Music in Movies: You Pick the Soundtrack

Activity Description

Why This Is Helpful

 

Activity Description

In a movie, music can ramp up the tension or make a happy moment explode with joy. In this activity, teens are invited to consider how music contributes to a movie scene. Does it succeed or fail in making the viewer feel something? By taking on the role of director, teens will gain an increased understanding of how many decisions go into a movie scene. In addition to music, there’s the dialogue, plus the setting, the lighting, the camera angles, and more. By considering all that, your teen will begin to analyze (and appreciate) movies the way reviewers do.

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Why This Is Helpful

Teens love the movies, but few think of film as the art form that it is. Examining a movie scene can improve a teen’s ability to analyze what’s going on and consider all the artistic choices that the director and others made along the way. Removing music from a scene will show teens how powerful music can be in film. Finally, by writing their own movie scene and filming it, teens put into practice what they learned about the art of movie making. This exercise also may spark an interest in seeing some famously well done films – from Lawrence of Arabia to Rocky.

This activity was modified from the ReadWriteThink lesson plan “Lights, Camera, Action...Music: Critiquing Films Using Sight and Sound.”

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