Lesson 1

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • “How Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Was Animated,” Sony Insider, YouTube, 2020

• • Excerpts from Rushmore, Wes Anderson, Buena Vista Pictures, 1998
  • Excerpts from The Hate U Give, George Tillman, Jr., Fox 2000 Pictures, 2018

Optional

• • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, Sony Pictures, 2018

Materials

Tools

• Telling Stories with Film: Filmmaking Glossary

• Understanding a Movie Tool

• Video Note-Taking Tool

• Vocabulary Journal

Reference Guides

• Mood Reference Guide

Editable Google Docs

• Understanding a Movie Tool

• Video Note-Taking Tool

• Vocabulary Journal

Activity 1: Discuss – View – Write

We will watch the opening sequences of Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998) and The Hate U Give (George Tillman, Jr., 2018).

Step 1

As a class, discuss this quotation from screenwriter Neil Landau:

"Make setting a character."

Consider the following questions:

1. What do you think Landau means?

2. In what ways might the setting of a movie be like a character and have its own character arc?

3. What are some examples in movies you have watched of settings and how they play roles as characters in those films?

Step 2

As a class, watch the first 5 minutes and 30 seconds of Wes Anderson’s 1988 film Rushmore.

In your Learning Log (or on a Video Note-Taking Tool), make notes about the movie’s setting and how it might be seen as a character in this movie. With a partner, briefly discuss what you have noted about the setting of Rushmore.

Step 3

As a class, watch the first 10 minutes of George Tillman Jr.’s The Hate U Give.

In your Learning Log (or on a Video Note-Taking Tool), make notes about the movie’s setting and how it might be seen as a character in this movie. With a partner, briefly discuss what you have noted about the setting of The Hate U Give.

Activity 2: Discuss – Read – Write

We will discuss our initial impressions of the setting in Rushmore and The Hate U Give. We will review and discuss the storytelling concepts of setting, mood, and atmosphere and form a claim about the importance of setting in a movie.

Step 1

As a class or in small groups, discuss what you have observed about the importance of setting in the opening clips from Rushmore and The Hate U Give.

Compare these two movies to the opening clip you viewed from Hidden Figures.

1. What connections have you noted among these movies?

Review and discuss what you previously read in the Filmmaking Glossary and wrote down in your Vocabulary Journal about the ways in which a film’s setting influences its mood and atmosphere. You might ask questions about the concepts of mood and atmosphere, which are not specifically defined in the glossary. The Mood Reference Guide might be helpful here.

Step 2

Individually, use what you have learned and observed about settings in the movies and clips you have viewed to form a claim about how and why setting can be thought of as a character in movies.

Make a list of examples that support your claim.

Share and compare your claim and its supporting evidence with your classmates.

Activity 3: Discuss

We will review the term genre from the Filmmaking Glossary and discuss the high school movie sub-genre.

Referring to the Filmmaking Glossary, your Vocabulary Journal, and examples from movies you have viewed, review as a class the concept of movie genres. Discuss the different genres of movies you have viewed and how a film’s genre often (but not always) influences its level of realism, believability, mood, atmosphere, and style.

Thinking about the two movie clips you have viewed, and other movies you have watched on your own, discuss examples of high school movies, which might be called a sub-genre. These are the movies you are focusing on in this section of the unit.

Activity 4: View – Discuss

We will view and discuss a short documentary about the filmmakers’ storytelling choices in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, 2018).

Before viewing the video about the making of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, participate in an opening discussion of a category of filmmaking that has been both historically and recently successful: animation. Refer to animated movies you have viewed and enjoyed, and to what you have heard so far from the Pixar animators in the Art of Storytelling video clips.

Discuss the crossovers between the animated movie category and the superhero genre, and examples of how comics have been developed into movies, both animated and live-action. If members of the class are familiar with the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, discuss observations about the film’s style and how it exemplifies both the superhero and high school movie genres.

Watch the short film "How ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ Was Animated," and think about the storytelling choices the filmmakers made and the techniques they used.

After viewing the video, discuss this question:

1. In what ways did the filmmakers aim to make the setting and style of this movie look and feel unlike real life, but also unlike reading a comic book?

Activity 5: Discuss

As a class, we will have an informal discussion about the styles, settings, and genres of the high school film clips we’ve seen. We will consider which genres of films set in high schools we plan to watch for our independent viewing during this lesson.

Share your thoughts and questions about the clips from Rushmore, The Hate U Give, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with your teacher and peers. You might discuss the following:

• how the style and setting of each movie make you feel

• why you have that particular response

• how setting and style contribute to each movie’s mood and atmosphere

• what choices the filmmakers made to influence your feelings and responses

As a class, discuss the category of movies you will watch independently during this section of the unit: movies set in high schools.

You will choose a feature film set in a high school to view independently, and (outside of class) complete an Understanding a Movie Tool for that film.

Activity 6: Read – View

For homework, we will review a list of the best high school movies, read short synopses of those movies, and identify possible movies we will view independently.

Your teacher will provide a list of resources you can use to choose a feature film for independent viewing for this section of the unit.

For homework, skim through the resources, looking for movies that interest you as possibilities for independent viewing. Identify three to five options.

For the options you identify, try to learn more by watching a trailer or clip or reading a short summary or review.

Discuss your options with your family, friends, or teacher to help you choose the most appropriate movie for you, given your background and interests. You should decide on a movie and begin watching it by Lesson 3 of this section of the unit. Finish watching the movie and complete a copy of the Understanding a Movie Tool by Lesson 5.