Lesson Plan 3: Beowulf Movie Trailers

UTL 640E

Kendall Shultz

Jeff Montgomery / Westlake High School

English IV /12
Date: 10/20/15
Teach(es) #
5&6
Class Period / Time: 4th (11:31 - 12:21) and 8th (3:15-4:05)

Enduring Understanding(s) & Essential Question(s):

Storiesareapowerfultoolthatpeoplecanusetoliftthespiritsofoppressedpeoplesand
givethemhopeandcouragetofightagainsttheiroppressors.
(FromtheunitplanfortheBeowulfproject)Howdowecreateawarenessoftheneed
todefendtheweakorvanquishoppressors,notonlyonforeignshoresbuthereat
homeaswell?(C)
Howdoesseeingastoryofanoppressedgroupovercomingtheiroppressionaffect
theviewers?(C)
Whataresomeoppressedgroupsinhistory?Didtheyovercometheiroppressors?If
so,how?(F)

Lesson Objective(s):

Intheirprojectgroupsof35,studentswillworkinandoutsideofclasstocreatea
twominutemovietrailerthateffectivelyincorporatesalleightcomponentsofgood
movietrailersinordertodemonstrateknowledgeofthethemesofBeowulfthrough
visualinterpretationaswellastodevelopstudentsunderstandingofandcompetency
withvisualmedia.

Resources/Materials:
A.TODObeforethedayofthelesson:
CreateaMovieTrailersPrezipresentation
DistillthecomponentsofamovietrailerandincludetheminthePrezi
B.Forthelessonitself:
LogintothePrezibeforeclassandhaveitreadytogoontheprojector
Getthevideoofapreviousgroupstrailerupandreadyfortheclosure

TEKS/SEs Addressed in the Lesson:

(5) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to
support their understanding. Students are expected to:

(A) analyze how complex plot structures (e.g., subplots) and devices (e.g., foreshadowing,
flashbacks, suspense) function and advance the action in a work of fiction;
(B) analyze the moral dilemmas and quandaries presented in works of fiction as revealed by
the underlying motivations and behaviors of the characters;
(D) demonstrate familiarity with works of fiction by British authors from each major literary
period.
(26)Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams.
Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to
participate productively in teams, offering ideas or judgments that are purposeful in moving the
team towards goals, asking relevant and insightful questions, tolerating a range of positions and
ambiguity in decision-making, and evaluating the work of the group based on agreed-upon
criteria.

Steps in Lesson:
ENGAGEMENT (5-6 minutes)

I will begin the lesson by starting my Prezi. The first stop will have an example of an
effective movie trailer that draws viewers in and makes them want to see the movie.
After the trailer finishes, I will ask them what their initial thoughts on it are.
o What did it do well?
o Was there anything you didnt like?
o Would you want to go see this movie?

STATED OBJECTIVE (1 minute)

Today we are going to start working on the final stage of your Beowulf projectsthe
movie trailer. We are going to look at a few movie trailers together and discuss what is
effective and why. We will also look at what makes for a good movie trailer so that you
guys will be equipped to make quality trailers.

ACTIVE LEARNING
Introduce (3-4 minutes)
I will ask them: What do you think the purpose of a movie trailer is? How does it
accomplish this purpose?
I will mention that there are a plethora of different strategies that movie trailers use to
create suspense, set the stage for the movie, and give the viewer a feel for the genre of
the movie.

Explain (30 minutes total)

We will discuss the different components of movie trailers, using the Inception trailer as
a reference since that one does so many things well.
Things will generally follow the format of introducing the aspects of movie trailers,
say dialogue for example, and then we will look at how dialogue is used in the trailer.

Depending on the component, we will either go back to the trailer and look at how it

executes it, or (for the sake of time) we will just talk about how the trailer uses that
component.
This structure will be followed for each of the components.
1. Genre (10-12 minutes)
Different movie genres use different defining characteristics in order to establish a
movies genre for viewers. We are looking at three specific genres of trailers since
most of the students projects fit into one of these genres.
Question for each genre: What does this trailer do to create ______ (thing that is
important to the genre)?
First, we will look at an action/superhero trailer to discuss the moves that
these kinds of trailers make often.
Action/superhero films often show the call to action for the hero
Provide introduction of the bad guy/bad guys
Show a few brief portions of different action scenes/fights or the superhero
being awesome.
They also sometimes use slow motion to capture a particularly intense/cool
action or expression.
Thriller/suspense movies introduce the central conflict in pieces so that it
builds suspense.
Often starts with smaller conflicts that build in intensity as the main conflict
is revealed.
Tends to have more dialogue in the beginning that is purposed to build
tension before slowly getting into scenes with more action or intensity.
Horror often has a build up of less direct encounters with the main scary
thing before getting glimpses or full introduction to it near the end of the
trailer.
Often the characters are aloof of the danger the beginning of the trailer.
Frequently uses scary sound effects to set the scene
2. Establishing conflict (5 minutes)

