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ESL materials & ideas developed in China
"Celebrity Interview Lampoon" lesson plan
a) Scenario
1. Star TV in Hong Kong has decided to record a series of celebrity interviews. However these interviews will be very unusual. because actual celebrities will not be invited. Instead, Star TV is running a talent quest for the best mock-interview which lampoons a celebrity.
2. Star TV realizes that there is some risk of legal action for slander or libel in a lampoon. Therefore, it has made some ground rules: a) the material should be funny, but it should not make serious claims or accusations that cannot be defended as true in law; b) it should not deliberately offend or destroy the reputation of the person being lampooned. The aim is humour, not offence.
3. Star TV will accept any celebrity as a subject for their Lampoon Interview Series. The only condition is that they should be well known to a large part of the viewing audience. They may be pop stars, actors, sports stars, politicians, national heroes, scientists, businessmen, or even famous figures from history.
4. Star TV expects that each team taking part in the talent quest will consist of a) the person pretending to be a celebrity, and b) one or more interviewers.
5. Star TV judges will be award points for these qualities in each talent quest team: a) a "celebrity" who succeeds in showing the voice, body language, mannerisms, and attitudes of the real celebrity they are imitating; b) an interviewer (or interviewers) whose questions are daring, funny, and lead the celebrity into saying things that he/she might not normally say.
b) Project Plan
1. Form small talent quest teams.
2. Appoint a secretary/ script editor. This person must collect and organize everyone's ideas.
3. Choose a person to be the celebrity.
4. Choose a person to be the interviewer.
5. Choose a person to be the director. This person is responsible for giving the whole performance structure and coaching the actors to public TV standards.
6. Agree on the celebrity to be lampooned. No team in a class can lampoon the same celebrity as another team.
7. Brainstorm interview questions and answers.
8. Write a script for the actors.
9. Rehearse the interview until it is ready for public performance without notes.
10. Perform in front of the class.
"Celebrity Interview Lampoon lesson plan" copyrighted to Thor May 1999; all rights reservedback to Last Message index