Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Education resource
This education resource is designed to work in
conjunction with the accompanying PowerPoint,
available to download from www.filmclub.org/resources
Cineguild © (1946) All rights reserved.
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Our resources are designed to be used with selected film titles, which are available free for clubs at www.intofilm.org
Teachers’ notes
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Curriculum focus
These film-focused activities are designed for use in English literature and related subjects at ages 11-18. They
are particularly suitable for supporting the study of Great Expectations at GCSE and equivalent, with clear links to
Assessment Objectives – for example ‘respond to texts critically and imaginatively’; ‘make comparisons and explain
links between texts’; ‘relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts’.
© Great Expectations 1946 - Copyright Property of Cineguild (1946). All rights reserved.
© Great Expectations 2012 - Copyright Property of BBC Films (2012). All rights reserved.
Great Expectations | David Lean | 1946 | UK
| 118 mins | PG
Great Expectations | Mike Newell | 2012 | UK/USA
| 129 mins | 12
What the critics say
‘…Whether you’re a fan of Dickens, old nostalgic films,
or a good romantic yarn, you’ll be charmed by this
wonderful account of Philip Pirrip’s journey through
society and class; criminality and justice; love and
friendship; and of course his ‘Great Expectations’
What the critics say
‘…This Great Expectations is an absorbing addition
to the roster of Dickens films that continues our
21st-century fascination with the worlds created
by a 19th-century storyteller’
Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times
Joanne, 16, Into Film clubs member
About Reel to Real
This unique teaching resource is part of the Reel to Real programme, a partnership between Into Film and the
Victoria and Albert Museum’s Learning Department. Reel to Real harnesses the immersive, visual nature of film, as
well as the wealth of the V&A’s world-renowned collections of art, design and performance, to give students new
and exciting insights into key English curriculum texts at ages 11-18. For more about this programme and other
quality teaching resources in this series, see www.filmclub.org/resources/#id/48.
Why use film to support literature?
This resource helps bring the text to life for students, allowing them to explore characters, themes and context
using clips and still images from the film and contextual details from the V&A’s collections to enrich the learning
experience. Before starting these activities, we recommend that students have a solid understanding of the novel.
By using this resource, you will develop and extend their understanding through analysis, creative writing and
filmmaking activities.
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Teachers’ notes
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
These flexible materials can be used in their entirety or in part, and can be adapted to suit your students’ needs.
The resource comprises activity outlines, with supporting worksheets for students, and is designed to be used in
conjunction with the accompanying Reel to Real: Great Expectations PowerPoint presentation, which features
clips and images and is downloadable at www.filmclub.org/resources/#id/48. We recommend viewing the feature
film adaptations in full once you’ve completed the activities.
For advice on filmmaking and on film language, see this helpful guide (in particular pages 8-11, which you may
want to share with your students): bit.ly/SecondaryFilmmaking. Links to other websites are included in this resource
for their educational relevance; we recommend you check these links before sharing with students, as we are not
responsible for the content, which may change, move or become unavailable without our knowledge.
What you will need
Clips are included in the resource, but you may also find a DVD copy of one or both adaptations helpful in the
classroom. You will also need an internet connection and IWB or similar. Students will need copies of the novel
and printed copies of the worksheets. Note that the Focus on… mise-en-scène cards and the Values card sort and
Thematic opposites cards are designed to be cut up into individual cards.
Accessing film
You can order the 1946 David Lean and the 2012 Mike Newell films for free through your Into Film Club account.
For more information on the 1946 adaptation, see bit.ly/IFGreatExpectations1946 and for the 2012 adaptation see
bit.ly/IFGreatExpectations2012.
Joining Into Film and starting a film club will give you and your school access to thousands of fantastic films
to watch and great supporting resources, as well as opportunities for members to develop skills in reporting,
programming and reviewing. Clubs are also offered support in filmmaking, putting youth voice at the very heart of
the scheme. Through participating in a film club, children and young people can engage directly with members of
the film industry, discover career opportunities and learn how to pursue them.
Not yet Into Film? Joining is easy and free – go to the website to find out more and register: www.intofilm.org/
schools-film-clubs or email support@intofilm.org.
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Activity outlines
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Introductory activities
Summary: In this section, students explore the cultural context of
Great Expectations through V&A collection items that relate to the
novel’s setting and to Dickens’ unique storytelling style.
1. Dickens: serial storyteller
Dickens’ first novel, The Pickwick Papers, was originally published in instalments, and many of his subsequent works
reached readers in the same way, with Great Expectations first appearing in weekly instalments in Dickens’ periodical
All the Year Round.
Dickens also created a series of short pieces under the pen name ‘Boz’, accompanied by illustrations of the characters
and scenes described. These collections of short pieces were combined into a book called Sketches by Boz: Illustrative
of Every-day Life and Every-day People in 1836.
•
Show students the examples from the V&A collection of Sketches by Boz: Illustrative of Every-day Life and
Every-day People, depicting life in Victorian London, on slides 2 to 5 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations
presentation. Explain that Dickens worked closely with illustrators to realise his character ideas and use this to
emphasise his ability to create strong, memorable characters in his stories. The instalment format of his stories even
meant he was able to take audience feedback into account before the next episode was published.
•
Ask students to pick one of the V&A sketches provided on slides 2 to 5 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations
presentation. Individually, or in pairs, students write short descriptive pieces about these Victorian caricatures to
practise their own characterisation and descriptive language skills.
•
Alternatively, give pairs printed versions and ask them to make comparisons with the settings, characters and
themes of Great Expectations. Can they identify any similarities?
Extension: In its day, Great Expectations would have been similar to the big-budget, long-running TV and web series
we all love today. Charles Dickens could be compared to modern-day writer-directors such as JJ Abrams (creator of
Lost) or Julian Fellowes (creator of Downton Abbey). Readers, like TV audiences today, would wait in anticipation for the
next instalment. Can students think of examples of TV drama series that are comparable to Great Expectations? What
features make those TV dramas such a success? Were these same features used in Great Expectations to engage
audiences in the narratives and characters?
2. Character cards
•
Show students select pages from the booklet on slides 6 to 8 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations presentation,
which includes illustrations of characters from Charles Dickens’ Dombey & Son. The class will create a version of
this booklet for the characters in Great Expectations to use as a shared revision resource.
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Activity outlines
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
• Allocate students a different character – major and minor – for example:
oPip
oEstella
o
Miss Havisham
o
Abel Magwitch
o
Joe Gargery
oJaggers
o
Herbert Pocket
oWemmick
oBiddy
oOrlick
o
Mrs Joe
o
Uncle Pumblechook
o
Bentley Drummle
oMolly
oCompeyson
• Direct students to research their character (using internet sources if available) and find key chapters in the novel that
describe them or show their typical behaviour and language. Based on these descriptive passages, students draw a
sketch of their character and create a character profile that includes the following information:
o
Examples of important things that character says and does (up to three of each).
o
A comment on how Dickens presents that character (with relevant textual evidence).
o
A comment on how that character is affected by the context of the society they live in.
Extension: Ask students to choose a present-day actor to take on the role listed on their character card. They should
justify their choices in terms of which elements of each character their selected actor matches. With this choice in mind,
students then transpose their allocated character to a modern-day setting. Using the Example film script on page 11,
students create their own script for a key moment that places that character in a modern-day setting. What character
and narrative aspects will the students keep and which will they need to alter in order to update their character?
3. Miss Havisham’s great expectations
•
Display images of wedding dresses, from the V&A’s collections, on slides 9 to 12 of the Reel to Real: Great
Expectations presentation. From their memory of the text, which dress do students visualise Miss Havisham
wearing on her wedding day?
•
Using a printed copy of their chosen dress, students annotate the image with textual evidence that conveys Miss
Havisham’s experience both before and after her betrayal at the altar, on the left and right of the page respectively.
•
Students use this annotated image as the basis for creating two diary entries by Miss Havisham, which could be
written or filmed as a video diary:
o
The first should be from the morning of the wedding.
o
The second can be from any time after the wedding day (you could give students free choice, or try these
further examples: the night Jaggers first brings Estella to Satis House; Pip’s first visit; Miss Havisham’s birthday
and the visit of her relations…).
o
You could also use the Carol Ann Duffy poem ‘Havisham’, found in some exam anthologies and available
online, as additional stimulus for this task.
Extension: Ask students to compare the differences and similarities in the ways Pip and Miss Havisham deal with the
heartache of their own ‘great expectations’ being dashed. Why is Pip able to change his situation and redeem himself,
whereas Miss Havisham cannot? This can lead to a debate about whether social class or gender is the biggest factor in
how each character deals with their personal challenges in life and love. The debate could be filmed and revisited as a
revision resource or used as speaking and listening task.
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Activity outlines
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Clip-focused activities
Summary: This section revisits students’ knowledge of characters
and events, and explores how language is used to create
atmosphere, using key moments in the film adaptations as the basis
for a range of classroom activities.
1. Effective openings
•
As a class, devise a set of success criteria for an effective novel opening. What ingredients are needed? Students
share their ideas on the board.
•
Number these success criteria, and give out these numbers at random to the class. Read the opening together
and as you do so, students should watch out for their own success criteria, and either stand up or raise their hands
when they think it has been met. At the end of the reading, are any hands still down or is anyone still sitting? Have
any of the criteria been missed? Revisit the list and add any further elements that students noticed during reading.
•
Now ask students to think about what ingredients are needed for an effective film opening. How much crossover is
there between their two sets of success criteria?
•
Put students into small groups and give them the Focus on…mise-en-scène cards on page 12/13 (these should be
printed and cut out before the session). As a group, they must discuss and rank these aspects of mise-en-scène
according to which they think is most important for a film opening. Share ideas as a class.
•
Give students printed copies of the opening of the novel and ask them to imagine they are directors. They must
annotate the text with ideas on how they would shoot the opening using the Focus on…mise-en-scène cards
as prompts. After this, they should use the Storyboard template on page 14 to create a storyboard that illustrates
their ideas.
•
Play students the opening of the 1946 film adaptation on slide 13 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations
presentation. Was it different or similar to their visualisation? What about the ranking exercise they completed: were
the same elements as important when watching the clip? Would they change their own version and success criteria
based on what they have seen? Does this film opening do justice to the book?
•
Now follow the same approach with the opening of the 2012 film adaptation on slide 14 of the presentation.
Extension: Students write a comparison of how effective the two film versions are as adaptations of the novel’s opening.
They should analyse both film language and literary devices. This could be filmed or recorded as a podcast, and even
repeated for other important scenes in the film. The Behind The Scenes interview with screenwriter David Nicholls, who
created the screenplay for the 2012 film adaptation, (see slide 15 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations presentation
or bit.ly/WriterDavidNicholls) gives some good insights into the difficulties of translating a novel into a film that will be
useful to this task. Watch from approximately 00:03:30 – 00:05:00.
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Activity outlines
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
2. Creating atmosphere
•
Split students into four groups and give each group a different descriptive passage from the text. These passages
should describe a setting from the novel, for example:
o Graveside and marshes (chapter 1)
o Miss Havisham at Satis House (chapter 8)
o Arrival in London (chapter 20)
o Wemmick’s home (chapter 25)
•
Students analyse the language closely to identify how Dickens creates atmosphere and tone, and annotate the
text with their findings. This could be developed into an essay-practice task such as writing PEEE (point, evidence,
explanation, effect on reader) paragraphs.
•
Then, ask students to use the descriptions to visualise their allocated setting, using the Focus on… mise-en-scène
cards, on page 12/13, and create an annotated location sketch.
•
Ask each group to present their sketches and explain their ideas before playing the relevant clip from the film, found
on slides 16 to 19 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations presentation. After each presentation and clip, discuss
how the film adaptation compared with the text and their visualisation. Was anything missing, or even better than
they had imagined?
•
During this activity, all students should complete the Creating atmosphere grid on page 15 with notes from each
group’s analysis of how atmosphere is created in the book and the film. This will act as a useful revision aid for these
four key settings in the book and the film adaptation.
3. Pip’s three-part journey
Filmmakers often use a three-act structure for a film’s narrative, which explores the inner turmoil of the protagonist.
•
•
•
Show students the short animation on slide 20 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations presentation which explains
this concept:
o Act I: introduces the protagonist and their world
o Act II: a problem changes the hero’s life, sending them on an increasingly difficult journey with unexpected plot
twists and turns
o Act III: the hero fights back, and the story is resolved – happily, or not so happily
Can students apply this to the story of Pip? For example:
o
Act I: Pip the poor country boy
Pip is likeable, loves Joe and is set to lead the life of a blacksmith. He starts visiting Satis House and grows to
admire Estella’s beauty.
o
Act II: Pip the gentleman
Pip is told he has a mysterious benefactor and must leave his life to become a gentleman. But all is not plain
sailing, as he begins to run up debts and lose his way, and his fortune. He acquires a convict whom he has to
smuggle out of the country.
o
Act III: Pip the man
After a beating, a burning, and a broken heart, Pip has finally learned enough about himself to have a happy
ending but only after spending 11 years in Egypt atoning for his sins.
Give students the Values card sort activity sheet on page 16.
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Activity outlines
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
•
Play them the clips on slides 21 to 23 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations presentation, which show a key
moment from each of the acts explained above.
•
After each clip, ask students to rank the values Pip holds most dear at this moment by arranging the cards into a
diamond formation.
•
At the end of the exercise, discuss how students felt Pip’s values changed throughout the three acts. What seems
to motivate Pip at different points in the novel?
Extension: Ask students to create a title for each of the sections of Pip’s growth as a person. Each title should reflect
the level of self-awareness that Pip has achieved at each stage of his life. These headings could be presented either as
the title page of each ‘Act’ of the novel, or as the type of title that might appear in an old black and white silent movie.
Students can complete this exercise for other key moments and other key characters in the text. Make this a more
kinaesthetic class exercise by putting students into small groups to create tableaux that reflect key scenes. Using mini
whiteboards or tablets, students must write down the values that are most important to Pip (or other characters) being
shown in their tableau moment.
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Activity outlines
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Taking it further
Summary: These activities challenge critical and creative thinking
skills whilst revising students’ knowledge of the novel. They offer a
mix of writing and performance exercises, with options to record
audio and video responses.
Alternative endings
•
Inform students of the original, melancholy ending to Great Expectations and how (because of its serial format)
Dickens rewrote it on the advice of a friend.
•
Read the ending together and use different colours to highlight language that is positive and negative in tone. Is this
a truly happy ending?
•
Play ‘the happy ending’ clip from the 1946 adaptation, and the ending from the 2012 version, which is truer to the
novel) on slides 24 and 25 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations presentation.
•
Ask students to vote for the ending they prefer (from the films, the original ending and actual ending from the
novel) and to justify their answer.
•
Then, depending on the ending they chose, they must script a scene (using the Example script on page 11) that
summarises what happens to Pip and Estella after their chosen ending. Will they make it a happy ending or sad one?
It can take place at any point after the events of the novel. These can be filmed and viewed together.
Extension: Divide your class into groups for a creative writing challenge. They must imagine they are Charles Dickens
and they have just received a letter from their publisher asking them to change the melancholy ending to a happier
ending because this will be more popular with the readers. They must write a reply to the publisher explaining why they
think that the melancholy ending is more appropriate and persuading the publisher to agree with their viewpoint.
Opposites attract
•
Put students in pairs and give each student a different Thematic opposites card (see page 17):
o Truth vs deceit
o Hopes vs hopelessness
o Wealth vs hardship
o Power vs powerlessness
o Justice vs injustice
o Equality vs inequality
o Love vs hate
o Rural vs the city
o Law vs criminality
o Friendship vs connections
o Ambition vs contentment
o Independence vs dependence
o Freedom vs control
o Happiness vs sadness
o Education vs life experience
Each theme has a binary opposite, so therefore they will have a partner in the class with an opposite theme to theirs.
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Activity outlines
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
•
Students must become a textual expert on their theme. Use the following prompts to get them started:
o Identify key moments where this theme is an important part of the narrative
o Identify the characters that this theme applies most to
o Identify the different kinds of conflict this theme leads to and why.
•
Then, students must present with their paired opponent in a debate-style format. They must convince the rest of
their class that their theme is more important than their opponent’s. The class must vote on which theme wins
in each round. These debates could be filmed and edited with key sound bites from students used as an online
revision tool for the class.
Extension: Ask students to identify and agree on the most important theme in the book. This discussion could be filmed
as a DVD extra. Why is it so important to the book (and the film versions)? Compare your class’ decision with the theme
that David Nicholls thinks is most important on slide 15 of the Reel to Real: Great Expectations presentation (see
timecode 00:05:00 – 00:06:00).
Greater expectations
•
As a class, mind map the moments in the text that are the most relevant to modern-day life. Distil these down to
ten or fewer, depending on the size of your class.
•
Put students into small groups and allocate them each a different moment from the novel, which they will update
to the present day. Using the Film pitch worksheet on page 18 and the Storyboard template on page 14, each
group must plan, script and pitch a scene for their modern-day version of that moment. How will they ensure it
appeals to a modern audience? What will they change about the settings, the characters, the dialogue etc?
Extension: These could be filmed as a class project, with students creating webisodes of Greater Expectations for the
school website, following the serial format that Dickens pioneered.
And finally…
Watch these Behind The Scenes clips for more context about the making of the film:
bit.ly/GreatExpectationsProducers
bit.ly/JeremyIrvineISV
For more on adaptations of Dickens’ novel, see the Into Film resource A Guide to Dickens on Film:
www.filmclub.org/assets/pdf/Dickens-Resource-PDF.pdf
Go to ‘Search the Collections’ to find out more about the V&A’s collections online: collections.vam.ac.uk/
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Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Example script
SCENE 1. INTERIOR. CLASSROOM. DAY
MR GRANGER
(middle-aged and balding, enters and approaches the whiteboard.
He writes the words ‘Take on the Long Take’ on the whiteboard.
He turns to face the class of 30 Year 6 pupils).
Good morning class. I have some exciting news.
We are going to take part in Into Film’s Take
on the Long Take challenge.
OSCAR
What’s a long take, sir?
MR GRANGER
Good question Oscar. When making
a film, a long take is a continuous film
shot without any cuts.
(Oscar considers this response briefly before raising his hand again
to ask another question).
OSCAR
When we made the zombie film, we had to use
editing software. Will we use this again?
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Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Focus on… mise-en-scène
What is mise-en-scène?
The term is borrowed from a French theatrical expression, meaning roughly “put into the scene”. In other words,
mise-en-scène describes everything in the frame, the way it is shown and how it has been arranged.
The prompts below will help you analyse mise-en-scène for its effect on the audience.
1. Costume, hair and make-up
Choices about a character’s appearance are usually designed to
have an immediate effect on the audience.
• How are the different characters presented? Make notes on costume, hair and any other interesting features.
• What ideas about their status, and their state of mind, do you get from their costume?
2. Performance
Look closely at the actors’ performances, and
listen carefully to their voice and delivery.
• How do they use voice, facial expressions, gesture and body language to convey a sense of character?
• How do they interact with one another, and with the audience or camera?
3. Setting and props
Look closely at all the objects you can see, as well as
the background scenery or setting.
• How do the setting and any props elements create a sense of time and place?
• What do they tell us about status? Do you notice any interesting details?
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Reel to Real: Great Expectations
4. Sound and music
Listen carefully to how sound (including incidental sounds,
sound effects and voiceover) and music are used.
• What can you hear? What effect does it have as you watch?
• If any instruments are used, can you identify them or guess at what they might be?
• Does the sound in the scene create atmosphere, or link to wider ideas of character or theme?
5. Lighting
Look carefully at the lighting in the scene, thinking about what is
lit and what is in shadow, as well as the direction the light seems
to be coming from.
• What are the main areas of light and shadow in the scene? Has lighting been used to
focus attention on a particular character or part of the set?
• Does the lighting seem ‘natural’, or ‘heightened’ (with bright lights or deep shadows)?
• How does lighting create atmosphere?
6. Camera
With a feature film, different camera positions may be used to film a scene,
and different ‘takes’ may be edited together to create the final recording.
• Look at the shot types at key moments. Has a close up been used or a long shot? Is the camera
high up or low down? What effect does this have on the audience?
• Does the camera move at all and, if so, how – does it follow a character, or zoom in or out?
7. Editing
Editing involves deciding the order in which shots appear on screen, the
duration of shots and any ‘transitions’ between them (such as a fade).
• Count the number of shots in the edit. How quickly do they change? What effect does this
pace have on the audience?
• Does the edit keep us in one time period, or do we move back or forth in time?
• How does editing place shots side by side to help audiences understand the narrative, character or setting?
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Notes
Notes
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Notes
Notes
For a helpful guide to storyboarding see: bit.ly/HowToStoryboard
Storyboard
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
14
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Wemmick’s home (chapter 25)
Arrival in London (chapter 21)
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Miss Havisham at Satis House (chapter 8)
Graveside and marshes (chapter 1) Complete the grid below with notes from each group’s analysis of how atmosphere is created in the book and the film:
Creating atmosphere grid
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Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
Values card sort
Most dear
After each clip, rank the
values Pip holds most dear
at that moment, by
arranging these cards into
a diamond formation:
Least dear
Estella’s love
Money
What others
think of him
His family
Ambition
and status
Making
amends
Living as a
gentleman
in London
Being true
to himself
Discovering
the truth
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Ambition
Connections
Control
Friendship
Freedom
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Rural
Hate
Love
Happiness
Justice
Powerlessness
Power
Hope
Deceit
Truth
Thematic opposites cards
Sadness
Contentment
The city
Injustice
Hopelessness
Education
Independence
Law
Equality
Wealth
17
Life experience
Dependence
Criminality
Inequality
Hardship
Reel to Real: Great Expectations
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Filming locations:
Cast/interview list:
Synopsis/plot outline:
Themes/issues:
Tagline:
Title:
Production company name:
Your pitch should be a maximum of three minutes long. Use this template to guide you:
Film pitch worksheet
18
Reel to Real: Great Expectations