Movie plot acitivities

Understanding Movie Plots

-The film title, setting (time & place), and key characters are introduced first.

-The conflict (the problem) and the climax are then introduced.

-The resolution (the ending) is NOT given.

-Everything is usually written in the present tense.

Movie Plots Activities

GOAL: Understand movie plots. Practice word processing skills (cutting and pasting)

Created by Caleb based on plots on www.imdb.com & RottenTomatoes.com

Activity 1: Find the mistakes in movie plots

Copy & paste the article into a Word document, but delete or edit the two mistakes.

Practice keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl + X = Cut, Ctrl + C = Copy, Ctrl + V = Paste

Titanic plot summary (2 mistakes)

Rose Dawson, now an old woman, tells her story, about the sinking of the Titanic. She tells how she was a 17 years old girl (Kate Winslet), and how she falls in love with a poor man named Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio). She describes, by flashbacks, her journey to New York, the time she spent aboard the ship, and the last hours of the Titanic. Engaged to Mr. Hockley, a rich but cruel man, she boards the Titanic's first-class suites. Also boarding is Jack Dawson, after a lucky poker game wins him tickets. When Jack attempts suicide by jumping off the ship , Rose pulls him back onto the ship...and they slowly fall in love. Rose's mother & Mr. Hockley try desperately to keep them apart. But everything changes when Titanic collides with a whale, and begins to sink. Now Rose & Jack must fight to stay alive.

Speed plot summary (2 mistakes)

A terrorist (played by Dennis Hopper) tries to get money by threatening to kill some people with bombs. And the city was about to give in when rookie cop, Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves), tries to stops him. But the terrorist escapes. The terrorist plans another terrorist attack, and he dares Jack to stop him. He has placed bomb on a bus that will exploded if the bus goes above 50 mph. Jack gets on the the bus to try to save the day, but all he can do now is to keep it going. Meanwhile, Jack falls in love with a woman on the bus (Sandra Bullock). They all die.

Activity 2: Guess the Movie Plot Game

1. Go to www.imdb.com

2. Choose a movie that you think many classmates will know & search for it

3. After "Plot", click on "full summary"

4. Copy the plot summary that you think is best (include the author's name if given)

5. Open your blog, start a new post, and paste the summary WITHOUT THE TITLE (also note down the author).

6. Ask readers to guess the movie.

7. Publish it.

If time, you will have time to search other people's blogs and guess the movie title of their plot summaries.