Hunt in the Woods of District 12 and Fly Through the Trees Like Rue

Hunger Games Fan Tours Launch in Brevard, NC

"The Hunger Games" movie opened on March 23 and Brevard, NC is excited! A lot of the scenes in the “Games” were shot in DuPont State Recreational Forest. Tammy Hopkins, Film Liaison and TCArts Council Director for Brevard and Transylvania County said, “My phone has been ringing off the hook with folks wanting to go see the film locations. So Leigh Trapp with 'the marketing trapp' and myself have put together Hunger Games Fan Tours which will feature the filming locations used by 'The Hunger Games' movie in DuPont State Recreational Forest.”

Leigh Trapp, who has produced and guided a variety of fan-based experiences based on franchises such as Harry Potter and the Twilight series says, “Fan tours for movies and books have become increasingly popular - as readers and viewers alike want the opportunity to experience the world their characters live in first hand - and share in their adventures. These tours give them a great way to see some of the movie locations - and share in the experience of participating in Hunger Games–themed adventures with other like-minded fans.”

“We just launched our website www.hungergamesfantours.com,” said Hopkins. “On the website you will see that we will offer Day Trips as well as Weekend Adventure Trips. On the Weekend Trips we will be teaming with Earthshine Mountain Lodge to offer an immersive, hands on experience with survival skills classes after the participants have been out to see the film locations. Leigh and I have worked closely with David Brown and Bruce MacDonald at Dupont to study the locations and design a guided tour that will be fun and safe around waterfalls.”

Hunger Games Day Trips: Explore DuPont State Recreational Forest with your Sponsor to discover the locations used in the movie. Master fundamental survival skills like orienteering, camo-face painting, and shelter building needed to excel in the Hunger Games. Lunch will be provided in Hunger Games style. Shuttle service, DuPont State Recreational Forest permit and guides provided.  Pre-registration required. Cost is $79 per person. Hunger Games Day Trips will be offered on the following dates: May 26 & 27, July 14 & 15, and August 11 & 12.

Hunger Games Fan Tours Adventure Weekend: Start your Hunger Games Fan Tours’ Adventure Weekend on Friday by gathering at Earthshine Mountain Lodge (http://www.earthshinelodge.com/) for an incredible evening. You’ll be part of the lottery and get separated into your own District. You’ll then join other Tributes for a welcoming banquet – Hunger Games style.

Saturday you’ll tour film locations in DuPont State Recreational Forest that were used in the movie. You’ll then reconvene at Earthshine Mountain Lodge for lunch. The afternoon will be filled with survival classes that you’ll need to participate in the Hunger Games Simulation: archery, sling shot training, fire building, orienteering, shelter building, and camo-face painting. In the evening you’ll have another Hunger Games dinner sponsored by the Capitol – and you’ll night zip-line and see what it’s like to be in the tree tops at night like Katniss and Rue. On Sunday – you’ll convene for your Hunger Games Simulation. See if you and your district have what it takes to win the Hunger Games. Our Hunger Games Simulation will be timed trials of the skills you’ve learned over the weekend.

Your Hunger Games Weekend includes: three days and two nights stay at Earthshine Mountain Lodge, 6 Hunger Games meals, Hunger Games snacks, guides, all Hunger Games skill training, Night Zip Lining and your Hunger Games Simulation. Shuttle service to and from the Asheville Regional Airport is included. Cost: $389 per person. Note: There is a $2 ticketing process fee from Ticketleap, our ticket service. Hunger Games Fan Tours Adventure Weekend trips will be offered on April 27-29; June 8-10; June 22-24; July 27-29; August 24-26; and Sept. 21-23.

About the creators of Hunger Games Fan Tours:
Leigh Trapp has worked and contributed to a variety of fan-based experiences over the past several years. She is also an award winning festival and event producer in the US. Her fan tour work includes work on Harry Potter Adventures in the United Kingdom and in the US, Twilight fan experiences in the US, and a variety of other experiential events. She consults for a variety of US festivals and events across the US and runs a marketing company that focuses on tourism and tourism related events. She has served as an advocate and marketer for Transylvania County tourism for over a decade.

Tammy Hopkins, executive director of the TC Arts Council, serves as film liaison for Brevard NC and Transylvania County. She’s an actor, producer, and casting agent who also specializes in securing film locations and permits for the area. She served as a ranger at the Cradle of Forestry Historic Site for a number of years and led guided walks and survival study programs for the Orange County Outdoor Science School in the San Bernardino Mountains in CA. Tammy has also served as an advocate, publicist and marketer of the arts and outdoor recreation for over a decade in Transylvania County.

