Activity 1: Story Time

  This week, I watched the full movie of “Big Fish” starring Ewan McGregor with a friend. From this movie i learned many, MANY things. Many scenes stood out to me but the one that stood out the most was when Will was telling his Dad a story in the hospital. I think the audience will learn many things from this movie, too. Here are a few things they will learn.

  The scene that stood out most to me was when Will was telling his dad a made up story in the hospital (In the musical the song is “Whats Next?”). This scene stood out to me because Will never really liked how his dad was always telling these “over exaggerated” stories. I liked the turn because Will then noticed how fun and enjoyable it is to tell these stories. From the movie i learned, to never stop using your imagination. Because after all, your imagination is the one thing in your world that makes life enjoyable. If we had no imagination the world would be pretty boring. I think the moral lesson is, if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. You can achieve anything you want if you just put your mind to it. Once again i think the lesson is to never stop using your imagination. I think thats why kids have so much fun. I remember pretending the ground was lava and having to jump from couch to couch, that one thing makes life 10 times more fun. Knowing the storyline helps you get into character because then you know how to act for specific scenes. For one scene it may be really sad, so you don’t want to walk out on stage being really happy. You know your expressions. Also, by watching the movie if you have a main role you know how your character is supposed to dress, if they have an accent, etc.

  I’ve been thinking long and hard about the metaphor for big fish. At first I drew a blank, couldn’t think of anything until i went and talked to my parents and friends about it. In “big fish” there are many metaphors. First off, Amos tells Edward that he is “A big fish in a small pond” meaning that Edward is a great man and can do many things but he’s stuck in a bubble (a small pond). Another metaphor would be Edward’s stories are a big fish. If you ever talk to a fisherman they always say “I caught a fish thiiiiiiiiis big”. I know I do, when after all its a small pickerel. Edward makes his stories sound like they are this fantastic thing such as the story he told Will when he was born. When in the end, Will was born normally and Edward couldn’t make it because he was on a business trip.

  What do you think the metaphor is? Did the scene that stood out to me stand out to you? These are a few lessons and things i learned while watching the movie “Big Fish”. “The biggest fish in the river gets that way by never being caught” -The witch.