Section 2: Overview

Truth, Fiction, and Fantasy in the Movies

How do storytelling choices and filmmaking techniques shape whether a film is realistic, fantastical, or somewhere in between? We will begin to conceive our own movie concepts and storylines as we continue to examine the level of realism in movies and the distinctions among documentaries, fictional films that are based on a true story, mockumentaries or faux documentaries, and fictional movies with invented or imaginary characters, settings, or plots. We will watch and examine the documentary Blackfish and, in a comparative essay, compare its level of realism to that of a fictional (or fictionalized) movie we independently viewed.

• Lesson 1:

  How might we tell a story with film? We will begin to think about a movie idea we each might propose and pitch for the Culminating Task in the unit. After watching short videos from the Pixar We Are All Storytellers series, we will think about a concept for a movie that reflects the Pixar advice to write about what you know and to conceive of a movie with a “What if…” question. We will then learn about the concepts of a movie’s story spine and beats and begin to plan storylines for our movies.

• Lesson 2:

  All movies—whether they are purely fictional, fiction based on true stories, or documentary— share certain storytelling elements and filmmaking choices. In every movie, filmmakers use story arcs, narrative structure, settings, characters, visual techniques, and sound to tell a story and affect the film viewer. We will begin by analyzing the documentary Blackfish.

• Lesson 3:

  We will watch another segment of Blackfish and use the Understanding a Movie Tool to discuss and write down our developing observations about its storyline, filmmaking techniques, and exemplification of the documentary film genre.

• Lesson 4:

  We will watch the final segment of Blackfish, complete our Understanding a Movie Tools, and choose a movie to view independently so that we can compare it with Blackfish in terms of realism, storytelling style, and filmmakers’ choices.

• Lesson 5:

  We will read a movie review of Blackfish to learn more about the language of film criticism and model writing mentor sentences based on the review.

• Lesson 6:

  Which tools and techniques do filmmakers use to shape their stories’ level of realism? How does a movie’s genre relate to its level of realism? We will read an essay titled “Flick Chicks: A Guide to Women in the Movies” by Mindy Kaling, and consider how we suspend disbelief to enjoy certain kinds of movie storytelling. We will discuss the level of realism that the filmmakers chose for the second movie we are viewing independently, and discuss what we are recording on our Understanding a Movie Tools.

• Lesson 7:

  As we think further about the movie idea we might want to develop and pitch, we will think about the genre for the film and a theme we might convey. We will then consider the levels of realism, truth, and believability that we might want. Using our Understanding a Movie Tools, we will compare the level of realism in Blackfish with the movie we viewed independently.

• Lesson 8:

  In small groups, we will share the Understanding a Movie Tools we created as we independently viewed films. We will compare the level of realism in our chosen films to Blackfish.

• Lesson 9:

  We will write essays comparing the levels of realism between Blackfish and a more fictionalized movie. We will analyze how the filmmakers for both movies used visual techniques, effects, and storytelling to make them feel realistic or fantastic.

• Lesson 10:

  We will review feedback on the Section Diagnostic and use it to make revisions to our work.

• Lesson 11:

  We will share the understanding we have gained through our independent reading and continue reading our texts.