film class assignments

• TV Matters Podcast

Step-by-Step Filmmaking Lesson Plans for Creative Classrooms

Welcome media class teachers! Are you looking for step-by-step lesson plans to inspire creativity and engage your students in the art of filmmaking? Look no further! In this article, we will guide you through the process of developing comprehensive filmmaking lessons that will captivate your students’ imaginations and help them develop valuable skills. Whether you are a seasoned educator or new to the world of filmmaking, this resource is designed to provide you with the tools and inspiration you need to create a dynamic and engaging classroom experience.

Understanding the Basics of Filmmaking

Before diving into the world of filmmaking, it is important to understand the fundamentals. A strong foundation in the basics will enable your students to approach their filmmaking projects with confidence and creativity.

Filmmaking is a powerful medium that allows individuals to tell stories, express emotions, and convey messages in a visually captivating way. Whether it’s a short film, a documentary, or a full-length feature, the art of filmmaking requires a combination of technical skills, creative vision, and storytelling prowess.

One of the most crucial aspects of filmmaking is storytelling . Every great film begins with a compelling story. By teaching your students the importance of storytelling in film, you will help them develop their ability to create narratives that resonate with audiences. Encourage them to explore different genres and techniques, and discuss how storytelling elements such as character development, plot structure, and conflict can contribute to the overall impact of a film.

Another key element of film production is understanding the technical aspects of the craft. This includes camera angles, lighting techniques, sound design, and editing. Each of these elements plays a vital role in enhancing the visual and auditory experience of a film.

Camera angles, for example, can be used to create different perspectives and evoke specific emotions in the audience. Whether it’s a low-angle shot to make a character appear powerful or a high-angle shot to convey vulnerability, understanding how camera angles work can greatly enhance the storytelling process.

Lighting techniques are also crucial in setting the mood and tone of a film. By manipulating light and shadows, filmmakers can create a sense of drama, mystery, or even romance. Different lighting setups, such as three-point lighting or chiaroscuro lighting, can be used to achieve different effects and enhance the overall visual aesthetic.

Sound design is another important aspect of film production . It involves creating and manipulating audio elements such as dialogue, music, and sound effects to enhance the storytelling experience. Sound can evoke emotions, create tension, and immerse the audience in the world of the film. By teaching your students the art of sound design, you will empower them to create a more immersive and engaging cinematic experience.

Lastly, editing is the process of selecting and arranging footage to create a cohesive and impactful story. It involves cutting, sequencing, and manipulating shots to create a desired narrative flow. Through editing, filmmakers have the power to control the pacing, rhythm , and overall structure of a film.

By providing hands-on opportunities for your students to experiment with these elements, they will gain a deeper understanding of how each aspect contributes to the overall visual and auditory experience of a film. Encourage them to collaborate, brainstorm ideas, and explore their creativity. Filmmaking is a collaborative art form, and by working together, your students can create something truly remarkable.

Developing a Comprehensive Lesson Plan

Now that your students have a solid grasp of the basics, it’s time to develop a comprehensive lesson plan that will guide them through the filmmaking process from start to finish.

Setting Learning Objectives

Before diving into the technical aspects of filmmaking, take a step back and consider the learning objectives you want to achieve with your students. Do you want them to develop their storytelling skills? Improve their technical proficiency? Or perhaps learn to work collaboratively as a team? Clarifying your objectives will help you structure your lessons and assessments effectively.

Structuring Your Filmmaking Lessons

When structuring your filmmaking lessons, consider breaking them down into manageable chunks that allow students to develop their skills gradually. Start with smaller projects, such as creating short scenes or trailers, and gradually build up to more complex assignments, such as producing a short film from start to finish. Encourage students to reflect on their work and provide constructive feedback to one another, fostering a supportive and creative classroom environment.

Incorporating Creativity into the Classroom

One of the great joys of filmmaking is the opportunity for students to express their creativity. By incorporating activities and projects that encourage creative thinking, you can inspire your students to think outside the box and explore new ideas.

Encouraging Student Collaboration

Filmmaking is a collaborative process, and fostering collaboration within your classroom is essential. Assign group projects that require students to work together, assigning different roles such as director, cinematographer, writer, and editor. By experiencing the diverse aspects of film production, students will develop a deeper appreciation for the various roles involved in bringing a film to life.

Promoting Creative Thinking through Filmmaking

Encourage your students to experiment with different filmmaking techniques and styles, pushing the boundaries of their creativity. Provide them with opportunities to explore different genres, experiment with visual effects, or even incorporate elements of animation into their films. By giving them the freedom to explore and make their own creative choices, you will empower them to develop their unique artistic voices.

Practical Filmmaking Exercises for Students

Now that your students have a solid understanding of filmmaking theory and have had the chance to explore their creative side, it’s time for them to get hands-on with practical exercises that will improve their technical skills and analytical thinking.

Hands-On Activities for Learning Filmmaking Techniques

Incorporate hands-on activities into your lessons that allow students to practice specific filmmaking techniques. For example, you can assign them tasks such as capturing different camera angles or experimenting with lighting setups to create different moods. These activities will not only improve their technical proficiency but also provide them with a deeper understanding of the impact these techniques have on the overall storytelling process.

Assignments to Foster Film Analysis Skills

To sharpen your students’ film analysis skills, assign them projects that require them to critically analyze and interpret films. This can include tasks such as writing film reviews, analyzing scenes for their visual and storytelling techniques, or even creating shot lists based on specific films. By encouraging analytical thinking, you will help your students develop a deeper appreciation for the art of filmmaking.

Evaluating Student Progress and Providing Feedback

As an educator, it is crucial to assess your students’ progress and provide constructive feedback that will help them grow as filmmakers. Here are some strategies to consider.

Assessing Student Films

When evaluating your students’ films, consider the learning objectives you initially set. Assess their storytelling abilities, technical proficiency, and creativity. Provide them with specific feedback on their strengths and areas for improvement, encouraging them to reflect on their work and apply what they’ve learned to future projects.

Constructive Criticism and Encouragement in Filmmaking Education

In addition to providing constructive feedback, ensure that you create a positive and encouraging environment in your classroom. Filmmaking can be challenging, and students may face setbacks along the way. By offering support and encouragement, you will instill confidence in your students and empower them to continue pushing their creative boundaries.

