Quvenzhzé Wallis in “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

…hey, if you missed part one of this conversation with Frank W. Baker, in which we talked about CCSS, Lincoln, and Lost in Space, here you go. My question that follows picks up immediately from where we left things. (But hey, one neat thing that has happened since: Mr. Baker has gathered his “Teaching the Oscars” resources so that they can be found on a single Web page.)

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Your mention of close readings and CCSS puts me in mind of a subject we both believe in–the value of using scripts, especially in regard to how they can unite the reading/writing curriculum with media literacy. Fox actually sends screenplays as part of their FYC campaigns (I’m sure other distributors do, too), and this year I received the ones for The Sessions, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Hitchcock, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Now, I don’t know how readily available such scripts are otherwise, but is this an area where librarians can help, and if so how? It seems to me that if a student admires a film such as Lincoln, reading the script is a great way to leverage excitement around the Oscars by then moving to a specific film and reading a text that will definitely provide some media literacy benefits… not to mention that the Gettysburg Address is explicitly included in CCSS as a document high school students might analyze. Your thoughts?

Several years ago I started all of my workshops by saying: all media start out as writing. In fact, that was the topic of my presentation at the 2012 Conference on English Leadership in Las Vegas last fall.  My colleague, Heidi Hayes Jacobs, is fond of saying that if video is what young people pay attention to in the 21st century, why aren’t we teaching them about the writing process related to that medium. With that in mind, I created the “Scriptwriting in The Classroom” web site some years ago, with examples from news, television, film and more.

I think it’s a tragedy that most of today’s textbooks completely ignore media and the important process of scriptwriting. Having said that, I want the school library audience to be aware of several resources related to scripts and screenwriting:

Script-o-Rama and Simply Scripts are two web sites where you can find contemporary and classic motion picture scripts. Language of Film – Scriptwriting is a page I created that provides links to current events news stories, as well as lesson plans and recommended texts AMPAS Teacher Guide; Screenwriting–this terrific resource includes four lesson plans: structuring a screenplay; formatting the script; developing a screenplay from a book; and learning from the winners.

Almost every film studio now publishes screenplays as books, so librarians could begin acquiring titles and encouraging teachers who use film to incorporate the screenplays into instruction.

It’s nice that you mention the AMPAS resources–and a hat tip for my post about them, by the way–because that allows us to come back to the Oscars and how one might use them explicitly for media education. For those who don’t know about your work in this area, can you sum up how you’d encourage educators to use the awards categories to provide students with insight into the actual process of moviemaking?

I believe the award categories correlate well with the “languages of film.” In other words, the people who are honored by the annual Academy Awards are those who have devoted their lives to one (or more) aspects of filmmaking. Most young people only know the actors’ names: fewer still know more than one or two directors. Filmmaking is a hugely collaborative process and everyone should know not only the actors, but also the foley artist and film editor, for example.

I would encourage educators to start by putting up a list of the languages of film on a Smartboard. Here is the list I use:
-  Cameras
-  Lights
-  Sound (includes music)
-  Set design
-  Post production (editing, special effects)
-  Actors:   makeup, costume, body language, expressions

Now, go to the list of this year’s Oscar nominations: http://oscar.go.com/nominees
Put this list side-by-side with the “languages of film.”

Language of Film Corresponding Oscar Category Cameras; Lights Cinematography; Directing Audio Music; Sound Editing; Sound Mixing Set Design Production Design Post Production Film Editing; Visual Effects Actors Best Actor, Best Actress
Supporting Actor; Supporting Actress
Costume Design; Makeup & Hairstyling