Transcript Comparing a Film and a Play

Writing Workshop
Comparing a Play and a Film
Feature Menu
Assignment
Prewriting
Choose a Film
Focus on One Scene
Compare the Film with the Play
Write Your Thesis Statement
Organize Your Essay
Practice and Apply
Comparing a Play and a Film
Assignment: Write an essay in which you
compare a scene from a film with the play from
which it was adapted and evaluate the film
techniques the director uses.
Have you ever seen a movie based on a play? If so,
you may have noticed many differences between the
two—changes to the dialogue, characters, or setting.
Did the two versions of the play affect you differently
even though they told the same story?
[End of Section]
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Choose a Film
To find a film adaptation of a play
• look in video stores and
libraries
• check movie reviews in
newspapers and magazines
and on the Internet
• ask friends, teachers, or
relatives for suggestions
[End of Section]
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Focus on One Scene
Choose one important scene to analyze.
• Watch a video of the film.
• Take notes on your
responses to each scene.
• Review your notes and
choose the scene you had
the strongest reactions to.
[End of Section]
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Compare the Film with the Play
Now, read the same scene in the play and note
any differences between the film version and
written version. Pay attention to
• narrative techniques—plot, characters,
setting, dialogue, and theme
• film techniques—lighting, camera angles and
shots, sound, and special effects
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Compare the Film with the Play
Narrative Techniques
Filmmakers often make changes to the written
play. For example, they might change a setting,
eliminate a character, or create a different ending.
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Compare the Film with the Play
To analyze the film’s narrative techniques, ask
yourself the following questions.
Identifying Narrative Techniques in a Film
Plot, Characters, and Setting: Did the filmmaker
make changes to the characters, plot, or settings? For
example, have characters, plot events, or settings been
added or eliminated? If so, how do these changes
affect the story?
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Compare the Film with the Play
Identifying Narrative Techniques in a Film
Dialogue: Did the filmmaker cut or add lines of
dialogue? Do cuts make the story simpler? Do additions
help make ideas from the play clearer?
Theme: Did the filmmaker keep the original theme, or
message, of the story? How does a change in theme
change a viewer’s reaction to the story?
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Compare the Film with the Play
Narrative Techniques
The Miracle Worker (final scene)
Play
Film
Plot
• James and Aunt Ev stay in
dining room.
• Helen stays outside with
Annie, and the parents go
inside.
Plot
• James and Aunt Ev stand
on the porch watching.
• Keller carries Helen inside,
and the family follows.
Annie is left outside alone.
Theme
• Focus on bond between
Helen and Annie
Theme
• Focus on Helen’s
accomplishment and on the
family’s happiness.
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Compare the Film with the Play
Film Techniques
Filmmakers also use lighting, camera angles,
sound, special effects, and so on to create
reactions in viewers—reactions that might be very
different from those of a person reading the play.
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Compare the Film with the Play
To analyze the film techniques used in the scene
you’ve chosen, ask yourself the following
questions.
Identifying Film Techniques
Camera Shots and Angles: What types of camera
shots are used—close-ups, long shots? From what
angle does the camera shoot the characters and
action? What effects do the shots and angles create?
Lighting: How is lighting used in the scene? Does the
lighting affect the mood of the scene?
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Compare the Film with the Play
Identifying Film Techniques
Sound: What music or sound effects are present in the
scene? How do they affect your reactions to the scene?
Special Effects: What special effects are included that
you would not expect to see in a stage production of the
play? Are the special effects distracting? Are they helpful
to your understanding of the story?
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Compare the Film with the Play
Film Techniques
The Miracle Worker (final scene)
Camera Shots
• Sequence of close-up shots—Helen’s face, Helen’s hand
under the pump, Annie’s face—shows sudden revelation
going on in Helen’s mind.
• Long shot at end, with Annie in foreground and James
looking back at her, makes Annie seem isolated.
Sound
• Stirring music begins as Helen first makes her realization.
Music builds and becomes more dramatic.
Hint
[End of Section]
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Write Your Thesis Statement
Filmmakers use narrative and film techniques to
create intellectual and emotional responses,
known as aesthetic effects, in viewers.
The thesis, or
main idea, of your
essay identifies
these aesthetic
effects.
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Write Your Thesis Statement
To write your thesis statement, ask yourself:
• What response was the filmmaker trying to
create?
• How did the techniques affect me as a viewer?
Arthur Penn uses narrative and film techniques to
portray a child’s miraculous breakthrough, a teacher’s
moment of triumph, and a family’s long-awaited joy all
in one of the final scenes.
[End of Section]
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Organize Your Essay
Your essay will look something like this:
Introduction
• Film, play, creators
• Thesis statement
Narrative
Techniques
• Characters
• Setting
• Dialogue
• Theme
Film
Techniques
• Camera shots and
angles
• Lighting
• Sound
Conclusion
• Restatement of thesis
• Concluding thought
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Organize Your Essay
Your essay really has two parts—one comparing
the narrative techniques and one discussing the
film techniques.
Comparing Narrative Techniques
First, use point-by-point order to compare each
narrative technique from the film with the
corresponding one from the play.
Example
Plot
film compared
to play
Setting
film compared
to play
Dialogue
film compared
to play
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Organize Your Essay
Discussing Film Techniques
Then, use order of importance to discuss the film
techniques. Discuss the most important film
technique first and the least important one last (or
vice versa).
Example
Lighting
Most
important
Sound
Second most
important
Camera Shots
Least
Important
[End of Section]
Comparing a Play and a Film
Prewriting: Practice and Apply
Compare a film adaptation of a play
with the original play by analyzing the filmmaker’s
use of narrative and film techniques. Then, write
your thesis statement and organize your ideas.
[End of Section]
The End