Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Boek  vs  Film

vs

The book (to listen while reading)

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Book to film

Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are best-sellers and popular with children and adults alike.
What is it that makes them so successful? In this section, you can find out how Jeff came up with the idea for his Wimpy Kid, and think about how the book was translated to the big screen.

Inspiration

Jeff Kinney wanted to write a book about a real ‘tween’ager and how he deals with real world trials and tribulations. He deliberately created a main character who was ‘wimpy’, as opposed to heroic or clever like the main characters in most children’s novels.

Discussion questions

• 
  Why do you think he did this? 
  
  

Think of the main characters in the books or films that you have seen or read recently. 

• How are they the same or different to the wimpy kid?

Trailer of the film

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Trailers shown at the cinema or on television before a film is released are important ways of getting the film’s message to a wide audience.

A trailer can tell us:

• about the type of story being told (genre)
• who is starring in it 
  
• who made the film 
  
• a little bit about what happens (plot)
• the type of audience that would want to see the film.
  

CLIP – PAIR – SHARE 

Watch the trailer, find a partner and then make notes about the following: 

Genre – what type of story is being told? Funny? Real life? Historical?

Give examples from the trailer to back up your choice.

Stars / cast / crew – is there anyone that you recognise in the trailer or mentioned in the trailer?

How does this make you feel about the film? 

Plot – what are the key events that are shown in the clip?

Why do you think these have been chosen? 

Share your thoughts with the rest of the class.

Audience – who is most likely to go and see this film and why? 

Only the animated parts...

The cheese-touch scene (1/5)

Really Have to Pee Scene (2/5)

Wrestling a Girl Scene (3/5)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Audition Scene (4/5)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Scene (5/5)

Meet Patty Farrell

Tasks (the adaption process)

The book to film adaptation process for Diary of a Wimpy Kid went something like this:

 

1. A team of writers turned the book into a screenplay (like a play script, but with a few extra instructions for the camera crew).

Task: choose a page of either Diary of a Wimpy Kid or a book of your choice. Try changing it so that it could be used as a script for the film version. Think about what each character needs to say (the dialogue) and how you can show the descriptive passages on the big screen.

2. The screenplay went through ten different drafts before filming began.

Task: check through your work, making sure you have no spelling mistakes and that your work is original and funny. Make changes if you need to.

3. Thor Freudenthal, the film’s director was hired.

Task: Thor decided to use a combination of live action and animation in his version. How would you do it? Would you do the whole film in animation? Would you have just the Wimpy Kid animated all the way through the film?

4. The ‘Wimpy Kid’ and the rest of the actors were cast after a nationwide hunt.

Task: the auditionees for the lead role in Diary of a Wimpy Kid had to read the opening lines of the film in front of a camera. Try it yourselves! You have to be a convincing Wimpy Kid: i.e. you have to be a bit of a jerk, but you have to get the audience to root for you.

Here are the words:

‘First of all, let me get something straight…This is a JOURNAL, not a diary.’

5. The two main actors, Zachary Gordon (Greg) and Robert Capron (Rowley) were asked to write an essay about their characters to help them get into character.

Task: choose either Greg or Rowley, and write 100 words about starting big school from their point of view.

6. The filming location was chosen.

Task: pretend that the film company for Diary of a Wimpy Kid want to use your school for the location. Create a map of the school layout, suggesting suitable filming areas for key scenes in the book.

7. A shooting schedule and storyboard was put together.

Task: storyboard your ‘scripted’ piece. Then create a shooting schedule taking into account the time of day you need to be filming and the locations. Instead of moving the camera inside and outside all the time, shoot all of the outside scenes together and then the inside scenes.

8. The costume designers set to work creating a look for each character.

Task: costumes are more than just clothes. They give us clues about the character. Design a typical costume for Greg, Rowley and Fregley, making sure that the clothes give information about the characters.

9. Filming begins!

Extension task

Once the film is made, the film distribution company need to make people aware of it. One way of doing this is by creating a poster and a tag line that sums the movie up.

Create a poster for your version of the book extract, showing key characters, location and a clever tag line that will get  people interested in your film.

