Summary / Duration
5 weeks
Unit overview / Unit Title
This unit of work will focus on a study of the Japanese animation companyStudio Ghibli through the prescribed text, GraveoftheFirefliesandextractsfromarangeofotherfilmsproduced by director Hayao Miyazaki. Students will examine and evaluate a range of specific devices employed in anime filmin order to understandthe cultural and historicalcontext of this form and its place inthe broader animationcontext. Students will examine the ways in which film and animationconventions help shape meaning in a text with regards to characterisation, setting, plot and themes. They will consider the relationship between text and image. Students will understand and evaluate how anime conventionswork together in distinctive ways to present ideas and information in the texts they compose and comprehend. / Film Study: StudioGhibli and Cultural Expression in Anime
Outcomes / Assessment
- English K-10
›EN42A effectively uses a widening range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing texts in different media and technologies
›EN46C identifies and explains connections between and among texts
›EN47D demonstrates understanding of how texts can express aspects of their broadening world and their relationships within it
›EN48D identifies, considers and appreciates cultural expression in texts / Assessment of Learning Representation Task (Weight:25%)
Students will compose aDirectorial Commentary on Key Scenes from Grave of the Fireflies in which they will annotatescreenshots in the light ofinterpretation of cultural representation through a recorded voice-over presentation using either Keynote, PowerPoint or similar.
Outcomes Assessed:
EN4-1A
EN4-2A
EN4-8D
Syllabus Text Requirements
- Close study of film
- In each year: Spoken, visual, media, multimedia and digital texts
- Across the stage, experience of:
a wide range of cultural, social and gender perspectives, popular and youth cultures
Graphic novels
an appropriate range of digital texts, including film, media and multimedia / Cross-Curriculum Priorities
Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
General Capabilities
- Critical and creative thinking
- Information and communication technology capability
- Intercultural understanding
- literacy
Content / Teaching, learning and assessment / Resources
Stage 4 - Outcome 1
- explore and explain the ways authors combine different modes and media in creating texts, and the impact of these choices on the viewer/listener (ACELY1735)
understand and use bibliographies, citations (including web citations) to acknowledge sources and avoid plagiarism
use a range of software, including word processing programs, to create, edit and publish texts imaginatively (ACELY1728, ACELY1738)
use a range of effective strategies for organising information, ideas and arguments, eg clustering, listing, compare and contrast, semantic chains, graphic and diagram outlines, and mind maps
Stage 4 – Outcome 9
Reflect on and assess their own and others’ learning against specific criteria, using reflection strategies, eg learning logs, blogs and discussions with teachers and peers / Week 1
Introductory Lessons:
Context - Survey students about their knowledge ofcomics, manga, graphic novels, animeand Japanese culture.
History and Conventions of MangaWebquest - in small groups,students create a table in their books or using Word with two column headings (Source and Summary); Internet search for key details about the origins,history,conventions and evolution of Japanese manga form. Each member of the group takes responsibility for the research and writing of a summary of theinformation found forone of the above areas.
MangaComposition Task: In their groups, students compose a manga-style comic (using about 15 frames) that provides a summary of the most significantinformation they have gathered from Webquest activity above in an imaginativeway.
Students peer assess their manga comics using a class devised marking criteria. / Table document for Webquest
Suggested websites for Webquest:
(All websites referenced in unit accessed on 30/6/2014)
Stage 4 - Outcome 8
investigate texts about cultural experiences from different sources, eg texts from Asia and texts by Asian Australians, and explore different viewpoints
- understand and explain how combinations of words and images in texts are used to represent particular groups in society, and how texts position readers in relation to those groups (ACELT1628)
Stage 4 - Outcome 7
draw on experience to consider the ways the 'real world' is represented in the imaginary worlds of texts, including imaginative literature, film, media and multimedia texts
analyse and understand the ways techniques of representation in multimodal texts are used to present alternative views of the world, people, places and events
Stage 4 - Outcome 6
- compare the text structures and language features of multimodal texts, explaining how they combine to influence audiences (ACELY1724)
- investigate how visual and multimodal texts allude to or draw on other texts or images to enhance and layer meaning (ACELA1548)
Identify and explain cultural expressions in texts, including those about gender, ethnicity, religion, youth, age, sexuality, disability and social class / Week 2
Exploring manga texts: students read a range of manga texts and extracts to explore the visualconventions employed in the form; (teacher provides aguide to identifying and interpretingkey devices to assist with their first reading:structure (back to front), frames, gutters, shape, perspective,colour, contrast, lines, symbolism, background and foreground, vectors
Reading Activities:
First impressions - students write their first impression of the allocated manga text or extract
Summarising - students write a summary of the plot that occurs in their allocated text
Review - students write a review of the text they have read, giving their opinion on the plot, characters, ideas and styleof the visual form.
Identifying and analysing: students select a double page spread from the text and write an annotation of the way in which at least THREE visual devices have been employed to shape meaning about character/s, event/s, setting or idea/s.
Cultural Representation:Jigsaw Activity and Class Presentation
In small groups, students examine the ways in which allocatedmanga texts represent aspects of Japanese cultural experiences and factors.