By following these step-by-step filmmaking lesson plans, you will create a dynamic and engaging classroom experience that ignites your students’ passion for filmmaking. Remember, teaching filmmaking is not just about teaching the technical aspects but also fostering creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. With the right lesson plans and a supportive learning environment, you will inspire the next generation of talented filmmakers. So go ahead, lights, camera, action!

The Ultimate Guide to Careers in the Film Industry

Are you passionate about film? Do you dream of working on the big screen, behind the scenes, or even in front of the camera? Then...

Best Universities for Learning Filmmaking

Are you passionate about filmmaking? Do you dream of becoming the next Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino? If so, choosing the right university to study...

A Deep Dive into the World of Film Crew Jobs

Are you a movie enthusiast who has always been captivated by the magic of the big screen? Have you ever wondered what goes on behind...

Never miss a new article!

Subscribe to get the latest news and tips.

Never second-guess again. The new Creator License covers personal projects online and on social media. See details .

Home » Filmmaking » Film School 101: Filmmaking Fundamentals, Assignments, and Exercises

Cover image via

Film School 101: Filmmaking Fundamentals, Assignments, and Exercises

Are you interested in becoming a filmmaker? New to the craft? Try out these five exercises to build your filmmaking skill-set.

As a graduate of a film program, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to just anyone. However, for someone just starting out and unsure how they’d like to develop their craft and find a career in the industry, a film program can be helpful. Some big takeaways I’d like to share based on my experience (and backed up by several friends, colleagues, and others online) are some of the assignments — or exercises — that you complete in film school to develop your filmmaking skills.

These all teach you different filmmaking fundamentals, and they challenge you as a filmmaker to develop your own creative voice. So let’s take a look.

1. Photo Stories

Image via  Rawpixel.com .

The first assignment in most film school courses is the “use photos to tell a story” exercise. It focuses on composition and shot selection. (It’s also fairly simple for any experience level.) All you have to do is use a camera that can take stills (whether its your DSLR or your smartphone), to take 15 to 20 photos to tell a story. This requires the initial processes of scripting and storyboarding, enlisting actors, securing locations, and using lighting — but without the more advanced problems of sound recording. Usually pairs or groups work on these assignments, but you can also work on them solo.

This assignment also requires some introductory steps into non-linear editing, as you’ll need to lay your photos out on some sort of editing program with a timeline and then choose the length for each shot. You can also add music to accompany your final edit (or even voice-over if you’d like to really challenge yourself).

Here are some resources to help you on this project.

• Translating Your Photography Skills to Cinematography
• Tips for Photographers Transitioning to Videography
• 7 Simple Photography Hacks 

2. Completed Action

Image via  Dean Drobot .

Once you’ve learned some of the basics of shot composition and editing, the next assignment usually pushes students to work with match cuts and completed action. This is a pretty short and simple assignment, but it’s an important one because it helps you practice how shots connect with movement across angles. You’ll need to choose a mildly complex everyday action to film. Some examples might be cooking a meal, wrapping a present, or doing a load of laundry. It helps if your action takes place in only one spot in one room where the lighting is consistent.

The challenge here is choosing which shots to record, then translating these in the edit to present a completed action seamlessly from beginning to end. When you’re just starting out, it may seem easier than it looks. But it forces you to carefully think about all the nuances of shooting and editing.

Here are some articles to read up on before diving into this assignment.

• Film Theory: Why Don’t We Notice All Those Editing Cuts?
• 8 Essential Cuts Every Editor Should Know
• Editing Theory: How to Manipulate The Passage of Time

3. Process Documentary

Image via  tsarevv .

The assignments get more challenging as you go. Moving from set shots, we then look at documentary filmmaking and the challenges of capturing elements that are out of your direct control. Similar to the completed action, a popular film school assignment is the “process documentary,” which is one of the most basic staples of documentary filmmaking.

For this assignment, you’ll need to choose a documentary subject that ideally completes one (or several) actions of its own. Some good examples would be a pizzeria preparing a pizza for delivery, a yard crew mowing a lawn, or a mechanic changing a tire, etc. The important thing is that the activity is out of your control as a documentarian, so you’ll have to plan to capture the footage you’ll need to create your process documentary in the edit.

Read up on these documentary articles for more inspiration.

• How To Find the Right Subject for Your Documentary
• 7 Reasons You Should “Script” Your Documentary Projects
• A Complete Guide to Documentary Filmmaking

4. Two-Person Conversation with Flashback

Image via  guruXOX .

One of the more entertaining projects I can remember was the first two-person conversation that we got to shoot — we were supposed to juxtapose it against a short flashback sequence. The two-person conversation is a staple of narrative filmmaking that teaches you all sorts of principles and techniques. You get to learn and apply the  180-degree rule , along with your standard shot-reverse-shot back and forth. You can add close-ups, over-the-shoulders, and reaction shots for more coverage to choose from in your edit.

The flashback adds another element: crossing dialogue from the conversation with a sequence that your characters could be describing or alluding to as a way to develop a story. Once you have all your footage for both, the edit starts to become very open-ended, and it’s exciting to see how many different ways you can put everything together.

Here is some more information on the basics of shot-reverse-shot filmmaking.

• How to Compose a Cinematic Shot Reverse Shot
• Camera Angles: Over The Shoulder or Single Shot?
• Learn to Work with Eyelines in Film and Video Production

5. Three-Act Structure Short Film

Image via  Nicoleta Ionescu .

While you don’t always learn this in a beginner’s film class, the classic three-act narrative structure is a huge step toward both short and feature filmmaking — virtually all of your favorite movies and TV shows have used this structure to some degree. ( Joseph Campell’s Hero’s Journey  is a good read if you want to see how a similar concept applies to narratives from around the world throughout history.)

This assignment requires you to script, storyboard, shoot, and edit a short film that follows the three-act narrative arc. You don’t have to hit every point, but it becomes a fun challenge to show the basic elements of the hero’s journey from beginning to end.

Here are some more resources on scripting and the hero’s journey.

