Lesson 4
Day 1
Objective:
Students will watch a
portion of Federico Fellini’s surrealistic film, 81/2. They will be asked to
examine the surrealistic techniques that Federico uses to create his film. They
should consider questions such as how this film is related to the automatic
writing assignment that they had experimented with in the previous lesson. How
does Federico create and present Guido’s life so that they represent his
scattered memories, uninterrupted by the constraints of time and order? What
other surrealistic ideas and techniques are used in this movie and why?
Procedure:
Have students sit in
groups of four. Assign each group a category, time, order, dreamlike
characteristics and surrealistic features. While considering these categories
they should observe how the camera, as well as lighting, special effects and
props are an important part of the dreamlike and surrealistic features. Then
hand out the 81/2 film chart, each group will be
in charge of filling out one section of the chart while they are watching the
film. Show students the first 28 minutes
of the film. You will want to end with
the scene of Federico looking at his watch.
After showing the
film, which probably left the students feeling somewhat confused, provide them
with a little background information on the film. It will help them to
understand that this was both an autobiographical sketch as well as Fellini’s
representation of
After providing
students with a brief description of the film and its structure allow students
to discuss the category they were responsible for with the rest of their group.
Before class ends hand out a description of their final project.
Homework:
Ask students to begin
to consider and work on a final surrealism project that they will be asked to
present to the class in a week. They will be asked to create any type of
surrealist representation that they want to experiment with. They will be
expected to describe their project and their process of development to the
class. The entire project should include a visual, a short report (min 2 pages)
that describes the surreal elements that they used in their project as well as
a reflection on their process of creation.
They should try to refer to at least two surrealist works that we
studied in class when writing about their project and their project must have a
title. The project will be due in a week.
Day 2
Objective:
Students begin to
make connections between the different surrealist works they have been exposed
to. They begin to see the purpose of surrealism in creating a reality that
exists beyond the limits of traditional film. They also note different
surrealists’ perspective on time. How is time portrayed in the specific works
they have watched, and images they have viewed?
They experiment with surreal techniques in order to work with their
group members and produce their own surreal representation of time.
Procedure:
Have students sit in
the same groups that they were in yesterday. We are going to continue the
discussion on Fellini’s film. Give
students a minute to collect their thoughts and to review the notes they made
yesterday. Then have a representative from each group present their
observations and discoveries to the rest of the class.
Finally ask students
how the film would have been different if he had decided to present his life in
a more traditional manner? Was this an
effective way for Fellini to present his life, why or why not? Ask them what
this surreal perspective of his life has accomplished. Would he have been able
to accomplish this if he had provided his viewers with a more structured view
of his life. This should take about 15 minutes
Next, pass out
construction paper, scissors, poster board and markers to each group. Also provide each group with a copy of Dali’s
picture. Then ask them to refer to
their notes concerning the representation of time in both Un Chien Andalou and 8 ˝.
Ask them to juxtapose the characters’ use of watches compared with the
surrealist perspective of time. Then using the two movies and Dali’s
representation of time in “The Persistence of Memory” have the students, as a
group, create their own surreal representation of time. They need to confer with each other as a
group, to figure out how time exists in their own realities and then begin to
construct their posters. The students will have the rest of the class period to
work on their posters. They should be prepared to explain their surreal
representation of time in the next class.
Homework:
Have students read a
short passage from Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams.
This is a short but complex reading assignment. Since Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, had an
enormous influence on many Surrealist artists it is important that students
read a sampling of this text. This reading assignment will be used to get
students to begin thinking about the use of dreams in Surrealist works. When
reading this passage they should consider how dreams are portrayed in
surrealist works, and why they are portrayed this way.