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 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)