• The Recurring Myth Behind Your Favorite Films
• Bending the Rules of the Three-Act Structure
• 5 Important Tools Every Screenwriter Should Have

If you view these “assignments” as prompts, you can start creating some projects of your own that you can share with friends or others in the filmmaking community. For more inspiration and technical tips, stick around the  PremiumBeat blog and YouTube page  to keep developing your skills. And for more film school-esque tips and tricks, check out some of the following articles.

• The Essential Back to (Film) School Reading Guide + 3 Free EBooks
• 7 Film School Clichés You Might Want to Avoid
• 10 Tips for Succeeding in Film School
• HBO’s Game of Thrones: Your One-Stop Film School
• 11 YouTube Channels Every Filmmaker Should Be Following

Cover image by  TZIDO SUN .

Never second-guess again. The new Creator License covers personal projects online and on social media

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

The best online film classes for students and professionals.

Whether you're an aspiring director, screenwriter or multi-hyphenate actor, these classes — led by David Lynch, Shonda Rhimes, Natalie Portman and more — will prep you for Hollywood.

By Danielle Directo-Meston

Danielle Directo-Meston

E-Commerce Writer

• Share on Facebook
• Share to Flipboard
• Send an Email
• Show additional share options
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Pinterest
• Share on Reddit
• Share on Tumblr
• Share on Whats App
• Print the Article
• Post a Comment

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, The Hollywood Reporter may receive an affiliate commission.

Whether you’re looking to add another golden statue to your collection, you’ve gotten into one of the best film schools in the U.S. or you’re looking for a new creative pursuit, there are plenty of online learning platforms for sharpening your filmmaking skills.

Related Stories

Masterclass is half off for memorial day: save and learn from michael lewis, martha stewart, kris jenner and more, ava duvernay joins masterclass roster with course on filmmaking (exclusive).

Even NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts offers an online certification program through Yellowbrick, which partners with some of the best universities and brands to create its educational courses. (Full disclosure: IndieWire and Rolling Stone , both owned by The Hollywood Reporter ‘s parent company, are NYU’s partners.)

Related:  The 20 Best International Film Schools of 2021

So whether you’re a student, a Hollywood-obsessed hobbyist or an industry pro who wants to brush up on your skills, we’ve rounded up five of the best online learning sites offering classes in filmmaking, documentary production , writing, directing, acting and more to watch on your own time. Check out our top picks below.

1. MasterClass

You really can’t go wrong with MasterClass , which is hands-down one of the best online education platforms for learning from award-winning instructors across nearly every industry, from science and the culinary arts to music and film. Aspiring directors can learn from Ken Burns, Jodie Foster, Werner Herzog, Ron Howard, Spike Lee, David Lynch, Mira Nair and Martin Scorcese, and film and TV writers can score pro tips from the likes of Judd Apatow, Shonda Rhimes and Aaron Sorkin.

2. Yellowbrick: NYU Tisch Film & TV Industry Essentials

Spread across five online modules comprised of over 45 on-demand video lessons, New York University’s online Film & TV Industry Essentials course lets you learn about the many career paths in the business. Filmmakers Alrick Brown, Ang Lee and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon; directors Kevin Bray and Sam Pollard; executive producer Yahlin Chang ( The Handmaid’s Tale ); and NYU professors David K. Irving and Harry Winer are among those who share their expert career advice.

The classes include assignments and self-paced projects, so you’ll get some hands-on learning too. Upon completion, you’ll earn a certificate stamped with NYU’s seal of approval (but note that it won’t replace an official diploma from the respected college). The certification program costs $999, and subscription options starting at $99 per month are also available.

            View this post on Instagram                         A post shared by Yellowbrick.Film (@yellowbrick.film)

3. Coursera

What’s great is that Coursera offers flexible enrollment and start dates, so you can learn at your own pace. You’ll also receive a certificate of completion. Courses start at $49 and include the shareable certificate, or you can audit classes for free without access to graded items. You can also opt for a Coursera Plus subscription , which gets you access to over 3,000 courses, projects and certification programs for $59 per month or $399 annually.

Coursera Plus Subscription $59 per month Buy now

If you’re looking to develop your craft behind the lens or in the editing bay, Udemy is a great resource for some of the best online classes for photography, video editing and other technical skills. (Companies such as Apple and Netflix use Udemy Business to empower their employees’ own career learning endeavors.)

The online education platform’s offerings include video courses starting at $10 for Adobe programs such as Lightroom, Photoshop and Premiere Pro; as well as Affinity Photo, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and other software. You can also choose from online photography classes focused on DSLR and film cameras and even iPhones; video production ; documentary filmmaking ; and storytelling essentials ; to name just a few. Udemy’s courses also come with downloadable resources, assignments and a certificate of completion.

5. LinkedIn Learning

Popular online learning platform Lynda was acquired by LinkedIn Learning in 2015, which means the professional social network offers a range of classes for personal and professional development. Its classes cater to a variety of filmmaker types, including videographers, editors, colorists and motion graphics artists, and those who want to learn how to use Adobe After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro.

The catalog includes classes for motion graphics and VFX , such as 2D and 3D tracking, motion typography, storyboarding and video color grading; as well as courses on the impact of deepfake videos, how to work as a one-person video crew, creating and managing a YouTube channel, screenwriting and more.

New LinkedIn Learning subscribers can get a free one-month trial; after that, the service is $240 annually or $30 monthly (you’ll save $120 if you choose the former option). Learn more and sign up for LinkedIn Learning here .

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

‘the bikeriders’ roll into hollywood, eddie murphy returns to ‘beverly hills cop’ and this week’s best events, dagne dover just dropped the most enviable luggage collection — maybe ever, hollywood flashback: meet drag king og gladys bentley, sphere las vegas has big plans for independence day: debut of ‘xo audio’ and ‘xo stream’, cole escola’s twisted history of mary todd lincoln hits broadway, how much are taylor swift’s legs worth the weird world of insuring celebrity body parts.

• Our Mission

5-Minute Film Festival: Resources for Filmmaking in the Classroom

Explore classroom filmmaking with this video playlist of resources for teachers and students.

