STAND BY MEA Standard Grade Media Studies Unit by Miss

Wood

Learning intention:We are learning to become familiar with the

key aspects of categories, narrative, representation and language.

Success criteria: We will have considered how narrative and

representations are established through language in a film.

Standing by your friends - belonging Learning to accept death is part of life Growing up Acceptance of those who are different to you

Themes and Issues

Think about the ideal gang/group of friends you’d like to belong to.

who would be the characters in the ‘gang’? what are their characteristics and interests? are they funny, clever, mad? what is it that ties you all together? do you all dress in a similar way – describe? do you speak in a certain way?

Your ideal gang

It was directed by Rob Reiner Based on a short story called “The

Body” by Stephen King Made in 1985 No ‘big names’ Is a “rites of passage” film – its about

growing up and learning about life Two-tiered narrative structure

Background Information

Gordy Lachance played by Wil Wheaton Chris Chambers played by River Phoenix Teddy Duchamp played by Corey

Feldman Vern Tessio played by Jerry O’ Connell Ace played by Kiefer Sutherland Grown-up Gordy/ Narrator played by

Richard Dreyfus

Characters and Stars

Start Watching – Part 1

Stand by Me: Techniques Questions

Opinions and Views – Let’s go over

1. Who is your favourite character so far and why?

2. How do you know this film is set in 1958?

3. What is your favourite scene in the film so far and why?

4. Where is the strongest friendship in the film?

5. Where is the greatest conflict in the film?

NOW WATCH THE REST!

First Impressions

My first impressions of “Stand By Me” are………

Continue Watching – Part 2

Who is the man in the Landrover at the beginning of the film?

Can you name the four members of the ‘gang’? How do the boys find out about the dead body? What has happened to Gordie’s brother Denny? Where is Teddy’s Dad and what did he do to him? Why are Gordie’s parents so cold towards him? Why do the boys decide to set off on their journey

to find the body? Why do they decide to go across the bridge? What is the name of Milo’s dog? Why do you think Gordie has made up the Lard-

Ass story?

End of Viewing 1: Quiz

Who changed the most and why? E.g. I think Verne changed the most because…..

Who did have the strongest friendship overall and why? E.g ______ and _______ had the strongest

friendship probably becuase What happened to each of the boys? What do you think happened to Ace? Who learned the most and why?

What did you think?Answer in full sentences

What are the characters like at the start of the movie?

Take a jotter page and divide it into 4 – put a main character’s name in each square.

Task 1

TEDDYCostume/hair/props/friends/way they speak/move

VERNECostume/hair/props/friends/way they speak/move

CHRISCostume/hair/props/friends/way they speak/move

GORDYCostume/hair/props/friends/way they speak/move

This is similar to techniques in English. It is the creative way the film is put together; like the creative ways a poet puts words together to create a particular image in our minds.

Language

Language means the tools the director uses to create a certain effect:

camera, sound, lighting, mis-en-scene (everything you see on screen) and montage (the editing process).

The language of film

Brainstorm Languages

Types of Sound

Sound

MUSIC – What do you hear? When? Is it part of the movie?

VOICE OVER – What does the voice over describe? What is the voice like? Why is it used?

Types of Camera Distance

Look to see how close the camera is to each character in our chosen scene.

Close Up (CU) = focus on face; reflects emotion

Medium Shot (MS) = focus on waist up; reflects conversation and interaction

Long Shot (LS) = focus on whole person in their environment

Extreme Long Shot (ELS) = focus on environment; sets the scene and mood

Camera Distance

Types of camera angle

Straight – camera points straight at subject High – camera looks down on subject Low – camera looks up at subject Point of View (POV) – camera gives a view

that a character sees with his/her eyes

Camera Angle

Types of Camera Movement

Static – camera doesn't move but people do

Tracking – camera follows movement of characters

Zooming in/out – camera gets closer to or further from characters and action

Camera Movement

Demonstrate how the director uses camera, sound and editing to help him create the scene.

1. Cammy, Rory, Nathan and Robbie – Music2. Liam, Glen, Daniel, Ronan – Camera

Shots/Angles3. William, Aaron, Corey, Ruairidh – Camera

Shots4. Jordan, Ronan, Scott, Kye – Voice over

Let’s do the opening scene

Natural? Special Effect? Coloured lenses? Why? (Blue – surreal and

dreamlike, Yellow/Orange – warm and happy etc.)

Lighting

LI: To understand the concept of ‘mise en

scene’

Apply the concept to a film extract

Mise-en-scene

Definition: Mise En Scene

A French term meaning what is put into a scene or frame

Visual information in front of the camera

Communicates essential information to the audience

Made up of 5 elements: Can you guess what they are?

The 5 Elements of Mise en Scene

Settings & Props

Costume, Hair & Make Up

Facial Expressions & Body Language

Lighting & Colour

Positioning of characters/objects within the frame

Each aspect of mise-en-scene has hidden

meanings within a film and sends signals to the audience about how we are supposed to feel at a

certain point

Cut – instant switches from one frame to the next

Fade in/ Fade out – frame appears from a black screen or disappears into a black screen

Dissolve – frames cross over and melt together to reflect time passing

EDITING

EDITING

EDITING

Monday 14th Nov

LI: Understand the PURPOSE of media language.

SC: Know our media languages.Explore purpose in 2 key scenes.

Language Quiz recap

Watch first 10 minutes of the film and answer the questions in front of you.

What is the scene designed to do?

Common purposes are: To build tension and suspense To further our knowledge of character To further the storyline To resolve conflict To draw the audience further into the

film

Purpose

We are going to watch 2 key scenes of the film again – the “Crossing the Bridge” scene and the “Final Conflict” scene

We are going to take notes on what happens, what we see, what we hear and what the director was trying to do in the scene (ie. The purpose!)

Task 3

You need to have knowledge of how a film is put together and made.

Camera Distance, Angle, Movement Sound and Lighting Editing Purpose and Effect – ALL IMPORTANT!

To complete Task 3…

Now individually, answer the following questions (record your answers in your jotter):

What sounds or lack of sound does the director use in the scene to create the boys’ fear and a sense of drama/excitement?What effect do the long shots of the bridge have on the scene? What type of shot is used to show Verne’s reaction to losing the comb? What is the significance of Verne losing his comb?What effect does the medium close-up shots of Chris and Teddy with the train getting ever closer have? Your jotters will be taken in for marking and returned to you before the next lesson.

The Bridge Scene (35:40 - 39:36)

Time to create your own Media posters/guides for

displayThe task is to create a poster (in pairs) on ONE aspect of Media to put up in M10.

Provide images/examples/definitions/notes/colour.

As a class we need to cover: Camera Angles – 2 pairsCamera Shot – 2 pairsCamera Movement – 2 pairsSound – 2 pairsMise-en-scene – 2 pairsEditing – 2 pairs

Webistes to help

BFI MediaKnowAll

LI: To understand how NARRATIVE works in ‘Stand by Me’

Sc: Understand EnigmasPlot out a journey

What does narrative mean when we talk about literature?

Narrative=plot The structure of a narrative is how it is

presented or ‘told’ (flashbacks, quest, classic Hollywood).

Narrative

A puzzle Something which raises questions or mysteries When there is a mysterious question with no

immediate answer, we call this an enigma.

Enigma – Something mysterious or puzzling that acts as a hook for the viewers’ interest

ENIGMA

 1/ What do we know about the story so far?

2/ What ENIGMAS are raised in the audience’s minds at the start of the film?

Write a list of questions you want to know the answers to at this point in the film. E.g. Who is this man?

3/ What is the significance of the two boys on the bike for the story?4/ When the narrator says, ‘I was 12 going on 13 the first time I saw a dead body’, what enigma is raised?   

Watch the opening of the film

 

The director also includes a flashback in this scene. A flashback is ____________________________ What does the director flashback to? When a film cuts back to a memory as a flashback we call say that the director introduces the memory narrative in flashback. It is here that we get introduced to the narrative proper (where the story really begins). Copy out the definition.  

Flashback

A quest narrative is like the plot of a good novel.

1. Hero/heroine is happy but then…2. Encounters some disruption so he/she

must…3. Go on a quest and face…4. Some obstacles. A …5. Helper comes along and we reach a

moment of…6. Climax before…7. Total closure and a return to…8. Happiness!

Quest Narrative

a. The gunb. Adult Gordy sees an article about a man named ‘Chris’c. The junkyard and ‘Chopper’ incidentd. The railway bridgee. Adult Gordy is seen at home in a family situation

having finished writing his book. We realise the flashback is the story he’s been writing.

f. The boys return home. Teddy and Verne remain the same, but Gordy and Chris have learned something on their journey.

g. The older and younger boys ‘face off’ over the dead body

h. Verne overhears his brother talking to his friend about a dead body they found

i. The younger boys set off to find Ray Brower’s body.

Now plot the following events in order on the narrative line:

Write a paragraph on how the director uses enigma to interest the audience.

The start of the film is puzzling because….

The director raises several questions. These are…

The director also uses sound techniques to add to the mystery at the start. He …

This adds to the mystery because…

The narrative proper only starts when …

Extension

Quest Narrative - boys meet and set off on their journey to find the dead body and become heroes.

Icon – a symbol of something.

What does the Gun represent?

Watch the Gun Scene

LI: By the end of the lesson we will be able to identify representations in the tree house scene.

