Director Peter Jackson says, “The way we tried to hint at the depth, which is all a film can do, was partly through
the design process.” What does he mean by “hint at the depth”? Depth suggests layering and multiple dimensions.
In this case, depth refers to author J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, a place that existed only in his imagination before he
captured it on paper. What if this place really existed? What would it look like geographically? What would the characters
that lived in this place look like? What clothing and weapons would they have? These are the questions that Tolkien
answered when writing his novel. Jackson translated that written imagery into real sets and characters for the screen.
2.
Costume supervisor Ngila Dickson says that as an actor puts on a costume, layer by layer, he or she is really
putting on the character and that is why costume design is important in filmmaking. Explain in your own words
what she means. Answers will vary but should focus on the main idea that the costume creates credibility, not only for
the audience watching the film but also for the actor portraying the character.
3.
Costume design involves more than sewing one costume for each actor. What other actors on the set also
required costumes identical to the lead actors’ wardrobe? Often actors are hired to stand in for a star during
shooting or to perform dangerous feats. These actors dress in the same costumes and wear the same makeup as the star.
In addition, because some of the characters in this film were “Hobbits,” or little creatures, actors were hired for certain
shots that emphasized the Hobbit’s small size.
4.
Aside from costumes and sets, what other aspects of film design are illustrated in this film segment? Makeup,
including prosthetics, or false body parts, contact lenses and wigs; weaponry
5.
What did you learn about production design that you didn’t know before seeing this film clip? Responses will
vary but should focus on the main idea that design is more than just sketching buildings and interiors of houses or offices.
It also includes creating characters and costumes to help the actors bring the character to life and to make the audience
believe that the story is credible. Production design can require a huge team.
Think More About It
If you had to make a budget for production design, what are some of the items you’d have to add to your
purchasing list? Most students will recognize that production designers, costume designers, and people who actually
build the sets and sew the costumes need to be paid salaries. However, encourage students to think about materials
— bolts of fabric, wood, metal, rubber latex, computers, paints, computer programs, drafting paper, etc.
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Close
Now that students have a better idea of what production design is, ask them to discuss what important historical considerations
the production designer needed to make when planning the To Kill a Mockingbird movie set. Emphasize that buildings are just
one aspect of production design. The type of car Atticus would drive, the items in his kitchen, the type of phone Calpurnia
uses, lamps, furniture, even the type of rifle Atticus uses — all these props needed to dovetail historically with the period in
which the story was set (1930s), not the one in which it was made (1962).
Build a Model Set, c. 1930s
Research your hometown, a local landmark, or some well-known public place.
Then build a miniature model of this place. Visit The Story of Movies Web site at
www.storyofmovies.org to learn more, including step-by-step instructions on how
to conduct your production-design research.
Concept
A director may use storyboards to plan shots for the film and to communicate his or her vision to actors and production staff.
Engage
Write this phrase on the chalkboard or overhead projector: The woman looked old. Ask students: How do you know when
someone looks old? Encourage students to provide specific, vivid details by asking additional questions, such as, What do
her face or hands look like? How might her clothing reveal her age? What behavior might suggest that she is old? Students should
have no difficulty providing details to flesh out the image.
Next, ask students how a director might communicate to a production designer how a set should look. For example, in To
Kill a Mockingbird, the Radley house looks mysterious. Mysterious could mean many things — a dark building in the middle
of a field, a brightly lit home surrounded by a high fence, a building on a city block with windows and doors boarded over.
Very often a director will use a type of visual shorthand to communicate how a character or a set should appear. Instead of
writing a description, the director uses drawings, called storyboards. Although storyboards may look like simple cartoons,
the drawings provide information beyond what a character or a set might look like.
Explain & Explore
Define storyboard. A storyboard is a shot-by-shot layout, drawn on paper or on a computer, for a film. Share this
information with students:
A storyboard includes information to help the filmmakers understand how to photograph a shot, including who and what may be in the shot, the placement of those people
or objects, camera angles, camera movement, and sometimes a little dialogue.
Display
Still 2-1: Storyboarding To Kill a Mockingbird. These 12 slides are from
the opening shots of the film. As you move through the sequences, pause to ask one or
more of the following questions:
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Guided Discussion
Storyboards 1, 2, and 3
1. Describe what is shown in each panel or sketch. First, the leaves and branches
of a tree; second, birds sitting on a tree limb; third, a street with houses
2.
Which drawing — first, second, or third — provides a closer look at a subject? Second image
3.
Which drawing — first, second, or third — helps the audience to visualize the setting of the film? Third image
4.
Note the arrows outside drawings 1 and 2. Arrows suggest movement. What type of movement is suggested by
the arrows drawn outside the frame? Draw students’ attention to the caption for each drawing and the phrase pan
down to. This means the camera will slowly move from the treetops down to the street. Note that students will learn
more about camera movement in chapter 3.
5.