I'll admit I'm a bit biased here since I'm a filmmaker by trade, but I truly believe the process of planning and making videos can offer tremendous learning opportunities for students of almost any age. Not only is the idea of telling stories with video really engaging for many kids, filmmaking is ripe with opportunities to connect to almost every academic subject area. As the technology to shoot and edit films becomes more ubiquitous, where is a teacher with no experience in video production to begin? I've shared some resources below to help you and your students get started on making blockbusters of your own.

Video Playlist: Student Filmmaking 101

Watch the first video below, or watch the whole playlist on YouTube .

Young filmmaker Simon Cade 's channel, DSLRGuide , is one of the most popular for filmmaking tutorials. He's got hundreds of tips to share and started making videos when he was just 11.

Getting your filmmaking kit together is one of the hardest things to do on a budget, but you can't begin until you have the basics. There are links to some of the DIY projects to build your own gear on the YouTube page for this video.

One great resource is the YouTube Creator Academy channel , which has a variety of tip videos made by YouTube's most successful creators. This video by Mary Doodles and Whitney Lee Milam is one of the best intros to storyboarding I've seen.

It's less glossy than the other tutorials here, but I love that this video uses footage from student work to illustrate camera angles. It's produced by ChildFund Connect , an Australian organization that provides an online space for kids to post videos they've made.

Nashville video producer and tech reviewer Danny Winget gives excellent advice for filming with smartphones, which is probably the most accessible way to get started. He covers both gear and technique in this short video.

ProjectED was an Amplify program that hosted open video contests for students and teachers. Although they seem to have stopped running these, they still offer some great resources, like this fun advice video from filmmaker Sophia Dagher .

This is long (17 minutes) but fortunately filmmaker Darious Britt is really engaging. His advice is geared towards people trying to break into the film industry, but his tips are sound. Heads up for a little language that may not be appropriate for younger kids. 

While there are hundreds of more informative and concise tutorials on video editing basics, I chose this one because it features Jennifer Zhang , a teen YouTube creator, sharing how she taught herself to edit video using free tools. She posted a Part Two here .

More Resources on Student Filmmaking

As you can see, there are so many things to learn when it comes to basic filmmaking, and there are countless resources available to help get you started. I didn't even dig into sound, lighting, or scripting in the selection above, but you can find tutorials on every aspect of filmmaking on YouTube. Try some of the channels linked from the playlist for more. The list below includes some articles I've enjoyed on the value of filmmaking and digital storytelling for kids. Plus, there are some lesson plans that will help give you ideas. Share your favorite resources in the comments below, and I'll see you at the movies!

• " Filmmaking for Kids: Rough, Raw, and Real " via The Atlantic
• Teaching Film Resources via MediaEd
• Film in the Classroom Lesson Plans via The New York Times Learning Network
• " A Case for Filmmaking in the Classroom " via NWP Digital Is
• 3-2-1 Vocabulary: Learning Filmmaking Vocabulary by Making Films via ReadWriteThink
• " The Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in The Moving Image " via NYC Department of Education
• " 16 Websites and Apps for Making Videos and Animation " via Graphite

If you download or print anything from this site, please consider making at least a $5.00 donation through PayPal. I can maintain and expand this website only with your help.

Improve your craft with professional online filmmaking courses developed by Academy Award and Emmy-winning filmmakers

330 Lessons

From development to distribution, you will learn every aspect of the filmmaking process from working Hollywood professionals.

Leading Instructors

Learn from over 150 Hollywood filmmakers, who have been honored with over 70 Academy Award and Emmy wins or nominations.

At Your Own Pace

Engaging videos, illustrated lessons, and quizzes let you learn online anytime and anywhere you want. Learn at your own pace.

Learn Professional Filmmaking Techniques

FilmSkills has partnered with Emmy and Academy Award winning filmmakers to produce professional online filmmaking courses that combine in-depth videos based on industry best practices, constantly-updated illustrated tutorials, downloadable resources, projects, and exercises. FilmSkills delivers the content of a four-year film school for a cost less than a single semester.

Whether you want to make better independent films, TV commercials, documentaries, or industrial videos, join the inner circle of master filmmakers whose work has grossed tens of billions of dollars around the world.

325+ Comprehensive Lessons

FilmSkills lessons are packed with current, in-depth information about each topic, making it easy to learn and absorb. From detailed on-set video tutorials and illustrated guides to downloadable contracts and forms, it’s all here.

150 Hours of On-Set Video Tutorials

In-depth video tutorials shot on Hollywood sets feature Emmy and Academy Award winning and nominated filmmakers. Chapterized for easy access.

Hundreds of Illustrated Articles

Packed with behind-the-scenes photos, anecdotes, and real-world tips and techniques, b eautifully-illustrated articles bring difficult concepts to life.

Projects and Exercises

Practice the skills you learn at home with hundreds of DIY projects. Whether you are working with an iPhone or Alexa, we help you become a better filmmaker.

Hundreds of Downloadable Resources

Download real documents from working TV and movie sets, plus hundreds of blank templates for use on your own productions.

Discover the players in the industry from equipment vendors, staffing agencies, networks, studios, and production companies with our extensive list of online resources.

Learn the Entire Filmmaking Process

Click to turn the pages and discover the breadth of the FilmSkills curriculum.

"You know you're in reliable hands because the experts imparting their wisdom are actually industry professionals.

– MovieMaker Magazine

Are you an educator?

Do you teach filmmaking at a university, high school, film commission, or production company? Check out FilmSkills Academic where you can build your own fully-branded online film training program.

Used by over 125 film schools and film commissions

Learn from Industry Professionals

Your instructors have won or been nominated for over 70 Academy Awards, Emmys, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes.

This is no ordinary film school. We partnered with industry leaders whose work is seen every day in TV shows and movies, from Stranger Things to the MCU. They generously share their knowledge and experiences with you through engaging, professional online filmmaking courses, revealing techniques to enhance your skills and shave years off your career path.

From the teams behind Star Trek, Star Wars, Spiderman, Avatar, and dozens of other top productions, you will learn from the very people who define today’s television and motion picture industry.