In a three-act structure, movie trailers typically live in acts one and two, with
possibly a few brief seconds of action from act three.
The idea is to build interest in the movie without giving away the entire
conclusion.
Scenes that are important in introducing or developing tensions between
characters or situations, or that set up struggles or obstacles that characters need
to overcome should be included.
Keep in mind that this is a movie trailer, not a two-minute synopsis of your
entire movie. It shouldnt show the entire movie, but instead establish the
conflicts and build suspense and or interest that would make people want to go
see the full film.

 I will remind them not to worry about not getting to share their entire plot with
their class by informing them that they will be reading their movie treatments
aloud to the class so that they know the full story.
3. Narration (2-3 minutes)

Solid movie trailers do not typically overuse narration by including it

throughout the trailer.
Can be used for a few sentences to set the scene at the beginning or end of a
trailer to communicate critical information that isnt easy to show through brief
clips.
Occasionally, the main character will narrate throughout, but their voice is not
constant. It is usually one sentence or one question at a time, and they should
not be the only dialogue. Typically this is either used in superhero films or films
where the movie really wants to develop one character in particular.
4. Dialogue (2-3 minutes)

The dialogue in the film should be limited to no more than ten to fifteen seconds
of a conversation at once.
Real movie trailers dont include dialogue for long periods because it slows
things down.
If there is a need to share a longer conversation, they typically spread it out by
showing action in between.
Often there is music playing in the background that fades out to give the
dialogue emphasis, and when the dialogue is over, the music fades back in.
5. Text (5 minutes)

Text can be used in a variety of different ways:

It can be used in place of a narrator in some cases, but should only include short
phrases.
It might be used to blatantly tell viewers a theme of the movie.
Most often it is just used to communicate information about the movie such as
the title, tagline, when it will be released, etc.
6. Music (1 minute)

Depends on the genre. For example, action and superhero films have fast and
complicated melodies designed to get your heart racing, while horror films tend
to use something ominous.
Regardless of the genre, they typically introduce the music quietly at first and
build to a steady level, though some music may never get very loud.
Music fades if there is dialogue so that the dialogue can be heard.
7. Sound effects (1 minute)

 Sound effects also add to the overall feel of the film and help draw the viewer
in.
What sounds do horror movies often use to build suspense?
What sounds do action movies and thrillers use to try to get blood pumping?
Dont overdo the sound effects as that can get obnoxious and pull the viewer out
of the film and make them focus on the sounds themselves.
The idea is to make them subtle enough that they simply fit in and dont draw
attention to themselves.
8. Color and lighting (1 minute)

Color impacts the mood/tone of the movie.

o What colors/lighting would be appropriate for horror films?
o Action and thrillers?
o Comedies?

Apply (5-7 minutes)

Go ahead and get into your groups and spend some time getting logistical things such
as film location and times figured out.
Begin brainstorming ideas for what scenes you want to include, what dialogue you
want to include, what props or costumes you need, etc.
Try to keep in mind the strategies we just talked about as you work.

CLOSURE (5 minutes)
View an example of a solid movie trailer from a previous year and ask the students to
offer their opinions on what the trailer did well in order to review some of the concepts
and ideas we talked about.

Modifications/Differentiation Strategies:
FollowingtheIEPs.
Groupsoffertheopportunityforcollaborativelearning.
Frequentquestionsandrequestedinputfromstudentsshouldhelpstudentsthathave
troublefocusing.
Inclusionofmovietrailerswillbebeneficialforvisuallearners,buttherewillalsobe
textcriteriaincludedinthePreziforstudentsthatlearnbetterthroughreadingtext.

Evaluation Strategies:

Theywilltakewhattheylearninclassandworkoncreatingtheirmovietrailer,which
willbeusedtoevaluatetheirunderstandingandisamajorgradeintheclass(tobe
evaluatedbymyCT).

Notes/Recommendations for next time:

Thepreziworkedreallywell,butImayneedtostreamlinemypresentationifI
everteachthisagainbecausethetouchscreenprojectoratWestlakereallyhelped
outhere,andwithoutit,itwillneedtobealotlessjumpingbackandforththanI
did.