What does the arrow that is mostly inside drawing (or frame) 2 suggest? Movement of an object or objects within
the frame, suggesting that the bird or birds will fly away
Storyboards 4, 5, and 6
6. What information do these three drawings provide the filmmakers? The camera will show the audience the wagon
approaching and passing. In the third drawing on this page, the camera will move in closer on the wagon as it moves away.
Storyboards 7, 8, and 9
7. How do these three drawings differ? Answers will vary but should include the following points: Distance — the middle
image is a close-up, the third image is the farthest, and the first image puts the audience about midway. Detail — each image
presents different information to help the audience understand what is happening. In the first image, Mr. Cunningham is
unloading his wagon; in the second image, he is reaching for a sack; in the third image, he walks toward a house.
Storyboards 10, 11 and 12
8. Which of the three drawings might be called a close-up shot of a character? Give a reason for your answer. Second
image of Scout. The drawing focuses only on the tire and her face. In the other images, we see more details in the distance.
9.
In which image is Scout moving within the drawing, or frame? First image, indicated by the arrow
Introduce the screening activity. First, they will see storyboard images for a suspenseful scene in the film — the children
spying on the Radley house at night. Second, they will see a “split screen.” On the top of the screen will be the storyboard
images. On the bottom of the screen, playing simultaneously, will be the filmed shots of that scene. In this way, students
will be able to compare and contrast the storyboard images to the final shots used in the film.
Distribute
Screening Sheet 2-3: From Storyboard to Screen. Review the Word Builder terms and the chart to
ensure that students know what to observe and record.
View
Film Clip 2-3: From Storyboard to Screen. Teachers can pause the DVD at any point to emphasize
differences in the storyboard and the final film. Discuss students’ observations. Recommended answers include those
listed on the chart on the following page.
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Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-3:
From Storyboard to Screen
Comparisons
Contrasts
The first few storyboards (those shown while the narrator
speaks) indicate that the sequence of action begins with
the children at the backyard gate. Once the screen splits
and the storyboard and the film play simultaneously,
students will note that while the action on screen differs
somewhat from the drawings, the camera angles and
distances are very similar. For example, the storyboard
image shows Jem from behind as he climbs the steps to the
porch. In the filmed version, the camera is indeed behind
Jem. Another example is the close-up drawing of Scout
and then Dill with their hands over their eyes. In the
filmed version, the camera does move in closer to show
them in this position. Other similarities include shadows,
feeling of looming danger, and position of characters.
The filmed version shows movement that the storyboard
does not. The filmed version also has sound effects and
music. The filmed version has more shots than the
storyboard has pictures, and the sequence or progression
differs a bit. Some students might point out that a
storyboard image remains on the screen, while multiple
shots in the filmed version capture action providing
more detail than the storyboards do.
Think More About It
1. How can storyboards help the director communicate his vision to the other filmmakers? They help the
director plan shots by showing not only what is happening but also from what angle and what distance and in what
general type of lighting. The storyboards also help the production designer, who is responsible for creating the sets,
to understand how the director wants the scene to look.
2.
Why is the final film different from the storyboards? Creating the storyboards is only one step in the preproduction process of making a film. Any number of factors may alter the final look of the film, including suggestions
by the other filmmakers involved in making the movie, such as the cinematographer and the production designer.
Also, in the post-production stage, the director works with the film editor to select the best shots and to delete those
that do not work as well. In that case, a storyboard image might have been shot but was omitted in the final cut of
the film. Sound editors and composers can also play a part in the look of the final film.
Close
Ask students to freewrite for two to four minutes on ways they can apply what they have just learned about storyboarding to
other school subjects or activities.
Create a Wardrobe Script!
Learn more about how costume designers work by visiting The Story of Movies
Web site at www.storyofmovies.org. This extension activity includes a video
screening plus handouts that teachers can download.
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Lesson 3 On The Set – Production
Teacher Overview
The script is written. The set is designed. Now, at last, filming can begin. This lesson takes students through the next stage in
the filmmaking process — production. Here the work of the cinematographer and the crew who operate the cameras on the
set is most important. Here too the actors breathe life into the characters who previously existed only in the script.
The cinematographer is also called the director of photography — or DP. The cinematographer is responsible for shooting the
film, but this involves much more than operating the cameras on the set. Specific tasks include framing and designing the
light for each shot. Activity A introduces students to what cinematography is in general and to the cinematographer’s tasks
in particular.
Screen actors do not work alone. Costumes, makeup, and sets help define their characters. In addition, the camera affects
when and how we see a character — close up or far away, from a low or high angle, in high-key or low-key lighting (which
chapter 3 will cover in more detail). The final performance seen on-screen is the result of editing. Many minutes of an actor’s
performance may be cut from the final film. This is a critical difference between acting on the stage and acting for the screen.
Activity B presents print and/or video interviews with Brock Peters (Tom Robinson), Gregory Peck (Atticus), Collin Wilcox
(Mayella), and Robert Duvall (Boo Radley). The first three discuss their personal experiences and how their understanding
of class and race helped shape their performances.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
define what cinematography is;
describe the role of the cinematographer, or director of photography, in making a film;
understand that actors use a variety of techniques to make a fictional character credible;
identify reaction shots and construct narrative meaning from those shots.
Key Terms
(Note: Most terms are defined within the activity text that follows. You may also refer to the glossary.)
cinematography, cinematographer, color palette, mannerisms, reaction shot
Lesson 3 Materials
Activity
Activity A
The
Cinematographer’s
Role
Print
DVD
Graphic Organizer 2-7: What Is
Cinematography?
Graphic Organizer 2-8: What Does the
Cinematographer Do?
Screening Sheet 2-4: Visions of Light
Activity B
The Actor’s
Performance
Film Clip 2-4: Visions of Light
Reading Activity 2-4: The Actor’s Toolbox
Screening Sheet 2-5: Actors’ Choices
Film Clip 2-5: Actors’ Choices
Part 1– Brock Peters as Tom Robinson
Part 2– Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch
Part 3– Robert Duvall as Boo Radley
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Concept
Cinematography is a film language that communicates ideas, emotions, and relationships to the audience by photographing
light and shadows, movement, objects, and people.
Engage
Read or write on the chalkboard or overhead projector this quotation from cinematographer Conrad Hall. Ask students to
freewrite for two to four minutes what they believe the statement means.
The yin and yang of cinematography is about where to put the camera, should it stay still or move, what to light and what
not to light, is it better to go in or is it better to pull back to get the emotion you want?. . . We are storytellers and we don’t
do it just with words.
Explain & Explore
Distribute and display
Graphic Organizer 2-7: What Is Cinematography? Emphasize that cinematography is a
language using visual images. Students will learn specific techniques in chapter 3. However, a basic introduction to
cinematography is necessary in order to understand how the cinematographer collaborates with the director in creating
the film’s look. Discuss each concept on the graphic organizer as suggested below.
Use of Light and Shadow
The use of light helps create reality or guide the audience toward where to look or what to notice. Sometimes light
and shadow are clues to what may happen or what a person is thinking or feeling.
Use of Color Palette
A palette is a range of colors. A red palette, for example, may have purples or oranges or browns as well as various
shades of red. In a film, the director and the cinematographer often work closely with the people who design the
sets and even the costumes to decide what colors they want to emphasize and why.
Use of Movement
There are two types of movement in a film — one in which the camera remains stationary (fixed) while the
people or objects move; and another in which the people and objects are stationary while the camera moves. A
cinematographer can also combine these two types of movement by having the camera and the people and objects
moving at the same time.
Distribute and display
Graphic Organizer 2-8: What Does the Cinematographer Do? Explain that the primary
responsibility of the cinematographer is to translate the director’s vision to the screen through moving photographic
images. As a result, the cinematographer works closely with the director in both the pre-production and production
stages. Review each of the cinematographer’s tasks on the graphic organizer.
Introduce the screening activity. All the people interviewed in this film clip are cinematographers. In describing how
they work, they also touch upon the history of cinematography. The segment spotlights scenes from many classic films,
as well as more contemporary films with which students may be familiar.
Distribute
Screening Sheet 2-4: Visions of Light. Review the Word Builder terms and the activity, which has two
parts. Part 1 is a pre-screening discussion of statements made by cinematographers. These statements are taken from the
film clip, which they will watch later. To help students comprehend the film clip, they should first discuss the statements.
Explain that they will have an opportunity to revise their responses on the chart after screening the film.
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Quotation
What You Think the Cinematographer Means
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Michael Chapman:
“The cinematographer’s job is to tell
people where to look.”
All of the words should be familiar. Even so, some students may need
help in understanding Chapman’s meaning, which is that the camera
shows what the filmmaker wants the audience to see.
Caleb Deschanel:
“The great cinematographers are able
to understand the stories they are trying to tell and find those elusive visual
images that help to tell that story.”
The likely unfamiliar word is elusive, which means “hard to describe
or hold.” Elusive images are those that represent abstract ideas, such
as pride or fear or desire; in other words, how do you show “greed”
or “hope”?
Conrad Hall:
“I think visually. I think of how, if
you turned off the soundtrack, anybody would stick around and figure
out what was going on.”
There are no unfamiliar words. Still, some students might need help in
understanding that Hall means he thinks not in words but in images
and that the images should be able to tell the story every bit as much
as the words and other sounds or music.
John Bailey:
“The twenties was really a golden age
for cinema, because the camera was
unencumbered by sound . . . . It really
was a visual medium.”
Bailey is referring to the 1920s. The unfamiliar words are unencumbered, which means “not limited by or burdened,” and medium,
which means “format or means of communication.” He is referring
to the time when movies were silent.
View
Film Clip 2-4: Visions of Light. Discuss student observations. Recommended answers include those listed on
the chart that follows.
1.
