Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
Teachers resource
Our resources are designed to be used with selected film
titles, which are available free for clubs at www.filmclub.org
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Our resources are designed to be used with selected film titles, which are available free for clubs at www.filmclub.org
Teachers’ notes
Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls
1954 | UK | 77 mins | Cert: PG
Curriculum focus
These activities are broadly suitable for 11-18 English, drama and related subjects. They are
particularly helpful in supporting study of the play for GCSE English literature.
Studiocanal Films Ltd. © (1954) All rights reserved
What’s this film about?
A policeman drops in on a wealthy family to question them about the suicide of a young woman they knew. But is
the inspector who he says he is, or is something much stranger going on? Alastair Sim plays the all-knowing visitor
in this adaptation of JB Priestley’s most famous work. While operating as a mysterious crime drama, the play also
offers an attack on social inequality, and on the privileged for lacking awareness of the effect their power and status
has on others.
Introduction
This resource helps students explore character, meaning and interpretation through clips from the classic 1954 film
adaptation of the play and short extracts from the 1993 National Theatre production, courtesy of the National Video
Archive of Performance at the V&A. Using these materials will help develop and extend your teaching of the play,
bringing the text to life for your students. They are designed to deepen students’ understanding of the different ways
the text could be interpreted and challenge them to develop higher order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation and
creation. These resources support English Literature GCSE learning objectives AO1, AO2 and AO4.
These flexible materials can be used in their entirety, or in part, and can be adapted to suit your students’ needs.
The resource comprises activity outlines and supporting worksheets for students and is designed to be used
in conjunction with the accompanying An Inspector Calls presentation, featuring key clips and downloadable at
www.intofilm.org/schools-resources. You may find a copy of the full film on DVD helpful for your teaching; you will also
need an Internet connection and IWB or similar. Students will also need copies of the play and printed copies of the two
worksheets (note that the Focus on… sheet is designed to be cut up into cards).
About Reel to Real
This unique teaching resource is part of the Reel to Real programme, a partnership between Into Film and the V&A’s
Learning Department. Reel to Real harnesses the immersive, visual nature of film, as well as the wealth of the V&A
Museum’s world-renowned collections of art, design and performance, to give students new and exciting insights into
key English curriculum texts at ages 11-18.
Accessing film
The film-focused activities here are supported by embedded clips in the An Inspector Calls presentation.
We recommend viewing the feature film in full. You can order the film for free through your Into Film Club
account. Not yet Into Film? Joining Into Film is easy and free – go to the website to find out more and to register:
www.intofilm.org/schools-film-clubs or email [email protected]. Alternatively, try findanyfilm.com. For some
activities in this resource, additional timecodes are given for scenes on the DVD. For advice on filmmaking, and
on film language, see this helpful guide (in particular pages 8-11, which you may want to share with your students):
bit.ly/SecondaryFilmmaking.
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Our resources are designed to be used with selected film titles, which are available free for clubs at www.filmclub.org
Activity outlines
Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
Introductory activities
Summary: Using analysis, persuasive and evaluative skills, students
deepen their understanding of key characters and translate the
literary text into a film text.
Learning outcomes:
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• Students revisit their knowledge of character using evidence from the text in order to transform key quotes into film scenes
• Students apply their understanding of key characters to decide on contemporary casting choices and use
persuasive and evaluative skills to review their choices.
On the wall
1. Show students slides 2, 3 and 4 of the An Inspector Calls presentation which show six posters for different theatre
productions of the play from the V&A’s collection. In pairs, students explore the posters through these key questions:
• What themes of the play are suggested by the posters?
• Which characters are shown, and how are they presented?
• What similarities and differences can you spot between the posters?
Pairs share findings with another pair, then groups of four feed back.
2. In their groups, students look at the poster for the 1954 film version on slide 5 of the An Inspector Calls
presentation. In what ways do they think a film version might be different from a stage play? Students could design
their own poster for a production or film version, highlighting the themes they think are most important.
Framing character
1.
During the play, Inspector Goole puts the other characters ‘in the frame’ for the death of Eva Smith. Divide pupils
into six groups, giving each group one character to focus on:
Inspector Goole; Birling; Sheila; Eric; Gerald; Mrs Birling.
