Monday, March 4, 2013, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mood and Tone, and Cinematic Techniques

Essential Question: How do media producers use cinematic techniques to achieve special effects?

I. Do Now ( 5 minutes):

Review. Look at the following below, and identify explicitly connections between an author’s choices of literary techniques and a director’s choices of cinematic techniques. Identify a work of literature, identify two story elements, and then show how those story elements “may be represented” in a movie. Explain thoroughly each of the two you choose. 

• Tone/Mood may be represented by lighting and sound
• Diction may be represented by dialogue
• Imagery may be represented by symbolism, costuming, setting
• Organization may be represented by storyboarding
• Syntax may be represented by editing

Point of View maybe represented by framing, shot type, and camera movement

Mood/Tone

The cornerstone of this lesson is the difference between mood and tone. Think-Pair-Share about these terms before you look at the definitions. Identify explicitly some details that exemplify these story elements 

“...a dark and depressing mood as a vehicle to express a serious distaste for the restrictive nature of poverty.”

Mood_____________________________________________                                          

Tone_____________________________________________

............................................................................................

Activity 2.19

_________Read page 153.

_________Read pages 154-155. Highlight key words or phrases that exemplify the atmosphere or predominant emotion in the excerpt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl.

__________Using the graphic organizer on page 155, identify the author’s attitude toward the children he describes. Come up with one or two words that describe the tone  of the passage.

_________Highlight words that exemplify the tone of the passage 2 on pages 156-157.

_________How do we take notes, when we are watching a movie? What is important to note and what isn’t? If we identify the details of the story while or immediately after we see the scene we will likely carry this understanding with us. This is more effective than rehashing what we saw later after it is no longer fresh in our mind. Of course, time will allow other understandings to evolve.

Strategy ( Think and write notes in response to the following):

a. Note the characters in these particular scenes. Learning the characters’ names would be helpful, as you can more effectively talk about the scene if you can refer to characters by their name.

b. Not only note their name but how are they characterized?

c. In this particular scene, what is “normal” (conventional) to you and what is “abnormal” (unconventional)? Why is this depicted in this way? Does it add to the mood/tone?

d. What particulars of the setting also contribute to the mood/tone?

e. Do you think the author/director is making light of Charlie and his family’s situation?

f. How might “normal” people respond to the situation at hand?

_________Watch Scenes 1-7 (0-0:20:20) up to Charlie receiving a Wonka bar.

_________In pairs, respond to the two questions on page 158.

Homework: Read Chapter 3 & 4, Animal Farm. Missing assignments?