Being Eve

Teaching and Learning Activities: Being technical

There is no reason ESOL students cannot take part in making a story board and script. Grammar needs to be checked, either by teacher or by a nature speaker of English.

Create a storyboard of your own Being Eve episode. In groups of five or six, decide on a theme for your episode and write a brief synopsis of what the episode is about. Then discuss in your group the following:

* Where is the point of crisis or high tension in this episode?
* What happens at that point?
* How are the characters involved, feeling?
* Are the other characters, not in the scene, affected? If so, how and why?

Once you have decided on your point of crisis scene, otherwise known as "the problem" make a tableaux or still image of it, including all the characters involved in the scene.

Now make a tableaux or still image of "the point of resolution", otherwise known as "the solution". Once again make sure you include all the characters involved in the scene.

Finally, make a tableaux or still image of the transition, otherwise known as "how we got from one to the other". This may take some time and should be thought about carefully. Don't rush the creation of this tableaux, it needs to show that the transition from the problem to the solution was actually possible.

Once the still images are complete, re-visit them and bring them to life. You can start to add dialogue by improvising the scene. Do not worry too much about what is said at this point, you can edit later. Work through all three scenes and then gather again as a group and discuss the following:

* Was the transition from problem to solution believable or not?
* What do you think you might need to add to make it better?
* Do you need scenes in between to slow down the transition between problem and solution? Or to build up to the problem and to reflect on the solution?
* What might these scenes be about?
* What worked well in the scenes you created?
* What didn't work so well?
* Was there too much dialogue? Or not enough?
* Is your episode similar in style to the Being Eve show?

Once you have considered all these things and are happy with what you have created, commit your scenes to paper in the form of a storyboard and script. When you have done this, give your storyboard and script to another group to perform. After their performance, discuss the following:

* Did they play the scenes as you had intended them to be played?
* How did their scenes differ from yours?
* Were their scenes sharper than your original improvised ones?
* Is there anything in your storyboard or script that you wish to change now that you have watched the scenes performed?

Storyboard	
Opening
images	Shot
description	Dialogue and
action	Music	Sound and
special
effects	

					

					

					

*  View the first 3–4 minutes of a television programme, up to and including the end of the opening credits.
* Using the storyboard template draw the images in the opening sequence into the left-hand column, identify the shot type, write down the dialogue and action, and describe the music and the sound effects or special effects. Writing down the dialogue will take longer for ESOL students. They will need to see the video clip more than once.
* Discuss the impact of such things as the camera shots on the narrative. What atmosphere is created?
* Discuss the way the storyline is set up by the opening sequence. How can you tell who is the central character?
* How important is the theme tune to the series?