American Masters | PBS » By Title

Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick: Lesson Overview

broadn — Mon, 16 Apr 2001 19:50:36 +0000

Introduction

In this lesson plan, students compare and contrast the Hollywood
film industry of the 30s and 40s with Hollywood today. They conduct
research, present it in a creative posterboard project, and follow
up with a discussion of the findings of the entire class. How has
the Hollywood movie industry changed since the 30s?

Grade Levels

6-8

Subject Areas

History, Language Arts, Media

Objectives

Students will:

Research a specific film, actor, or director from the past and
present.

Present their findings in the form of a creative posterboard project.

Discuss overall conclusions that can be drawn from the class research.

Materials

Materials for a creative posterboard collage. Each group needs
a posterboard, newspapers & magazines containing information
about Hollywood movies, markers, glue & other collage materials.
Students can also print out collage materials from websites.
Optional: A videotape of American Masters: David O.
Selznick & Alfred Hitchcock
VCR and monitor
Internet-connected computers in the classroom for student research.
Alternatively, you can suggest these links to students for research
at home or at a library with Internet-connected computers.

Selected Websites

You can bookmark these sites for student research.

The
Hollywood Studio System (article)

The
Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture
– Alfred Hitchcock

Filmsite.org:
The Greatest Films

Movie
Genres

Learner.org
– Cinema: How are Hollywood films made?

About.com

Filmmaking Resources

Movie
Industry Jobs

Movie Genres

Classic
Film Actors & Actresses

Classic
Film Directors & Composers

Cinema
History, by Robert E. Yahnke

Internet Movie Database

More
Movie Genres

Film
Terms

Standards

Historical Understanding:

Understands
and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns

Understands patterns of change and continuity in the historical
succession of related events
Knows how to impose temporal structure on their historical narratives
(e.g., working backward from some issue, problem, or event to explain
its causes that arose from some beginning and developed through
subsequent transformations over time)
Knows how to periodize events of the nation into broadly defined
eras

Language Arts:

Gathers
and uses information for research purposes

Understands
the characteristics and components of the media

Understands aspects of media production and distribution (e.g.,
different steps and choices involved in planning and producing various
media; various professionals who produce media, such as news writers,
photographers, camera operators, film directors, graphic artists,
political cartoonists)

Allen Ginsburg: Poetry and Politics: Lesson Overview

broadn — Mon, 29 May 2000 20:20:33 +0000

Introduction

The American Master’s Series lesson on Allen Ginsberg will consist of three thematic components: (1) the link between art and politics, (2) the Sixties, and (3) poetry and popular music. Each of these overlapping themes will be addressed and developed using the poet’s work as a point of departure. Within an examination of these themes, students will read one or more of Ginsberg’s poems, will read about the work of other Beat writers, and will investigate the larger social and political climate in which they lived. Students will conduct internet and/or library research to address their own questions about Ginsberg, the Beat movement, and the turbulent social and historical context of the Sixties.

Grade Level

9 – 12

Subject Areas

Language Arts, History

Objectives

Students will:

read selections of Allen Ginsberg’s work.

respond in writing journals to the work of Allen Ginsberg.

conduct internet research.

collect examples of written, visual, and/or performance art of the Sixties.

participate effectively in small group discussions.

create a presentation that illustrates their developing understanding of the poetic form.

Standards

Language Arts:

Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts

Understands relationships between literature and its historical period, culture, and society (e.g., influence of historical context on form, style, and point of view; influence of literature on political events; social influences on author’s description of characters, plot, and setting; how writer’s represent and reveal their cultures and traditions)
Understands the effects of author’s style and complex literary devices and techniques on the overall quality of a work (e.g., tone; irony; mood; figurative language; allusion; diction; dialogue; symbolism; point of view; voice; understatement and overstatement; time and sequence; narrator; poetic elements, such as sound, imagery, personification)

Understands economic, social, and cultural developments in the contemporary United States

Understands the influence of social change and the entertainment industry in shaping views on art, gender, and culture (e.g., how social change and renewed ethnic diversity affects artistic expression in contemporary American society, the reflection of values in popular TV shows, the effects of women’s participation in sports on gender roles and career choices)s

Understands the relationship between music and history and culture

Knows various roles that musicians perform (e.g., entertainer, teacher, transmitter of cultural tradition) and representative individuals who have functioned in these roles

Andy Warhol: Lesson Overview

daniel ross — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 14:24:45 +0000

The AMERICAN MASTERS presentation, Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film, concludes with the assertion that Pablo Picasso dominated the first half of the 20th century and Andy Warhol dominated the last half. Each artist redefined the meaning of art, the parameters of art, the proper subjects of art, the relationship between art and the viewer, and the role of the artist in the act of creation. Through these activities students will explore various definitions about what constitutes art and how other periods in art history may have framed these definitions, develop their own ideas of what constitutes art, and use representative works of art to support their own definitions of art.

Grade Level:
9-12

Time:

one class period for Introductory Activity
two class periods for research and presentations
one class period for “art show”
two homework assignments

Subject Matter:
Art, Art History

Learning Objectives:

Students will be able to do the following:

read and understand a list of criteria
formulate opinions
explore their own tastes and preferences
gather information from a variety of sources
present information based on research
compare and contrast art of many periods

National Standards:

MCREL VISUAL ARTS, Level 4, Standard 1
Understands and applies media, techniques, and processes related to the visual arts.

MCREL VISUAL ARTS, Level 4, Standard 2
Knows how to use structures (e.g., sensory qualities, organizational principles, expressive features) and functions of art.

MCREL VISUAL ARTS, Level 4, Standard 3
Knows a range of subject matter, symbols, and potential ideas in the visual arts.

