Run Lola Run Film Unit- Day Three- Expert Groups
Whats on for Today and Why: Today, students will become "experts" on specific characters. They will be asked to pay careful attention to one character--carefully and thoughtfully logging everything they notice about their assigned character. In doing this, students will be performing a "close reading" of the film as well as character analysis.
Procedure:
Organize students into 7 groups. Each group will be asked to look carefully at a different character (Note: although some characters are minor, they are reoccurring and worth looking at.)
The characters/groups are:
-Lola
-Manni
-Papa
-Papa’s girlfriend
-Man on bike
-Woman with baby-carriage
-guard
Students should pay careful attention to their assigned character, writing down what they observe and notice about them. Who is this character, how do they fit into the plot?
Students should pay specific attention to:
-Dialogue
-Specific camera angles/ shots used to shoot them.
-Specific costumes and props associated with them
-emphasis on certain words or lines/change in character’s tone
Follow up:
This activity should be followed up by having each group talk about what they noticed. Students will have done a sort of analysis of at least one character. By discussing the intricacies of each character students will make meaning out of a somewhat complicated scene.
For homework:
Students will be given a scholarly article by Tom Whalen. The article is divided into 5 sections; each section outlines a major theme of the movie. The class will be divided into 5 groups, and each group will read a section of Whalen’s article for homework. Students will have to fill out the part of the work sheet below that deals with the section that they read and come to class prepared to talk about it.
Tom Whalen Article