Teachers’ Resource: Alena · Alena is an excellent stimulus for discussion of genre, particularly the horror genre. Teachers should initially explain to pupils the concept of genres

Teachers’ Resource: Alena

Senior PhaseCreated by Megan BroughDiscovery Film Festival: Sat 22 October – Sun 6 November 2016discoveryfi lmfestival.org.uk

© Dundee Contemporary Arts 2014With support from DCA Cinema and DCA Community & Education Team

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Introduction

Discovery Learning Resources give you exciting classroom activities to enhance Curriculumfor Excellence delivery.

They are created by classroom teachers and education professionals. Each resource aims to:

• support and extend working with film in the classroom

• help prepare teachers for a class visit to a Discovery Film Festival film and to extend the impact of that visit for delivery of CfE

• develop confidence in Moving Image Education approaches and working with 21st Century Literacy / moving image texts

Each resource is free and available to download fromwww.discoveryfilmfestival.org.uk/resources

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AlenaDir: Daniel di GradoSweden 2015 / 1h23m

Synopsis

When Alena arrives at her new elite boarding school, Filippa and the other girls start to harass her. Alena’s best friend Josefin won’t let her take anymore beating. If she won’t strike back, Josefin will do it for her. Hard.

Alena is from a poor background but is being transferred to an elite boarding school. Her posh classmate Filippa despises everything about Alena and quickly turns all the other girls against her. What starts as verbal bullying soon turns into physical abuse. The only person Filippa is dying to befriend is Fabienne, one year senior - trendy and rich. But, Fabienne has taken an interest in Alena. This relationship is not only a grievance for Filippa, but also to Alena’s jealous friend from the past - Josefin. As the rivalries amongst the girls escalate, Josefin’s initial help and protection turn out to be a greater threat than Alena could foresee, not only to Filippa and Fabienne, but to herself as well.




Themes

Friendships, family relationships, responsibility, finding your place in the world, delinquence, taking action.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig351PKNwuY(NB Trailer is in Swedish with English subtitles)

Teacher Advisory

Alena is a horror film which deals with issues such as suicide, mental health, bullying andsexuality. There are instances of violent scenes, strong language, threat of sexual violence, gore, sexual references and scenes of a sexual nature. It would be advisable to warn pupils about this in advance of watching the film.

Although this film deals with some adult issues, it is rich with opportunities for teaching both English and Media. Alena can be used to teach almost every key media concept but also is a great stimulus for mature discussion in the English and Lifeskills classrooms. Teenage girls will relate very well to the gritty drama!

Teacher introduction

This resource pack will be mainly of use to Media and English teachers, although the issues raised could be usefully explored in Lifeskills/Guidance classes. S4 classes and above would gain most benefit from the film and associated tasks.

These exercises could be used by S4-S6 classes to provide evidence for both the Analysis and Evaluation or Creation and Production units for both National 4 and National 5 Level Media.While there are also useful areas which could be explored in relation to National 4 and 5 Media (Analysing Media Content) units, being unable to view the film or scenes in class is a serious drawback.

The most obvious E&Os are listed after each task. However, there may be more from other curricular areas that could apply, depending on the approach to the task.


Before you go to the cinema

Activity 1 - Genre work

Alena is an excellent stimulus for discussion of genre, particularly the horror genre.

Teachers should initially explain to pupils the concept of genres and their conventions:

A genre is a category of any type of art or literature. We can tell what genre movies fall into by their conventions. The word ‘convention’ means usual, or expected. So for example, In fantasy films such as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings we would expect to see mythical creatures, magic and/or high quality special effects.

Activity 1 a

Ask pupils to identify various genres and what aspects of film/characters etc they would expect to find in each.

Activity 1 b

Ask pupils to make a list of the conventions they would expect to see in a horror film. This will act as a checklist. When pupils have seen the film, they should write down in detail where/how they see these conventions in Alena.

