#2081. Film adaptations

Literature, level: Senior
Posted Sun Dec 10 01:37:19 PST 2000 by Sandra Bass (basssandra).
north sydney boys high school, australia
Materials Required: Film of a classic eg The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Walt Disney Productions 1993
Activity Time: 1 lesson+viewing time+follow up
Concepts Taught: Changing values of society

* Class has already read the text and discussed it as literature.
Divide the class into groups -about 4 or 5 students per group. Prepare the appropriate number of slips of paper, each with the name of a well-known film director on it eg Quentin Tarantino, Peter Weir, Alfred Hitchcock, Walt Disney etc. Make sure you include the name of the director of the film the class will be viewing.

Tell the class that a wealthy producer has decided to film the text, and has engaged the services of the director of his choice. Students then pick a slip of paper with the name of the director and have a specified time to develop this director's view of the text. These reports are presented to the class.

Then announce that one of the directors has in fact made the film. During the viewing they will be required to note the differences between their group's vision and the realised film, and at the end of the viewing they will be asked to present a report explaining the differences between the text and the realised film, and the differences between their vision of what the director might do and what was actually done.