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Questions and notes for using 'The Walk' in GCSE Media Studies
and Film Studies
Author: Sarah Rundle
Sarah is an actress and storyteller based in West London
Media
language: knowledge, analysis and interpretation
The writer and director of
The Walk made conscious choices in the material they selected and the way
they presented that material.
1.
What genre(s) do you think The
Walk fits into, and why?
2.
Give examples of different camera
shots used in the film (for example; establishing shot,
long shot, close-up,
pan, point-of-view) and say why you
think the director and camera operator used them.
3.
One actor played the parts of the
Storyteller,
of William Wilberforce, and of John Newton. How could you tell which part
he was playing at any one time? How was the costume of John Newton
different from that of William Wilberforce,
and what did that say about their two characters?
4.
The set designer and director have
made several distinct visual choices; using a decaying Scottish castle for the
set, the use of candlelight and firelight to light most of the film, and the use
of mirrors. What do these choices represent?
5.
What incidental music did you
notice during The Walk? Why do you think those pieces of music
were chosen? What did they make you feel?
6.
In real life William Wilberforce
was only 5ft 4in (163cm) tall, had
severe curvature of the spine,
and might today have been considered ‘disabled’. Do you think that
choosing a short,
disabled actor to play Wilberforce would have been more accurate? Or
would it have distracted the audience from his political achievements?
Content:
selection, narrative and meaning
The Walk
does not tell the entire story of Wilberforce’s life nor the whole story about
the abolition movement, but rather
selects material from those narratives and invites us to draw meaning from that
selection.
1.
Why does The Walk focus on
the moment that William Wilberforce chose to be both a Christian and
involved in the political world, rather
than on either the moment of his conversion to Christianity or the moment of the
actual abolition of slavery?
2.
In his speech of 1789 Wilberforce
refers to ‘the principles of Natural Justice’. What do you understand
these principles to be? The Golden Rule (do as you would be done by) is a
universal truth held by many religions, including Judaism,
Christianity, and Buddhism.
Why would such a rule be completely opposed
to slavery?
3.
The closing words of the piece
are ‘Go … into all the world.’ What do you understand by these words?
Slavery:
Politics and campaigning
Wilberforce was not the
only person to campaign against slavery but he is perhaps the most well known.
Other campaigners included Olaudah Equinao, Thomas Clarkson,
and Hannah More. Slave rebellions in
Haiti
in 1791-1804 and Jamaica in 1831,
which convinced many people that slavery was uneconomic,
were as important as the political campaigning in ending slavery.
1.
Women in the C18th and C19th did
not have the vote and had very few ways of influencing political life. How did
Hannah More campaign against slavery? Why is it important that she did so?
You can find out about
Hannah More at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_More and
http://www.brycchancarey.com/slavery/morepoems.htm
In 1791–1804 there was a rebellion against
slavery in Haiti. You can find out about this rebellion at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution. How would this
rebellion have been seen by the European media of the day?
Design a British newspaper front page from 1792
with a story about the rebellion.
Now tell the story from the point of view of the Haitian ex-slaves.
2.
Slavery and its associated trade
in rum, sugar,
cotton, and tobacco was very important
to the British economy in the C18th. By speaking out against slavery,
Wilberforce was challenging wealthy and powerful vested interests. What do you
feel are issues today that are equivalent to the fight against slavery?
3.
The campaign of Wilberforce and
his friends took 20 years to achieve the abolition of the slave trade, and it
was another 26 years before slavery itself was abolished on British territory.
What lessons does this hold for political activists today? Make a list of
the campaigning tactics used by Wilberforce and his friends. How does this list
compare with strategies used by political campaigners today?
4.
Slavery is still practiced in
many places 200 years on. What do you know about slavery worldwide?
You can find out more from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1357_slavery_today/ and from
http://www.tearfund.org/Extra/Freedom+Day/Default.htm. |
