Start of Course
Welcome to IB Film
The first few days of class are an important way to set the tone for the year. Here are some suggestions to help welcome your students to your film class community and build a bridge between their interest in films they've seen with the content of the class.
The First Day
When you meet the students on the first day of class, they may be arriving with a wide variety of expectations about what an IB Film class may or may not include. You might have a student who has committed Casablanca to memory, an Edgar Wright enthusiast, or a student who thinks that The Transformer franchise is the pinnacle of cinematic quality. You'll certainly have a lot of students who have seen movies and will already have an idea of what they like. IB Film is a great way to help them expand their interests in films and take them out of their comfort zone.
Meeting the students where they are is a great way to start.
On the first day of class, you might want to try Icebreaker games. I like two truths and a lie but there are many others, some of which you can even alter to be more film related. I also ask students to talk about their favorite film (or even just name it, 2 or 3) as part of whatever icebreaker we do.
Leave time at the end of class to ask the students to bring in their favorite scene from a film for homework.
You might want to emphasize that it doesn't have to be their favorite film, but their favorite scene. You may want to show them your own favorite scene and discuss why you selected it, or share it with them during the next class.
That way, in leading a discussion as to why it is their favorite, you will create a rich foundation for them to try and articulate how this scene has impacted them, and hopefully start connecting to some basic ways meaning is made in film (even though they may not yet have the right vocabulary). Give each student a few minutes to present the scene and then explain why they chose it. Here are some questions that you could use to lead the discussion:
- Why did you choose that scene?
- What gave that moment such an impact?
- How did the director deepen the mystery/sadness / comedic effect?
- How did they increase the tension?
- What were some things you noticed that made this stand out from other scenes like it?
- What were some things that you noticed that made it stand out from the rest of the film?
If you are using this as part of the sequence suggested on the Curriculum page, this will lead into the first lesson on Lesson: Proxemics and Shot Types.
A Note to End On
After getting to know the students, here's a video that I often like to start the course with.
What are some of your ideas for starting off the course?
Let us know in the comment section.