Step 1 - divide the class into 5 groups of 3-4 students. Allocate ONE of the following topics for each group to research - significant historical events, religion, literature and the arts, national character, environment. Each group finds and recordsat leastSIX facts they believe demonstrate their allocated topic; each student records their chosenfacts on a Word document(or similar). Each student is then re-grouped so that there is one representative from each research area in the new group - they share their facts with the other students.
Step 2 - Students remain in their new group and are provided witha photocopied extract from a manga text or a whole text. Students identify aspects of Japanese cultural experiences and factorsrepresented either literally or metaphorically in their text. The group prepares a class presentation (Oral or PowerPoint, Keynote or similar)of their findings. The presentation should consist of relevant images (can be photographed on a mobile device or scanned) which have annotations demonstrating what aspects of Japanese culture have been represented and how the composer has represented them using conventions of manga. / NewLiteraciesvideo:
Suggested Manga Texts:
Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto
Bleach by Tite Kubo
Fruit Basketsby Natsuki Takaya
Stage 4 - Outcome 6
- investigate how visual and multimodal texts allude to or draw on other texts or images to enhance and layer meaning (ACELA1548)
compose texts that make creative connections with, adapt or transform other texts, such as the preparation of promotional material for a film or book or a narration for a documentary / Week 3
Introduction to Anime
Teacher led discussion about the origins, history and conventions of anime.
In pairs, students are provided with a range of frames from mangaand screenshots from anime films. They construct a Venn diagram comparing the features in the images (similarities and differences).
Students select ONE of the recommended anime films and source a series of screenshots (or a excerpt) that reflect aspects of character and setting. Using the notes provided by the teacher, students annotate their screenshots, identifying and highlighting the key conventions of anime used in their example.
Introduction to Studio Ghibli
Fact Sheet - students research background information to Studio Ghibli and present FIVE significantfacts as a manga-style poster/pamphlet for display in the classroom.
Teacher creates a “Gallery Walk” of the posters and pamphlets for students to view. Students take notes on which “facts” have been repeated by most of the students? Which ‘different’ ones have some students have included? Follow up with a class discussion about why “facts” have been interpreted or selected differently by each group.
Group Task - in groups of 2 – 3,students are allocated ONE of the following films produced by Studio Ghibli:
- Castle in the Sky
- My Neighbour Totoro
- Kiki's Delivery Service
- Only Yesterday
- Porco Rosso
- Pom Poco
- Princess Mononoke
- Spirited Away
- Howl's Moving Castle
- Ponyo
Students research information about the film using internet links provided - plot, characters, setting/s, themes, cultural values, key motifs and anime conventions; present a 3 minuteoverview of the film as an example of Studio Ghibli productions using a PowerPoint, Prezi or Keynote to the class. / Anime Resources:
That Anime Project website:
Studio Ghibli resources:
Stage 4 - Outcome 1
recognise, reflect on, interpret and explain the connections between their own experiences and the world in texts
consider and analyse the ways their own experience affects their responses to texts
explore and appreciate the aesthetic qualities in their own and other texts and the power of language to communicate information, ideas, feelings and viewpoints
respond to and compose imaginative, informative and persuasive texts for different audiences, purposes and contexts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
Stage 4 - Outcome 7
explore the ways 'story' shapes their experience of and responses to a range of texts, including film and multimedia
Stage 4 - Outcome 8
consider the ways culture and personal experience position readers and viewers and influence responses to and composition of texts / Week 4
Viewing and analysing Grave of the Fireflies
Contextual background - teacher leads students through key background information about the film such as: appropriated from novel by Akiyuki Nosaka, Japanese involvement in WWII, firebombing of Kobe and economic boom that followed in post-war period.
First Impressions:Students view the variety of publicity posters produced to advertise Grave of the Fireflies. In pairs, discuss the following:
- how doeseach poster use visual techniques to shape meaning in different ways;
-what are your first impressions of the film?
- what predictions about the film’s plot can you make from these posters?
-evaluatewhich poster is the most appealing and persuasive. Share your opinions with the class.
View the film over a series of lessons (running time: 88 mins)
Students keep a viewing log as they watch the film in a table using the following column headings:
1.Key Event/2.Personal Response/3.Memorable Images or Sounds / StudioGhibliwiki-
Links to posters for the film: use Google images search and
Film:Grave of the Fireflies by Isao Takahata
Stage 4 - Outcome 1
- compare the ways that language and images are used to create character, and to influence emotions and opinions in different types of texts (ACELT1621)
- recognise and analyse the ways that characterisation, events and settings are combined in narratives, and discuss the purposes and appeal of different approaches (ACELT1622)
- understand, interpret and discuss how language is compressed to produce a dramatic effect in film or drama, and to create layers of meaning in poetry, for example haiku, tankas, couplets, free verse and verse novels (ACELT1623)
- reflect on ideas and opinions about characters, settings and events in literary texts, identifying areas of agreement and difference with others and justifying a point of view (ACELT1620)
- analyse and explain the effect of technological innovations on texts, particularly media texts (ACELY1765)
investigate and explain appropriations into English from a range of other cultures and times
use an increasingly wide range of strategies to present information, opinions and perspectives across a range of different types of texts / Week 5
Analysing the film
Class Discussion - reflect on the impact of the opening voice overof the film: "September 21, 1945, that was the night I died".
