English · Première, Terminale (B1 to C2), Bac pro

Session 8: Staged reality on screen: The Truman Show and Nightcrawler

Adapted version: short steps, one task at a time.

Recap check
  1. Name two techniques that shift a debate (Session 6).
  2. What are the steps of a fact-check (Session 4)?
  3. Why do we compare a viral post with a newspaper article (Session 5)?
Answer key
  1. Fake expert, unsourced figure, bandwagon effect, repetition, humour.
  2. Read the claim, find the first upload, consult a source, compare, give a verdict.
  3. Because the press names its sources, corrects its errors and separates facts from opinions.
Question: Who decides what we see on a screen?

Recommended reading

Cover of Vanity Fair, Wordsworth Classics: a young woman holds a cracked mirror
William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1848), Wordsworth Classics edition (introduction and notes by Owen Knowles, ISBN 978-1-85326-019-3). Cover reproduced to recommend the book.

The cracked mirror shows what the novel is about: in Vanity Fair, people care about appearances, and Becky Sharp uses the image others have of her to manipulate them, like Christof and Lou on screen.

Reading tip: read chapter 1 first. Use the audiobook or a reading ruler if it helps. Note in two columns: what Becky shows and what Becky wants.

Objectives

Today's language goal

To describe how each film shows a manufactured reality and debate the responsibility of viewers, we need the words of staged reality (footage, ratings, ethics, staged, framed) and conditionals 2 and 3 (If Truman knew ... ; If Lou had not filmed ...).

Documents

Official trailers (watch in class, no film stills are reproduced on this page):

Step 1. Truman lives in a TV show. He does not know.
Step 2. Lou films accidents at night. He sells the films to TV.

Five key words

WordIn French
staged realityréalité mise en scène
footageimages filmées
ratingsaudience
ethicséthique, morale
manipulationmanipulation

Grammar lesson: conditionals 2 and 3: imagining and judging

To describe how each film shows a manufactured reality and debate the responsibility of viewers, we need conditionals 2 and 3: imagining and judging
On the board, to copy

Rule

If + past, would + verb. If I were Truman, I would leave.

Form

  • 2: If + past simple, would + base verb: If Truman knew the truth, he would escape.
  • 3: If + past perfect, would have + past participle: If the channel had refused the footage, Lou would have stopped.
  • were for all persons in the second conditional (formal): If I were ...
  • could / might instead of would for possibility.

Examples from the lesson

  • If Truman knew about the cameras, he would try to leave.
  • If viewers stopped watching, the show would end.
  • If the director had refused the footage, Lou would have stopped.

Common mistakes

  • Not If Truman would know, he would leave., but If Truman knew, he would leave.
  • Not If she had refused, he would stop., but If she had refused, he would have stopped.

Quick check (2 minutes, hands up or mini whiteboards)Second or third conditional? Complete.

  1. If I (be) Truman, I (leave) the island.
  2. If Lou (not / sell) the footage, the channel (not / show) it.
  3. If viewers (switch off), ratings (fall).
  4. If Christof (tell) the truth, Truman (be) angry.
Show the answers

1. were, would leave (2). 2. hadn't sold, wouldn't have shown (3). 3. switched off, would fall (2). 4. had told, would have been (3).

Exercises

EntryRecognition. Say if the sentence imagines the present (2) or the past (3), and what it judges.

  1. If I were a producer, I would never hide cameras.
  2. If Truman had known earlier, he would have left sooner.
  3. If ratings didn't matter, the channel would show calmer news.
  4. If Lou had been honest, he wouldn't have succeeded.
  5. If we stopped clicking, shock videos would disappear.
  6. If the director had asked questions, she might have refused.
Show the answers

1. 2, imagines a moral choice. 2. 3, Truman's past. 3. 2, the news system. 4. 3, Lou's methods. 5. 2, viewers' responsibility. 6. 3, the director's choice.

CoreTransformation. Rewrite as a conditional sentence.

  1. Truman doesn't know, so he stays. (2)
  2. The channel bought the footage, so Lou continued. (3)
  3. Viewers watch, so the show goes on. (2)
  4. Christof lied, so Truman lived a fake life. (3)
  5. We don't question the images, so we accept them. (2)
  6. The director wanted ratings, so she showed violence. (3)
  7. I am not Truman, so I can't feel his shock. (2)
Show the answers

1. If Truman knew, he wouldn't stay. 2. If the channel hadn't bought the footage, Lou wouldn't have continued. 3. If viewers didn't watch, the show wouldn't go on. 4. If Christof hadn't lied, Truman wouldn't have lived a fake life. 5. If we questioned the images, we wouldn't accept them. 6. If the director hadn't wanted ratings, she wouldn't have shown violence. 7. If I were Truman, I could feel his shock.

StretchProduction. Prepare four arguments for the debate “Are viewers responsible for what TV shows?”: two with the second conditional, two with the third.

Show the answers

For example: If viewers stopped watching shocking footage, channels would stop buying it. If we demanded sources, news would be more careful. If the audience had switched off the Truman Show, Christof would have had to stop. If the director had cared about ethics, Lou would not have become successful.

Words in action

To say it precisely, we need the right words

EntryMatch: staged reality, footage, ratings, ethics.

  1. the number of people watching
  2. rules about what is right
  3. film recorded by a camera
  4. events arranged to look natural
Show the answers

1. ratings. 2. ethics. 3. footage. 4. staged reality.

Viewing questions (circle the answer)

  1. Truman's life is: a) a TV show b) a book
  2. Truman's town has: a) no cameras b) five thousand cameras
  3. Lou sells: a) cars b) footage
  4. The TV wants: a) high ratings b) no viewers
Answer key1 a, 2 b, 3 b, 4 a

Exercise

Match: 1. footage, 2. ratings, 3. ethics. a) number of viewers b) film from a camera c) right or wrong
Answer key1 b, 2 a, 3 c

Figures of speech in the documents

A name that speaks: Truman, Nightcrawler

“Truman Burbank does not know that his whole life is a TV programme”; title: “Nightcrawler”

Truman sounds like true man. A nightcrawler is a worm that comes out at night: this is Lou.

EntryWhich two words can you hear in Truman?

Show the answers

true and man.

Speaking task

Say three sentences: "I think … is a manipulator. He … . It is wrong because … ." The AESH or a partner can help you read the frame.
Answer keyExample: I think Lou is a manipulator. He films accidents and sells the footage. It is wrong because he does not help the victims.

Expression task

Now say it

Debate: “Are viewers responsible for what TV shows?”

EntryOne argument with “If viewers ..., channels would ...”.

Tools to use:

Sentence starters:

Show a model answer

Viewers are partly responsible. If we stopped watching shocking footage, channels would stop paying people like Lou. In Nightcrawler, the director buys his images because they push the ratings up. In The Truman Show, the audience watches for thirty years without asking questions. If the viewers had switched off, Christof would have had to stop. I agree up to a point that producers are more guilty, but, as Christof says, we accept the reality of the world with which we are presented: our attention is our responsibility.

Homework

Write 50 to 70 words: "Is it right to film an accident and post it?" Use: I think, because, but.
Answer keyModel: I think it is wrong to film an accident and post it. The victims did not say yes. Some people want views and likes, but this is not ethics. It is better to call for help first. Then we can check the facts, like a fact-checker.