Movie Trailers

Teacher's notes

1. Write each film title on a separate piece of paper and blu-tack them around the room. Ask students
to stand in the centre. Call out the first title (Eclipse) and ask students to go to that piece of paper if
they've seen it. If they haven't, they stay in the centre of the room. Ask them to make groups
(maybe 3 or 4 depending on numbers) where there's at least one person in each group who hasn't
seen it yet. The others have to tell them about it. Help with vocabulary and board it when finished.
If everyone has seen it, ask them to recall the story in groups. If almost everyone has seen it, get
the one or two who haven't to ask the rest of the class questions.

2. Repeat for Skyfall.

3. Repeat for Les Misérables. If no-one has seen it, ask them to discuss what they think it's about
(many will know something because of the publicity and the book).

4. Dictate the three phrases (page 2) for Eclipse. Ask students in groups to decide which is the correct
phrase i.e. the one that's actually said in the film. Write up their predictions and then play the
trailer and check. They should only need to see it once. (This idea was taken from “Teaching
Online: Tools and Techniques, Options and Opportunities” by Nicky Hockly and
Lindsay Clanfield, Delta Publishing)

5. Repeat for Skyfall and Les Misérables.

6. Give a point for each correct answer. Who has the most points so far?

7. Now hand out or project the Memory/Accuracy exercise on page 3. In groups, they do it and
then watch to check how they did. Here's the answer:
· Mounted police ride over the Paris cobblestones in a downpour. (accurate)
· A bearded convict prostrates himself falls to his knees at the altar.
· Those manning the barricades are flying three two different flags.
· Anne Hathaway has her shoulder-length long hair cruelly shorn.
· Hugh Jackman retreats out of sight into a covered alleyway. (accurate)

8. Now divide the class into two groups. Group A watch the trailer for Eclipse twice while group B have
their backs turned. Then group B watch the Skyfall trailer twice while group A have their backs to
the screen. While the As and Bs have their backs to the screen, they talk about other films starring
the same actors, either films that they have seen or heard of. Both groups now have to write a
similar exercise to the one above for their trailer i.e. 5 sentences using precise vocabulary where
some are accurate and some not. Once they've written them, they can jumble them up.

9. Each group gives the other their exercise and they try to do it with the help of a dictionary and from
their memory of what they saw.

10. Then watch each trailer again to see how each group got on.

11. Finally, for homework, you can pair the students up, get them to exchange emails and then ask
them to prepare a version of the first exercise for each other. Just choose one trailer, and send the
link plus three “quotes” (only one of which is real) to your partner. They guess which one it is and
listen to see if they were right. Then they can compare experiences in class the next day.

1
 EclipseSkyfallLes Miserables
She’s still human!

You caught me! Now here’s your prize.I dreamed that love would never
die.
This means an ugly fight – with lives lost.
I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Mr. Bond.

We must save Paris!

If you do this, you’ll live to regret it.

Prepare to die.
I could never love anyone else!

Movie Trailers

Links to the clips

Eclipse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkgAIiTaj7U

Skyfall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwydHmXQ198

Les Misérables
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuEFm84s4oI

2
 Memory/Accuracy - Les Misérables

Decide whether the following scene descriptions

are accurate or not and then put them in the
order in which we saw them:

1. A bearded convict prostrates himself at the

altar.

2. Anne Hathaway has her shoulder-length hair

cruelly shorn.

3. Hugh Jackman retreats out of sight into a

covered alleyway.

4. Those manning the barricades are flying

three different flags.

5. Mounted police ride over the Paris

cobblestones in a downpour.