Describe the lighting in the shots from the opening scene from Oliver Twist. What is illuminated? What is
in shadow? How does this use of light help to create suspense? Because the scene occurs at night during a
storm, the lighting overall is dark. The first shot shows clouds quickly covering the moon. The second shot shows a
woman walking along a dirt road. Some students may have observed that a cloud passes over the ground to cover her,
as well. As the film proceeds, at times the woman’s face is lit (as if by lightning) so that the audience can see her
struggling, and at times her face is shadowed. The use of light creates credibility but also helps to establish a
mysterious, foreboding mood. (Note: Teachers may wish to replay the opening shots a second time for students
to study the use of light in this scene.)
2.
Conrad Hall says that cinematography is “a language far more complex than words.” What does he mean?
Answers will vary but should focus on the main idea that film communicates through images, and the cinematographer’s job is to show (rather than describe in words) the action and the emotions of the characters. Refer students to
the quote by Hall in part 1 of this activity, that if you were to turn off the sound, the images would still tell a story.
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3.
The first movies were made using black-and-white film. Color technology developed in the 1930s. Allen
Daviau admires the early cinematographers because, he says, “having to learn to see in black-and-white”
was difficult. What does he mean by “learning to see in black-and-white”? The real world has color. Earlier
cinematographers, however, captured the real world in shades of black and white. Color is one tool a cinematographer
may use to communicate, but without color, a cinematographer must rely on light and shadow, contrast and depth,
lines and angles.
4.
What did you learn about cinematography that you did not know before you saw this film? Answers will vary
but should focus on the main idea that cinematography is not just camerawork, but also the use of light.
Think More About It
When the cinematographer does his or her job well, says Allen Daviau, the audience will “carry away images as
well as the words.” What movie images do you recall carrying away with you? Think of current movies you have
seen as well as movies you remember seeing as a younger child. Discuss how these images affected not only what
you thought but also what you felt while watching the movie. Answers will vary. Accept all reasonable responses. If
students have difficulty recalling specific images from their favorite films, ask them to comment on specific images in this
film clip.
Close
Ask students to suggest how they might use what they learned about cinematography in other school subjects. Answers will
vary. Some students might suggest using images to illustrate science concepts or historical events.
Concept
The way an actor interprets and then plays a character affects the audience’s understanding of the story. Often, the actor’s
interpretation comes from personal experiences and values.
Engage
Divide the class into two or three groups. Each group will be a casting agency. Their job is to suggest possible actors for a new
film. The film will be a remake of the classic motion picture To Kill a Mockingbird. The agency must recommend two different
actors to portray each of the following roles:
Atticus Finch, Bob Ewell, Scout, Jem, Tom Robinson
Allow time for the agency to discuss which popular actors today might best fit each role. They should consider not only
physical appearance but other attributes, or characteristics. These include the following: age, the sound or tone of their
voice, their gestures or mannerisms, and their previous acting experience. For example, would Leonardo DiCaprio be a
good suggestion for the role of Tom Ewell? Why or why not?
Ask each agency to present their recommendations, then discuss the recommendations in general as a class. Conclude the
warm-up activity by asking: Why is an actor — even a famous actor — sometimes not right for a role?
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Explain & Explore
Distribute
Reading Activity 2-4: The Actor’s Toolbox. Review the Word Builder terms and the sheet. Explain that
casting is a pre-production task overseen by the director. In production, the actor’s performance becomes a critical part of
the filmmaking process. Discuss each item briefly, then read and discuss the questions. Recommended answers are below.
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Answer Key for Reading Activity 2-4: The Actor’s Toolbox
Identifying Information
1. List the tools each actor used in creating their performance. Answers will vary but should include the following:
Peck: mannerisms; Wilcox: costumes, makeup, hairstyle; Peters: emotions
2.
What did Collin Wilcox understand about her character that the costume designer did not understand?
She lived in an area where people like Mayella lived. She understood the setting and the character through her own
personal experience and knew how she would dress and look.
3.
What did Brock Peters do in order to cry during his scene in the courtroom? He recalled moments of pain in
his own life.
4.
What did Peters mean by fearing he was “dry”? He had cried so many times during the numerous takes that he
didn’t think he had any tears left.
5.
Why did Peters call his time in rehearsal his “vale of tears”? He spent the entire time recalling painful memories
and weeping as he brought them to the surface.
Think More About It
In what way does the actor’s understanding of the character shape his or her performance? Answers will vary but
should focus on getting inside the character’s skin, imagining what he or she feels, sounds, looks, and moves like, and linking
that to common experiences in the actor’s own life.
Define reaction shot. A reaction shot is often a close-up of a character. The camera captures the character’s reaction,
either through facial expression or body language. The purpose of a reaction shot is to suggest to the audience what the
character is thinking. For example, a reaction shot might show a character smirking. That might suggest that the scene
is meant to be funny, at least from that character’s point of view. Or the reaction shot may show a character’s wide,
haunted eyes. That might suggest the character is frightened by what has just occurred.
Emphasize this important point: Reaction shots always suggest narrative meaning. By identifying and learning to read
reaction shots, students can better understand the relationship among characters.
