How+Films+Reflect+the+Times

This is a group project where you will work with 3 other people to analyze films from the perspective of a theme.

HOW MOVIES REFLECT THE TIMES: Group Project (4 maximum)

Learning Objective: Find evidence in a film of its reflection of the times and compare changes in social attitudes over time as seen through movies.

__THE PROCESS__

1. Select a theme:

Sundance Kid || Clockwork Orange || Run Lola Run || The Godfather ||
 * Theme || Movies || Movies || Movies || Movies || Movies ||
 * Racism || Casablanca || The Searchers || Glory || Forrest Gump || ||
 * Women’s Roles || Casablanca || Some Like It Hot || Annie Hall || African Queen || Tootsie ||
 * The Depression || Citizen Kane || Modern Times || || || ||
 * Crime || Some Like It Hot || Butch Cassidy
 * || Shawshank Redemption || Pulp Fiction || || || ||
 * Violence || The General || The Wild Bunch || Pulp Fiction || The Godfather || Raging Bull ||
 * || Goodfellas || The Unforgiven || || || ||
 * Sex || Casablanca || Some Like It Hot || The Graduate || || ||
 * Freedom of Expression || One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest || || || || ||
 * Heroism || Rocky || Jaws || || || ||
 * War || Forrest Gump || Saving Private Ryan || Sophie’s Choice || Life is Beautiful || Platoon ||

2. Select a decade: 1920-29 1930-39 1940-49 1950-59 1960-69 1970-79 1980-89 1990-99

3. Select a classic film from your decade and analyze it from the perspective of your chosen theme. What could you guess or assume about the attitudes of the time? How does your movie support this assumption?

4. Now research your movie and your decade, and find out more about the prevailing audience reactions to your movie, and especially concerning your theme. Find out more about how the events of the decade may have affected attitudes about your theme.

For example, if you chose Women’s Roles and 1940-49, you may have selected Casablanca. Since Ilsa is neither independent nor capable, but rather child-like, you make an assumption that women may have been viewed that way. Then in your research you discover that the movie was released at the very beginning of our involvement in WWII. During the writing and filming of the movie, most women were at home raising kids while their husbands worked. We were just rising out of The Depression. Later in your decade, many men went to war, and many women took their places at work as part of the war effort.

5. Choose a film from the decade immediately following yours that demonstrates a change in your chosen theme. In our example, you could choose Some Like It Hot, where Marilyn Monroe’s character is in control of her life, on her own, and doing her thing. However her main goal in life is to marry a millionaire, which isn’t exactly liberated by today’s standards.

6. Now choose any film from our present decade that you feel would show present day attitudes on the subject of your chosen theme. To use our example again, you might choose //Mr. and Mrs. Smith//, where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are portrayed as equals who are very competitive.

7. Your group will schedule three popcorn nights during three consecutive weeks, where all members take off work in advance to view your three films. Write down scene titles and take notes on main events and any insights into your theme. After viewing each film, spend the rest of each week researching the movie and the decade further, to strengthen your positions with good factual information.

8. Then as a group, design a multimedia presentation that creatively teaches what you’ve learned. Include a brief description of the storyline, setting, director and actors of each film. Tell about the film’s context in time and describe current events. Most importantly, show the changes in your theme over time, and how they can be found reflected in your movies.

__THE PRODUCT__

Kindly do not bore me with a research paper. Remember I am an art teacher and a visual person. Blow my mind with great information, presented in an artful and creative way. Use all of your multimedia capabilities, which can include: audio tracks (voice and/or music), video, Powerpoint, clip art, text, animation, your own drawings or other art, whatever else you can think of. Do a simulated radio or TV show, a simulated interview with a famous person, a movie star, or a local expert, a puppet show or claymation, a dramatic re-enactment, write a song and make it into a music video, etc.

Consult the rubric frequently to be sure you are on track for an excellent grade.

= = =Click here to view a rubric for this assignment.=