SEVEN group activities for Black Mirror s1 -ep. 01.

Listen to STUDENT A READing aloud piece __2

piece __2 ---INFO FROM TV to viewers:

(12:00 news)  

Some major breaking news now here on UKN. In the last few minutes it’s been confirmed that Susannah Duchess of Beaumont has been kidnapped. 

A video uploaded anonymously onto the internet appears to depict the princess pleading for her life.

The video also contains a bizarre ransom demand of a personal nature involving the PM; this is followed by a detailed list of instructions relating to the enactment of this demand.

GOUP WORK. Discussion on  piece_3.  

Old, new and social media coverage:

    read aloud these IDEAS and expand them:

• There’s no comment at this time on radio 4.
• The Guardian are running a live blog
• The Times bring out a short think piece on the historical symbolism of the pig.
• Our panelist  Dr Brown analyses the public reaction to the crisis.  It’s a day like no other.
• –      The kidnap video has been watched by over 5 million people.
• –      The social networking sites are a buzz with an estimated xxx tweets per minute.

PAIR WORK. Discussion on piece_4.  REACTIONS

there’s no doubt that the nation is voicing its opinion.

 Read A), B) and C) and complete the opinions below.

4A) Govt.  Meanwhile Downing Street has made a formal response. ....................................................................

....................................................................
....................................................................
....................................................................

 4B)  Monarchy.  So while we wait for Buckingham Palace to make a formal respond.....

 ....................................................................

....................................................................

....................................................................

4C) CITIZENS comments. Tick the one you may say. (add two)

 (ex.: I don’t think anyone should concede to any sort of humiliation under that kind of threat.)

·       I couldn’t bear to see that, to watch that.
·       My guess… WHO can watch that?
·       the kidnapper knows everyone would be
        watching screens that time.·       I won’t personnally be tuning in. Just thinking about it is horrible.
·       That’s disgusting. It is disgusted to think about it.
·       It is disgusting but… after that, he’s gonna be hero.
·       People will look at him like he’s totally insane and maybe take his position away.
·       It would be actually hilarious to see that on TV.
·       Nothing too abnormal for Prime Ministers and MPs. They’re all deviants,  sexual deviants. all MPs and Prime Ministers.
·       (add) ...............
·       (add)............

PAIR WORK. Discussion on piece_5.  -  which are PM responsabilities??

1.     the public's expectations??

2.     Changing moods in the citizenry?

3.     Vox Populi/ Opinion Polls?

Classify these SIX expressions as +  /neutral / -:

a) this would be one man to be blunt of questionable popularity putting personal embarrassment over the life of a young girl.b) Everyone will see it. The world will see it.c) His Party insist on compliance.d) The mood will border on insurrection and the  PM will be destroyed.e) Mind you, the polling bears that out....the PM will be
    a despised individual.
f) the Palace won’t  back a disgraced politician

Listen to STUDENT B   READing aloud piece_6  

-If everything turns into  its darkest side:

                         READ the Party announcement:

This is an official announcement.

• In a few minutes, ... the Prime Minister will perform an indecent act on your screens at kidnapper’s demand in the hope that it will ensure the safe release of Princess Susannah.
• Recording or possessing a copy of this broadcast will become illegal at midnight. All viewers are advised to turn off their televisions immediately.
• The broadcast will commence after the following tone.We’re complying with all the stipulated rules. So you’ll have to keep going.
• You’ll have to see it through to the end. We’ve placed visual aids in your  eyeline, which might help if you… get into trouble.

 

 GROUP WORK. Discussion on piece_7. - MI5 intelligence service (as in 007 films). 

Elaborate on this sentence: 

              "Lose that page of the MI6 report.

                        No one sees it,  especially the PM."

GROUP WORK. Discussion on piece_8.  -   MEMORIES:

        SET A.

a1) On the one-year anniversary of his humiliating ordeal  the fresh impressions that endure are   .....a2) It was one year ago today that the Prime Minister was coerced  into committing an indecent act with audacious kidnapping.....

      SET B.

b1) As the anniversary arrived  one critic has caused controversy by describing it as  “the first great expression of ...... in the 21st century”.b2) While cultural commentators debate its significance.....b3) there’s no denying with a global audience of  over 1 million it was an event in which we all participated.

      SET C.

c1) As  the incident succeeded in destroying a PM who resigned two days later, his party lost all support....
c2) However, the incident failed to destroy our PM who currently holds an approval rating eleven points higher than this time last year.

Michael Callow's ordeal - Black mirror

Black Mirror  s1 -Ep: 01 

       The National Anthem    

CASTING:

 PM Michael Callow  (centre of picture) + 

1, 2 and 3  his  chief advisors  (in fact there are seven) 

 LOCATION: Downing Street, 10    TIME: 06:15 morning

  ==== DIALOGUE:  =========

What’s happened?            (minute 01:06) 

1; Er, Susannah.  

Susannah?  

1; Princess Susannah.  

Is she all right?  

2; Don’t know.    [Watching TV recording]

S: Don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me.  

Read the statement.  

S: Yes, all right. On the screen?  

That is correct.  

I’m Susannah, Duchess of Beaumont, popularly known as Princess Susannah. I an in the place you…er… cannot find, held by one you will not trace. Prime Minister Michael Callow... Prime Minister Michael Callow...my life…my life depends on you. If you do not do precisely as instructed by…um…at four pm this afternoon, I’ll be…I will be executed. Please. 

What are you doing? Keep it going.  

2; Prime Minister, at this point, I think it’s important to say that we are 100% certain that this is, indeed, Princess Susannah.  

3; Her car was intercepted shortly after midnight, returning from the wedding of a college friend.  

3;  She was insisted on going.  

But you had security around her?  

