Assessment Task
If you have not done the Rules of Notice unit, have students review the Camera Shots: Angle and Distance chapter and complete the Knowledge Check.
Explain to students that they will be creating a work that will use shot composition, arrangement of shots, the order of shots and rhythm and repetition to create two works with very distinct emotional effects.
In order to avoid telling the story through action within shots, they will make either a storyboard or a Digital Story that uses a sequence of still images.
Divide the class into groups of 3-4 students and have them read either Editing for Mood: Storyboards or Editing for Mood: Digital Story depending on whether you want them to make a storyboard or a digital story.
Following the instructions on the assignment sheet, have students sketch or shoot ten shots which they will use in both films.
Once these ten shots have been made, students will complete two storyboards or digital stories, each with its own distinct tone or mood. Students may pick from the following tones or genres:
a) Funny (like a comedy)
b) Suspenseful (like a thriller)
c) Sad (like a drama)
d) Scary (like a horror movie)
e) Exciting (like an action movie)
Both of the works will use at least seven of the shots already sketched, but students may change:
a) The order in which the shots occur
b) The composition of each individual shots (a neutral shot might be done as a low-angle shot for one film and a high-angle shot in the other, for example, or the same shot might be a close-up in one film
and long-shot in another)
c) The duration of each shot (how long it lasts before cutting to the next shot)
d) The music (it can be named or described in a storyboard, or chosen in the digital story).
If your students produce digital stories, end the lesson by screening them and have students discuss how and how well each film communicates its tone or genre.
Assess students’ work with the Assessment Rubric.
Genre is the types or categories into which texts are grouped. For example, film genres include action, suspense and comedy. There are also more specific sub-genres such as superhero, romantic comedy, thriller and film noir.