Teacher notes (1/3)

Source: http://filmeducation.org/diaryofawimpykid/teachers_notes.html 

Why Film?

Films are powerful tools that can support students’ understanding and access their own world and the worlds of others: historical and contemporary, real and imagined. Part of Film Education’s remit is to encourage young people to be active viewers and critical consumers of what they see. An ability to appreciate and interpret film is an empowering skill and one that is increasingly important for young people.

The combination of moving image and sound in a feature film is a familiar format for most students and one that can help bring to life characters in new and vibrant ways. Through a combination of live action and Jeff Kinney-style cartoons, comedic characterisation and mise-en-scène the film ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ provides an innovative, contemporary interpretation of a well-known character from a best-selling children’s novel. The on-screen portrayal of Wimpy Kid Greg and his loyal friend Rowley, opens up discussions about surviving school, characterisation and the book to film adaptation process.

Teacher notes (2/3)

Source: http://filmeducation.org/diaryofawimpykid/teachers_notes.html 

Where in the curriculum?

This interactive teaching resource, aimed at Literacy / English learning for KS2 and KS3 students, provides teachers with pedagogical tools to explore this highly original interpretation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. In keeping with the Wimpy Kid’s ‘Survival Guide to Big School’ style, the materials are designed to encourage the students to develop a similar skill set.

Pedagogical approaches

Most activities lend themselves to being worked on collaboratively in groups or pairs, thus providing excellent opportunities for teachers to assess students’ speaking and listening skills.

Teacher notes (3/3)

Source: http://filmeducation.org/diaryofawimpykid/teachers_notes.html 

The CD-Rom (1/5)

The disc is organised into five main sections each covering a range of key skills relating to the Film Narrative Unit of the Primary Framework at Year 5:

1. The Journal

From the birth of the wimpy kid, to the initial ideas for the film.

• Storyboard own journal
  
• Create a multimodal presentation
  
• Present an oral re-telling of the story of ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ in the style of the film clip 
  

Learning objectives:

• Reflect independently and critically on their own work and edit to improve it
  
• Experiment with different narrative forms and styles in story creation
  

The CD-Rom (2/5)

2. Book to Film

Casting the Kid, turning the book into a film

• Watch clips from the film and discuss its features and themes (likes, dislikes, patterns, puzzles)
  
• Explore the approaches made by the filmmaker to create moods (e.g. pace, viewpoint) 
  
• Discuss the film’s ‘metalanguage’ and how it comes together to create meaning on the screen (colour, light, sound, camera angles, setting, symbolism, sequence; story) 
  

Learning objectives:

• Infer filmmaker’s perspectives from what is seen and what is implied

The CD-Rom (3/5)

3. Friends

The Wimpy Kid’s take on popularity and on his two ‘chums’: Rowley and Fregley 

• Explore characters through watching the clips, interview footage and background footage. Freeze-frame key moments
  
• Hot seat a chosen character 
  
• Work in role: explore complex emotional issues 
  
• Write a short conversation using speech punctuation 
  

Learning objectives:

• Watch clips to analyse how working in role helps to explore complex issues
  
• Visualisation, prediction, empathy, comparing usefulness in exploring meaning in texts
  

The CD-Rom (4/5)

4. The Art of Cool

The lowdown on how to be cool: including advice on which school clubs to join, and the dos and don’ts of the school disco. 

• Critically reflect on Greg’s ideas of ‘cool’ and how to be popular
  
• Make own ‘steps to coolness’
  

Learning objectives: 

• Develop skills of critical reflection
  
• Evaluate outcomes
  
• Build on knowledge of text types and language choices to edit and improve writing

The CD-Rom (5/5)

5. The Cheese

All you need to know about the Cheese Touch, plus background footage showing how the ‘Cheese Scene’ was shot 

• Adapt the sequence to suit different purposes, audiences
  

Learning objectives:

• Write in style of the filmmaker / author
  
• Through shared composition, write opening lines of a narrative that combines images and words
  
• Construct complex sentences that work effectively together with visual images