Representation is how a group, person, place or idea is shown.

Representation

The Gun – an ICON

An ICON is a symbol of something.

What does the GUN represent for Gordy?

What do these ICONS REPRESENT?

How are these people REPRESENTED?

How a particular person is represented in a film. These can occasionally be stereotypes.

List at least 5 common stereotypes found in film:

1. Villain…

Representation-Character

Let’s look at how characters are REPRESENTED on TV…

Facial Expression looking down on you and high powerd

Hair and Make-upSpikey quiff eyebrows drawing

Costume

Gesture serious

Using our knowledge of LANGUAGE and NARRATIVE to better understand REPRESENTATION.

What do you see/hear?How do you see it?

What does this show?

Representation in the Tree house Scene

1st Viewing

1.How are the boys’ families represented?

2.How does the director represent the boys?

The construction of the boys’ families is negative.

The boys are represented as being immature but trying to be grown up.

Find the evidence of this.2nd Viewing

What do you see/hear?

How do you see/hear it?

What does this show?

e.g We see Teddy smoking

Close up on the cigarette in his mouth

He is trying to be grown up despite being 12.

we hear about how Teddy got his bad ear.

Character Study:

Write a paragraph about a character you know well.

Use your notes to get across as much information as possible about the person what they look like what they have to cope with and deal with in

life what happens to them in the end.

Consider how the director REPRESENTS them – use examples from the Tree House Scene.

Gordie is a main guy in the film and he is waring a red top and is very skinny. And he is a wimp near the starte but then gets a bit brahver as the flim goes on. And he doesnt dye.

Good or bad?????

In this lesson, we bring together the 3 main elements of media study which we have looked at over the last 4 lessons – Languages, Narrative and Representation.

Languages, Narrative and Representation (Revision)

The Journey Back

Watch the clip The Journey Back (do not write anything down but watch very carefully, using your new knowledge to analyse what the director is doing to create each scene)

Then qn sheet. Write the answers in your jotters. Please use full sentences.

The teacher will show the clip again, pausing the film at relevant points.

Stand By MeCommenting On Director’s Techniques

Identify The Technique

Describe the Technique

Explain why the Director used the technique

To Comment on a Director’s technique,

you must:

What is missing from each of these commentaries?

At the beginning we see a close-up of the newspaper, so that we can read what it says

The music used each time when there is a flashback of Denny is very sad.

What is missing from each of these commentaries?

The narrator’s voice-over tells us that Chris has to live with his family’s bad reputation.

We see Billy Tessio and Charlie Hogan through the gap in the porch. This makes us feel as we, like Vern, are spying on them.

What is missing from each of these commentaries?

We see a close-up of Chris and Gordie’s faces after they fire the gun, as this shows that they didn’t expect it to be loaded.

Mention title, director, genre Give a brief plot summary Explain that you are going to look at the

purpose of 2 key scenes and how camera use and sound make this purpose clear

Say what the 2 key scenes are

R3 Media Studies Assessment- Introduction

“Stand By Me” is a rites-of-passage film directed by Rob Reiner. He was lucky to get funding for this project as there were no “big name” stars in it. After the film, Wil Wheaton who plays main character Gordy Lachance and River Phoenix who plays Chris Chambers were both picked out as actors with potential. The film is about 4 young boys who set out to find a dead body. 2 key scenes involve trying to cross a bridge before a train comes and the final conflict between Gordy’s gang and rival gang led by horrible Ace. These are the scenes I will explore further.

Write a paragraph about a character you know well.

Use your notes to get across as much information as possible about the person – what they look like, what they have to cope with and deal with in life, what happens to them in the end.

Character Study

Gordie is a main guy in the film and he is waring a red top and is very skinny. And he is a wimp near the starte but then gets a bit brahver as the flim goes on. And he doesnt dye.

Good or bad?????

Write at least one paragraph about each scene we have watched.

Use your notes and write this up into sentences.

Start each paragraph by saying what purpose the scene had – “The opening scene was used to introduce the main characters and to take us back in time to 1959…” or “The final conflict scene was very tense and dramatic and showed us how Gordy assumed leadership of the group…”

Scene Analysis

The “Crossing the Bridge” scene happened quite early on in the film and the director, Rob Reiner, clearly wanted us to feel suspense and tension during this scene. Perhaps he also hoped that the audience would feel part of the film as it was such an exciting moment! Firstly, we see the boys crossing a bridge in a long shot. This is used so we can see how high up the bridge is and how big a risk the boys are taking. As the scene goes on, we start to hear the very faint sound of a train puffing along and see Gordy in slow motion from an extreme close up yelling “TRRRAAAIN!”…

Give your opinion of the film. Tell me about some of the messages sent by

the film. Explain what you feel made this film

successful when it was released.

Conclusion