2.
Groups find six key quotes said by, or about, their character that shape how the audience responds to them. Quotes
should be written in the spaces on the Framing character worksheet on page 11 of this resource. Students should
add a page reference for their quotes where possible.
3.
When they’re finished, groups swap sheets.
4.
Groups look up each quote on their new sheet in turn and discuss how they think that moment might be presented
in a film version of the play. To help them think about the ways film works, introduce the terms on the Focus on…
prompt cards on pages 9 and 10: costume, hair and makeup; setting and props; lighting; performance; sound;
camera and editing.
5.
Groups sketch their filming ideas for key moments on their Framing character worksheet.
Extension: groups film these key moments on a camera or tablet, performing the lines and showing the other
characters in the frame, to compile a filmed revision guide on each character.
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Our resources are designed to be used with selected film titles, which are available free for clubs at www.filmclub.org
Activity outlines
Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
Casting call!
1. In pairs, students pick two or more characters from the play and choose which actors or public figures they would
like to play those roles, explaining how their choices match up with the way the character is presented in the text.
2. Get students to pick the casting choice they think is strongest, then join up with another pair focusing on the same
character to share their ideas.
3. Turn this into a class presentation activity:
• Students prepare a one-minute speech to persuade the production team (i.e. the rest of the class and the teacher)
of their casting choice for their chosen role
• Group students together according to the character they’ve chosen, then take each character in turn, getting
students to make the case for their casting choice
• Students vote on the most persuasive choice for each role. How does your class’s chosen cast shape up?
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Our resources are designed to be used with selected film titles, which are available free for clubs at www.filmclub.org
Activity outlines
Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
Clip-focused activities
Summary: Students use key clips from the stage production
and the film to consolidate their understanding of character and
understand the range of interpretations the play text offers. They
experiment with these in order to evaluate the impact these
dramatic interpretations have on audiences.
Learning outcomes:
• Students can deconstruct an opening scene to analyse key features and make comparisons and judgements
about different versions.
• Students apply textual analysis skills to interpret the play and explore their own responses to the film version
and the recorded stage production. They compare their expectations with clips from both versions.
• Referring to key sections from the text, students experiment with a range of dramatic interpretations and
evaluate their ideas against film and stage versions.
• Students identify the impact of key changes to the text on the audience’s response to character and on the
play’s dramatic impact.
• Students compare and contrast stage and film interpretations of character in order to evaluate the relative
effectiveness and impact on the audience of different interpretations, and on the meaning and effectiveness
of the play as a whole.
The opening
1. Show students the clip ‘Opening Credits’ from the 1954 film on slide 6 of the An Inspector Calls presentation, then
show them the clip ‘Opening on Stage’ on slide 7, from the opening of the 1993 stage production. Ask your students
to discuss the following in pairs:
• How does each clip match with your existing ideas about the play?
• Do the images and sound suggest any of the play’s key themes?
• Is there anything here you didn’t expect to see?
2. Arrange students into groups and give each group one of the Focus on… prompt cards on pages 9 and 10 of this
resource. You may wish to differentiate through resource by which card you give each group – from 1-6, the lower
numbers are more straightforward, the highest the most difficult. Play both clips again. Groups make notes on what
they see, using their card as a focus to think about how particular effects are created. Share findings as a class.
3. Now ask groups to read the opening stage directions in the text, from the list of characters to the first spoken line.
What is the same and what is different between text, film and stage production? What textual clues does Priestley
give performers or directors? Would students have staged or filmed the very first opening moments in a similar or
different way? Why?
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Our resources are designed to be used with selected film titles, which are available free for clubs at www.filmclub.org
Activity outlines
Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
Introducing character: Inspector Goole
1.
Students read Goole’s first exchange with the Birlings in Act I, from when Goole first enters to when he says ‘I think
you remember Eva Smith now, don’t you Mr Birling?’. What do we learn about Goole in this part of the text from his
language, from other characters and from any stage directions?
2.
How might the actor playing Goole - and the actors on stage or screen with him - interpret or react to the lines
and stage directions? Groups try acting short segments of the text to see what different meanings can be created
through performance.
