Cultural concept
Environmental justice
Who decides what happens to land and water when a struggling community is offered money for its resources?
Key question: Is a promise of wealth worth an environmental risk?
Watch → Film language → Context & history → Characters → Speak → Write → Project → Closing: place & exchange
Context & history → Characters → Speak → Write → Watch the trailer → Film language → Final task: Project → Closing: place & exchange
Guiding thread: Finding one’s place in the world · Sub-thread: Giving and receiving, we can only give and receive from a place.
Theme: Justice & the environment
Overview
Hook, finding one’s place
Guiding thread: Finding one’s place in the world · Sub-thread: Giving and receiving, we can only give and receive from a place.
Finding one’s place in the world · Young people today
Steve Butler must choose where he stands: with the gas company or with the farm town. Today, how do young people take a stand when the future of their land is at stake?
Sentence starters
- Steve has to choose between… and…
- Young people take a stand when…
- To decide about the land, a community needs…
- Taking a stand can give young people…
Visionary filmmakers. Back in 2012, Gus Van Sant was already putting fracking and a small town’s vote on the big screen, while the debate was still new to most audiences.
Talk about the characters and about young people in general, not about yourself.
Then, a second question:
If a company offered a struggling town a fortune for what lies under its land, should the town say yes?
Sentence starters
- The town should accept because…
- The town should refuse because…
- It depends on…
The film in three lines
Focus Features’ synopsis: corporate salesman Steve Butler (Matt Damon) is sent with his partner Sue (Frances McDormand) to the rural town of McKinley “to offer much-needed relief to the economically hard-hit residents in exchange for drilling rights to their properties”. A respected teacher and an environmental activist complicate the deal, and the town decides to vote. The screenplay is by John Krasinski and Matt Damon, from a story by Dave Eggers.
Start with the trailerFilm study sheetJustice & the environment
Film sheet
Film study sheet · printable, clickable, with QR code.
Open the printable sheethttps://trame-lycee.netlify.app/films/fiche-promised-land.html
Film credits
| Title | Promised Land (USA, 2012) |
|---|---|
| Director | Gus Van Sant |
| Screenplay | John Krasinski and Matt Damon, from a story by Dave Eggers |
| Cast | Matt Damon (Steve Butler), John Krasinski (Dustin Noble), Frances McDormand (Sue Thomason), Rosemarie DeWitt (Alice), Hal Holbrook (Frank Yates), Scoot McNairy, Titus Welliver, Lucas Black |
| Cinematography | Linus Sandgren |
| Editing | Billy Rich |
| Music | Danny Elfman |
| Distributor | Focus Features |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
| Release (USA) | 28 December 2012 (limited) · 4 January 2013 (wide) |
| Rating | R, language |
| Awards | Special Mention, Berlin International Film Festival 2013; National Board of Review top ten films of 2012 |
Film language, with examples from the official trailer
Timecodes are approximate (± 2 s). Pause the trailer and check each example yourself.
Shots
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| establishing shot / extreme long shot | shows the place; people look tiny |
| long shot | a whole body in its setting |
| medium shot | from the waist up |
| close-up | a face fills the frame: emotion |
| extreme close-up | a detail: eyes, a hand, an object |
| two-shot | two characters in one frame: a relationship |
| over-the-shoulder shot | we watch one character through another’s position |
- ≈0:15establishing shot of green hills and farms: the land at stake
- ≈0:27aerial shot of a road between fields: the outsiders arrive
- ≈1:21long shot of the school gym: the whole town meets
Angles
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| eye level | neutral, we are equal with the character |
| high angle | camera above: the character looks small or weak |
| low angle | camera below: the character looks powerful |
| canted (Dutch) angle | tilted frame: unease, a world out of balance |
| bird’s-eye view | straight down from above |
- ≈0:27high angle from the sky: the land looks like a map to buy
- ≈0:45eye-level close-up on a farmer’s smile: the human side
Camera movement
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pan | the camera turns horizontally |
| tilt | the camera moves up or down |
| tracking shot | the camera travels with a character or a car |
| zoom | the lens brings us closer |
| handheld camera | shaky, urgent, documentary feel |
| crane / aerial shot | the camera flies above the scene |
- ≈0:33camera inside the moving truck: we travel with Steve
Lighting & colour
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| high-key lighting | bright, few shadows: optimism |
| low-key lighting | dark, strong shadows: tension, mystery |
| backlighting | light behind a character: a halo or a silhouette |
| natural light | sun, windows, candles |
| colour palette | the dominant colours of the film |
- ≈0:15soft natural greens: a pastoral, idyllic look
- ≈1:03warm, colourful bar lights at night: the community’s social life
Sound
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| diegetic sound | the characters can hear it (a radio, a piano on stage) |
| non-diegetic sound | only the audience hears it (the score, a narrator) |
| voice-over | a voice we hear over the images |
| score | music composed for the film |
| silence | no sound: a shock, a pause |
| sound bridge | a sound that continues into the next scene |
- ≈0:00 to 0:24Steve’s voice tells his own story over the images
- whole trailergentle acoustic music (Danny Elfman) that becomes tense
Editing
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| cut | a direct change of shot |
| cross-cutting | alternating between two places or stories |
| montage | a fast series of shots that compresses time |
| fade to black | the image disappears: an ending, a pause |
| intertitle | text on screen between images |
| slow motion | time slows down: importance, emotion |
- ≈1:27a video call with the company: the distant power behind the deal
- ≈2:09actors’ names on green landscapes
Step into the period
Daily life
- 2010s rural America after the 2008 financial crisis: farms in debt, closed factories
- Laptops, video calls, but life centred on the farm, the bar, the school gym and the town meeting
Music
- Indie folk: The Milk Carton Kids wrote three songs for the film
- Bar bands and karaoke
Fashion
- Flannel shirts, work boots, caps, and the salesman’s new flannel shirt to “fit in”
Places
- The fictional town of McKinley, filmed in Avonmore and Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
- The Marcellus Shale region
Historical landmarks
- 1947 First experimental hydraulic fracturing of a gas well, in Kansas.
