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Aufgaben

Aufgabenapparat zu ausgewählten Szenen des Filmes
Of Mice and Men (z. T. mit möglichen Antworten)

Aufgaben vor der ersten Präsentation des Filmes

1. Predictions

Make three predictions about what you think the film maker will do with the book. You could choose incidents, a character, the beginning/ ending etc . Think in film terms and note your ideas on the chart below so that you can make comparisons after you have seen the film.

Prediction Chart	Your ideas for film treatment	What the film maker did	Your comments after seeing the film
Prediction 1
Prediction 2
Prediction 3

2. The casting - Choose your own actors!

Check some illustrated magazines and find actors and actresses that you would choose if you were the director of the film. Cut them out, glue them on a piece of cardboard, draw speech bubbles and fill them with sentences that are, in your opinion, characteristic of that character. Do that for:
George, Lennie, Candy, Curley, Curley's wife, Slim, Crooks, Carlson, the boss.

Ein Beispiel (Sonja, Klasse 9, Ricarda-Huch-Schule Hannover) ist hier abgedruckt; weitere Collagen befinden sich in Kapitel 10.

3. The beginning of the book

Read the beginning of the novel (up to Klett p.8,30 "looks kinda scummy") and describe the first scene in YOUR movie in a few sentences (setting, i.e. place and time of action, people, first sentence that is spoken, action) or use the "outline of a screenplay" chart below.

Remember that in adapting the novel for the medium film, a film maker has to make choices into transferring the narrative into words and pictures. A film version is not a translation but a transformation. Events may take place in different order; settings may be altered; aspects of the narrative will be highlighted in film terms: choices will be made about the kind of shots used in each sequence to convey the meaning of the story; decisions will be made about editing, lighting, music and so on.

In Of Mice and Men, the book, we learn through dialogue of events which happened before the book starts: the incident with the girl in the red dress in Weed, Lennie killing the mice Aunt Clara gave him and so on. In a film version, a film maker may choose to make one of these events the opening sequence of the film or deal with them through flashback rather than having the actors just speak the dialogue from the book.

What choices would you make in constructing the opening sequence? Where would you start? What kind of shots do you need to capture the atmosphere, convey the setting, portray the characters? Do you need to write more dialogue? You also have to consider how the shots are edited into a sequence to achieve atmosphere and pace to move the story along.1

Here is a short list of film terms:

Field sizes:

• long shot
• medium long shot


• full shot


• medium shot


• normal shot


• close-up


• detail shot.

Camera movement:

• pan(ning)
• tilt


• tracking shot


• zoom

If you need explanations for these technical terms or want to know more about the language of film, consult the list

"Selected Terms for Film Analysis" (p. 77 of this brochure).

Outline of a screenplay for the opening sequence of Of Mice and Men

number & name of scene	setting (place & time)	action	dialogue	music & sounds	field sizes & camera movement

Aufgaben während und nach der Präsentation des Filmes

4. The opening scene of the movie
4.1 Compare: Scene 1 in the book/scene 1 in Sinise's film/scene 1 in YOUR film!

Book:
It starts with a longish description of the setting (Soledad, Salinas River, pool by the river. Two men come towards the pool from the road. They are described in detail. George (small, quick, restless eyes) Lennie (big man, formless face, large eyes of no special color). First action: Lennie drinks from the pool, like an animal. First sentence: "Lennie don't drink so much, you'll be sick again".

Sinise Film:
We see glimpses of a train and face of a man on it. The meaning is unclear at this point of time. First real scene: We see a girl in a red dress, running over a field in great fear. Then Lennie and George jump a freight train. A description of the scenery is obviously not necessary, because we SEE it in the movie.

Your film: ...

4.2 Where is George when we first see him in the movie (i.e. at the very beginning of the film)?

Together with the final scene of the movie this scene forms a frame: George is leaving on a freight train after he has shot his friend Lennie in the head: This "foreshadowing scene" is not contained in the book.

4.3 Who is the crying woman in the torn red dress that is running over a field?

The woman from Weed, where George and Lennie had had a job. They had to run away because the woman felt threatened by Lennie who wanted to pet her dress like he petted mice.

4.4 Why do you think does Gary Sinise (director and actor) not start his movie with a scene based on ". . . two men emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green pool. . . " ? (p.8,4)

With the opening scene of the running woman in the red dress and the two running men he wants to catch the viewer's interest, he wants to get him involved and ask himself, "Who is that? What is happening? The action on the screen evokes tension.

4.5 Which characters are like you expected them before you saw the film? Which ones are (very) different? (cf. Casting exercise)
4.6. Music and background noise(s): What do you remember ?

5. The dog killing scene
Reclam pp.59-65
Klett pp.37-39
Film, scene 14 (44:21 - 49:29)

5.1 Book
5.1.1 Read pp. 37 - 39 (Klett), pp.59-65 (Reclam)
5.1.2 Underline slang/grammatical mistakes/non standard English and correct.

He's plenty good
He don't give ...
God awmighty
Get him outa here
I don't know nothing ...
You gotta get him ...
I been around him ...
He ain't no good
The best damn sheep dog I ever seen
Etc, etc

5.1.3 What is the function of the pulp magazine episode (Reclam pp. 61, 8 - 62, 27 // Klett pp. 38,15 - 39, 9) within the dog killing scene? The episode (which is much longer in the book than it is in the film) constitutes a retarding element: The reader thinks/hopes that Carlson will forget about his intention to kill the dog.

5.1.4 Read Reclam pp.63, 17 - 65, 26 // Klett pp. 39, 22 - 40, 31 carefully. Some words and phrases are frequently repeated. Find them.