Produced in partnership with

FREE 1-hour filmmaking course

Learn ten techniques to make your content more professional, how to accelerate your career, and how to make money in this $14 billion/year industry., "filmskills as a whole is highly comprehensive. to say that jason and his team went to great pains to build filmskills is a huge understatement. all of their courses are phenomenal.".

– Edwin Millheim, Impulse Gamer

Discover What's New

We are constantly updating our lessons to bring you the latest techniques. FilmSkills Unlimited members receive these updates for free… for life!

How to Light a Scene

Lighting a Scene As a cinematographer, every time you shoot a new scene, you have to figure out how to light it. With production budgets

Job Responsibilities of a Director

A day in the life of a movie director can vary greatly depending on the stage of production and the specific needs of the project.

How to Reduce Ambient Noise on Location

Ambient noise on location can be a major problem for film and television productions, as it can interfere with dialogue and other audio elements. Whether

How to Write Believable Dialogue

The Art of Writing Realistic Dialogue Learning how to write dialogue in a screenplay is a delicate balance of revealing a character’s personality and driving

Should I Go to Film School?

To go to film school or to not go to film school; that is the question.  If you’re interested in a career in film production,

Meet a few of your 150 instructors

These are no ordinary online filmmaking courses. You will learn from the best of the best. Our instructors have been honored with over 70 Academy Award and Emmy wins and nominations.  No film school on Earth has this caliber of instructors.

Are you ready to get started?

Check out our flexible professional online filmmaking courses designed for every interest level and budget.

Need help? Contact us at [email protected]

We provide a real-world education of the complex world of motion picture production through a series of easy-to-understand, yet comprehensive videos, workbooks and resources. By partnering with industry leaders in the creative and technological fields, we strive to teach real, cutting edge techniques to filmmakers around the globe. 

• Explore the Curriculum
• About the Founder
• Meet Your Instructors
• FilmSkills Unlimited
• Online Certification Courses
• Reference Books
• Free Training

FilmSkills Academic

Are you a film educator, film commission, studio, or production company?  Build your own branded online training academy to deliver FilmSkills training to your learners. 

© 2022. Quantus Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved

Film Analysis

What this handout is about.

This handout introduces film analysis and and offers strategies and resources for approaching film analysis assignments.

Writing the film analysis essay

Writing a film analysis requires you to consider the composition of the film—the individual parts and choices made that come together to create the finished piece. Film analysis goes beyond the analysis of the film as literature to include camera angles, lighting, set design, sound elements, costume choices, editing, etc. in making an argument. The first step to analyzing the film is to watch it with a plan.

Watching the film

First it’s important to watch the film carefully with a critical eye. Consider why you’ve been assigned to watch a film and write an analysis. How does this activity fit into the course? Why have you been assigned this particular film? What are you looking for in connection to the course content? Let’s practice with this clip from Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958). Here are some tips on how to watch the clip critically, just as you would an entire film:

• Give the clip your undivided attention at least once. Pay close attention to details and make observations that might start leading to bigger questions.
• Watch the clip a second time. For this viewing, you will want to focus specifically on those elements of film analysis that your class has focused on, so review your course notes. For example, from whose perspective is this clip shot? What choices help convey that perspective? What is the overall tone, theme, or effect of this clip?
• Take notes while you watch for the second time. Notes will help you keep track of what you noticed and when, if you include timestamps in your notes. Timestamps are vital for citing scenes from a film!

For more information on watching a film, check out the Learning Center’s handout on watching film analytically . For more resources on researching film, including glossaries of film terms, see UNC Library’s research guide on film & cinema .

Brainstorming ideas

Once you’ve watched the film twice, it’s time to brainstorm some ideas based on your notes. Brainstorming is a major step that helps develop and explore ideas. As you brainstorm, you may want to cluster your ideas around central topics or themes that emerge as you review your notes. Did you ask several questions about color? Were you curious about repeated images? Perhaps these are directions you can pursue.

If you’re writing an argumentative essay, you can use the connections that you develop while brainstorming to draft a thesis statement . Consider the assignment and prompt when formulating a thesis, as well as what kind of evidence you will present to support your claims. Your evidence could be dialogue, sound edits, cinematography decisions, etc. Much of how you make these decisions will depend on the type of film analysis you are conducting, an important decision covered in the next section.

After brainstorming, you can draft an outline of your film analysis using the same strategies that you would for other writing assignments. Here are a few more tips to keep in mind as you prepare for this stage of the assignment:

• Make sure you understand the prompt and what you are being asked to do. Remember that this is ultimately an assignment, so your thesis should answer what the prompt asks. Check with your professor if you are unsure.
• In most cases, the director’s name is used to talk about the film as a whole, for instance, “Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo .” However, some writers may want to include the names of other persons who helped to create the film, including the actors, the cinematographer, and the sound editor, among others.
• When describing a sequence in a film, use the literary present. An example could be, “In Vertigo , Hitchcock employs techniques of observation to dramatize the act of detection.”
• Finding a screenplay/script of the movie may be helpful and save you time when compiling citations. But keep in mind that there may be differences between the screenplay and the actual product (and these differences might be a topic of discussion!).
• Go beyond describing basic film elements by articulating the significance of these elements in support of your particular position. For example, you may have an interpretation of the striking color green in Vertigo , but you would only mention this if it was relevant to your argument. For more help on using evidence effectively, see the section on “using evidence” in our evidence handout .

Also be sure to avoid confusing the terms shot, scene, and sequence. Remember, a shot ends every time the camera cuts; a scene can be composed of several related shots; and a sequence is a set of related scenes.

Different types of film analysis

As you consider your notes, outline, and general thesis about a film, the majority of your assignment will depend on what type of film analysis you are conducting. This section explores some of the different types of film analyses you may have been assigned to write.

Semiotic analysis

Semiotic analysis is the interpretation of signs and symbols, typically involving metaphors and analogies to both inanimate objects and characters within a film. Because symbols have several meanings, writers often need to determine what a particular symbol means in the film and in a broader cultural or historical context.

For instance, a writer could explore the symbolism of the flowers in Vertigo by connecting the images of them falling apart to the vulnerability of the heroine.

