‘School Portrait’ is a two minute comedy short about a school photography session where a miserable photographer is determined to wipe the smiles off the faces of the children, until he meets his match in an enchanting little girl with long ginger curly hair who just won’t stop smiling.
Self-study activity:
Fill in the blanks in the transcript with the missing words.
School Portrait (2011) from Michael Berliner on Vimeo.
Come on then. Come in and sit down. No. Stop smiling. We’re going to do something different today. It’s called a reality check. I want you to repeat after me. University tuition (1) ... .
University tuition fees.
OK, good. The banking crisis means I’ll never afford a home.
The banking crisis we’ll never…
No, no. Just say crisis.
Crisis.
Yeah. … You filled out your (2) ... ...? Why not?
I don’t want to.
Very good. Is it a koala or an elephant?
A koala.
Get rid of it.
Next! Climate change. Boom.
Congestion (3) ... .
Who’s in (4) ... ... ? Oh, another thing. You don’t get (5) ... ... . You have to work hard every day.
Will you just stop smiling, please? Alright, fine. I’ll go all day. Alright. Did you know 60% of marriages end in divorce? Tip in me. Don’t go really well. And they start (6) ... ..., and they grow further, further apart until one of them leaves you, takes your stuff, your house, maybe kids. Oh God! You are not just going to stop smiling, are you? Ok, let’s get on with it. Alright, give me your best shot. Oh, I suppose I can always get a new house. Hey, your mum’s single. Ok, keep me posted.
Key:
1 fees 2 tax return 3 judge 4 pet heaven 5 pocket money 6 running apart
