download this page<\/a> as an Adobe (pdf) document<\/p>\n SETTING, PRODUCTION DESIGN & ART DIRECTION SETTING<\/strong> “Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it………Although\u00a0Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.”<\/p>\n The phrase “nothing to fear but fear itself” refers to a line in President Franklin D.\u00a0Roosevelt’s first inaugural speech to Congress in 1933, broadcast nationally by radio.<\/p>\n Atticus refers to the Depression in the scene which follows: after accepting payment from\u00a0Mr. Cunningham, he explains to Scout \u201cthe crash hit them the hardest.\u201d Students should also be encouraged to consider the time period in American history in which\u00a0this film was released, 1963: the early days of the Civil Rights movement<\/a>. Teachers can encourage\u00a0student exploration of topics like: Scottsboro Boys Trial<\/a>; Montgomery Bus Boycott<\/a>;\u00a0Rosa Parks<\/a>;\u00a0and Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n “The Maycomb courtroom in To Kill A Mockingbird is an almost perfect copy of\u00a0one in Monroeville, Alabama, where author Harper Lee<\/a> grew up. Scout is certainly the author herself and Atticus Finch is modeled on her father,\u00a0A.C. Lee, a lawyer in Monroeville. Jem and Scout’s peculiar friend Dill is\u00a0based on author Truman Capote, who was a childhood friend and neighbor\u00a0of Harper Lee’s. Harper Lee attended law school at the University of Alabama\u00a0but did not graduate. The story is fictional, although A.C. Lee once represented\u00a0two blacks who killed a merchant and were hanged in the Monroeville jail.”1<\/p>\n
\n“In a sense, it’s hard to see what a production designer does\u00a0because you’re intrinsically linked to the suspension of disbelief..\u00a0you’re actually trying to be invisible.”
\nRick Carter, production designer, MUNICH<\/a>
\n(as quoted in AFI’s American Film, Spring\u00a0 2006)<\/p>\n
\nHistorical Background<\/strong>
\nStudents should be encouraged to explore the Depression<\/a> period in US history.\u00a0In the opening narration by Scout, she refers to the Depression twice when she says:<\/p>\n
\n(see recommended websites, lesson plans, readings below)<\/p>\n\n\n
\n \n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/courtphotoalab.gif\")
<\/span>
\nphoto of actual courtroom in Monroeville, Alabama
\nimage from: http:\/\/www.frontiernet.net\/~mchm\/<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n
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