Recap and Essay Writing

Plot Overview Brave tells the story of our Heroine Merida. Against her will, her mother attempts to arrange her marriage. Merida rebels, seeks a spell to ‘change’ her mother and inadvertently transforms her into a bear. As Merida search for a spell to return her mother to her human form, she learns to appreciate her family and take responsibility for her actions. At the end, order is restored.

Main Characters Merida Queen Elinor The Witch Mor’du King Fergus Hamish, Harris and Hubert

Important Relationships The most important relationship is between Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor. At the beginning their relationship is very tense and they are distant from each other. As the film progresses they grow closer and learn to appreciate each other.

Important Events Important events help us to understand characters and ideas in the film. The most important events in the film are: Merida transforms her mother into a bear When Merida and her mother have an epiphany in the ancient kingdom about how to break the curse Merida makes a speech to the visiting clans when she returns to the castle after escaping Mor’du.

Themes/Main Ideas There are three main ideas in the film. Taking responsibility for our actions. Accepting and appreciating people for who they are. Creating our own fate/destiny Think about what the film is trying to tell us about these ideas- should we take responsibility? Is it important to appreciate others?

Film Techniques Throughout our study of the film we have discussed a range of film techniques that were used to enhance our understanding. These include; Camera shots/angles Lighting Colour Shot transitions Sound/music Costume

Essay writing recap

Overall Structure Intro Describe Paragraph Explain Paragraph One Explain Paragraph Two Conclusion

The Question Describe an important event in the film you have studied. Explain how that event helped you to understand a character and/or important idea.

Evidence In a film essay, it is important that you use film techniques as evidence. You can still describe things that happen, but you must talk about how techniques are used to make us think or feel things.

Planning You now need to complete an essay plan. Using the template on Edmodo You need to decide: What event are you discussing? Which character and/or idea does it help us understand? What evidence are you going to use?