Distribute
Screening Sheet 2-5: Actors’ Choices. This screening activity has three parts, or segments. Review the
Word Builder terms. Then, after viewing each segment, discuss students’ observations.
Introduce part 1 by sharing this information with students:
Brock Peters was born in 1927 in New York City and grew up in that city. The character he plays, however, is a poor farmer
in rural Alabama in the 1930s. In the 1930s, Peters was still an adolescent. How could Brock prepare for his performance as
Tom Robinson, falsely accused of attacking a white woman? Brock Peters himself provides an explanation in this film clip.
View
Film Clip 2-5: Actors’ Choices, Part 1 — Brock Peters as Tom Robinson. Discuss student observations.
Recommended answers follow.
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Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-5:
Actors’ Choices, Part 1 — Brock Peters as Tom Robinson
1.
What does producer Alan Pakula mean when he says Peters “has . . . a nobility about him”? Answers will vary.
Some students might suggest that he has dignity, integrity. Others might suggest he appears gentle, well-mannered,
like the good guy or a hero. Still others might suggest these adjectives — honest, sincere. Pakula does not mean by
nobility, however, that Brock looks like an aristocrat.
2.
In the shots of Brock Peters playing Tom Robinson, what actor’s tools does he use? Facial expressions, voice,
mannerisms, emotions, body language
3.
Years later, Brock Peters talks about his performance as Tom Robinson. What information does he share
about himself? He had experienced racism and real moments of horror, including being kicked and beaten. He
tapped the anger, frustration, and isolation he had felt earlier and used it in his acting.
4.
Gregory Peck says “Brock gave me a problem.” What was the problem? Brock’s performance was so moving, Peck
had trouble staying focused. When Brock began to cry, Peck also felt tears and had to look past him instead of at him.
View
Film Clip 2-5: Actors’ Choices, Part 2 — Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. Discuss student observations.
Recommended answers are below.
Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-5:
Actors’ Choices, Part 2— Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch
1.
During the interview, Gregory Peck shares a story about a letter he received from a schoolchild. What pleased
him about this letter? The child got the point that Atticus did not retaliate when Bob Ewell spat at him even though
Atticus could have “clobbered” Bob.
2.
What explanation does Gregory Peck give for not striking Bob Ewell during the scene outside Tom Robinson’s
house? Atticus knew he was doing the right thing in defending Tom Robinson, but he also knew it would be unpopular
and even dangerous to do so. He had to summon his own courage, but he also had to set an example of courage and
dignity for his children.
Introduce the third segment by sharing this information with students:
Playing Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird was Robert Duvall in his first film appearance. Although his time on screen is
very short, his performance caught the attention of filmmakers, who liked very much what they saw. His acting career took
off. He has starred in more than 80 films. In 1984 he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Tender Mercies.
View
Film Clip 2-5: Actors’ Choices, Part 3 — Robert Duvall as Boo Radley. Discuss student observations.
Recommended answers follow.
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Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-5:
Actors’ Choices, Part 3 — Robert Duvall as Boo Radley
1.
When director Robert Mulligan first saw actor Robert Duvall in costume as Boo Radley, what was his
reaction? He was stunned by his paleness. He thought he was perfect for the part of this village recluse.
2.
Gregory Peck says watching Duvall portray Boo Radley is “a lesson in screen acting.” Duvall is on screen
only a few minutes and has no lines at all. In what way is his performance outstanding? Emphasize that
acting is much more than tone of voice and delivery of lines. Duvall became Boo with a simple glance and subtle
expressions showing his shyness, awkwardness, and affection.
3.
Even before he saw himself on screen, Duvall knew his performance was good. What suggested this to him?
He says he got goose pimples while performing the role.
Think More About It
The three segments provide a number of different shots from the film. Describe one that is an example of a
reaction shot. Answers might include Atticus recoiling when Bob Ewell spits at him, or Jem’s silent reaction to his father’s
courage in staring Bob Ewell down. Other reaction shots are Scout realizing who Boo is and Atticus in court hearing
Tom’s testimony.
Close
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences each year presents awards, called Oscars, to filmmakers who have made
outstanding achievements. Award categories include directing, screenwriting, production design, cinematography, and acting,
among others. In 1962, the academy nominated Gregory Peck for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Atticus
Finch. The academy also nominated Mary Badham for her performance as Scout. The academy did not nominate Brock Peters
or Philip Alford, who played Jem. Ask the class what criteria the academy might use in deciding to nominate a performance.
Incidentally, share with students that Gregory Peck won his only Oscar for this performance.
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Lesson 4 In The Studio – Post-Production
Teacher Overview
In post-production, the director works first with the film editor to assemble the fragments of filmed shots into scenes and
then scenes into a “rough cut” of the film. A single camera, however, cannot capture all the necessary shots to tell the story.
Therefore, multiple cameras film the same shot but from different angles, focusing on different characters or points of view.
