TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Activities

1- The teacher will introduce the author and novel in class. Take notes.
2- You will download and read the PRE-WATCHING INFORMATION at home.
3- You will download and read the FILE at home.
4- You will watch and complete the file in class.
5- You will give the file to the teacher in class.

You can read the book it's based upon HERE.
You can do the Quizes HEREand HERE.

To Kill a Mockingbird Activity: <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> Film Adaptation

In 1962, Robert Mulligan directed screenplay writer Horton Foote’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and bagged three of them: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gregory Peck), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration for Black and White, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. Not too shabby.

Film buffs and adaptation enthusiasts say that To Kill a Mockingbird’s opening credits sequence is one of the greatest of all time. In this activity, you get to check out the opening credit sequence, and then try your hand at making a credit sequence or movie trailer for To Kill a Mockingbird.

Step 1: Watch the To Kill a Mockingbird film adaptation's opening credit sequence.

Step 2: Take notes and answer the following questions for an in-class discussion:

1. How would you describe the music we hear at the beginning of the sequence? (Is it like a lullaby or something a child's music box might play?) How does the music establish the film's mood?


2. What other sounds do we hear throughout the sequence? How does each sound help to set the tone for the story?


3. Make a list of the objects the child removes from the old cigar box. What do all of these objects have in common? Do any of the objects appear in the novel? If so, where do they appear, exactly, and what is their overall significance?


4. What kind of picture does the child draw? What’s the overall significance of the image? What is the effect of the child tearing the picture in half? Is the action symbolic in any way? Does the torn image speak to any themes, motifs, or allegory from Harper Lee's novel?


5. The camera work is pretty striking in this sequence. Notice the way the camera zooms in on the objects in the cigar box and how, later, the camera slowly follows a marble as it rolls across the table. How do these camera techniques impact the audience’s experience of the film? Fun fact: The movie's Design Director, Stephen Frankfurt, had a hole drilled in the marble so a magnet could be installed that would allow his crew to drag the marble across the table. (Watch an interview with Frankfurt here!)


6. Although the beginning of the novel suggests that Scout-the-narrator is actually an adult looking back on her childhood, much of the narration of To Kill a Mockingbird is told from a child's perspective. Do you think the film's opening credit sequence speaks to the novel's narrative quality in any way? Why or why not?


7. If you were given the task of creating the opening credit sequence for a film adaptation of the novel, how would you do it? Or, if you were going to produce a film trailer for To Kill a Mockingbird, what would it look like?

Step 3: Work in a small group to create your own opening credit sequence or a film trailer for To Kill a Mockingbird. You can film your credit sequence/trailer act it out, or use posters and chart paper instead. In addition to presenting your credit sequence/trailer, you'll need to turn in a script and a written explanation of its connection to the novel.

http://www.shmoop.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/botw/resources?d=http://www.artofthetitle.com/media/film/60s/mockingbird.html?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=430&width=730