A Film Review

 

Subject. A Film Review.

Objectives.

-         to develop students’ speaking, reading, auding and writing skills;

-         to revise and expand students’ vocabulary on the topic;

-         to develop students’ speaking skills through methods of interactive activities;

-         to develop students’ creative and critical thinking skills;

-         to develop children’s artistic tastes.

Expected results. Pupils will be able to talk about their favourite films, characters and ask the way top the cinema. Pupils will react on different questions, work in groups and make a film review.

Equipment: the book, handouts, tape recorder, tape, CD with music, posters/pictures of films, a computer, a projector.

Procedure

I.      Introduction.

Teacher: Good morning students. Look at the blackboard. What will we talk about at the lesson?

Students: Films.

Teacher: You are quite right but today you’ll learn how to express your opinions about different films.

II.   Warming-up.

1)    Pyramid discussion:

—   I hope you like to watch films, don’t you?

—   Well, I am sure you know different kinds or types of films. What are they?

—   There are 17 types of the films on these sheets of paper. You should choose 10 most popular types. Do it quickly, just one minute.

The List of Words

1.     Adventure film

2.     Western

3.     Romantic film

4.     Comedy

5.     Tragedy

6.     Historical film

7.     Crime

8.     Action

9.     Thriller

10.           Mystery film

11.         Detectives

12.         Science-fiction

13.           Fantasy

14.           Horror films

15.           Musicals

16.           Documentary

17.           Animated cartoons

—               Are you ready? And now in pairs choose 7 most popular kinds of films.

—               OK. Now in groups of 4 choose 5 films.

—               I hope you are ready. The first group, which types of films have you chosen?

—               The second group, do you agree? Read your choice.

—               And now let’s choose 3 most popular films from these ones. Who is in favour of the first word? Who is against it?  So let’s read them. Why do you think these types of films are popular?

2)    Matching:

—               Now look at the pictures on the blackboard and match them with the types of films from your list. For example: “The Ghost of Opera” is a musical  film. Now you please.

    

III.           Vocabulary practice:

—   Good. I see you know so many kinds of films. You like some of them and you may don’t like others. So, you characterize the films. I’ll give you the list of adjectives. Some of them are positive and some are negative. You will work in pairs. So you are A and B students. Students A, choose positive adjectives and underline them on your handouts. Students B underline negative adjectives. You have one minute.

The List of Adjectives

Spectacular, amazing, unconvincing, incredible, exciting, well-directed, weak, brilliant special effects, boring, magnificent, terrible, worth seeing, awful, dull, thrilling, uninteresting.

2)    Matching Adjectives with the Films.

—   Tell me please if you have watched this film from these posters.

—   What’s your opinion about it? Use the adjectives from the list. Positive or negative according to your opinion.

It’s spectacular.

It’s well-directed, etc.

I think it’s boring.

—   So our opinions are different. There is no simple right or wrong answer.

IV.           Speaking:

1)    Scramble dialogues:

—  I’ll give the sentences from two dialogues. You should organize them in a proper way.

B: Oh. I think he’s very handsome and talented. A: What is your opinion about the film? B: I think it is really thrilling. I enjoyed it. A: What do you think of the new film-star?

D: What a delightful performance! We couldn’t take our eyes off the stage. The actors played wonderfully! C: The play is really thrilling. There is so much in it that is exciting. And it’s very colourful. D: I was impressed by the play itself. It’s very serious and clever. It makes you think about very important problems. C: That was a wonderful performance! I liked the music, the lighting and the splendid scenery.

2)    Making up own dialogues with the help of handouts.

—   Make up your own dialogues using the cards and act them out.

Card 1

A	B
-What’s your opinion about the film…? -What do you think about the main actor and his acting? -Sure, the film is full of exciting adventures and it’s definitely worth seeing.	- Oh, I think it’s really magnificent. I enjoyed it. - X’s performance is convincing. I think he is a talented actor. -Did you like the film?

Card 2

A	B
-What is your opinion about…? - You don’t say so. The film is very spectacular. There are many brilliant special effects. -I think it’s exciting and thrilling. It’s well-directed and it’s worth seeing.	-To tell the truth I don’t like the film. I think it’s a waste of time. -I don’t like X’s performance. It’s unconvincing. He seems ridiculers in some scenes. -And what do you think about the film?

V.   Film Reviews. Jigsaw-reading:

a)    Pre - reading activity.

—   Now you will be given a film review.

—   What film is it?

—   Do you know the actors in the film?

—   Where did you watch it: at home or in the cinema?

—   Your task is to read them and tell your partner what is good and what is bad about the film. You have 2-3 minutes for this task.

b)    Post – reading activity.

—         Are you ready? So tell me what was good about these films and what was bad.

—         Complete the information about the film;

The title

The type of film

The stars

The story

The special effects

The acting

VI.           Film Shot Activity.

—   Are you tired? Now you will have a chance to relax and at the same time to guess the title of the film.

—   Listen to a piece of music and try to guess the title of the film. But it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the film. Your task is to write 3 adjectives which you associate with the film.

(pupils are listening to some extracts and write their associations)

(“Ghost of Opera”-musical, “The Pirates of the Caribbean”-adventures, “Sherlock Holmes Adventures”-detective.)

VII.        Listening Comprehension.

a)    Pre – watching activity.

—   We have mentioned that cartoons are very popular. I advise you to watch the episode from the cartoon Garfield andFriends: The Great Getaway.

—   Who is Garfield?

—   What do you like / don’t’ like about this character?

b)    Post – watching activities.

—  Watch the part of the video and tick the correct answers to the following questions:

Question	Answer
Why is Jon in a great hurry at the beginning?	He has a date with a girl. He has heard the last call for his flight. He is going on vacation to New York
What does Garfield take out of the basket first?	A big apple A piece of cheese A sausage
What does Jon do when he introduces himself to Roselyn?	He combs his hair. He adjusts his tie. He shakes hands with Roselyn.
Where is the Italian restaurant situated?	Near Jon’s hotel In Central Park Next to the Statue of Liberty
Which statement is true about the man with the basket?	He has a big beard and no hair. He is balding and has a big moustache. He is balding and is clean shaven.

—                    Watch the scenes at the restaurant and the museum and decide whether the statement are true or false:

1.     Garfield is angry when he enters the restaurant because Jon went to the restaurant without him.
2.     Garfield finds out that Roselyn is a pickpocket because he sees her steal Jon’s wallet.

3.     Garfield does not want to leave Jon alone with Roselyn because he is afraid Jon will fall in love with her. 

4.     Garfield says that the dish tastes like spaghetti with mushrooms. 

5.     Jon tells the taxi driver to take them anywhere. 

6.     Jon apologizes to Roselyn because of the restaurant and offers to pay her. 

VIII.    Optional activity.

Oral Film Review.

—         Look at the plan of a film review. Using the plan try to describe the film we have just seen.

Review Plan

-         the title of the film;

-         the kind/type of the film;

-         the leading characters/actors;

-         good things about the film (music, special effects, costumes, playing of actors);

-         bad things about the film if there are such;

-         your recommendations (it’s worth seeing, it’s a waist of time, I don’t recommend you to watch it, it’s good for nothing, it’s a right film to watch).

IX.           Summing up:

Thank you for your job and your home task will be to write the film review of the film you have watched last using all the handouts you have been given.