Here are a few other questions to consider for this type of analysis:

• What objects or images are repeated throughout the film?
• How does the director associate a character with small signs, such as certain colors, clothing, food, or language use?
• How does a symbol or object relate to other symbols and objects, that is, what is the relationship between the film’s signs?

Many films are rich with symbolism, and it can be easy to get lost in the details. Remember to bring a semiotic analysis back around to answering the question “So what?” in your thesis.

Narrative analysis

Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. This type of analysis considers the entirety of the film and the story it seeks to tell.

For example, you could take the same object from the previous example—the flowers—which meant one thing in a semiotic analysis, and ask instead about their narrative role. That is, you might analyze how Hitchcock introduces the flowers at the beginning of the film in order to return to them later to draw out the completion of the heroine’s character arc.

To create this type of analysis, you could consider questions like:

• How does the film correspond to the Three-Act Structure: Act One: Setup; Act Two: Confrontation; and Act Three: Resolution?
• What is the plot of the film? How does this plot differ from the narrative, that is, how the story is told? For example, are events presented out of order and to what effect?
• Does the plot revolve around one character? Does the plot revolve around multiple characters? How do these characters develop across the film?

When writing a narrative analysis, take care not to spend too time on summarizing at the expense of your argument. See our handout on summarizing for more tips on making summary serve analysis.

Cultural/historical analysis

One of the most common types of analysis is the examination of a film’s relationship to its broader cultural, historical, or theoretical contexts. Whether films intentionally comment on their context or not, they are always a product of the culture or period in which they were created. By placing the film in a particular context, this type of analysis asks how the film models, challenges, or subverts different types of relations, whether historical, social, or even theoretical.

For example, the clip from Vertigo depicts a man observing a woman without her knowing it. You could examine how this aspect of the film addresses a midcentury social concern about observation, such as the sexual policing of women, or a political one, such as Cold War-era McCarthyism.

A few of the many questions you could ask in this vein include:

• How does the film comment on, reinforce, or even critique social and political issues at the time it was released, including questions of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality?
• How might a biographical understanding of the film’s creators and their historical moment affect the way you view the film?
• How might a specific film theory, such as Queer Theory, Structuralist Theory, or Marxist Film Theory, provide a language or set of terms for articulating the attributes of the film?

Take advantage of class resources to explore possible approaches to cultural/historical film analyses, and find out whether you will be expected to do additional research into the film’s context.

Mise-en-scène analysis

A mise-en-scène analysis attends to how the filmmakers have arranged compositional elements in a film and specifically within a scene or even a single shot. This type of analysis organizes the individual elements of a scene to explore how they come together to produce meaning. You may focus on anything that adds meaning to the formal effect produced by a given scene, including: blocking, lighting, design, color, costume, as well as how these attributes work in conjunction with decisions related to sound, cinematography, and editing. For example, in the clip from Vertigo , a mise-en-scène analysis might ask how numerous elements, from lighting to camera angles, work together to present the viewer with the perspective of Jimmy Stewart’s character.

To conduct this type of analysis, you could ask:

• What effects are created in a scene, and what is their purpose?
• How does this scene represent the theme of the movie?
• How does a scene work to express a broader point to the film’s plot?

This detailed approach to analyzing the formal elements of film can help you come up with concrete evidence for more general film analysis assignments.

Reviewing your draft

Once you have a draft, it’s helpful to get feedback on what you’ve written to see if your analysis holds together and you’ve conveyed your point. You may not necessarily need to find someone who has seen the film! Ask a writing coach, roommate, or family member to read over your draft and share key takeaways from what you have written so far.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Aumont, Jacques, and Michel Marie. 1988. L’analyse Des Films . Paris: Nathan.

Media & Design Center. n.d. “Film and Cinema Research.” UNC University Libraries. Last updated February 10, 2021. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/filmresearch .

Oxford Royale Academy. n.d. “7 Ways to Watch Film.” Oxford Royale Academy. Accessed April 2021. https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/7-ways-watch-films-critically/ .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

• College Prep
• Study Skills
• Career & Continuing Ed
• Online Learning
• Student Life
• Study Abroad
• Sponsorships
• Scholarships
• Student Group Shoutout
• Latest in Learning
• Success This Semester
• Educators Making an Impact
• Education News

Rethinking Movie Assignments for Students: 5 Tips to Make Movie Day Exciting and Educational

3. Make Creative Movie Assignments for Students

Just because we skipped the fill-in-the-blank movie worksheet doesn’t mean students shouldn’t complete a movie assignment. You should prepare a way to gauge student engagement and understanding of the material. Rather than aim for basic understanding, design projects that will move students farther up Bloom’s taxonomy. 

Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

• Create Movie Posters- an artistic option where students use persuasive techniques to encourage others to watch the movie. 
• Character Analysis- before the movie, assign each student a character from the film to analyze. After, they could apply their knowledge in a mock interview where they play their character, and the class can ask them questions. Another option is to write an obituary, focusing on their motivations and life accomplishments.
• Write an Alternate Ending- have students re-write the ending or a pivotal scene in the movie and analyze how that would change things for the characters. Students could even work in groups to film their adaptations if you have the equipment.
• Be Movie Critics- have students write reviews of the movie and “publish” their work. 

4. Offer Student Choice

What’s better than any of the above options? All of them. Students are more engaged in the classroom when they feel they have a choice in the learning process. Offer a menu with options on a similar level of assessment but that use different student skills and interests. Students who aren’t artistic may not enjoy drawing something for their project, and those who struggle with writing might share more powerful thoughts through video if given the opportunity. 

A menu of options is also a great way to differentiate movie assignments for students. Students with different learning needs could have menus targeted to challenge them without being unattainable. 

5. Watch More Than Once

Watching an entire movie takes a lot of valuable class time, but only seeing something once may not allow your students to get enough information. However, it would take too much time to watch the movie multiple times during class. Instead, provide a way for students to go back and view it on their own time. 

Students could rewatch the movie at home while working on their assignment or preparing for it. While in class, you could allow students to watch portions of it on their own device if they’re missing information or want some clarification or inspiration. 

Alternatively, you could see if your movie has a script you could share with students. This could be especially helpful for students with different auditory and visual needs. Scanning a script for a part they’re looking for is also much faster than rewatching whole segments of a movie and is more than likely less distracting. 

