Pub Quiz for Quizmasters

If you've found yourself in the position of having to write the termly pub quiz, here are some suggestions and tips to help you out!

Writing the quiz

• The key to a good pub quiz is striking a good balance in the questions - you don't want to lean too heavily on a particular topic (in general), so everyone has a shot, no matter what their filmic interests. You want to have at least one question on:
  • Classic and older films, as well as recent releases
  • As many genres as you can (in the events of westerns/war films/epics, this gives you a good chance to incorporate older films)
  • Easy and hard questions. In each round, it's normally good to have at least one per round that you think are stupidly easy (it's your shout, of course, but I don't like a round that I think there is a chance of scoring a zero)
  • A wide variety of films, actors, directors, etc. - you may love Toy Story, for example, but five questions on it is probably a bit unfair on those that don't
• You'll want to figure out how you're structuring the pub quiz - I normally find that six rounds, split into three blocks of three, gives enough time for marking without being overlong. There's also the space for a bonus round between rounds, if there's demand for one. The typical running order is like so, but this isn't set in stone by any means:
  • Rounds One and Two
  • Intermission (Rounds One and Two are marked)
  • Bonus Round (if you want one)
  • Answers for One and Two
  • Rounds Three and Four (typically, you and some helpers can mark the Bonus Round during)
  • Intermission (Rounds Three and Four are marked
  • Bonus Round Results
  • Answers for Three and Four
  • Rounds Five and Six
  • Intermission (remainder of marking
  • Answers for Five and Six, prize-giving
• You probably want to prepare a tie-break question or two - this can be as easy as something with a numerical answer, and the closest wins, or something more elaborate. I quite like a competition - in the past, I've given a minute and list of things (Meryl Streep films, Best Actor Oscar winners). They take turns answering, and whoever's turn it is at the end of the minute loses.

Examples of rounds

In every pub quiz I've written have featured two rounds in common. A General Knowledge round, featuring general film questions, and a Music Round, in which a snippet of music is played, and the players must name the film that the music is from. They also always had a picture round

Examples of Picture Rounds

In the past, the picture rounds have taken two forms - one with ten options, where the player must answer a question linked to the pictures, and one with twenty options, in which ten are correct and ten incorrect. They are typically Round Six, distributed at the start of the quiz to allow the teams something to do during the breaks. The following are picture rounds we've used in the past:

• Choose the films that feature a character called John
• Choose the actors that have played a character called Jack
• Choose the actors that have starred in a film with Tom Hanks
• There are ten stills from The Simpsons, all of which parody films, and the teams must name the film being parodied

Examples of other rounds

The following are examples of other rounds that we've used in the past:

• An actor is described using attributes of three of their characters - name the actor:
  • 'A frustrated businessman with a broken leg and a fear of heights' - James Stewart (It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window and <i?Vertigo)
• A list of actors is given, all of whom have played the same character - you want to name the character
  • Julie Andrews and Emily Blunt - Mary Poppins
• Name the film from its tagline
• A general knowledge round with a question related to each era of cinema's life
• A quote is provided - name the actor that said it
• Film Flips - the plot of a film is described, but the name of the characters are replaced with those of other characters they've played:
  • Woody is an FBI agent chasing Jay Gatsby - Catch Me If You Can
• A snippet of a movie is played, and stopped before an iconic lines - the teams must provide the next line
• Three snippets of music are played, and one actor has appeared in all of the films - the teams must name the actor
• An iconic quote is provided, and the teams must name the film that the quote is from
• The teams were able to choose a genre in advance - then, a set of questions were asked each turn, corresponding to the three genres on offer, and they answered the question related to the genre they choose
• An iconic film quote is provided, and the team must name the character that said it
• A film sequence is provided, and the teams must provide the next thing in the sequence:
  • Nothing, 2/-er, 3/With A Vengeance - Live Free and/4.0 (Additions to Die Hard in its subsequent sequels)
• A place from a film is provided - the teams must name the film the place is from
• A question is offered with two answers - the teams receive a point for each of the answers they provided:
  • Steven Spielberg Best Director Oscars - Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan

Examples of Bonus Rounds

If you're having a bonus round, these normally want to be a bit harder (to reward those who choose to enter) with a time limit. Here are some examples, and their time limits:

• Name as many actors/actress with more than five Oscar nominations (two minutes)
• Name as many actors with more than 30 mins screen time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (two minutes)
• The 12 Days of Film - the teams are given 12 questions, one with 12 answers, then 11, etc., down to one. They must provide as many answers as possible (three minutes)
• A montage of film music from a celebration of film music was played, and the team had to name as many of the films as possible

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