In the editing studio, the director and film editor view all the raw footage, then select which shots and which sequence works
best. Activity A's screening activity provides a rare look at raw footage from multiple cameras, taken from the filming of The
Lord of the Rings trilogy. Students can see which shots the film editor selected from the raw footage. Activity B explains a
second task of the film editor, sequencing the shots so that the timing, or pacing, maintains an audience's interest and
heightens their anticipation.
Once a rough cut of the film is assembled, the music composer goes to work. Together, the composer and the director discuss
the type of music that will best enhance the scenes. In some instances, the music communicates information that the visuals
alone do not provide, such as building anticipation of what may come. In other instances, the music score suggests the
emotions the characters are feeling or suggests relationships between characters. In short, the composer hears what the
director sees. In activity C, students understand that music on a movie soundtrack can affect the audience’s response to a
character or a situation. They learn that there is a process involved in creating a music score for a film. Students view a video
segment featuring music composer Elmer Bernstein explaining how he developed two different music passages for the film,
one to convey a child’s innocence and another to convey a child’s fascination with the unknown and the frightening.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
explain what the film editor’s role is in the collaborative process of making a film;
define pacing in relationship to editing a film;
identify two functions of music in communicating to an audience;
explain the composer’s role in the collaborative process of making a film.
Key Terms
(Note: Most terms are defined within the activity text that follows. You may also refer to the glossary.)
film editing, film editor, raw footage, cut, splice, rough cut, final cut, continuity, pacing, frame, music composer, music score,
texture, dynamics
Lesson 4 Materials
Activity
Print
DVD
Activity A
The Film Editor’s
Role
Graphic Organizer 2-9: What Is Film
Editing?
Graphic Organizer 2-10: What Does the
Film Editor Do?
Screening Sheet 2-6: Editing Shot-by-Shot
Film Clip 2-6: Editing Shot-by-Shot
Activity B
What Stays, What
Goes, and Why
Reading Activity 2-5: What to Include,
What to Exclude
Still 2-2: The Missing Scenes
Activity C
The Music
Composer’s Role
Graphic Organizer 2-11: What Does the
Music Composer Do?
Screening Sheet 2-7: Music and Meaning
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Film Clip 2-7: Music and Meaning
Part 1 – Interview with the Composer
Part 2 – Ears and Eyes
Concept
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The film editor’s job is to select the best shots from the raw footage of film and to assemble those shots into a final cut.
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Engage
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Remind students that a film is not usually shot in sequence. A director doesn’t always begin shooting with page one of the
script. The first scene shot in To Kill a Mockingbird, for example, was the breakfast scene on Scout’s first day of school. That
scene, however, occurs in act 2 of the film. One aspect of the film editor’s job, therefore, is piecing together the raw footage
— or unedited rolls of film — into logical sequences, from beginning to end. But the film editor’s job involves much more.
Explain & Explore
Distribute and display
Graphic Organizer 2-9: What Is Film Editing? to introduce students to the work completed
in the studio after the shooting ends. Working with the director, the editor determines not only which shots will be
included and excluded but also how the shots selected will be arranged. Discuss the key concepts on the illustration as
suggested below.
Raw Footage
Raw footage is all the strips of film photographed on the set. Very often the director will shoot one scene multiple
times. He might shoot from different angles or shoot the scene using multiple cameras placed in different spots on
the set. The director and editor will later select the best shots or segments from this raw footage to piece together the
rough cut and then the final film.
Cuts and Splices
A cut is the point where one shot ends and another begins. A splice is the point where two pieces of film are joined
together so that they follow smoothly, one into the other.
Continuity and Pacing
Continuity means the coherent way the story flows from one shot or scene to another so that it is smooth and makes
sense. Pacing is the timing of the assembled shots. Too many cuts, and the story may become confusing to the audience.
Too few cuts or too much time spent on one shot may slow the story down and the audience may become bored.
Rough Cut
The rough cut is the first draft or copy of a film assembled from raw footage. The rough cut is not the final film that
will be released and shown in theaters. Like the first draft of a written report or novel, a film’s rough cut requires additional revising and editing to ensure the story flows smoothly and each shot is selected and sequenced just right.
Distribute and display
Graphic Organizer 2-10: What Does the Film Editor Do? Review the tasks on the illustration.
Introduce the screening activity. The film clip shows how the film editor selects the best shots to use in the final film.
Explain that the clip they are about to see, from The Lord of the Rings, has seven frames. The largest frame at the bottom
is the final cut of the film. The smaller frames surrounding it comprise the raw, or unedited, footage from six different
cameras, each focusing on a different character or group of characters. The yellow outline that shifts from one camera to
another as the scene plays indicates which camera’s footage was used in the final film. As students will discover, footage
from all six cameras was used at various points.
Distribute
Screening Sheet 2-6: Editing Shot-by-Shot. Although students will study specific types of shots in
chapter 3’s lessons on film language, review the Word Builder terms now to familiarize them with the language used
by the narrator in the film clip.
For ease in referring to the various shots, and for those students who might not have seen the film, review the names of
the main characters in The Lord of the Rings. This particular scene, for example, takes place in Rivendell where the Hobbit
Frodo volunteers to carry the ring into the fires of Mordor and so destroy it. The other characters shown are those who
volunteer to go with him.
