Last Tuesday, April 14, Prof. Ye of UC Riverside spoke to us on the topic of using film to teach. I'm sure that all teachers have experienced the value videos bring in visualizing concepts and opening imagination. However, Prof. Ye crystallized some points for me. He said that Russian Formalism teaches: fabula and sjuchet. They are the elements of structure used communicate a topic, any topic.
Fabula is the substance and content of a topic.
Sjuchet is the form and arrangement. This is the artistic aspect that often is the place a topic is well received or not. It includes the camera work, settings, and characterization.
To demonstrate this he reviewed parts of a couple of films. They were well done and helped to get his points across.
I reviewed a documentary on the Korean American Experience. The way fabula and sjuchet were used helped to powerfully convey the messages of struggle, determination, and success. In my next two posts, I will share the review of the documentary entitled: “Ari rang”. I will post in two parts:
Part I The Korean American Journey
Part II The Korean American Dream
I hope you will like the review enough to want to see the video. Even if you don't like th review, perhaps, you consider reviewing Ari rang as a good resource (documentary style) to share with your students. It has great content (fabula) and communicates the content strongly (sjuchet).
.