2;  Two PPOs, still unconscious.  

3; Heavy sedative, close range, each with a single puncture wound, no sign of struggle.  

What do they want? Money? Release the Jihadi? Scrap Third World debts? Save the fucking libraries?  

2; We are convinced for the video and the demand it contains are genuine.  

What demand?  

> What Susannah says next…it concern you directly, sir.  

Just play it.  

1; There is only one demand, and it is a simple one. At four pm this afternoon, Prime Minister Michael Callow must appear on live British Television, and all networks, terrestrial and satellite, and…no…on all British networks, terrestrial and satellite, and have full unsimulated sexual intercourse with a pig. .... (I don’t understand.)  

3; The video ends with a series of technical specifications for the broadcast.  

Why are they doing this? It is a joke, right? "Ha ha, Mike! Ho ho."  

3;  It’s real.  

She said pig, sex with pig. They want me to have sex with a pig.  

3;  Live on television this afternoon…  

But what…who…  

2;  We are checking with embedded operatives, compiling a list of suspects.  

3;  Meanwhile, the demand has been made. And there is not long to formulate our response.  

Well, I’m not fucking a pig. Page one, that's not happening. Of course. Absolutely sir. Well, have we established a dialogue with this… We can’t. There's no e-mail address, no code word, no channel for negotiation.  

OK. So we focus on finding Susannah, we get her back. (...)However it's done, I don't care. We stop this now.  

2;  I ensure you everyone's working towards this.  

1;  Yes, no not everyone, a dedicated core team, this can’t go wide.  

2; And keep it so far from the press it's on the other side of Jupiter.  

1; This only exists in this room.  

3; It’s already outside it.  

If there are hacks sniffing around, shut them down, 

1;  This video came from YouTube.  

What?  

2; It was uploaded via an encrypted IP an hour ago.  

Well get it off there.  

3; We did after nine minutes, but that was long enough to be downloaded duplicated and spread. 

Spread? How many people have seen this?  

1; We take down one, six clones pop up elsewhere.  

How many people ...? 

3; Fifty thousand, that’s our current estimate.  

1t; The news rooms have got it.  

They're running this on air?  

2; No, no. We put a type five D notice out at immediately and they're complying.  

1; For now.  

2; It's trending on Twitter.  

Oh! For... Fucking internet! What now? What's the play book?  

2; This is virgin territory, Prime Minister.  

3; There is no play book.              (minute 07:56)

Black Mirror- TV series

A television anthology series that shows the dark side of life and technology. 

      BLACK MIRROR - 
written by Charlie Brooker.

This is done through the theme of technology, hence the second meaning. The black mirror is the screen that rules our lives. Taking contemporary phenomena (ranging from the wild popularity of talent shows on TV to the impact of social media and smartphones on our lives) as a starting point and speculate how such phenomena could/would evolve in the future. Each episode tells a different story with different protagonists and focuses on a different theme.

Brooker explained the series' title to The Guardian: 

"If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side effects? This area – between delight and discomfort – is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set. The 'black mirror' of the title is the one you'll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a cellphone"

SEASON 1.There are three episodes, each a bleak and dark story about how the modern, internet and technology filled world could plunge us into hell. 

TASK. Read both introductions. Which episode (1 or 3)  can be more disruptive to you? to the viewers?

episode 1. 

The National Anthem 

The first, is one set in the present. A fictional princess is kidnapped by an unknown person and a video ransom is posted anonymously on YouTube saying that unless the (fictional) prime minister had sexual intercourse with a pig live broadcast on every British television channel in four days, she would be killed.

             "MICHAEL: Well, I'm not f****** a pig. Page one, that's not happening."
          "MICHAEL:  “This only exists in this room!”

INFO FROM TV to viewers: (12:01)

Some major breaking news now here on UKN.In the last few minutes it’s been confirmed that Susannah Duchess of Beaumont has been kidnapped.A video uploaded anonymously to the internet appears to depict the princess pleading for her life.The video also contains a bizarre ransom demand of a personal nature involving the Prime Minister this is followed by a detailed list of instructions relating to the enactment of this demand.

Comments here

episode 3.    written by Jesse Armstrong.

The Entire History of You 

The third is a dark 'love' story set in the near-future about how wrong it could be if people could re-watch their memories and show others. People seem to be forced to have small chips implanted behind their ears so their vision is being recorded and can be played back on any screen using a small tool and a super-fast, Wi Fi that is everywhere. It's idea is that people could become obsessed with the past and search their memories for tiny details, eventually causing insanity and a bad ending

BONUS TRACKS ====

1) CHANNEL 4 hosts a site here.

2) Creator Charlie Brooker Explains Black Mirror  (5-minute video)

2) RECEPTION.
the Independent-  28 October 2016:

Black Mirror season 3:

Episodes exists in the same universe and here's the proof

-->

curious headlines

Want to read this headline:

Unemployed man spent $2.1million on cars, strippers and parties following banking error?

And,




Here's a few curious headlines : 

To all those journalists, purported English speakers and those who think they have mastered English 
and the rest of us simple readers... 

Explain the pun:
1. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
2. Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
3. Prostitutes Appeal to Pope 
4. Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over 
5. Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
6. Miners Refuse to Work after Death 
7. Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead 
8. Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge
9. Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges 
10. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks


Underline the ambiguous words in the following headlines



1a) Include your children when baking cookies.


1b) Drunks get nine years in violin case.


1c) Iraqi head seeks arms.


1d) Teacher strikes idle kids.


1e) Clinton wins budget - more lies ahead.





2a) New study of obesity looks for larger test group.


2b) Two sisters reunited after 18 years in checkout counter.

2c) If strike isn't settled quickly, it may last a while. 


2d) Couple slain - police suspect homicide.