LOS ANGELES, Nov. 1, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Film Foundation announced today that it is distributing 10,000 copies of its Story of Movies program to middle schools and high schools across the country. This innovative, interdisciplinary curriculum is being provided free of charge to qualified teachers, thanks to the support of the foundation's partners at IBM and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). The Story of Movies is designed to teach students how to "read" a film, while developing the critical-thinking skills to analyze the historical, social, and cultural significance of film.
The Story of Movies brings classic cinema to young people with the goal of teaching them how to understand and interpret the language of film and visual images. Students not only learn about film's narrative structure, film language and the filmmaking process, they also explore social issues relative to the historical period in which each film was made. Teachers have long used film in the classroom, but typically only for the purpose of comparing a novel or short story with its screen adaptation. This "read-the-book, watch-the-movie" approach misses the opportunity to engage children in activities that teach them to read the visual language of moving images, as well as to study the context in which the film was made. This is where The Story of Movies differs from any other film study program.
"Film has its own language, its own grammar," says Martin Scorsese, Chair of The Film Foundation. "Camera shots -- whether they're tracking or not tracking a movement; the editing of scenes -- how shots are put together; the mise-en-scene -- the actual placing people and objects in the frame and moving them around. It's helpful for students to know this language and to think critically about film in an increasingly visual world."
Scorsese continues, "We also hope to expose young people to great cinema because from exposure comes appreciation, from appreciation comes respect, and with that, an awareness of one's personal responsibility to protect our film heritage."
Each teaching unit in The Story of Movies focuses on an important example of American cinema, as a framework within which to examine various creative and technical aspects of filmmaking. The first unit, featuring "To Kill A Mockingbird" (1962, directed by Robert Mulligan), also puts the movie's theme of social justice into the historical context of the civil rights movement. Subsequent units will feature Frank Capra's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) and Robert Wise's "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951).
"TCM continues to be delighted to support The Story of Movies," says Tom Karsch, executive vice president and general manager of TCM. "Film has always captured our contemporary understanding of culture and society through the human imagination, so it is important for students to understand the medium as well as the stories that movies capture and present," Karsch says.
The first curriculum package supplies teachers with an array of interrelated materials: a detailed teacher's guide and student activity booklet; a packet of graphic organizers (transparencies); a DVD of "To Kill A Mockingbird"; and a supplemental DVD with film clips illustrating the concepts taught, as well as stills and storyboards to help reinforce the information covered in the teaching unit.
In addition, The Story of Movies Web site (www.storyofmovies.org) offers downloadable film-study lessons that expand the curriculum, plus resources and links. According to Jeff Schick, member of The Film Foundation Story of Movies Advisory Council and Vice-President of Worldwide Content Management Sales for IBM, the site "serves as an environment to provide a level of support to educators. Teachers are able to have a threaded discussion in which they can talk about their experiences working with the program." Instant messaging and team room technology are additional functionalities that will be phased in over time.
The Story of Movies program was extensively researched and tested, resulting in a uniquely interdisciplinary curriculum with application and relevance to other academic areas, including English, social studies, history, science, and the arts.
Educational research documents a positive link between study of the arts and success in other academic subjects, and educators have embraced The Story of Movies as a much-needed tool in the classroom. Thousands of teachers have registered to receive The Story of Movies materials, which means that hundreds of thousands of children will have the opportunity to study classic films in this new and exciting way.
After participating in pilot site testing last year, a teacher from Bloomfield, New Jersey said, "The kids who don't raise their hand have been raising their hands. This has been exciting for me, to see the students who are not as comfortable connecting and relating with classroom activities become active participants in this project. The Story of Movies' activities are riveting even for students whose thoughts easily wander off-task. The activities are helping them to learn self-monitoring skills."
Future plans for The Story of Movies program include the creation of teaching units for other grade levels, with materials that explore documentary, foreign, independent, and experimental films and animation, as well as additional classic Hollywood features.
The Film Foundation
The Film Foundation is the most prominent nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation in the United States. Through substantial annual funding to the nation's leading film archives and organizations, the foundation works to preserve and restore a broad range of films including classic Hollywood productions, avant-garde works, documentaries, and silent pictures from the earliest days of cinema. The cultural institutions supported by The Film Foundation provide U.S. and international communities with vital access to our collective film treasures.
Established in 1990 by Martin Scorsese and a distinguished group of fellow filmmakers -- Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford, and Steven Spielberg -- the foundation is dedicated to protecting and preserving our cinematic heritage. In 2002, the foundation joined with the Artists Rights Foundation of the Directors Guild of America. With this consolidation, the President and Secretary-Treasurer of the DGA serve on the foundation's Board of Directors.
IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in more than 70 million homes, is a 24-hour cable network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. Since its launch in 1994, TCM has presented the greatest motion pictures of all time from the largest film library in the world, the combined Time Warner and Turner film libraries, from the '20s through the '80s, commercial-free and without interruption. More information is available at the TCM website at www.turnerclassicmovies.com.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.
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