3.
Now show students the two clips of this moment, ‘Poole’s Entrance’ and ‘Goole and Birling’ (from the 1993
recorded theatre production and the 1954 feature film on slides 8 and 9 of the An Inspector Calls presentation).
Give groups one of the Focus on… cards on pages 9 and 10 of this resource (you may want to redistribute these
amongst groups if they already have them). What comparisons can they make between text and performance, and
between the two performances?
The flashback
1. The film adaptation uses ‘flashback’ sequences as each character gives their account of how they came to know Eva.
Show students the first time this occurs in the 1954 film in the clip ’Birling and Eva’ on slide 10 of the An Inspector Calls
presentation.
2. In groups students discuss:
• How do we know this is a ‘flashback’ showing events in the past? Students identify how the different elements
of film (sound, voiceover, editing etc.) signal the start of the flashback.
• Can students think of flashbacks used in any other films? How are flashbacks typically shown in films – think
of visuals, editing, sound or any other effects.
• Could you recreate the flashback effect on stage? How? Think about lighting, sound, music, performance and
any scenic effects. What would be the effect of this in the theatre?
3. Look at the section of the text in Act I, from when Birling says ‘Now, about this girl – Eva Smith. I remember her
quite well now’ to ‘She’d had a lot to say, I remember – far too much. So she had to go’ for comparison, then
play the clip again. Ask students:
•
•
•
•
What parts of the text are the same and what has been changed?
What effects do these changes have?
How has character been interpreted and presented?
Is this how you imagined the scene?
4. This character and text-focused exercise can be repeated for the other characters, using these timecodes
on the DVD: Sheila (00:17:15 – 00:19:19); Gerald (00:26:43 – 00:37:40); Eric (00:53:47 – 01:02:09); Mrs Birling
(00:45:04 – 00:50:00). Play and pause each clip, with students writing key ‘quotes around the character’ on sugar
paper for each one. Create character key word/key quotation profiles for each character from these annotations.
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Our resources are designed to be used with selected film titles, which are available free for clubs at www.filmclub.org
Activity outlines
Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
The real Eva Smith…?
1. One of the key differences made by the flashback device in the film is that we see and hear Eva Smith for ourselves,
rather than hearing about her through the other characters. She even takes on some other characters’ lines,
including some spoken by Inspector Goole.
• What are students’ impressions of Eva at different points in the play?
• What difference does it make to their response to the character, and to the play as a whole, to show her on screen
in this way?
2. Play the clip ‘Gerald and Eva’ of slide 11 on the An Inspector Calls presentation adapted from the text around two
thirds of the way through Act II. Pause on the last shot that shows Eva. Annotate the slide around the clip with
students’ impressions of Eva from the text on the left, and their impressions from the film version on the right.
• To what extent is the character of Eva Smith changed or challenged by this on-screen interpretation?
• Ask students to consider whether the decision in the film version to include flashback sequences involving Eva
Smith increases its impact, in comparison with the play in which Eva never appears. Students should think about
the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
3. What does Eva Smith represent in the play? Direct students to Inspector’s Goole’s final speech in Act II, from ‘One
Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths’ to his exit. Based on what they have seen
of the two productions, how would students imagine this to be shown in each version? Encourage students to
annotate copies of the speech to explore how elements of mise-en-scène, sound, performance and staging (as
appropriate) could be used to convey meaning.
Extension: This moment has been changed quite significantly in the 1954 film version (DVD timecode 00:04:35
– 01:06:09). Screen this for students. In pairs, students discuss the effects that the changes to the text in this
interpretation, and the way this scene has been shot, have on the play’s meaning and impact.
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Our resources are designed to be used with selected film titles, which are available free for clubs at www.filmclub.org
Activity outlines
Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
Further activities
Summary: Using filmmaking and creative writing, students focus
on key moments and characters and apply their understanding of
the play to create their own interpretations.
Learning outcomes:
• Students deconstruct key extracts from the text in order to create their own interpretations and character video diaries.
• Students apply their knowledge and understanding of characters in order to write monologues that demonstrate
character progression.
