Writing
Exercise 50. Design an advertising poster for a new film.
First, study several different film posters and answer the questions:
How is the information on them arranged?
Where is the title?
Is there just one picture or are there several?
What do they tell you about the film?
How many actors’ and crew members’ names appear in the posters?
Does a poster include any sentences which describe the film?
(For example, “In space no-one can hear you scream”- Alien)
b) Make your poster as original, colourful and interesting as possible.
Exercise 51. Storyboarding a trailer.
Storyboards are drawings which show, shot by shot, what's going to happen in a scene.
They don't have to be very good or contain a lot of detail - they're just to show the director what the scene will look like. Draw two or three storyboards for a one-minute trailer.
First, choose a film you've seen recently.
Next, decide how to promote it on the screen. Select which clips to show and arrange them
in order. After that, draw a storyboard for each clip.
Finally, write a short script to go with your drawings. It should fit with each one and make people really want to see the film.
Exercise 52. Write a short film advertisement for the University magazine.
Do you ever read advertisements before you go to the cinema? Do you agree or disagree with them? What do you think an advertisement should do? Should it...
a) just tell you who's in the film and what the story's about?
b) explain why the film is wonderful/good/OK?
c) both?
Read a selection of film advertisements in newspapers and magazines. Decide what you should and shouldn’t do to advertise a film (a), (b), or (c). See a new film and then write its advertisement. Compare your fellow students’ views with your own. Did you agree or disagree about the film?
Writing and communication
Exercise 53. Writing a report on the cinemas in your city.
Compile a “Cinema Questionnaire” and give copies to your fellow students. Ask them to fill in the questionnaire next time they go to the cinema. Here are some examples of questions you could ask.
Do you think the ticket prices are... low / reasonable / high?
Is the sound quality… poor / OK / good?
Are the seats...rather uncomfortable / quite comfortable / very comfortable?
Are the staff…polite / impolite?
Is the location…convenient / inconvenient?, etc.
Read and discuss their answers. Then write a report about the best and the worst cinema in your city.
Exercise 54. a) Compile a 20-question movie quiz.
b) Test your family and friends with it.
Here are some ideas for the sort of questions you could ask:
Name three films starring _____________________
In which film did ___________ say “______________”?
What is_________________________ ’s real name?
Who wrote the book that “ ________________” is based on?
In what country was “____________________” set?
One of the following stars wasn’t in “_____________”. Which one? ___________