Silent Movies - The BELTA Day Special Edition

Just before the workshop...

On June 1st, BELTA (the teaching association of which I am president) held its first ever national conference. We were delighted with how it went, the speakers were fantastic and the delegates were enthusiastic participants. I’m already looking forward to next year.

On the day, I hosted a workshop based on the Silent Movies series of posts on my website. I showed four movies to the participants and asked them to share their ideas in groups for how they would use each of the films. I didn’t set any parameters, they were free to think of any idea they thought was interesting or useful.

After each film they discussed their ideas and made some notes. They then nominated their favourite idea from the discussion and shared it with everyone. I collected their notes in order to share some of their ideas here on the blog.

Note: All of these films have been featured in Silent Movies posts here on the blog before, but never with these ideas.

Words

Group 1 Before the film starts, give the students a list of all the words they will see illustrated in the film. Then get them to check common collocations with these words in a dictionary. Once they have these listed, show them the film and ask them to make a note of how many they see.

Group 2 also looked at the different meanings of the words, such as light “bring something to light", "light a cigarette", “let there be light". Play the video and then the students can write down all the different meanings they could remember which were seen in the video. Then they could write a story using as many phrases as possible, therefore putting the phrases into a context.

Oktapodi

Group 1 Students write a script the film - what would the characters be saying if they were speaking? They can then act the dialogue out in front of the class.

Group 2 What will happen next? Ask the students to suggest what would happen if the film continued. This would provide them with the chance to practice inferencing, predicting and using future tenses.

The Scream

Group 1 This group focused on the dialogue spoken at the beginning, and suggested asking students to use reported speech to describe what the men say.

Group 2 suggested showing other paintings to the students and asking them to choose a piece of music they think would go well with their painting. They then suggested that the students combine the music and the painting by recreating how the people in the painting would move to the sounds of the music.

Lifted

We didn’t have time for suggestions.

A big thank you to everyone who came to the workshop, your participation was much appreciated.

Thanks to Krishnan Coenen for the photo.

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Silent Movies III, A New List

 

Below you’ll find a collection of short films with little or no dialogue, and a few simple ideas for how they could be used. If you decide to use any of these films, why not let me know how you used it so we can share your ideas with other teachers. To read why I love to use shorts in my lessons, take a look at part one or two in the series.  

Words
  
A beautifully filmed illustration of simple words and their many meanings.

Idea: Ask the students to identify as many of the words shown as possible. After they have identified all the words, show the film again and ask them to make a note of all the different ways the words can be used. Some of them are very simple, some are very advanced so there’s something for all levels.  
The Page Turner 

Surely the most pointless invention ever...

 

Idea: Ask the sts “If you could have one invention to make your life better, no matter how small, what would you have?” The students could then design their inventions on paper and share them with each other.  

Idea 2: A simple idea, but the students describing what’s happening in this video, using the present continuous and then after the past simple, is always useful.  

Royalty

Max dreams of being King, but maybe it’s not as good a job as he thinks.
 
 

Idea: Before showing the film, ask students to identify their dream job and why they would love to do it. After showing the film and discussing what happens to Max, ask them to look at the downsides of their chosen job. They can then look at the pros and cons and decide whether they still want to do it or not.  
Train of Thought 

A man looks for love on a railway platform.
 

 
Idea: Ask the students to write a ‘thought script’, a script for the characters thoughts to accompany the film. 

ROBOT!  

A giant robot attacks the city.
 

 
Idea: Stop the video after the robot puts the man's heart in his chest. Ask the students “how do you think his new heart will affect the robot’s behaviour?” After showing the rest of the video ask them “What do you think should happen to the robot now? Should he be punished or could he be rehabilitated?”  

The Boss  

It’s time to face up to the boss from hell. 

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/2400/the-boss 

Idea: This video could make a great prelude to a business class about management techniques.  

Pub Dog 

A dog who will do anything to get his hands on some crisps.

 
Idea: Ask the students if they have any more ideas to help Pub Dog get his crisps. What else could he have done?

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Silent Movies 2: The Sequel

It’s time for the second part of my silent movies round up, my favourite short films with little or no dialogue. To read why I like using these films in my lessons, have a look at part one here.

Each film is accompanied by a short idea which you can use, adapt or ignore as you wish. If you have any ideas for how you'd use the films, leave a comment below.

My Family Before Me

In this short, old super 8 footage of a family gathering has been put together in an evocative and moving way.

Idea: Ask your students to look at the details in the film and try and list the things that have changed since the film was shot. How would this film look different if it was shot now? For example, you can discuss the clothes, the hairstyles and how technology has changed. Are there any things that haven't changed?

Pothound

Pothound shows us the day in the life of a dog as he travels around town, fighting, eating and meeting new people.

Idea: Ask your students what they think a wild dog does all day. How would they spend the day if they were a dog?