Filmmaking activities
1. Students film their own versions of a key speech or extract from the text, creating a contemporary interpretation
in contrast to the stage and film versions they have seen. They should annotate the text in pairs (working in
role as actor and director), thinking about language, meaning and interpretation. They should aim to show their
understanding of character through performance aspects such as emphasis (tone and volume), gesture etc.
2. Students script, rehearse and record video diary entries by Eva Smith, in which she recounts her responses to the
key events in the play which so tragically affect her life. This can be broken into sections representing her various
encounters with the Birlings and with Gerald Croft.
Creative writing response
1. Students put themselves in one character’s shoes to write a short monologue in three parts. They imagine their
character at three key points in time after the events of the play:
• 1914 (eve of war)
• 1916 (conscription introduced)
• 1918 (end of war).
The monologue should cover what their character is doing and what events led them to where they are, with
reference to the play. If they were to create a stage or film version, what choices would they make for setting
and location, costume, staging or framing, music, lighting etc? Offer students a performance option for
sharing their ideas.
And finally…
Groups can view videos from the National Video Archive of Performance (NVAP) at the V&A free of charge. Contact
[email protected] to make an appointment. A list of recordings is available here: bit.ly/VandA-Performance
Visit the V&A 20th Century gallery hub page: bit.ly/VandA-20th
Go to ‘Search the Collections’ to find out more about the V&A’s collections online: collections.vam.ac.uk
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Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
Focus on…
These prompts and questions will help students make a close analysis of key clips.
1. Costume, hair and make-up
Choices about a character’s appearance are usually designed
to have an immediate effect on the audience.
Prompt questions: How are the different characters presented?
Make notes on costume, hair and any other interesting features.
- What ideas about their status, and their state of mind, do you get from their costume?
2. Performance
Look closely at the actors’ performances, and listen carefully
to their voice and delivery.
Prompt questions: How do they use voice, facial expressions, gesture and
body language to convey a sense of character?
- How do they interact with one another, and with the audience or camera?
3. Setting and props
Look closely at all the objects you can see, as well as the
background scenery or setting.
Prompt questions: How do the setting and any props elements create a sense of time and place?
- What do they tell us about status? Do you notice any interesting details?
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Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls
Focus on…
4. Sound and music
Listen carefully to how sound (including incidental sounds,
sound effects and voiceover) and music are used.
Prompt questions: What can you hear? What effect does it have as you watch?
- If any instruments are used, can you identify them or guess at what they might be?
- Does the sound in the scene create atmosphere, or link to wider ideas of character or theme?
5. Lighting
Look carefully at the lighting in the scene, thinking about what is
lit and what is in shadow, as well as the direction the light seems
to be coming from.
Prompt questions: What are the main areas of light and shadow in the scene?
- Has lighting been used to focus attention on a particular character or part of the set?
- Does the lighting seem ‘natural’, or ‘heightened’ (with bright lights or deep shadows)?
- How does lighting create atmosphere?
6. Camera and editing
To film a theatre production, cameras can be positioned around the auditorium
to record a single performance. With a feature film, different camera positions
may be used, and different ‘takes’ may be edited together to create the final
recording. Editing involves deciding the order in which shots appear on screen,
the duration of shots and any ‘transitions’ between them (such as a fade).
Prompt questions: Look at the shot types at key moments. Has a close up been used or a long shot?
- Is the camera high up or low down? What effect does this have?
- Count the number of shots in the edit. How quickly do they change?
- Does the edit keep us in one time period, or do we move back or forth in time?
- Does the camera move at all and, if so, how – does it follow a character, or zoom in or out?
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Filming notes:
Key quote:
Filming notes:
Key quote:
Inspector Goole
Birling
Sheila
Eric
Gerald
Mrs Birling
Inspector Goole puts the other characters ‘in the frame’ for the death of Eva Smith. In your groups, you will be looking at one of the characters listed below. Work together to
choose six key quotes said by, or about, your character that help shape how the audience responds to them. Write these in the ‘key quotes’ spaces below – leaving the top
boxes blank for now. Your teacher will give you further instructions!
Framing character
11
Reel to Real: An Inspector Calls