8/5/2015

Filmandvideo|TeachingEnglish|BritishCouncil|BBC

Letusbesureaboutwhatwearetalkingabouthere.Thisisnot
anarticleexaminingfilmsthathavebeenmadefrombooksor
theirlesscommoncousins,booksmadefromfilms.Thatis
anotherstoryasitwerealtogether.Itismoreaboutthe
relationshipbetween,say,poetryandfilmarelationship
whichisreciprocal.

ForexamplethereisacertaininspirationalzealthatinspirestheChicago
InternationalChildrensFilmFestivaltoofferasignificantprizeforthe
bestfilmbasedonapoemtheprizeisawardedtothefilmmaker
whoseuseofverseinfilmopensnewartisticvistasandinspireschildren
toadeeperappreciationofpoetry.
Itisalsoaboutacollaborationbetweenfilmmakersandwriterswhich
leadstotheadaptationofshort,previouslypublishedtextspoetryor
shortstoriesresultingineitherveryshortpoemfilmsordramas
basedonshortstories.Theresultisaninterpretationratherthana
retellingofastoryusinganothermedium.
Idealclassroommaterial
Theuseofthesemediaareidealforusinginthelanguageclassroomfor
twofundamentalreasons:
1. theyareshortandcanthusfitintodemandingsyllabustimetables
withoutmuchproblem
2. thecombinationofvisualimagesandaudiopresentationstogether
withtextdrivenactivitiesprovidesasatisfactoryrangeofstimulus
forthemostjadedstudentpalate.
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8/5/2015

Filmandvideo|TeachingEnglish|BritishCouncil|BBC

Mostteachersimmediatelyrealisetheeffectivenessofintroducingstories
orpoetrybyusingvisualstimulus.Afterall,wehavebeenusingvisual
propstoteachlanguageforalongtime.Thisformgoesbeyondasimple
backupprocessofseeandhearreinforcement.Becauseofthe
collaborativenatureoftheprocessandthecommunicativepurposesof
boththewriterandthefilmmaker,thestudentcanalsotakepartinthe
creativeprocessthroughcomparativeanalysis,perhaps,orfurther
creativestimulusonthepartofthestudent.Attheveryleastthis
powerfulcombinationshouldprovokestimulatingdiscussion.
Locatingresources
TheBritishFilmInstitutehasasectionforteachersandstudents(BFI
Education),withinwhichcanbefoundabookandDVD'MovingShorts'
(ISBN9781844572403)whicharedesignedtoenhancestudents'grasp
ofawiderangeofliteraryconceptsaswellaspromotingtheirmedia
literacy.UsefulessaysincludeStaceyHarwoodsTheWellVersed
MovieandPoetryMovies:APartialList'.Furtherinspirationcanbe
gainedfromSadho,avoluntaryorganizationthataimsattakinggreat
'poetrytopeople'fromallwalksoflifethroughtheinnovativeuseof
arts,mediaandsocialaction.ThereisalsotheBFI'sscreenonlinewebsite
witheducationpagescontainingnumerouslessonideas,startersand
plenariesaswellassomeshortfilmsonmedialiteracy.
Someenterprisingpoetshavereleasedshortfilmstogowithsomeof
theirpoems,usuallymadeinconjunctionwithafilmorTVcompany.
Forexample,BenjaminZephaniahspowerfulRongRadioisavailableto
download.
IntheUKoneofthepioneersofcollaborativepoemfilmsandshort
storyfilmsisCommaFilm,partoftheCommaPresspublishing
company.Theyofferfreedownloadsoffilmsandpoetry,withbothpoets
andfilmmakerscomingfromtheNorthWestofEngland.Commahave
alsocollaboratedwithWordPoweredtoproduceclassroommaterialsfor
Englishlanguageteacherstousewithsomeofthesefilms.
Yoursources
Whilethelinksmentionedaboveareonlyasmallselectionofwhatis
available,ifyouhavealinkthatisworthsharing,thenpleaseadda
commentbelowandletusknow!

Tags
Literature

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