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Module
7 |
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Teaching
activities on genre developed by students in CI5472, Spring,
2004 |
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Louise Covert and Becca Robertson
I think it would be interesting to look at the truly American Western
genre with my students and explore the evolution of the type of
film in the history of American Movie making. In particular, I think
it would be an excellent way to look at the evolution of how women
and men were and are now portrayed in earlier and more recent western
filmmaking. Also, the difference in the dignity afforded to Native
Americans in Dances With Wolves as juxtaposed with early
westerns and the inaccurate stereotypes of that culture.
I enjoy teaching students about the spaghetti westerns (Italian
movies), and some of the most popular early American actors who
became famous in their roles as cowboys or lawmen in the early west
(rugged individualism, outsider).
I also like comparing and contrasting the movie, The Magnificent
7
(a western) and The Seven Samurai - one of my favorite Japanese
films...(the individual vs. collective values reflected therein...and
the transformation of the American heroes in that film (Magnificent
7) to a more collective effort the save the townspeople from the
raiders and bandits. I think that, as a class, we would go through
some of these elements of the genre, and then I would ask students
to further explore one or more aspects of the western's evolution
and provide examples to explain and share with our class. |
Mary Hagen and Beth O'Hara
In teaching 7th grade language arts one lesson we explore is setting
-- what it is and how the author creates it. This is a perfect opportunity
to bring in film/TV to examine setting and how it is created. It
would be interesting to compare the settings in different genres
and examine how they are created by the authors and how they affect
the story line/characters. Finding generalizations across genres
and typical aspects to the setting of different genres would be
accomplished by breaking into groups to explore certain genres and
reporting back to the group on what information they found about
setting and their genre. It would be especially interesting to look
at such genres as the western and what 7th graders today think of
them -- my guess is most are not very familiar due to their age.
My next step would be to examine characters across the genres --
how they are created and what types of characters are typical in
certain genres.
Our main goal would be for the students to construct their own
knowledge about aspects of certain genres, explore genres they are
not already familiar with, and relate genre to setting and characters,
etc. |
Katrina Thomson and Jennie Viland
Have students pick an independent novel to read in a genre that
they enjoy (e.g. science fiction, romance, mystery, detective, horror,
historical or whatever). After they have read it, have them find/choose
a film of the same genre (but not the film version of the same book
- that way that can't get away with just watching the movie). Have
them compare the two in terms of the characteristics of the genre.
What are the elements that are similar and/or different in the different
media? A further exercise might be to right a film/book review of
each, or to write a "pitch" about how the student would
turn the book into a film drawing on the characteristics of that
genre to bring it to life (elements such as cast, setting, special
effects etc. should be included in the pitch). |
Adam Banse & Dan Gough
Just as spoofs are a good entryway into exploring and understanding
advertising, they could also be used to examine genre in film.
Students could research genres, just as we did in class, and establish
a list of norms and regulations commonly associated with that genre.
Students could then play with the genre by creating a spoof. Students
could complete this assignment by making their own spoof Imovie,
storyboarding a spoof movie, writing a screenplay proposal or even
just designing a poster for a spoof movie of a genre.
By taking apart the genre, we feel that students may construct a
better understanding of it as well. The process could be modeled
by showing clips of famous spoof movies and exploring how they subvert
the norms. |
Jennifer Larson
My idea about genre deals with something I’ve seen as a problem
when students write their short story, which has been an archetypal
hero narrative. They often don’t know where to start and try
to reproduce the latest movie they saw rather than writing about
what they know. I think doing something with genre would help them
write better stories.
I would start by having students brainstorm a list of things they
spend a lot of time with and therefore know a lot about: dancing,
hanging out with friends, sports, etc. This will offer them choices
of the setting for their story.
Next I’ll have them brainstorm problems that can occur in
these situations archetypally, this will lead to the problem in
the ordinary world that needs to be solved.
Next I’ll ask students write down personal problems/flaws
that the hero could have in these situations that would need to
be solved in order for the hero to solve the problem in the ordinary
world.
Finally, we’ll consider genre. I’ll ask students to
write down as many genres as they can based on what they’ve
seen on TV and in film. Different people in class will brainstorm
the characteristics of different genres; we’ll share them
so students can choose the genre that will best deliver the story
they can write based on what they know. |
Anne Holmgren and Dixie Boschee
Select a film genre that has obvious setting, plot, characters,
iconography, and language/discourses and issues/encounters. For
this example, we will use adventure and show the first of the Indiana
Jones movies. The class watches the movie as a whole, but is
divided into groups of the following: (1) setting (2) characters
(3) iconography (4) plot (5) issues/encounters (6) language/discourses.
Each group is responsible for defining what is typically encountered
in adventure movies based on what they already know and from this
film. From here, they will work on their own genre film analysis,
but the first one is done in class together. |
Rachel Godlewski and Jessie Dockter
After introducing students to various genres, students could individually,
or in pairs, choose a genre to investigate through both literature
and film. Students could compare historical fiction with historical
film, romantic literature (Victorian authors -- not Harlequin) with
romantic film, mystery with mystery, westerns with westerns, etc.