I can: identify and make a personal evaluation of the effect of aspects of the writer’s style and other features appropriate to genre using some relevant evidence and terminology. ENG 4-19a




Activity 2 - Analysis of Movie Poster (can be done before or after seeing film)

Pupils should use the ‘Movie Poster Analysis worksheet’ to analyse the cover of a horror movie using media concepts.

They should then create their own horror movie poster using these questions and headings as prompts to help them.

Teachers Notes: These prompts could help them to gain evidence for both the ‘Analysing Media Content’ and ‘Creating Media Content’ section of Nat 4/Nat 5 Media, providing they have fully explained their reasoning behind their choices.

I can justify my choice and use of layout and presentation in terms of the intended impact on my reader. LIT 4-24a

By considering the type of text I am creating, I can independently select ideas and relevant information for different purposes, and organise essential information or ideas and any supporting detail in a logical order. I can use suitable vocabulary to communicate effectively with my audience. LIT 3-26a / LIT 4-26a

To show my understanding across different areas of learning, I can: clearly state the purpose, main concerns, concepts or arguments and use supporting detail; make inferences from key statements and state these accurately in my own words; compare and contrast different types of text. LIT 4-16a



Activity 3 – Personal Writing (English)

Although these issues could be dealt with in class discussion, pupils may not feel comfortable in talking about their own experiences amongst others. It is advisable that this is undertaken as an individual, written task.

This film addresses issues dealt with by teenagers growing up: bullying, sexual orientation, loneliness and mental health. These issues, however common they may be, are unrealistically dealt with by violent revenge.

Write a personal account of when you were made to feel different or an outcast and how you coped with this.

You should talk about the incident that made you feel different. You should include your thoughts and feelings at the time. Most importantly, you should talk about what helped you to cope with this situation. Did someone help you get through or did you have a realisation that helped you to feel better?

I can create a convincing impression of my personal experience and reflect on my response to the changing circumstances to engage my reader. ENG 4-30a

Throughout the writing process, I can review and edit my writing independently to ensure that it meets its purpose and communicates meaning clearly at first reading. LIT 4-23a

I can convey information and describe events, explain processes or concepts, providing substantiating evidence, and synthesise ideas or opinions in different ways. LIT 4-28a

I am aware of and able to express my feelings and am developing the ability to talk about them. HWB 4-01a



Activity 4 – Representation – Discussion Point

Historically within the mainstream media, LGBT issues have been portrayed negatively,reflecting intolerances of the times. Fortunately, from the 1990s onwards, there has been a positive change and an increase in the depiction of the issues faced by the LGBT community in the media.

LGBT issues are explored throughout Alena. Pupils should be asked to think about how these issues were represented, giving specific answers from the film in order to back up their points.

• Were the issues faced by the members of the LGBT community represented sensitively or negatively? How can we tell? • Were these issues ‘normalised’ or were the characters treated as outcasts? • Were the characters and issues represented realistically? • What problems did the characters face? Is this something that people still have to deal with? • What other films or TV shows represent the LGBT community? Pupils should compare and contrast these representations and how they have been created.

Final activity – ‘How does Alena represent the issues faced bythe LBGT community?’

Teachers notes: These prompts have been designed to fit many films and should be used again when comparing and contrasting different representations in media texts. These prompts can also be adjusted to discuss the representation of various other themes eg. friendships, mental health.

Pupils should use the information they gathered from the class discussion in order to create a piece of work which answers this question. This can be in the form of a presentation or a short written report. It may be advisable to get pupils to work in pairs in order to discuss these issues in a mature way.

In terms of Media, this may help pupils in the ‘Analysing Media Content’ section of Nat4/Nat5 media, providing they give full and direct examples from the text.

When listening and talking with others for different purposes, I can communicate detailed information, ideas or opinions, explain processes, concepts or ideas with some relevant supporting detail , sum up ideas, issues, findings or conclusions. LIT 4-09

I understand that a wide range of different kinds of friendships and relationships exist.HWB 2-44

As I explore the rights to which I and others are entitled, I am able to exercise these rights appropriately and accept the responsibilities that go with them. I show respect for the rights of others. HWB 4-09a



Activity 5 – Narrative Structures – Enigma Codes and Climaxes

Horror films rely heavily on the structure of their narrative in order to shock the reader and keep them on the edge of their seats. This is in order to create questions in the readers mind and to create very important climaxes.