MCREL VISUAL ARTS, Level 4, Standard 4
Understands the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.

MCREL VISUAL ARTS, Level 4, Standard 5
Understands the characteristics and merits of one’s own artwork and the artwork of others.

Organizers for Students
Print out and make copies of these organizers for your students:

What Art Is and What Is Not Art (pdf)

Andy Warhol Viewing Guide (pdf)

Art Movement Research (pdf)

Group Reports on Art Movements (pdf)

Billy Wilder: Film Noir Inventor and Genius: Lesson Overview

broadn — Fri, 29 Oct 1999 20:14:31 +0000

Introduction

"All movies express social values, or the erosion of these values, through the ways in which they depict both institutions and relations between people. Certain institutions are more revealing of social values and beliefs than others, and the family is perhaps one of the most significant of these institutions. For it is through the particular representations of the family in various movies that we are able to study the process whereby existing social relations are rendered acceptable and valid." – John Blaser

Double Indemnity is the quintessential movie of its time. With the end of WWII, Double Indemnity used cinematic tricks and an authentic and strong story to control the audience. For the first time in films, Billy Wilder created a climate where the audience became sympathetic to the killer. Could these characters and plots be representative of American culture? How does the end of the War effect filmmaking? What were War torn viewers looking for in a movie? What was Billy Wilder trying to accomplish by creating this movie?

This lesson will expose students to one of the greatest American film writer/directors who shaped the landscape of American film today. Through the classic Noir film Double Indemnity, students will explore the historical and social impact of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Using wNetStation’s American Masters documentary and Web site, these learners will explore the impact of Billy Wider and historical perceptions that have shaped popular culture in the 20^th Century.

Grade Level

7 – 12

Subject Areas

Social Studies: American and Film History

Language Arts: writing, reading and presenting research

Technology: computers, Internet, and media literacy

Students will be able to:

Learn the influences and inspirations of Billy Wilder

Describe the plot, characters, and historical context of Double Indemnity

Research and understand the social climate and movies of post WWII America

Discover how to deconstruct film as an art form

Understand the underlying social and moral messages of a film

Investigate the stereotypes of Film Noir and how it was representative of it’s time

Forge strategies for deconstructing and analyzing stereotypes in media

Describe how stereotypes become self-referential and perpetuate themselves

Articulate the controversy around Hollywood censorship

Identify other artists and directors in the Film Noir genre

Understand film language

Standards

This lesson integrates the national teaching standards of English and Technology. Students will apply a wide range of strategies for research, comprehension, interpretation, evaluation, languages (written and spoken), diversity, creativity, critical thinking and deconstruction of various mediums. Student will build an understanding of the many dimensions of the educational process including texts, technology, speech, themselves, cultures of the United States and the world, and the human experience. To learn more about national English and Technological standards go to: http://www.iste.org and http://www.ncte.org.

Bob Dylan: No Direction Home: Lesson Overview

broadn — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 21:45:32 +0000

Overview:

The Allied victory in World War II and subsequent prosperity in the United States set the background for what was going to be a perfect world. The thousands children born to the returning GIs, however, were soon shaken into reality by the Cold War and unresolved racial issues dating from the Civil War. Bob Dylan’s music was shaped by the historical era in which he lived, and he was able to capture the spirit of the times and translate it into music that no one had ever heard before. In this lesson students will explore the era in which Bob Dylan grew up as well as the musical influences that shaped his unique style. They will also have an opportunity to do an analysis of his lyrics for content and meaning.

Grade Level:

9-12

Time:

two hours of independent research and writing by students
three class periods to present and synthesize results of research
one class period to write in-class essay

Subjects:

Music, American History, Civics

Learning Objectives:

Students will be able to do the following:

selectively read resources to gather information
synthesize information from a variety of sources.
use Internet and library resources.
contribute to a classroom discussion using their own research and information gathered from their peers.
critically read and evaluate resources.

Standards:

National Standards:

MCREL MUSIC, Level 4, Standard 7
Understands the relationship between music and history and culture.

MCREL BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, Level 4, Standard 1
Understands that group and cultural influences contribute to human development, identity, and behavior

MCREL BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, Level 4, Standard 2
Understands various meanings of social group, general implications of group membership, and different ways that groups function

MCREL ARTS AND COMMUNICATION, Level 4, Standard 1
Understands the principles, processes, and products associated with arts and communication media

MCREL ARTS AND COMMUNICATION, Level 4, Standard 4
Understands ways in which the human experience is transmitted and reflected in the arts and communication

MCREL ARTS AND COMMUNICATION, Level 4, Standard 5
Knows a range of arts and communication works from various historical and cultural periods

MCREL CIVICS, Level 4, Standard 13

Understands the character of American political and social conflict and factors that tend to prevent or lower its intensity

MCREL CIVICS, Level 4, Standard 14
Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life

MCREL HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING, Level 4, Standard 2
Understands the historical perspective

MCREL UNITED STATES HISTORY, Level 4, Standard 26

Understands the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II United States

MCREL UNITED STATES HISTORY, Level 4, Standard 27
Understands how the Cold War and conflicts in Korean and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics

MCREL UNITED STATES HISTORY, Level 4, Standard 28
Understands domestic policies in the post-World War II period

MCREL UNITED STATES HISTORY, Level 4, Standard 29
Understands the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties

MCREL LANGUAGE ARTS, Level 4, Standard 4
Gathers and uses information for research purposes

MCREL LANGUAGE ARTS, Level 4, Standard 7
Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts

MCREL LANGUAGE ARTS, Level 4, Standard 8
Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes