Growing Film Viewpoints

Overview

Students analyse the “shrinking and growing” scene from Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton, 2010), explaining how film techniques position viewers to respond to Alice’s changing situation. They build on prior work identifying camera, colour, sound and editing choices by collecting evidence and forming an evidence-based viewpoint.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• identify film techniques used in the scene
• explain how at least three techniques create meaning and shape audience response
• analyse how visual and sound choices create tone
• communicate an opinion using specific evidence from the film

Success criteria

• I can accurately name at least three film techniques.
• I can describe a specific moment from the scene.
• I can explain the effect of the technique on the viewer.
• I can support my viewpoint with evidence and film vocabulary.

Curriculum links

• Explain how language and images in texts position readers and viewers to respond and form viewpoints.
• Analyse how language features and literary devices create tone, meaning and effect.
• Share opinions about the techniques and structures that contribute to the style of literary texts.
• Understand how metaphor can create layers of meaning when evaluating a text.

Lesson structure (75 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook and first response. Open with the visual hook and learning goals and show a short, muted extract from the scene or three still images showing Alice before, during and after changing size. Students write one immediate response: “How does Burton make Alice seem powerful, powerless or uncertain?” They then share with a partner.

2. 8–20 min · Direct teaching: three essential focus points. Use the film technique teaching slides to explicitly teach the following focus points:

• Camera, framing and perspective: close-ups can reveal Alice’s fear or confusion; low- and high-angle shots can make a character appear powerful or vulnerable; wide shots can emphasise the scale of the room and Alice’s isolation.
• Colour, lighting and mise-en-scène: the contrast between the bright, exaggerated Wonderland setting and darker or shadowed moments can create a strange, threatening or dream-like tone. Props, costume and set scale help the viewer notice Alice’s changing relationship with her surroundings.
• Sound, editing and timing: dialogue, music, silence and sound effects guide emotional response. Cuts, reaction shots and the pace of editing can make the transformation feel surprising, comic, uncomfortable or tense.

Model one example using: “Burton uses ___ when ___. This makes the viewer ___ because ___.” Students identify the technique, evidence and effect in the model.

3. 20–32 min · Guided viewing. Distribute the shrinking and growing scene analysis worksheet. Play the selected scene, pausing at three deliberate moments: Alice’s first change, her reaction to the changed space, and the later transformation. Students record the technique, what they notice and the likely audience effect. Encourage them to note exact dialogue, sound, colour, shot type or editing where possible.

4. 32–48 min · Collaborative evidence sort. In groups of four or five, students use the Film Technique Analysis Cards as discussion prompts. Each group selects three cards that best match moments in the scene, then agrees on the strongest example for each. Assign roles: evidence finder, vocabulary checker, discussion leader and recorder. Groups prepare one explanation for each selected technique using the sentence frame on the worksheet.

5. 48–62 min · Viewpoint carousel. Groups share one technique analysis with another group, which adds either a supporting observation or a challenge. Students then complete the viewpoint prompt on the worksheet: “The scene positions the viewer to see Alice as mainly ___ because Burton uses ___, ___ and ___.” Ask students to distinguish between describing a technique and explaining its effect.

6. 62–71 min · Individual analytical response. Students write one developed paragraph answering: “How do film techniques position the viewer to respond to Alice during her changing size?” Require at least three techniques and two precise references to moments in the scene. Students should use the structure: viewpoint, evidence, technique, effect, and link back to the question.

7. 71–75 min · Exit check. Display the plenary and exit question. Students submit a brief response: “The most effective technique in this scene is ___ because it makes the viewer ___.” Invite two students to read contrasting responses.

Resources

• the visual hook, teaching examples, viewing prompts and plenary
• the shrinking and growing scene analysis worksheet
• the Film Technique Analysis Cards
• Teacher-selected extract from Alice in Wonderland (2010)
• Projector, speakers and screen
• Timer
• Whiteboard and markers
• Highlighters or coloured pens

Assessment

• During viewing, check whether students distinguish a technique from its effect and prompt them to add precise evidence.
• Listen to group explanations for accurate use of camera, colour, lighting, sound, editing and framing vocabulary.
• Collect the individual paragraph or exit response to assess whether students explain how three techniques position the viewer, rather than simply listing them.

Differentiation

• For Ethan, provide a clearly defined active role such as evidence finder, card selector or timekeeper, with permission to work at a standing station or move briefly between viewing and recording tasks. Break the worksheet into three small boxes, one for each focus point, and check in after each pause rather than expecting sustained sitting.
• Offer Ethan a choice of handwritten, typed or voice-recorded notes. Provide a reduced requirement of two fully explained techniques before extending to three, while retaining the same learning intention.
• Support students who need structure with a technique word bank, still images from the three viewing moments, colour-coded prompts and the frame: “The viewer notices ___. Burton uses ___. This creates ___ because ___.”
• For EAL learners, pre-teach vulnerable, powerful, uneasy, threatening, exaggerated and dream-like with images or gestures. Extension students can compare two techniques that create different effects and explain which most strongly positions the viewer.