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View
Film Clip 2-6: Editing Shot-by-Shot. After the first viewing, pause the DVD and allow students to complete
the first two questions on the Screening Sheet. After discussing student observations, replay the segment again so that
students can observe more closely which shots from the raw footage were used in the final film. Emphasize that in order
to select the best shots to assemble into the final film, an editor may spend hours, even days, in the studio viewing raw
footage for a single scene.
Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-6:
Editing Shot-by-Shot
First Viewing
1. How do the images in the various frames differ? Answers will vary but should focus on the main idea that some
frames show just one character, such as Gandalf or Aragorn, while other frames show multiple characters. Also,
some images within the frames are close-ups of the characters, while other images are shot from farther away.
2.
How does this film clip help you understand what a film editor does and how? The film clip shows what
movie audiences generally don’t see — the raw footage that does not make it into the final film. Most students should
understand that a film editor must carefully review all camera footage in order to select the best shots to communicate
the story.
Think More About It (Second Viewing)
1. What did you notice in the second viewing that you didn’t see in the first viewing? Having discussed the
differences in camera distances, students may recognize in the second viewing close-ups and emphasis on particular
characters.
2.
What did you learn about shooting and editing a film that you did not know before viewing this film clip?
Answers will vary but likely will focus on the idea that more than one camera – in fact, often as many as six – film
the same scene from different angles, focusing on different characters. Others may say that they did not know that
an editor assembles the best shots into a final film using cuts from various reels of raw footage.
Close
Ask students to comment on how long it might take to edit an entire film. Based on their experiences in viewing and
reviewing just one scene, most students will begin to understand that the film-editing stage of making a movie can
take many months.
Concept
Pacing is a critical factor when selecting which shots to include and which to exclude from a final cut.
Engage
Define pacing. Explain that telling a story, even telling a joke, requires timing. If the person telling the story takes too long, the
audience becomes bored. If the person telling the story goes too quickly, the audience may become confused. When editing a
film, the editor and director not only select the best shots to use but also assemble the shots in such a way that the story unfolds
neither too slowly nor too quickly. In the editing studio, this is called pacing. Timing is equally important when sensing an
audience’s reaction — a gasp, a scream, a laugh. The editor must anticipate audience reaction and allow time for that reaction
on the edited film.
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Explain & Explore
Distribute
Reading Activity 2-5: What to Include, What to Exclude. Have students read both passages,
then discuss the questions. Students must make inferences to answer the questions, and so their answers will vary.
Recommended answers are below.
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Answer Key for Reading Activity 2-5:
What to Include, What to Exclude
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1.
Why does Mayella cry? Why does Dill cry? The passage suggests that Atticus has “hit” Mayella hard with his
questioning. She is upset by being forced to answer questions about what happened, so much so that she glares
with hatred at Atticus. As for Dill, Scout thinks the heat has made him sick. But outside, Dill tells her Mr. Gilmer’s
meanness toward Tom has made him sick.
2.
What information about Atticus does passage A reveal? His gesture — head down — suggests he is upset by
what he has had to do to try to get the truth from Mayella. He is compassionate, not mean.
3.
What information about Scout does passage B reveal? Scout does not want to leave the courtroom and does so
only because Jem tells her she must. But she nevertheless cares for Dill and tries to make him feel better.
Think More About It
Why did the film editor omit passage B from the final film? Emphasize that the reasons for cutting a scene are
many and may include that the shots weren’t dramatic or in some way did not work. The acting, for example, might not
have been convincing. Another reason is that the pacing or timing might have been too long and the director wanted to
move sooner into Atticus’s summation in order to keep the audience interested.
Display
Still 2-2: The Missing Scenes. This includes four storyboard drawings
from the end of the courtroom scene, after Tom Robinson has been found guilty and
is led from the room. As each image appears, ask students to
describe what is happening.
Guided Discussion
1. Identify which image or shot was included in the final film and
which was excluded? The second image or shot was the only one
included. The first, third, and fourth images or shots were excluded.
2.
Why, do you think, did the director and the film editor make the decision to omit these shots from the scene?
Student speculation as to why these shots were excluded will vary. Encourage discussion to focus on the reasons identified
above for deleting a shot: somehow it does not work or is not dramatic; it slows the pacing or slows the storyline.
Emphasize that Atticus walking out of the courthouse is so dramatic that to next show him upstairs in the balcony
would not only slow the storyline but also be anticlimactic.
Close
Share with students this old saying: A film is written three times — once by the writer, once by the director, and a third time by the
editor. Ask students to explain what they think that means. Focus attention on how the director might make multiple shots
of a single scene and then decide in the editing process which version to use and how and even where in the plot sequence
to place it — all of which will change the story.
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Concept
The music composer works with the director to determine where and how music might enhance the visual storytelling.
To do this, the composer keeps two key goals in mind: Music can convey information, and music can trigger an emotional
reaction in the audience.