The Scream

Based on the classic painting by Munch, the Scream tries to explain what the painting is all about in a not entirely serious way.

Idea: Find other famous paintings and ask your students to imagine what was happening before and after the scene in the painting was captured.

GPS

A man becomes trapped in his own phone in this fun comedy.

Idea: Use the film as a lead in to a discussion about modern technology. Do students ever feel 'trapped' by new devices and tools?

The Chase

This may be an animated film, but it's not for young kids. Watch as it all goes wrong for a young hit man.

Idea: Stop the film at 6.42 and ask the students to discuss who they think will be the most successful person at the end of the film. Stop the film at 9.40 and ask them if they have changed their minds. After the film they can discuss how good their predictions were.

Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

In this music video, a man experiences a car crash in slow motion and remembers key incidents from his life.

Idea: They say your life flashes before your eyes before when you have an accident. Based on this video, ask the students "what kind of life do you think this man has had? If you could choose the best incidents from your life to flash before your eyes, which would you choose?"

Idea 2: This music video won an award as a video of the year. Imagine you are a member of the judging panel. Why did you think it deserved its award?

Brush With Death

A man uses his artistic skills in the heat of battle. Maybe the pen is mightier than the sword?

Idea: The main character has the power to make his paintings become real. Ask the students "If you could have a special power in your life, which one would you choose?"

Lifted

Another classic from the Pixar studio, Lifted is about that difficult first day at work.

Idea: This film could be used with all ages, but I'd look at using it in a business class. I'd ask the student if they have ever had to assess an employees performance. Did they ever have to step in and take control like the manager in this film? Or maybe they have been assessed themselves. How did they find the experience? Do they empathise with the wannabe pilot?

Look out for Silent Movies 3, coming to a blog near you later this year.

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Silent Movies

I love to use short films in my classes. They add colour and variety to the lesson in a way that I’ve found students really enjoy. Furthermore, due to their brevity, you get the opportunity to share an entire narrative with students in a very quick way that is difficult to achieve with other media.

The following films are ones that I think have great potential for use in the ELT classroom. The one quality that they all share, apart from their length, is that they contain little or no dialogue. This is crucial to me, as most of the time I don’t want to use them as traditional listening activities just as I don’t generally like to use literature for explicit vocabulary acquisition. To me, the joy of the narrative form is in the characters, the story, the mood, the message and the opportunity to react with an opinion.

By using videos which have hardly any dialogue, if any at all, the distraction of language is removed. The students can then focus on the much more important task of reacting to the content with their own beliefs, ideas and their own language, which you can then work on together.

With each of the films I have written a brief idea for how it could be used. The great thing about them is that they are open to all kinds of interpretations depending on where and who you teach. If you have any ideas of your own you'd like to add, I'd love to read them, so please leave a comment.

Oktapodi

I used this film in a movie review writing class, and it was a hit with my adult students.



Idea: Students often find it hard to retell a narrative. Show the film once and ask the students to collaborate on summarising the events of the story. You can then show the film again and ask them to fill in their blanks.


Plot Device

This is also a great film to use if you're teaching movies. Make sure you show it until the end!



Idea: As you show the film, ask your students to write down as many of the movie genres they see in the film as they can. After you've collected all the genres, you can ask them to add any genres that weren't included.

Loose Fit - Table Beggar

Here's a music video that gives you a unique look at identity.



Idea: Stop the video at 1:10 and ask the students to guess what they think the man looks like. You can ask them to write a description or draw a picture.

Idea 2: There are many interesting questions that this video raises:

• Who is the man? 
• How did this happen to him? 
• Has he always been like this or has it just happened? 
• What is wrong with him - is his problem literal or metaphorical? 
• What kind of life do you think he has had? 
• What do you think he should do next?

The Gift

This is the most grown up of all the films due to the fact in contains a couple of acts violence, although nothing I would consider inappropriate in my adult classroom. Again this is a film that poses a lot of questions.



Idea: The most obvious area of interest in the film is 'the unicorn'. What does that mean? What is in the box? Why does the android apologise to the box?

Idea 2: A boy finds the gift at the end of the film. Ask the students to speculate what will happen to him after he collects the box from the lake.

Conversation Piece

I have to declare a vested interest here. This film is directed by one of my oldest friends, but it's not here out of nepotism. It's a unique, fun film, the like of which you and your students have probably never seen before.



Idea: Ask the students to write a script so the 'dialogue' of the film is replaced by actual spoken words. They can then perform their version along with the film for the rest of the class.

Bridge

Here's one that's probably best used with kids. Again, just make sure you show it all the way to the end!



Idea: Cooperation is the theme here, so play the video until 1:57 and ask them what they think is going to happen next. Will the rabbit and the racoon react in the same way as the moose and the bear, or will they do something different?

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