Think Outside the Box

When deciding how to use film in the classroom, many teachers think only of full-length films, but short clips can be just as effective in certain scenarios and are much more time-effective. Student movie assignments would look different for short videos, but since they don’t take as much class time, a quick formative assessment would be sufficient.

Get the latest updates in learning, teaching and everything in between! Whether you're a student or an educator, we offer the inspiration you need to fuel your classroom experience.

Join Our Newsletter

Search Classrooms.com

Browse by category.

• Educating 98
• Experience 106
• Higher Learning Highlights 11
• Learning 237
• Student Funding 32

Latest News

How to Apply for Grants for College

How to Get Local Business Sponsorship for School Events

What Is the Future of IoT in Education?

5 Major Issues in Education Today

Does Withdrawing From a Class Look Bad?

What Companies Do Sponsorships for Student Groups?

Keep up with the latest in learning, more to learn.

What Does Advocating for Students Mean as an Educator?

The Role of Big Data in Education

What You Need to Know About STEM MBA Programs

Assignments for Spring 2002 Sunday Night Film Classes

• Attend eleven films (or ten and one make-up).
• Web assignment: Go to http://globalvillage.pepperdine.edu; click on "Course Offerings"; click on "Links for Film Students." You will find a number of resources there for further film study including reviews by Roger Ebert and other critics, links to film scripts, and other film related sites. You can use this as a way of finding a film review for each of the films shown in class. (Let me say here that reading these film reviews is not necessarily an "academic" experience. It will be my goal to put the seeing, reading, thinking, and talking about films into an academic perspective. But I am concerned about "life-long learning" and think that this approach to film study will have life long outcomes for you.)
• Reading Assignments: Sections 1 and 3 students must read very carefully my essay, "Developing an Impression of Culture." (Students in Sections 1 and 3 should also read at least one film review for each film seen.) Section 2 students must read the material on reserve in the Library. Section 4 students must read my e-mail on the Great Ideas/Great Issues.
• Writing Assignments: Section 1 students should review my essay, "Developing an Impression of Culture," and then write 3 � to 5 pages on the prompt: "We are only different in the ways that we are the same." These papers should be typed. They should evidence that the writer is trying to form an "impression" of culture, and is responding to the films' implicit and explicit content about "social organization and/or religion and/or political structure and/or economic organization and/or material culture."

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Teaching Ideas

8 Ways to Teach With Short Documentary Films From The Times

How to use our weekly Film Club feature to teach close reading and critical thinking skills via an eclectic mix of nonfiction videos.

By Jeremy Engle

Death metal-singing grandmothers. Gravity-defying dancers on nine-foot stilts. The dangers of “sharenting.” Coming-of-age with autism. What really happened at Stonewall. The whereabouts of smooth-voiced, permed-haired Bob Ross’s vast collection of lost paintings. These are just a few stories and themes we have explored in our weekly Film Club since it began in 2015.

Every Thursday during the school year, we feature a short documentary film from The New York Times and a set of five open-ended questions intended to encourage thoughtful and honest dialogue, either in your classroom or in the comments section. These films — drawn from Times Video series like Op-Docs , Modern Love , Diary of a Song and Conception — offer viewers an intriguing and unique perspective of the world and ask students to think deeply about themes like ethics, human rights, gender identity and scientific discovery. And each one is typically under 12 minutes.

As with other short texts like stories, poems and articles, mini-documentary films can stimulate discussion, debate, thinking and writing. And, they can serve as a refreshing break from print media to help students explore curriculum themes and practice important literacy skills.

You might use Film Club weekly in your class as a tool for regular writing and discussion. Or, if you’re looking for specific ways to make short documentaries a part of your curriculum, below, we present eight ideas for teaching with the series. For each topic, we suggest several films to watch, questions for discussion and activities to go further.

Let us know in the comments section or by emailing us at [email protected] how and why you are using Film Club and if you have any suggestions to improve our feature.

Explore a Theme or Big Idea

A concerto is a conversation, a virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family’s lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from jim crow florida to the walt disney concert hall..