"Candy stared at the ceiling" (Reclam: 63,21; 64,12; 65,7; 65,12; 65,23 // Klett: 39,25; 69,39; 40,15; 40,19; 40,28) "silence" and "silent"
It was silent outside (64,15 // 40,2), The silence came into the room (64,15f // 40,3); The silence lasted (64,16 // 40,3); The silence fell on the room again. It came out of the night and invaded the room (64,22f // 40,7f); The silence fell on the room again (65,5 // 40,14); the silence was in the room again. (65,19f // 40,25) ... he faced the wall and lay silent. (65,24 // 49,29)

5.1.5 What is the function of these repetitions?
"Candy stared at the ceiling".
The repetition of this sentence emphasizes Candy's extreme sadness and hopelessness.

"silent" and "silence"
Through the repetition of these words a tension is built up, and the reader is waiting for the shot to ease that tension.

5.1.6. Can you detect any parallels between the dog killing scene and the last scene of the book?

In both scenes a friend is killed : the parallel does not only lie in the fact that friends are shot, but also in the way they are shot. Carlson, "The way I'd shoot him, he wouldn't even feel nothing. I'd put the gun right here . . . right back of the head. He wouldn't even quiver." (Klett p.38,12-14 // Reclam p.61,6) Like Candy's old dog, Lennie doesn't even "feel a thing" when he is shot.

5.2 Film
5.2.1 How is tension created in the film?

Hardly any words are spoken (catchword "silence" in text!) and the looks of the men speak for themselves. The men communicate without words, their facial expressions show how tense everybody is.
Carlson's gun is shown frequently and the camera focuses on it.

5.2.2 How is Candy's sadness expressed in the film? (cf. field sizes, montage/editing, soundtrack)

a. Field sizes
Whereas in the book the sentence "Candy stared at the ceiling" is repeated time and again, the camera often shows just Candy, either sitting or lying on his bed and his whole attitude (body language) expresses deep sadness and grief. We see him startle and break down when he hears the shot. He starts sobbing silently. The sadness of the scene becomes even more evident through the fact that the scene which precedes the dog shooting scene (no. 13) is a happy one, in which Lennie , in the barn, is petting a puppy.

b. Montage/Editing
The film adds a short scene (between no. 14 and 15) in which Candy's sadness and resignation is clearly expressed. The day after Carlson shot his dog, a lonely and broken-hearted Candy is standing on the yard, passed by the other workers who are going to the fields on a wagon. Candy, with a bucket in his hand, is evidently supposed to feed the chicken. But he is lost in thoughts; he takes off his hat as if he were at a funeral.

c. sound track
Candy's silent sobbing after the shot and the sad and melancholy music that starts at that moment underline his sadness and misery.

5.2.3 How is Candy's love to his dog expressed in the film?

He keeps petting the old dog

5.3 Compare the scene in the book with its film version

Whereas the book must necessarily use words to describe the atmosphere, the film does not need such descriptive material; it uses such means as facial expression, gestures and body language instead.

6. George's and Lennie's final meeting
Reclam pp. 123 - 133 (bes. 131-133)
Klett pp.73 - 78 (bes. 77f)
Film, scene 26 (1:37:20 - 1:42:40)

6.1 Compare the last chapter of the book (chapter 6) with its first chapter; check a. setting, b. characters, c. dialogue, e. acting, and pay special attention to the beginnings.

The story comes full circle: Setting, characters, dialogue and acting are identical or very similar.

6.2 Compare the opening and the closing scenes of the movie.

The film begins inside a moving boxcar, in which the flickering light dimly reveals a man hunched over; at the end, we realize that what we are seeing is George traveling alone after killing Lennie. Steinbeck does not have this scene in his book.

6.3 Do you think the film maker is justifid an adding this scene?

The film maker does something similar to what Steinbeck does in his book. He adds a scene that underlines the fact that the story comes full circle. This scene is not far fetched, it is in line with what Steinbeck does himself in the novel.

6.4 Find the major differences between book and film in the last chapter and comment on them.

Omisions (in film):
Aunt Clara
The Giant Rabbit
The pursuers after Lennie's death (Wit, Carlson, Curley)

Additions (in film):
George in a boxcar on a freight train
Flashback (memories of days gone by)

Both occurences that Sinise omits (Aunt Clara and the giant rabbit) are a little bit hard to understand, somewhat "supernatural". Also, Carlson's sentence that concludes the book is hard to understand. The film reduces the end to the encounter and the relationship between George and Lennie. Everything else is faded out. By doing
so, the director underlines the importance of this relationship/friendship, and the scenes that he adds serve the same purpose.

6.5 Compare Lennie's last words in the book to his last words in the movie and comment.

Book:
Lennie: "Let's do it now. Let's get that place.
George: "Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta!"

Film:
At the end, George shoots Lennie on the line: "And I get to tend the rabbits." The rest of the dialogue, in which George has Lennie look across the river while he describes a heaven in which there will be no trouble, fighting, or pain and then kills Lennie as he says ecstatically "I can see it!" is cut. The shooting is photographed in a medium long shot, in which we cannot see fully either Lennie's happiness or George's agony."

Proposed additional film scenes for discussion in class:

* Lennie and Crooks, the black stable buck
Chapter 4
Reclam pp. 107,14 - 116,2
Klett pp.51,32 - 63,20
Film, scene 20 (1:99:10 - 1:15:15)

* The fatal encounter in the barn
Reclam pp. 107,14 - 116,2
Klett pp.64,6 - 69,6)
Film, scene 23 (1:18:20 - 1:28:54)