Since the students have seen Rebel Without a Cause, they have seen a film that established some teen genre elements. How have these elements changed or remained the same in the last 50+ years? Hold up three teen films (Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Pretty in Pink). For each film, have the students raise their hand if they have seen it. Divide the class into four groups, one for each film. Each group needs to include students who have seen that film.

Transition: Each group needs to discuss which genre elements (icons, archetypes, and rituals) are in the film that they have been handed. They need to make a list of these elements. For each, they need to determine how that genre element compares with its use or exclusion from Rebel Without a Cause. They need to be able to present genre differences and similarities that exist between the two films.

STEP 1: Group Instruction – Once they know how their film supports or rejects genre elements from Rebel Without a Cause, each group will have to select one brief clip from the film that best demonstrates how the film uses or rejects genre conventions. Each group will have five minutes to discuss how genre elements are used today and show a clip from their film that demonstrates their use. The groups should not spend too much time deciding on a clip as any clip should support their arguments. The information is most important.

STEP 2: Group Presentations – Each group will get in front of the class, show their clip, and share how their film fits genre conventions and compare it to Rebel Without a Cause. Ask questions of each group to make sure they have an understanding of how recent films support or modify the conventions explored in Rebel. Since the groups will be large, look for students who try to “just sit.” Some suggested questions: Do these characters show the depth or complexity of the characters in Rebel? How are adult/teen relationships presented in this film? How do they compare with those in Rebel? How does the use of teen music change the feel of your film compared to Rebel? How is your film more tailored to your generation than Rebel?

STEP 3: Guided Practice – As each group concludes their five minute presentation. Ask them the following question: Which elements from your film, or from Rebel, would you use if you were making a teen film? Be specific. Talk of casting, locations, camera work, fashions, music, etc.

STEP 4: Instruction – Tell the students that they will be creating a scene from a teen film in class. Hand out the Teen Genre Film Project papers to the students and review it with them. Assign them to work together in groups of four. (By you selecting groups, you may put students with differing personalities together, or put similar students together in groups. The results can be intrigued either way.) The grading rubric for the project can be copied onto the back of the project information sheet. Post the Teen Film Pact for students to reference as they discuss story ideas.

STEP 5: Group Practice – With the remainder of class, the group should brainstorm story ideas. Their focus with the rest of class should be the script, next class they will create storyboards. Since the scene is less than 2 minutes, the scripts will not be long, but the groups will need to write up a script for the next class, so encourage them to write their ideas on paper and flesh out the dialogue and action. As the teacher moves from group to group, ask which specific genre elements they plan to include. Remind them that these conventions will be a part of their grade, but they can determine how to use it in order to meet their needs.

ASSESSMENT: Students can be assessed on their teen film presentations, and their work in groups on creating scripts.

Written by Bradley Moss.