Engage
Ask students what part of the United States they associate with country-and-western music, with jazz, with rap, with reggae.
Their responses will vary, depending on their knowledge of music. Typically, people associate country-and-western with rural
areas, the South, or the Old West. Jazz usually conjures a cosmopolitan environment. Accept all reasonable responses.
Next, test students’ listening skills by reading aloud this quote from Elmer Bernstein. Bernstein was the music composer for
To Kill a Mockingbird. Initially, he was stumped about what music could best express the story’s themes.
I had six weeks before I wrote a note of any kind. I didn’t know what to do. I sat there like a dummy for six weeks and just
couldn’t get into it. I couldn’t figure out what the film was about in a way that was an open door to walk through. Certain
things were obvious — it was about racism, the Depression, the South. But the minute you say it’s about the South you get tied
up with geography. Do you want banjos and the blues? I didn’t want to get involved in geography.
Guided Discussion
1. Have you ever felt the way Elmer Bernstein did — that you couldn’t think of what to write or do for an assignment?
If so, what did it feel like? Students’ answers will vary.
2.
What do you think he means when he says “I didn’t want to get involved in geography”? He’s not talking about
drawing maps. Ensure that students understand his meaning: We associate certain places with certain types of music.
Explain & Explore
Distribute and display
Graphic Organizer 2-11: What Does the Music Composer Do? to introduce students to this
stage of the filmmaking process. Review each task on the illustration.
Distribute
Screening Sheet 2-7: Music and Meaning. Explain that this screening activity has two parts and that the
DVD will stop between part 1 and part 2. Review the Screening Sheet, including the Word Builder terms, the questions,
and the chart, so that students know what to observe and record.
View
Film Clip 2-7: Music and Meaning, Part 1 — Interview with the Composer. After viewing, discuss student
observations. Answers will vary. Recommended answers include those listed on the chart below.
Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-7:
Music and Meaning, Part 1—Interview with the Composer
1.
What idea inspired Elmer Bernstein in writing the children’s theme? Because the story unfolds through the eyes
of Scout and Jem, the composer developed a musical “language” for them based on how children play a piano when
experimenting. They poke randomly at the keys, usually with one finger.
2.
According to the composer, Boo Radley means two things to the children. First, he is scary. Describe the
type of music the composer created to convey scariness. To communicate the children’s fear, Bernstein composed
frightening music with lots of texture and rising dynamics. He calls it “over the top,” which means exaggerated.
3.
The second thing Boo Radley represents to the children is mystery. Describe the type of music the composer
created to suggest mystery. To communicate mysteriousness, Bernstein’s music is soft, tentative, or hesitating. You
hear a few notes, then a pause, then a few more notes. It doesn’t say anything, but it asks a question.
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Introduce part 2. Explain that students will first hear the soundtrack for a short scene from To Kill a Mockingbird. The
screen will be black, and they should try to imagine what is happening. Then the scene will automatically play again,
this time with the images. The goal of the activity is to illustrate how music can suggest meaning but also how a composer
creates a music score that reflects the action in the scene.
View
Film Clip 2-7: Music and Meaning, Part 2 — Ears and Eyes. Discuss student observations. Recommended
answers are on the chart below.
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Answer Key for Screening Sheet 2-7:
Music and Meaning, Part 2—Ears and Eyes
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Ears — Soundtrack Only
Eyes — Soundtrack with Images
How does the music change from beginning to end?
How does the music mirror the action in the scene?
In the beginning, the music is quick-paced, light, upbeat,
playful. One could imagine someone dancing. In the
middle, the music becomes ominous, warning; the tone
becomes deeper, and the music is at times loud and
scary. Once danger is past, the music again becomes
playful and quick, as it was in the beginning.
When the children are playing, the music is also playful.
It rolls along quickly, as does the tire. As Scout nears the
mysterious Radley house, the music changes to reflect
what the children perceive as danger. As Jem runs onto
the porch and touches the door, then flees, the music
again changes to suggest his adventurous escape. In all
cases, the function of the music is to communicate the
emotions the children are experiencing. The music is
another way for the filmmakers to tell the story from the
children’s point of view.
Close
In lesson 3, cinematographer Conrad Hall said he thinks visually. He imagines the film without sound, meaning the images
must convey the story. This lesson, however, shows that music too conveys meaning. To illustrate how images and music
build layers of meaning, play a scene from a film without the volume. Simply press the “mute” button on the remote control.
Ask students to describe what is happening. Then play the selection again, this time with the sound, and ask students to
describe how their interpretation of and reaction to the shots have changed. West Side Story has an excellent example for this
type of viewing-and-listening activity. On the DVD format, go to chapter 3, “The Sharks.”
Scoring Still Photographs
Apply what you have learned about music and meaning in this
activity. Select five photographs that suggest the same mood or
emotion. Then hunt through music selections until you find just
the right music to enhance their meaning. Find out more by going to
The Story of Movies Web site at www.storyofmovies.org.
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