Tous Au Cinéma – 2017-2018The Kid (1921)

En quoi l'étude du film The Kid s'insère-t-elle dans les programmes du cycle 4?

Les domaines du Socle Commun de Connaissances, de Compétences et de Culture (SCCC)

Domaine 1: Les langages pour penser et communiquer L'élève s'exprime à l'écrit pour raconter, décrire, expliquer ou argumenter de façon claire et organisée. Il comprend des messages oraux et écrits, s'exprime et communique à l'oral et à l'écrit de manière simple mais efficace Comprendre, s'exprimer en utilisant les langages des arts et du corps Sensibilisé aux démarches artistiques, l'élève apprend à s'exprimer et communiquer par les arts, de manière individuelle et collective, en concevant et réalisant des productions, visuelles, plastiques, sonores ou verbales notamment.

Domaine 2: Méthodes et outils pour apprendre L'élève travaille en équipe, partage des tâches, s'engage dans un dialogue constructif… Il apprend à gérer un projet, qu'il soit individuel ou collectif. L'utilisation des outils numériques contribue à ces modalités d'organisation, d'échange et de collaboration. L'élève utilise les espaces collaboratifs et apprend à communiquer

Domaine 3: La formation de la personne et du citoyenL'élève exprime ses sentiments et ses émotions en utilisant un vocabulaire précis.Il respecte les opinions et la liberté d'autrui.Il fonde et défend ses jugements en s'appuyant sur sa réflexion et sur sa maîtrise de l'argumentation. Il comprend les choix moraux que chacun fait dans sa vie ; il peut discuter de ces choix ainsi que de quelques grands problèmes éthiques liés notamment aux évolutions sociales, scientifiques ou techniques.

Domaine 5: Les représentations du monde et l'activité humaine Il exprime à l'écrit et à l'oral ce qu'il ressent face à une œuvre littéraire ou artistique L'élève imagine, conçoit et réalise des productions de natures diverses, y compris littéraires et artistiques. Il mobilise son imagination et sa créativité au service d'un projet personnel ou collectif. Il développe son jugement, son goût, sa sensibilité, ses émotions esthétiques. L'élève mobilise ses connaissances sur:- les principales périodes de l'histoire de l'humanité, situées dans leur chronologie,- la diversité des modes de vie et des cultures, en lien avec l'apprentissage des langues

Zoom sur des éléments du programme en langues vivantes

Langues vivantes Ouvrir les élèves a la culture des autres, leur apprendre à décoder et mettre en perspective des éléments de cultures réciproques pour progressivement se projeter dans une dynamique de mobilité (Parcours Avenir + EMC) Comprendre les points de vue et les visions différentes du monde : modes de vie, traditions et histoire, expressions artistiques Se décentrer pour apprendre sur soi et les autres, prendre de la distance par rapport à ses propres références, dépasser les stéréotypes. Découvrir l’imaginaire d’autres cultures : expliciter les caractéristiques de sa propre culture et celles de la langue apprise, percevoir la diversité et la variation interne à toute culture Mobiliser ses ressources linguistiques et culturelles et enrichir ses compétences par l’expérience des échanges, accepter les différences, la richesse et la visée des échanges.Rendre compte, interpréter

Langages : Codes socio-culturels et dimensions géographiques et historiques – Médias, modes de communication, publicité, langage artistique

Rencontres avec d’autres cultures : Repères historiques et géographiques. Patrimoine historique et architectural. Inclusion et exclusion

Classe Entrée culturelle (thème) Notion5ème

Traditions et modernitésLa vie quotidienne et le cadre de vieLe patrimoine culturel et historiqueLe patrimoine littéraire et artistique

4ème et 3ème

L'ici et l'ailleursLangages

Découverte de l'autreEcole et société

Le Parcours d'Education Artistique et Culturelle (PEAC)

PRIOR TO THE SCREENING

1) The kid official poster

Possible to project the poster and simply ask the students to react (some will know Charlie Chaplin and his character the Tramp and share their knowledge).

→ the characters, their relationship, what their demeanour and their stares express→ Can you guess what is happening?

→ the catchphrase and the contrast between "6 reels of joy" and the characters' expressions→ the lexical field of the film industry (reel, director, produced, written, comedian)

→ the themes: parent/child relationship, poverty/misery

2) Chaplin – a biographyWho was Charlie Chaplin?Option 1: give dates and notes, the students link them into proper sentences Option 2: only give specific dates, the students look for the informationOption 3: give total freedom to the students who will choose the facts they want to talk aboutOption 4: a mix of all three options to answer the class's heterogeneity (pédagogie différenciée)

→ use of the past tense, regular and irregular verbs

Biographies on the internet:A dense biography, interesting for option 3 (with a good class): https://www.biography.com/people/charlie-chaplin-9244327A short biography with a multiple-choice questionnaire at the end: http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/reading-charlie-chaplin.phpAnother short biography: https://www.biographyonline.net/actors/charlie-chaplin.html

10 (fun) facts about Charlie Chaplin: http://www.wasteurtime.com/interesting_facts/famous_people/10_interesting_facts_about_charlie_chaplin/

3) How cinema was invented A short animated video (3mn): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrJPICybdj8→ from Edward Muybridge to the Lumière Brothers

Then extend to silent movies and how sound was added, or music played along during projection in theatres + black screens explaining the story or showing some dialogues

4) The various shots https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/video/tips-and-solutions/filmmaking-101-camera-shot-types

Possible to show a few stills from other movies (Harry Potter, James Bond...) showing various shots, and have the students react to the types of shot and the intention behind them.

