How dark is too dark?

The main goals of this ESL lesson plan are to:

• – Discover filming vocabulary including terms like “grainy,” “film stock,” and “capture” while exploring how movies have become darker through video comprehension activities in this advanced ESL lesson.
• – Practice word stress patterns by distinguishing between noun and verb pronunciations, dividing words into syllables, and identifying stressed syllables through phonetic transcription exercises.
• – Compare cinematic techniques by watching videos about the dark trend in cinema, analyzing digital versus film camera characteristics, and examining how movie sequels like Harry Potter and James Bond have changed visually over time.

In this Advanced ESL lesson, students will learn and discuss how movies have changed in terms of shooting and light contrast. They will also practice the word stress.

Warm-up

The student discusses questions related to movies in general, as well as some specific ones.

Video: It’s not you – movies are getting darker

The student first learns words related to the filming process by matching them with the definitions (grainy, film stock, capture, etc.). Then, they practice using the new vocabulary in sentences.

The student watches the video explaining the ‘dark’ trend in the movie industry. They answer the questions based on the video and decide if the video statements are true or false. 

They sort out characteristics of the digital and film camera.

Word stress

Based on phonetic transcriptions, the student writes out the words and decides if they are nouns or verbs. Then, they divide the words into syllables and underline the stressed ones. 

The lesson ends with an activity in which the student compares shots from different movie sequels using the new vocabulary (Harry Potter, James Bond, and The Addams Family).