Madden Presents: A Frankenstein Film Festival
Update 12/19/14: Links and posters added.
Do you ever stop in the middle of a hallway, blocking people’s paths, just to look at the walls? If you haven’t already, you should definitely take a look at the walls surrounding Room 4 in the Main Building, Mr. Madden’s domain.
Taped to those walls are posters, all dedicated to a movie project produced by Mr. Madden’s English classes and based on the book, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley. Students in Mr. Madden’s 10th grade English classes spent two months creating these films, which will be presented in the media center on Wednesday, Dec. 10. This event will be free for anyone who wishes to come – including people who do not attend Lincoln.
Many may wonder, why was an English class assigned to create a movie? Mr. Madden has an answer to this. He said, “As a teacher, I often hear students complain they’ve seen a film they’ve read the book to. They rail on, ‘The movie left this out,’ or ‘the movie portrayed this character wrong.’ …..Then it dawned on me. Why not put the students in the shoes of the director and have them create their own short film on a novel we’ve read?”
In regard to the actual purpose of the movie project, Madden said, “The goal is to have the students critically analyze the text and interpret the theme from their point of view. The idea is to have students build on others’ ideas and express their own clearly and persuasively.”
He added, “I saw this as an opportunity to showcase that vision in a creative and imaginative way they could be proud of. After all, watching movies is America’s favorite pastime…well, that and baseball.”
There is a process for the public to attend this student film festival. Students who are not in Madden’s classes will need to receive teacher permission from the period they will miss, plus an “invitation” in the form of a ticket that a student in Mr. Madden’s class will give to them. Anyone else who isn’t from Lincoln, but who still wants to attend the event, will also need a ticket invitation. In addition, they will have to pass through the school office and receive a visitor’s pass.
For those who haven’t read the original story of Frankenstein, here is a quick summary. A scientist named Victor Frankenstein creates a creature and brings it to life. He claims the creature is a monster, as it is hideous and enormous. The creature, however, does not think of itself as a monster when it first adapts to his senses and surroundings. The creature is constantly rejected and feared by all people he has contact with. The creature attempts several times to do good deeds for humanity, but he gives up after realizing that even the people he helps do not like him. The creature blames Victor for the misery he has been put through by being created. During the story, he kills Victor’s younger brother, best friend, and wife, leading up to a final battle between Victor Frankenstein and his creation.
Below are links to some of the movies:
Frankenstein directed by Gabriel Richardson
Stein directed by Phobe Burdick
Frankenstein the Musical directed by Emma LeFever
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