Or you can go to the computer room and have the students look for movie stills and choose one or two. They will have to explain why they chose them, and what the intention behind them is.

AFTER THE SCREENING

1) The opening black screen: "A picture with a smile -- and perhaps, a tear." Possible to write or project the opening black screen and ask the students to react to it.

2) The themesThe orphan- As seen by society in the movie:

→ the baby orphan is ditched among the street waste → the Tramp looking up, probably wondering if the baby landed with the waste→ the Tramp, trying to get rid of the baby

(Chaplin pointing at society's contempt, disdain, disregard for orphans at the time)

- Charlie Chaplin's own childhood (internet research if the information hasn't been mentioned during the biography session before the screening)

→ raised by a single mother→ separated from her at a young age → sent to a school for orphans and destitute children

Parent/child relationship, family- Father and son (the baby orphan adopted by the Tramp)

→ describe the daily life scenes; lunch, breakfast, the Tramp checking how clean the kid is, the role they play in their relationship (complicity, harmony, intimate bond, a pair that works well together)

- Mother and son (the baby orphan abandoned by her mother)→ tragedy of abandoning her child; focus on the opening scene when the mother comes out of the

maternity ward and the black screen "The woman – whose sin was motherhood".(Chaplin seems to take a stand against society looking down on single mothers at the time; stress on the characters who embody the various institutions such as the nurse's scornful expression, the orphanage officials who look terse, indifferent, cold-hearted...)

→ remorse and how she tries to make up for it through charity; focus on the scene when the mother meets her child without being aware of it. The glances, the facial expressions, the smiles, the final shot when the mother leaves and the fade closing the scene (a moving scene + irony of fate → melodramatic)

→ re-union; a celebration of life and love and an optimistic ending to the story

Poverty/Misery- Focus on the various scenes painting misery: industrial neighbourhood, the dirty streets, the shelters, the Tramp's home, the ran-down accommodations...

- Draw the contrast between the wealthy neighbourhood with its luxurious car, and the industrial, poor neighbourhood

- "His morning promenade" scene: the clothes (old, torn, patched, discarded...), the cigarette and cigar buts in a sardine can

- The kid and the tramp's struggle for the bare necessities of life; the glazier "business"

This picture was not taken from the movie but is widely famous and sums up a few elements previously mentioned (ran-down building, old and patched clothes, the kid a mirror of the Tramp, the Tramp staring at the camera as if he was reaching out to the spectator...) → the characters fit in their surrounding (patched clothes, patched door)

3) Activities (vary according to the year/grade as well as the level of the class)

Imagine and act out dialogues→ write dialogues and practise acting them. It can be filmed.

A few stills (1): rebuild the story (can be about specific scenes you wish the students to pay extra attention to)

A few stills (2): imagine the speech bubbles! (stills have to be rich in their content, expressive). The speech bubbles can be spoken aloud or in the character's head.

→ order, gap fillers, questions...

A few stills (3): put the stills back in the right order and justify.

A few stills (4): imagine new black screens→ the teacher chooses a specific moment and shows two stills

Point of view: step into the shoes of one of the characters and imagine his/her thoughts (omniscient narrator...)

Imaginative writing: The door closes at the end. What happens next?

Picture of The Tramp: describe him

→ adjectives of physical description and of personality

4) Other posters Description and interpretation The two characters, the Tramp and the kid, are standing in the middle of the poster. They are holding hands and looking in different directions. The Tramp is staring directly at us, but what is on his mind?

The blue colour of the trousers and overalls is a clear reference to the working and lower classes to which they belong. Moreover, the red brick wall surrounding them reminds us of the industrial era. On the contrary, the bowler hat, the suit jacket and the walking stick are reminiscent of the bourgeois or wealthy social classes. → The Tramp, a paradoxical character

Finally, the large paintbrush lines will soon cover the two characters, as if society had forgotten them or urged them to walk another path, that of the outcasts. They seem to be on the go.

→ red brick wall (industrial era)

→ position and attitude; hiding round the corner of a building, looking intently at an off-camera action, hands resting on the wall (mirror effect, complicity, partners in "crime")

→ The Tramp and the kid holding tight

→ The Tramp staring at the camera

→ expression of fear (fear of being separated), of impending danger

→ love of a father to his child and the child to his father

→ contrast between what their faces express and the catchphrase "6 reels of joy"

A few more websites:https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/very-short-history-of-cinema/ A history of cinemahttp://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/1-The-Kid/articles/35-The-Kid-Synopsis Synopsis of The Kid as written by the Chaplin Studio in 1921http://www.wasteurtime.com/interesting_facts/famous_people/10_interesting_facts_about_charlie_chaplin/ 10 facts about Charlie Chaplin

Ressources pédagogiqueshttps://black-and-white-movies.com/the-kid/ https://www.ac-caen.fr/dsden61/ress/culture/cinema/ecole_et_cinema/archives/2015-2016/kid/Dossier-Le-Kid-ORNE.pdf Dossier film école et cinéma de l'Ornehttp://my.clermont-filmfest.com/03_pole_regional/11_medias/4655_dossier_the_kid_ecole_et_cinema_..pdf Dossier d'accompagnement pédagogique

A few stills…