Introduction
– Show two clips from the start of the film that introduce each of the three main characters (Sophie, Abdoulaye and Thierno) and their various intercontinental trajectories: Clip 1: 00:02:30 – 00:08:23. Clip 2: 00:10:00 – 12:50
– Give students some time to discuss their first impressions and what they understand of each character.
Task 1: Writing
– Ask students to write a profile for one of the three main characters, imagining a backstory for them, and a paragraph or two about what they think that character is doing in the scene they have just watched.
– As a whole class, come up with a bulleted list of ways to ‘level up’ writing (vocab, grammar points you’re working on, sentence structure, etc).
– Students to then work in pairs, for peer review, reading each other’s work and working together to ‘level up’ both pieces of writing.
Task 2: Vocab comprehension
Ask students to look at the webpage on the site ‘Apprendre le cinema’ on film vocab see below), either online or printed out. Draw attention to some key terms for analysing the scenes they have watched and discuss what they mean:
– Champ, contre-champ, contraste, coupe, gros-plan, plan-séquence, séquence, montage, plongée, tournage, travelling (add: plan large and musique)
– Re-watch the clips (either all or parts of them), pausing where necessary. Ask students to talk about them, using some of the technical vocab above.
Differentiation: if they struggle to do this verbally on the spot, give them time to watch, discuss with a partner, and write down a sentence or two for each bit you ask them about, referring back to the vocab list.
Task 3: Vocab application
– Show two clips from the ending of the film and discuss, encouraging use of technical vocab, as above: Clip 3: 01:11:32 – 01:12:57, Clip 4: 01:14:45 – 01:18:00
– Ask students to return to their character profiles and to think about what happens next with that character. Tell students they are going to direct one final scene for their character based on what they have imagined for them.
– Ask tudents to write a set of directions, including shot types, camera angles, contrast, music etc for the scene. They can work in pairs to do this if they wish.