Once they choose a genre, they would select books to read and movies
to view. Students would need to determine the elements of the genre
in print and in film, and explain the ways in which those elements
remain the same or differ in the two mediums. The final product
could be an essay, a presentation, or both. The final project would
require students to choose specific passages from the books, and
clips from the films to share with the class. |
Meghan Scott and Megan Dwyer-Gaffey
We thought it would be interesting to do a compare/contrast presentation
with genres. After studying the various genres in class and modeling
a compare/contrast presentation to the students, they would do their
own project. Students could do one of three things: compare and
contrast two films in the same genre, compare and contrast the same
film in a certain genre (for example, they could do the original
Thomas Crowne Affair and the remake or, like we saw in
class, the original and remake of Ocean’s Eleven (where two
groups had two very different impressions of the same film within
the heist genre), or compare and contrast a novel with its movie
counterpart.
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Erin Grahmann and Erin Warren
Intro activity: have students pick their favorite movie. They must
form a presentation that takes that movie, and movies like it, and
points out the typical setting, plot, characters, and themes. They
can work in groups, perhaps, and then will present it to the class.
After these presentations, the teacher will bring everything together
by telling the students that they just defined multiple genres:
action, drama, comedy, horror, etc. Thus, the students will form
authentic, spontaneous ideas about this subject, making it much
more meaningful to them. |
Reid Westrem and Brock Dubbels
This is really the sketch of an idea. Actually, our idea
related to our genre study of mockumentaries, which succeed by playing
off the viewers understanding of the documentary genre. So a natural
activity would be to ask student to produce a brief genre parody
film, maybe relating it to a famous scene in a classic film.
How about a study of an unintentional parody? Obviously, we all
believe that we can learn something from great films. But can we
also learn from lousy films? The '50s B-movie has almost become
a sort of genre unto itself, but when these films were made they
were attempted as "horror" or "science fiction"
movies. Students could choose a "bad" movie from a list
provided by the teacher -- anything by Ed Wood would do, such as
"Plan 9 from Outer Space" -- and compare it with a respected
movie from the same genre. Students would show representative scenes
from each movie to the class, analyzing them to show why one works
and the other doesn't. Furthermore, since the whole notion of "success"
and "failure" requires an implicit set of standards, an
extension activity could be to try to explicitly define the standards
of excellence that apply to a certain genre. A further extension
would be to watch another film from the same genre (neither a classic
nor a bomb) and write a review based on these standards. |
Kathryn Connors and Amy Gustafson
Amy and I would have students create a short film that shows insight
into a particular genre. This could mean that they followed the
structure of a genre. Or they could try to defy the structure of
a genre. Of course they could also try to combine some genres. They
would present their films and talk about the choices they made.
Then the class could talk about how the film was effective and how
it compared to other works in the genre. If there was not enough
time or a lack of resources for actual filming, students could do
skits. |
Katherine Schultz and Kari Gladen
This lesson would be placed at the end of a unit in which students
study genres in films and television. Students will be divided into
groups of 3-4. Each group will focus on a particular genre. The
groups will study their particular genre to the point where they
become familiar with the patterns and semantic components commonly
found within them. Class time and media center visits will be allotted
for students to view movies and complete research. Students will
then be asked to pick a particular scene in a movie that exemplifies
their genre most clearly. If possible, help students to obtain copies
of the scripts. Within these groups, each student will be assigned
a movie/TV production role. Students might be in charge of directing,
imagery, or set design. On the final day of the activity, students
will direct and perform their chosen scenes using the scripts and
casting and directing their peers. Tell each group that they are
responsible for directing their classmates and emphasizing the components
central to the genre they are representing. The final performances
will be recorded and played for the class. Each group will present
their genre performance and explain the patterns and intentions
they had while making directorial decisions. |
Tammy McCartney and Kimberly Sy
Have students recognize films that are "multi-gendered."
Select a film that has strong appeal in more than one genre (example:
action and romance). Students will view the film and recognize the
components that make it fall into both categories. Discussion could
lead to a debate on which genre makes a stronger case—which
target audience would enjoy the film more?
This activity also connects well with archetype studies in the
literary world. Connect the fact that many films belong to more
than one genre with the fact that many novels fall into more than
one archetype (depending on your reading and analysis). |
Josh Wetjen and Tom Deshotels
In order to draw student attention to differing genres, we would
ask students to bring in their favorite song. After hearing some
of the class songs, we would ask the students to make a list of
all the types of music they brought as a class (pop, rap, heavy
metal, etc.). Then we would attempt to define those different styles
(heavy bass lines, repetitive beat, distorted guitar, etc.). We
would ask what some similarities are between music genres and what
truly defining characteristics a genre possesses alone. For fun,
we could combine typically unique qualities from one genre to others
to create a new genre. |
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