Run Lola Run Film Unit Day One - Before the film:

Whats on for Today and Why: Today, we will be starting out film unit on Run Lola Run. Instead of jumping into the film, students will be watching a music video by the famous director Michel Gondry. In the video for "Star Guitar,"The video describes a journey as seen from a train window, only the disposition of each passing element in the landscape is positioned exactly in sync with the music." Through watching and discussing this music video, students will think critically about the job of director. 
The aim of this activity was to get students thinking about the way movies are composed, where everything is strategically placed and mapped out to create meaning. This is the job of the director.Today's lesson would be a good oppertunity to talk about the Auteur Theory."The auteur theory of filmmaking says that the director is the major creative force in a motion picture.Auteur is the French word for "author." In 1951, some young French critics associated with the French movie journal, Cahiers du Cinéma, put the "theory" forward. Just as a book has an author, they said, so must a film.The problem is that books are usually written by one person, whereas film is a collaborative art in which many people are involved, including set designers, costume designers, actors, cinematographers, sound technicians, etc.The auteur was the individual who clearly left the mark of his personality upon the entire film process. Generally, the auteur is the director".

What to do: 

Watch Video –  

"Star Guitar" by The Chemical Brothers directed by Michel Gondry.

A quick note about the videos: Michel Gondry was born on May 8, 1963 in Versailles, France. He is a French Academy Award- winning screenwriter, film, commercial and music video director. He is famous for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep.

About "Star Guitar"-"The video describes a journey as seen from a train window, only the disposition of each passing element in the landscape is positioned exactly in sync with the music."Every sound from the track will be illustrated by an element of the landscape that appears each time that sound is heard. As the song becomes more elaborate, we will create a more and more complex landscape." This published portion of Gondry's treatment describes well the fusion between music and landscape in his second video for the Chemical Brothers.One notices the similarity in concept between this video and Daft Punk's "Around the World" yet the difference in execution. Instead of each element being a dancer, it is a part of the scenery. The video is based on DV footage Gondry shot while on vacation in France. They shot the train ride 10 different times during the day to get different light gradients.

Activity:

As you watch the video write down, in your journal, what you see, hear, notice—thoughts on the videos.

 

Follow up:

Discussion Questions-

What is the director trying to do in these videos, is it obvious? 

Is he successful?

What does this say about the job of directing?

Were any of the director's choices arbitrary?

Are movies this meticulously planned?

Does this make you think about any film you have watched in the the past that the directorial choices  may have seemed arbitrary, but under further consideration may have had a deeper meaning?

 

Homework:

Ask students to choose a song and "direct" a music video for it. For this assignment, students wont actually be directing a music video but rather, they will be asked to write a brief script and annotate it OR come up with a visually interesting idea for a video.