Writers as movie makers

www.literacytrust.org.uk

Writers as movie makers...

Zooming in!!

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What do you notice?

• Watch the slide show

• In talking partners/groups can you list all the things you know about the story so far just from these first few images?


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The tricks of the trade

• How does the illustrator introduce us to the story, its setting and its characters?

• How do you feel when you watch the opening images?


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Storytelling tools• Film makers use the same tools

when they make films.• When we work as writers we can also use

these tools to introduce our stories. • Why might we want to use these tools?

Think about how the slide show made you feel… How do you think we could create the same effects in our writing?


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Let’s investigate...


• Let’s raid our reading• How does the writing make us think and

feel? • Let’s find out what other authors use to

create these effects…

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Try these:

Chapter 2 of Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl

Opening pages of Funnybones by Allan Ahlberg


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Beside the River of Dreams was a dark mysterious wood. At the edge of the wood was the start of an overgrown path leading deep within the darkness. Between the towering trees the path meandered towards a clearing. In the middle of the clearing stood a small wooden cottage with a bright red front door which seemed to light up the surrounding gloom. Through the heart-shaped cottage windows, a roaring fire was burning and beside the fire stood a lone figure dressed all in green ...

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‘Zooming in’ with words

• In all the examples there are lots of great writer’s tools used

• What is the effect of zooming in like this?

• Do you think it is a good tool to use and when might you use it?

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Beside the River of Dreams was a dark mysterious wood. At the edge of the wood was the start of an overgrown path leading deep within the darkness. Between the towering trees the path meandered towards a clearing. In the middle of the clearing stood a small wooden cottage with a bright red front door which seemed to light up the surrounding gloom. Through the heart-shaped cottage windows, a roaring fire was burning and beside the fire stood a lone figure dressed all in green...

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Prepositions A great writer’s tool!

There are lots of prepositions - can you think of any others you know?

There are different types of prepositions but one of their jobs is to show where or which position or direction something or someone is in.

at the hospital / in the woods/ under the tree / over the fence / to the shops

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Word collectors

Collect as many ‘place’ prepositions as possible and create a poster to help you remember them...

Eg. down

underneath

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The saddest house in the world...

James entered the house cautiously. James entered the house cautiously. Before his very eyes...Before his very eyes...Across the room, ...Across the room, ...Under the... Under the... Hanging from... Hanging from... Beside the ... Beside the ... Underneath…Underneath…

Close your eyes......

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Find the mini egg

• Choose a ‘preposition player’• Send them outside (!) the door• Hide a mini egg• The player must return and ask

preposition questions to try and find the egg. Is it under the desk? Near the whiteboard?...

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Using our preposition tool• It’s no good just knowing about prepositions,

remember what is important is how we use them.

• Yes, we can use them to add detail to help our readers build a clear picture in their minds of our story, setting and characters but we can also use the movie maker’s skill of zooming in for our story openings by using our prepositions.

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Zooming in...


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Writers as movie makers