A) Give pupils the definition of enigma codes and ask them to write down a list of questions which kept their interest throughout Alena.

Enigma codes are questions that are created in a media text that are not answered straight away. This therefore draws the audience’s attention as they wish to find out the answers to these questions. For example, in a crime drama the main question is ‘Who is the killer?’

Then ask them to think about if these questions successfully kept their interest and if the film answered these questions to their satisfaction.

B) Ask pupils to identify the climax of the film. Is there more than one? You should explain that in horror sometimes there is more than one climax in order to scare the audience. This may also lead on to a discussion on anti-climaxes.

Teachers Notes: As this is media specific, the outcomes are in relation to the internal assessments/delivery of Nat 4/ Nat 5 Media. This discussion would be a good stepping stone to the teaching of other narrative structures such as Todorov’s Narrative Theory or Vladmir Propp’s Roles.



Production information:

Produced by:• Alexander Ronnberg. Co-producer, Max Hallen.• Silvio Entertainment• Sveriges Television (SVT) (co-production)• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (support)

Distributed by: Sveriges Television (SVT) (2015) (Sweden) (TV)

Filmed: The interior of the school was shot at Vasa Real in Stockholm.

Reviews:• http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/alena-review-1201713434/• https://www.filmdoo.com/blog/2015/10/10/film-review-alena-2015/• http://sbccfilmreviews.org/?p=35063

Official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/alenathemovie




Analysing A Movie Poster

Colour • What are the main colors used in the poster? Why do you think the creator has chosen to use these colours? What do they suggest? • Do the colours contrast in any way? Why do you this is effective?

Layout

• Think about the placement of certain objects on your poster. Do you think these have been deliberately placed there? Why?• Is there anything in the background of the poster? Why do you think that has been placed there? If not, why do you think the background is plain?• What do you notice about the framing of the images?

Written Text

• Is the title large or small? Are any actor/actress names in a larger font? • What does this say about the main appeal of the film?• What institutional information have they included?• What font has been used? Why do you think they have chosen to use that font? Is it bold? What does it suggest?

Images:

Characters

• What characters (if any) are featured on the poster?• What does the way they are represented on the poster say about the character and/or the actor? • What do their appearances and expressions say about the movie?

Setting

• Can we tell anything about the setting from the images on the poster? What is it like/ how is it represented?• Are there any symbols are used in the poster? Do these symbols represent anything?• What other images are shown? What can be said about these?

Genre

• How does this poster help us to understand the genre of the film? Have any conventions been used?• What in the poster helps the audience to understand the premise of the film even if they knew nothing about it?



Tone

• What can you tell about the tone or mood of the film from the poster? • Think about lighting and all the concepts you have previously considered.

Target Audience

• Who are the intended target audience for this film?• How does this poster appeal to the target audience?

Purpose

• What is the purpose of a movie poster?• Has this poster done this successfully? Why?• What in your opinion is the main hook in the poster that would encourage people to see this film? How is the hook highlighted in the poster?



Evaluating this resource

We hope that you found this resource useful and appropriate.

Please do send us film reviews, letters from your pupils, documentation of classwork and your feedback by e-mailing [email protected]

Would you make a good Discovery Film FestivalCase Study?

We are seeking a number of simple Case Studies in how teachers have used or are using Discovery films in the classroom across Curriculum for Excellence and across the Levels.

Any case studies that we develop would be intended for presentation on GLOW, the Creativity Portal and on Discovery Film Festival websites. We have a simple template to be completed and are keen to have classwork and documentation included.

If you would like to be a Discovery Case Study please e-mail [email protected]

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Teachers’ Resource: Alena · Alena is an excellent stimulus for discussion of genre, particularly the horror genre. Teachers should initially explain to pupils the concept of genres