Discuss the ways in which this affects the audience’s response to the situation and characters in the filmasawhole.
Modelled Deconstruction of the Film - teacher leads analysis of the opening 4 minutes of the film (up until the end of the opening credits) - in particular examine in detail the use of the following - the symbolism of the flies/fireflies, the music and sound effects, the contrast between living and dead Setsuko, colour and hue, the narrative structure, and any specific anime conventions used.
Group Analysis
Students work in small group, examining ways ONE of the followingthemes are represented in the film:
War
Japanese Nationalism
Children and Adults
Progress
Siblings
Loss and Hope
Each group is to produce a handout for the classon this aspect of the film and the ways in which elements of anime (characters’ visual representation, colour, music and sound, shots and angles, costuming, framing and positioning, symbolism and motifs etc) have been utilised to shape meaning about their allocated theme. The notes should use subheadings of each element to organise the information clearly. Screenshots of stills from the film can be added if possible. Share these notes with the class as a whole (via Google Docs or similar, or as hard copy handouts for each student).
Review Writing Task: Students read and view the differing opinions on the film (see resources for links). Then they write a 400 word review of the film in whichthey justify their own view with reference to specific examples from the film and these contrasting reviews.
Assessment Preparation - students are to commence their assessment task preparation and submit their directorial commentary the following week. / YouTube version of the film:
Reviewsofthefilm:
Resources for Assessment Preparation:
Keynote or iMovie to record the presentation
Sample Directorial Commentary:
This unit of work was written by Kim Elith, Saint Ignatius College. Copyright © of the unit of work is owned by AISNSW.
NSW syllabus content prepared by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW for and on behalf of the State of New South Wales is protected by Crown copyright. 1
Stage 4 English
ASSESSMENT TASK - Representation Task
Unit: Film Study: StudioGhibli and Cultural Expression in Anime
DATE DUE: TBC
Outcomes Assessed: EN4-1A, EN4-2A, EN4-8D
WEIGHTING: 25%
ASSESSMENT TASK DESCRIPTION / Outcomes Assessed
You will compose aDirectorial Commentary on Key Scenes from Grave of the Fireflies in which you will annotatescreenshots in the light ofinterpretation of cultural representation through a recorded voice-over presentation using either Keynote, PowerPoint or similar. / ›EN41A responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
›EN42A effectively uses a widening range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing texts in different media and technologies
›EN48D identifies, considers and appreciates cultural expression in texts
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
You will be assessed on how well you:
-Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of cultural expression in the set text
-Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the conventions of anime film and their effects on shaping meaning in a text
-Use the features of information andcommunication technologies, includingpresentation applications, word processing, importing andmanipulation of graphics and recording sound
This unit of work was written by Kim Elith, Saint Ignatius College. Copyright © of the unit of work is owned by AISNSW.
NSW syllabus content prepared by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW for and on behalf of the State of New South Wales is protected by Crown copyright. 1
Stage 4 English
Marking Criteria
A student has:
- Demonstrates perceptiveknowledge and understanding of cultural expression in the set text
- Demonstrates comprehensiveknowledge and understanding of the conventions of anime film and their effects on shaping meaning in a text
- Uses the features of information andcommunication technologies, includingpresentation applications, word processing, importing andmanipulation of graphics and recording sound in a highly sophisticated, original and engaging way
- Demonstrates pertinentknowledge and understanding of cultural expression in the set text
- Demonstrates detailedknowledge and understanding of the conventions of anime film and their effects on shaping meaning in a text
- Uses the features of information andcommunication technologies, includingpresentation applications, word processing, importing andmanipulation of graphics and recording sound inan effective and engaging way
- Demonstrates conciseknowledge and understanding of cultural expression in the set text
- Demonstrates basicknowledge and understanding of the conventions of anime film and their effects on shaping meaning in a text
- Uses the features of information andcommunication technologies, includingpresentation applications, word processing, importing andmanipulation of graphics and recording soundin an appropriate way
- Demonstrates limitedknowledge and understanding of cultural expression in the set text
- Demonstrates limitedknowledge and understanding of the conventions of anime film and their effects on shaping meaning in a text
- Uses the features of information andcommunication technologies, includingpresentation applications, word processing, importing andmanipulation of graphics and recording soundin a limited way
- Demonstrates little or no knowledge and understanding of cultural expression in the set text
- Unable to demonstrateknowledge and understanding of the conventions of anime film and their effects on shaping meaning in a text
- Unable to usethe features of information andcommunication technologies, includingpresentation applications, word processing, importing andmanipulation of graphics and recording soundin an appropriate way
This unit of work was written by Kim Elith, Saint Ignatius College. Copyright © of the unit of work is owned by AISNSW.
NSW syllabus content prepared by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW for and on behalf of the State of New South Wales is protected by Crown copyright. 1