- 1949 First commercial fracturing treatments.
- late 1990s New techniques (slickwater fracturing, then horizontal drilling) make shale gas profitable in Texas’s Barnett Shale.
- 2005 The Energy Policy Act excludes most fracturing fluids from the Safe Drinking Water Act’s underground injection rules.
- 2008 Drilling boom in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale; New York starts a de facto moratorium.
- 2010 Gasland, a documentary about fracking, is nominated for an Oscar.
- 2012 Promised Land is filmed in Pennsylvania and released on 28 December.
- 2014 17 December: New York State announces a ban on high-volume fracking.
- 2016 The EPA concludes that fracking activities can impact drinking water resources under some circumstances.
Sources: Focus Features, Promised Land · US EPA, final report, December 2016 · New York State Department of Health, 17 December 2014
Watch
Official trailer (Universal Pictures UK)
Official channel: Universal Pictures UK (Focus Features is part of Universal) · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0-kcuTYaeY
First viewing
- What is Steve’s job? Why is he so successful?
- What happened to his own hometown?
- What does the company want from the farmers?
- What does it offer the town?
- Who stands up at the meeting, and what does he say happened to his farm?
- What will the town do in three weeks?
Answer key
- He is a salesman for a gas company; he closes deals fast (“more towns… by triple digits”).
- The Caterpillar plant closed; “that whole farming town fantasy was just shattered.”
- The right to drill on their land (a lease).
- Money, “You could be a millionaire”, and a state-of-the-art high school.
- An activist: “my farm is gone. The land just turned brown and died.”
- Vote on the deal.
Second viewing, exact words
- “I am happy to announce we will be bringing natural ___ to McKinley.”
- “You sign this ___, it gives us the right to ___ on your land.”
- “If it’s happened to one of us, it can happen to ___ of us.”
- “We’re not fighting for land, Steve. We’re fighting for ___.”
- “We’re a nine ___ dollar company.”
Answer key
- gas
- lease · drill
- all
- people
- billion
Film language
Selling the land
The trailer alternates beautiful landscapes and close-ups of faces. Analyse how the film makes us care about both the land and the people.
Sentence starters
- The aerial shot suggests…
- The close-ups invite us to…
- The landscape is filmed like… while the company is shown…
Persuasion on screen
Steve and the activist both try to persuade the town. Compare their techniques (stories, numbers, emotions, humour).
Sentence starters
- Steve uses… whereas the activist…
- The most persuasive technique is…
Context & history
What is fracking?
Hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) pumps water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into deep rock (shale) to crack it and release natural gas or oil. Combined with horizontal drilling, it created a shale gas boom in the 2000s, especially in Texas and Pennsylvania.
Read the official documents
“EPA’s report concludes that hydraulic fracturing activities can impact drinking water resources under some circumstances…”
US EPA, final report, December 2016On 17 December 2014, New York State announced it would ban high-volume fracking after a public health review (NYS Department of Health). Neighbouring Pennsylvania continued to drill.
- Does the EPA say that fracking always pollutes water? Find the key words.
- Why might two neighbouring states make opposite choices?
Answer key
- No: “can impact… under some circumstances”, a careful, conditional statement.
- Different economies, politics, risk assessments; jobs and tax revenue vs health and water.
Critical thinking, a film under attack
Before its release, the gas industry criticised the film; Focus Features’ CEO, James Schamus, answered that fracking was a strong premise for drama because Americans were deeply conflicted about it (Bloomberg Businessweek, January 2013). Is a fiction film a fair way to inform the public about a technology?
