Free ESL Lesson: Lights, Camera, Action!

Here's a fun lesson you can do with levels as low as pre-intermediate, and up to advanced, depending on the language you want to use. Students will work in groups, create a movie and then pitch it to the class.

Lexis: Language related to the film industry/describing movies.

Materials: 
A few pictures
Flip chart paper
Paper strips
Potentially music to play in the background






Introduction: 1-2 minutes 
Enter the class acting like a director. You can tell the students to be quiet on the set and start giving them direction. Then mime out pretending to film them. Elicit the concept of a director.

Lead In: 5-7 minutes 
Demo these questions out and then put students into groups
What kinds of movies do you like to watch?
Are there any movies coming out that you are excited to see?
Who are your favorite actors and directors?
Are movies made better now or in the past?

Target Language: 7-10 minutes
Elicit and CCQ
Note: There's a lot of freedom you can have with these words and it all depends on the level of your students and the direction you want the activation to take. For example, you could teach the word 'sub-plot' or 'story arc'.
a star
a leading role
a supporting role
a director
a producer
a blockbuster
low budget
an independent film
a writer
a plot
a setting
a genre
a comedy
-horror
- thriller
- sci fi
- drama
- action
- crime
a twist

Study 1: 7-10 minutes 
Vocal Gap Fills
Separate the class into two teams. Each person is given a strip of paper with a couple of these words on it. One at a time, students will come up in front of the class and create a sentence with the word missing. The other students have to write down the correct word and then present/say it. The team whose members write/present correctly first get a point. You can put the teams into two lines to equal out participation. Thus, one member of each team will square off against the other.

Study 2:  5-10 minutes (optional)
Give out pictures of different movies. Students in groups have to talk about the movies using the T.L.

Study 2: 10 -15 minutes with demo
Task Creation
Tell your class that you've created a new movie and you'd like them to ask you questions about it. Have a pre-made movie poster on A3 paper that you've created. This can be drawn or it can be collaged from different pictures of movies/actors. Attached on the board, have a flipchart paper with the following questions written out. Students ask you questions about your movie and you answer.
Note: These questions can all be adapted based on your level and target language.

1. What's the name of your movie?
2. What's the genre?
3. What's the plot and setting? Are there any twists?
4. Who are the actors? Any stars? Leading roles? Supporting roles?
5. Who's the director?
6. Who's the writer?
7. Who's the producer?
8. Is the movie a blockbuster or an independent film?
9. What's the budget ?
10. Why will audiences want to see it?

Students in pairs create their movies. Make sure to monitor and interact with the groups. Once the movies are complete, you can move to the activation. I usually play music while students are mingling. A well known movie soundtrack would work!

Activation: 15 minutes with feedback
Pitching Your Movie
Students take the roles of both movie pitchers and movie studios. They interact with each other and pitch their movies to the other groups. Each team is given two green-light tickets (depending on the size of class) so they can green-light two different movies. Have the teams mingle with each other. The team with the most green-light tickets wins.
Note: A lot of the output will come from the movie studios questioning the logic around the other teams' movies. Do they think it will work? Why? Is the budget too high? Will the actors participate? All of these questions are important to make the interaction more meaningful.

End class with a joke.