Short Films By Pixar

I love the short films that Pixar shows before their features. It is impressive that in such a short amount of time, an audience in engaged and cares about the characters. Two that I enjoy in particular are "Lifted" and "For the Birds". Lifted is a great example of caring about a character and how it's done. We can easily identify what the main character wants and how the filmmakers get the audience to care as well. I would like to show these to students and have them identify how the filmmakers help you to connect to the characters and understand the story in such a short amount of time. This could be in a discussion about short films, character, or writing.

House

I really enjoy the show House. I watch it when it comes on weekly and I watch old seasons on DVD frequently. I believe that a great strength of the show is the characterization of house. He is so gripping because he is shown as brilliant, but amazingly flawed with personality issues, trust issues, relationship issues, addiction issues, friendship issues, etc. However, as an audience, we still cheer for him. I would like to examine how this is done in a classroom situation. I could pick a segment of an episode, show it to a class and ask them to identify what we are shown about House and how it makes us feel about him. I believe this would help us to understand how films help us to connect with their characters.

Dear Frankie

Dear Frankie is an Irish film from a few years ago. It is a beautiful portrayal of a single woman and her deaf son as a strange man enters their lives and shakes things up for them forever. One of my favorite moments in this film is when the mother and the stranger meet in the hall after their long day together. They stand in the doorway staring at each other for what seems like an eternity. The camera is completely static and the actors merely look into each others' eyes. There is no music and no dialogue. This creates a massive amount of anticipation and suspense. The viewer shifts uncomfortably in his seat, wanting the moment to end. At long last, they share a sweet kiss. This, for me, is an amazing example of "duration", a property found in some films to achieve a desired effect. The effect is different in each situation, but in this situation I believe that sense of anticipation is meant to reflect the anticipation that each character feels.
I would show this clip to a class and pay attention to the ways they react to the awkward silence and stillness. Then I would ask them what it did for them, as viewers, so see the situation portrayed that way. We could then discuss other ways duration affects the audience and what messages it can communicate.