Sentence starters
- A fiction film can… but it cannot…
- To form an opinion, viewers should also…
Characters
| Character (actor) | Who | Key word |
|---|---|---|
| Steve Butler (Matt Damon) | top salesman for Global Crosspower Solutions; grew up in a farm town | conviction → doubt |
| Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand) | his pragmatic sales partner | business |
| Dustin Noble (John Krasinski) | an environmental activist who arrives in town | campaign |
| Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook) | respected science teacher who asks questions | wisdom |
| Alice (Rosemarie DeWitt) | a local teacher | community |
Sentence starters
- Steve believes he is helping because…
- Frank Yates represents…
Speak
1 · Town meeting (whole class)
Roles: the company, farmers in debt, the science teacher, a café owner, a parent, the mayor (chair). Each speaker has 1 minute. Then the town votes.
Sentence starters
- As a farmer, I…
- This deal would bring…
- What guarantees do we have that…?
- I move that we…
2 · Interaction, on the porch
Pairs: Steve visits a farmer to sign a lease. The farmer asks hard questions.
Sentence starters
- What exactly will you do on my land?
- Here is what we can offer…
- And if something goes wrong?
3 · Continuous speech, 2 minutes: “Energy or water?”
Sentence starters
- On the one hand,…
- On the other hand,…
- In my view, the priority should be…
Write
Write
B2 · 220 to 250 words: A letter to the McKinley local newspaper before the vote.
B2+ · 280 words: “Economic survival should come before environmental risk.” Discuss.
Sentence starters
- To the Editor,
- As a resident of McKinley,…
- Admittedly,… However,…
For the exam
For the exam. In the baccalauréat général, English (LVA / LVB) is assessed through continuous assessment: your annual average in 1re and in Tle counts (coefficient 3 each year). At the end of Tle, your teachers also certify your CEFR level in each skill, listening, reading, writing, speaking (continuous) and speaking (interaction), on your official language certificate. Every task below is built on those five skills, with authentic documents linked to a programme axis, exactly like your class assessments.
- Listening: trailer · Reading: EPA and New York documents · Speaking: town meeting, porch negotiation · Writing: letter / essay.
Project
Project, “Vote day” news bulletin
In groups, produce a 3-minute TV news bulletin on the day of McKinley’s vote: anchor, reporter in the field, interviews, an expert explaining fracking with a diagram, and the result.
Sentence starters
- Good evening, tonight in McKinley…
- I’m standing in front of…
Closing: place & exchange
Step 1 · A place found or lost
Everything is exchange, and we can only give and receive from a place. First find each character’s place; then look at four kinds of exchange; then go deeper: what passes between the characters inside · trust, love, respect, meaning? Who do they become, not only what do they own?
Steve says he comes from a farm town. Where does he stand: with the company or with the town?
Sentence starters
- At the start, …’s place is…
- At the end, … has found / lost his/her place because…
Answer key
- Steve stands with the company, then takes his stand with the town and with the truth.
Step 2 · Four kinds of exchange
| Kind of exchange | In the film |
|---|---|
| Political | The town vote on drilling. |
| Emotional | Steve Butler and Alice. |
| General interest | The land, the water and the future of the farms. |
| Human rights | The right of citizens to clear, honest information before they decide. |
Sentence starters
- The political exchange in the film is between… and…
- …gives… to…, and in return…
- This exchange serves the general interest because…
- …defends the right to…
Step 3 · Beyond what they have: who they are
Now go deeper, from the place each character has found or lost. Talk about the characters only.
- Steve sells a deal: money for land rights. What does Frank Yates offer the town instead?
- Why does Steve speak about his grandfather’s farm at the final meeting?
- At the end, Steve loses his job. What does he keep, or find?
Sentence starters
- What really passes between… and… is…
- …does not only give…; he/she gives…
- Thanks to…, …understands who he/she is.
- At the end, what matters for… is not what he/she has but…
- This exchange changes… because…
- From his/her new place, … can at last give / receive…
Closing sentence (write it): From the place they find or lose, the deepest exchange in this film is…
Answer key
- Questions, information and time to think, an exchange of ideas, not of money.
- He stops selling and tells the truth about where he comes from: he speaks as himself.
- His integrity and a place in a community: he chooses who he is over what he earns.
- Model closing sentence: Steve stops selling and starts telling the truth: he chooses who he is.
Teacher
Teacher notes
- Axes: 1re « L’être humain et la nature », « Innovations scientifiques et responsabilité » · Tle « Espace privé et espace public ».
- Trailer: Universal Pictures UK channel, checked by oEmbed.
- Balance: present the EPA’s cautious wording; the film was criticised by the industry.
Share this film study
https://trame-lycee.netlify.app/films/promised-land.html
Created by Madame Carole Paoli Pompougnac.