More about Earthshine Mountain Lodge: Earthshine Mountain Lodge has been a premier destination for 21 years. Situated on 82 acres bordering Pisgah National Forest with about a third of that as open pasture and the rest is deciduous forest. Earthshine is home to the First Zip Line Canopy Tour of any kind built in the US.  www.EarthshineLodge.com
 
To learn more and to register for tours go to www.hungergamesfantours.com.  Need more information email info@hungergamesfantours.com or call Leigh Trapp at 949-610-5570 or Tammy Hopkins at 828-553-7117. To learn more about filming in the Brevard, NC  area go to www.FilmBrevardNC.com.

Note: The characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of the Lionsgate Entertainment; Susan Collins; and her publisher, Scholastic, owning those rights. Hunger Game Tours are not official tours and are not endorsed, sanctioned or in any other way supported by the studios, the authors, their publishers, or any of their representatives. All Rights Reserved


SOURCE: PRESS RELEASE FROM HUNGER GAMES FAN TOURS, TAMMY HOPKINS
  

Images from District 12: Creating a Mood, Setting the Tone

 My teacher-friend Margaret Whisnant of Taking Grades for Teachers sent me these awesome pictures from Henry River, North Carolina. Since she was heading that way, she was thoughtful enough to stop and snap some pictures for me. Thank you, Margaret! 

Margaret, by the way, has great teaching resources for grades 4-9 on her website and TpT store. She also features five freebies from other teachers each week on her blog, and has numerous free downloads, found HERE. I've used her brain teasers & word activities with my high school students and they love them!
She was able to snap seven shots before her camera died and she commented on how creepy the little town had always been, creating the perfect atmosphere for District 12 in the upcoming "The Hunger Games" movie.

This reminded me of an important lesson in tone and mood when it comes to writing. I feel it is important because so many people are up in arms about the violence in this novel, failing to understand or recognize the author's purpose.

In a novel, the author will set the tone through dialogue or narration, which will convey a certain attitude, mood, or feeling about a place, person, event, or subject. In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Katniss wakes up alone and seeks her sister's warmth, but Prim is not there. "She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping" (p. 3). In those three sentences we know that the "reaping" is not a good event; rather, it is an event that one might have nightmares about. The tone is set right away that something bad will happen.

Mood, on the other hand, is something the reader feels. The author will set the tone, letting us know how her/his attitude toward the subject, but the mood is the reader's attitude or feeling, which may or may not be the same as the author's. There are many instances in which the author does not want you to feel the same way.  For example, on page 3 of The Hunger Games, Katniss tells the reader about Prim's cat, Buttercup. Collins sets the tone for Katniss's attitude toward Buttercup by describing how Katniss tried to drown him in a bucket; we know that Katniss does not share with her sister the same love for all living things. However, as a reader, though I recognize Katniss's attitude of indifference toward the cat, I am appalled. My mood is not the same as Katniss's. So instead, I feel compassion for this poor cat that Katniss wanted to drown. This is done purposefully. The author wants us to feel compassion for the cat because later Buttercup will play a larger role in the story.*

When an English teacher says, "Show me, don't tell me" about writing, THIS is what she/he means. We are shown an act that makes us feel a certain way, rather than just told, "This is wrong. Don't do it."

Classroom Connection: Have your students look at the images. Then ask them:
1. What feeling do you get from this setting?
2. List details that you feel enhance that feeling or mood.
3. How would the mood change if some of these elements changed? (For example, if the trees were blooming, how would that change or affect the mood?)
4. Why is this a good location for District 12?

Then have your students take a closer look at the novel The Hunger Games. Then ask them:
1. How does author Suzanne Collins set the tone at the beginning (in chapters 1-2)? Give examples of how the tone is set for the following:
  a. the reaping
  b. District 12
  c. people who live in the Seam
  d. people who are merchants (or people who do not live in the Seam)
  e. people from the Capitol (Effie)
2.  For each of the above, what mood/attitude did you feel toward those places, people, or events?

You can continue this lesson throughout the novel, having students find examples of tone and talking about their attitude or mood after certain events. 

{DOWNLOAD the HANDOUT HERE}

*A note on tone/mood (a.k.a. my rant to those who oppose teaching this novel; see the comments HERE):
Problems arise when readers do not recognize this technique. Critics will say that Katniss is cold-hearted and is teaching people to kill cats. Those readers are either failing to feel compassion for the cat themselves (which is alarming), or failing to recognize that the author does this on purpose so you know the act is wrong and teaches a lesson. This is not a new technique. Christians re-read the story of Jesus's crucifixion each year, which is bloody and gruesome. Do they read it as a how-to manual? Of course not. It is to teach a lesson of compassion toward your fellow humans. Even little kids get it right away. Not once did I leave church as a kid and want to go nail someone to a cross, even though I was surrounded by numerous relics depicting Jesus hanging on one (I grew up across the street from our church). If we truly believed that exposing children to violent acts caused them to be violent, then why on earth would we subject them to the crucifixion story year after year from the time they were born?

Thanks, again, to Margaret for sending me these pictures she took yesterday. I didn't think I could get more excited for the movie, but after seeing these, I am. :)