Media Arts Year 10 – Exploring and appreciating the world of film.

There are many films and TV series which are exceptional examples of visual storytelling and the Internet Movie Database IMDB is a comprehensive database, which is a useful reference for exploring the world of Film and Television. The IMDB provides information such as a short film synopsis, cast, crew, awards nominations and trivia for many thousands of films.

It also has a number of lists such as the Top 100 and 250 movies (as rated by IMDB users), as well as guides to the top films in the major genres and suggestions for other films that you may like; based on your browsing habits. 

Activity 1: Use this link to visit the Internet Movie Database’s Top 250 Movies list:  IMDB Top 250

From this list, select 10 films that you have not seen, but are interested in viewing. Be adventurous; choose films from genres that you may not normally watch. Ensure that you select films which are an appropriate age rating.

1.	The Dark Knight Rises
2.	Forest Gump
3.	The Matrix
4.	The Intouchables
5.	The Wolf of Wall Street
6.	Batman Begins
7.	12 Years a Slave
8.	Hachi: A Dog’s Tale
9.	The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
10	Black Swan

Activity 2: Select 2 of your favourite films and complete the following information about each one: 

Information	Film 1	Film 2
Title	The Hunger Games	The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
Genre/s	Adventure	Drama
Director	Gary Ross	Ken Kwapis
Writer/s	Suzzane Collins	Anne Brashares
Cinematographer	Tom Sterns	John Bailey
Editor	Alan Edward Bell	Kathryn moff
Lead actors	Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson	Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera
Other Information	Made after a book	Made after a book

Activity 3: Select 3 of the following directors and list 4 films that they have directed:

James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Rob Marshall, Christopher Nolan, Yimou Zhang, David Fincher

Complete in the Table below:

1. James Cameron	Avatar Titanic The Terminator Aliens
2. Ang Lee	Life of Pi Brokeback Mountain Hulk Sense and Sensibility
3. David Fincher	The Social Network The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Alien 3

Activity 4: From the list of genres below, select any 5 and complete the table. 

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime and Gangster, Drama, Epic/Historical, Horror, Musical/Dance, Science Fiction, War (Anti-War), Westerns.

Hint: To find films belonging to these genres look on the right side of the Top 250 Link

Genre	5 example films belonging to this Genre	List some common elements used in these genres; (consider elements of Mise-en-scene, Cinematography, Sound (Effects and Music) and Narrative Conventions i.e. typical scenarios or characters).
Drama	The Wolf of Wall Street 12 Years a Slave Saving Mr. Banks American Hustle The Shawshank Redemption	Normal day clothing Set in everyday places Many close ups on faces Character/s in conflict at a crucial part of their lives
Epic/Historical	Gladiator  300 Titanic Cleopatra The Passion of Christ	Transports the viewer other settings Set in the past Often about events that have happened, or based on certain events Often extravagant costumes, and settings are used
Science Fiction	Alien E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial The Matrix Avatar Star Wars	Set in weird places, eg. Space Unusual camera positioning, and shot/scene changes Includes mythical creatures Mad scientists Techno music Aliens
Adventure	Thor The Hunger Games The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings Harry Potter	Hero Adventurist Wide shots showing all that is going on Army looking clothing eg. Camo pants Hiking shoes Exiting stories
Comedy	Anchorman The Hangover The Wolf of Wall Street We’re the Millers The 40-Year-Old Virgin	Funny looking people Dumb man/woman Recorded laughter played Wacky clothing Set in random places