All right. It’s a real pleasure to welcome Kris Bowers, our composer, who has written a concerto, “For a Younger Self.” Welcome. [APPLAUSE] Can I ask a question? All right, Granddaddy. Can you tell me, just what is a concerto? So it’s basically this piece that has a soloist and an ensemble, an orchestra. The two are having a conversation. And so sometimes that conversation can be this person speaking, and now this person speaking. Sometimes the conversation — It’s a question. — is at the same time. Yeah. And it really depends on how the composer wants to, or how I want to frame that conversation. Did you ever picture yourself doing what you’re doing now? Huh. [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] I’m very aware of the fact that I’m a Black composer, and lately actually I’ve been wondering whether or not I’m supposed to be in the spaces that I’m in, or supposed to have gotten to the point that I’ve gotten to. Well, I can tell you one thing. Never think that you’re not supposed to be there. Cause you wouldn’t be there if you wasn’t supposed to be there. It goes back to slavery. [MUSIC PLAYING] My grandfather, who I found out has cancer a little while ago, I wanted to spend some more time with him and talk to him about his life, about our family, ask him as much as I can before he passes. [BELL RINGING] Granddaddy. Mm-hm? Need a bit of help with this. Do what? Getting this seamed out for the show. OK. Don’t step on the pedals. Push it right in the corner. OK. Wow. OK. We’re going to make it real handsome here. You’re going to be ready to go. Thank you, sir. Growing up in the South was quite a thing for me. Bascom, Florida, as far back as I can remember, I think the plantation was the Bowers plantation. All 13 of you all grew up in that house? Mm-hm. Wow. How all of us stayed in two rooms, I don’t know. We would start on the porch singing. And there were people, I don’t know how they could hear it that far, would come drive in the front yard and listen to us sing at night. People in that area was, the Blacks were Bowers, and the whites was Beavers. Beavers had the grocery store. But when Dad would walk in the store, this kid about my size, small kid — How old were you about this point? Like how old? I probably was 6 or 7 years old. Oh, wow. And he would go up to my dad and say, what could I get for you, boy? That stuck with me forever. Why are you calling my dad a boy? And Daddy would answer him, sir, yes sir, no sir. But it was something that stayed with me because I knew then when I got of age I was going to leave there. I didn’t want no parts of the farm. I didn’t want no parts of that part of the country. I just wanted to leave. Wherever I could get a ride to, that’s where I was headed to. [MUSIC PLAYING] What was that process like, hitchhiking as a Black man in America in the 1940s? I had to be crazy. Now, the first place I remember being is in Detroit. A man picked me up. He was saying that he could get me a job and a place to stay and all this. I asked him, does it snow there? And he said yes. And that was the end of that, because I didn’t want to be any place that was cold. But I hitchhiked from there to Denver, Colorado. And I was in this Greyhound bus station, cause they had two counters, white and Black. So I could get something to eat. And I heard somebody say, Los Angeles, California. I said, that’s where I want to go. Never heard of Los Angeles before. I had $27 or $28. I didn’t know how I was going to make it, but I knew I was going to make it. So I said well, I’m going to pretend to be an employment agency and call around to get a job. Wow. I got the telephone book, started at the A’s. A Cleaners. And I don’t think I made more than five calls, and the phone rang, and it was the A Cleaners, and they said they needed a presser. I got all the information. I said, OK, I’ll send someone right out. And that was me. [LAUGHING] That’s where I met your grandmother. [MUSIC PLAYING] How old were you when you bought the cleaners? I was 20. Wow. So within two years I had gone from homeless to I was in business. [MUSIC PLAYING] But I never could get a loan. And I owned the place. I said, something wrong with this picture. I told them I come in for the loan, and he said no, I don’t have anything. And I left later, and picked up an application, and I mailed it in. A few days later, I got a call, your loan is approved. I said, it’s the color of my skin. I said in the South they tell you. In Los Angeles they show you. From then on we started buying property, I would get things at the cleaner, everything, but nobody ever saw me. Everything was done by mail. People are constantly throwing up things to stop you in life. But you’ve got to know you cannot stop me. [MUSIC PLAYING] My name is Kristopher Bowers, and I want to play “Shining Star in Atlantic City.” My parents decided before I was born they wanted me to play piano. Literally, I think it’s called like “Piano Sampler No. 5” that they used to put on my mom’s stomach every day. Actually, one of the first pieces of music I ever wrote was on this piano. And I remember, you know, just playing around here all the time. But we were up at a restaurant one, I believe it was a Sunday. At Marie Callendar’s? Marie Callendar’s. They had a piano in there, and I asked the guy could you play it. And they said yes. I carried you over there, and you were playing it, and I was proud of you. [LAUGHING] [MUSIC PLAYING] There aren’t that many opportunities for young kids of color to showcase their talents or to interact with other kids of color playing music and doing those things, and you talking about being my manager, essentially, from the very beginning. If I didn’t have that, I probably wouldn’t have been as confident pursuing music. I remember — where were you in school at that I was up there? What, in New York? At Juilliard? Juilliard? Wherever it was, you enjoyed it. So that’s all I was thinking. If you enjoyed making a living at it. I knew that, boy. And the winner is Kris Bowers. “Green Book.” [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYING] What do you think your biggest challenge is today? My biggest challenge today, being honest, is my health. It’s just trying to stay healthy. That would be my challenge today. [MUSIC PLAYING] I’ve got a few more years to go, but I’m almost to the top. [LAUGHING] Ten more years, I’ll be at the top. [LAUGHING] So now I just keep trying to do the best I can. Yeah. And enjoy seeing my children and grandchildren being successful. That’s glory in itself. It’s just something that I hope I had a little something to do with it. [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] (SINGING) Then sings my soul, my savior, my God to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art. You did it! You did it! You did it! [LAUGHING] See, it surprised you. [LAUGHING]

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact
• About Digital Citizenship
• Digital Citizenship Curriculum
• Digital Citizenship (U.K.)
• Lesson Collections
• All Lesson Plans
• Digital Life Dilemmas
• SEL in Digital Life Resource Center
• Implementation Guide
• Toolkits by Topic
• Digital Citizenship Week
• Digital Connections (Grades 6–8)
• Digital Compass™ (Grades 6–8)
• Digital Passport™ (Grades 3–5)
• Social Media TestDrive (Grades 6–8)

AI Literacy for Grades 6–12

• All Apps and Websites
• Curated Lists
• Best in Class
• Common Sense Selections
• About the Privacy Program
• Privacy Evaluations
• Privacy Articles
• Privacy Direct (Free download)
• AI Movies, Podcasts, & Books
• Learning Podcasts
• Movies to Support SEL
• Internet Safety
• Books for Digital Citizenship
• ChatGPT and Beyond
• Strategies for Shocking News
• Digital Well-Being Discussions
• Supporting LGBTQ+ Students
• Offline Digital Citizenship
• Teaching with Tech
• Movies in the Classroom
• Social & Emotional Learning
• Digital Citizenship
• Tech & Learning
• News and Media Literacy
• Browse Events and Training
• Modeling Digital Habits Teacher Training
• Digital Citizenship Teacher Training
• Student Privacy Teacher Training
• Common Sense Recognized Educators
• Common Sense Education Ambassadors

Training Course: Modeling Digital Habits

Earn your Common Sense Education badge today!

• Family Engagement Toolkit
• Digital Citizenship Resources for Families

Family Tech Planners

Family and community engagement program.

• Workshops for Families with Kids Age 0–8
• Workshops for Middle and High School Families
• Kids and Tech Video Series

• Meet us at ISTE

Showing a Movie in Class? Help Your Students Develop Active Viewing Skills

Topics:   Tech & Learning News & Media Literacy Digital Citizenship

Have students write their own movie review with this fun lesson plan and worksheet.

The words "movie day" probably evoke fond memories from our own childhoods: Teachers rolling out the TV/VCR cart; the classroom lights flickering out; everyone scooting their desks to get a better view or a seat near a friend; and, if we were lucky, maybe even the smell of freshly microwaved popcorn. Today, when it comes to watching movies in school, the technology has changed (no more squinting to see a tiny TV in the corner!), but our students love movie days just the same -- if not more.

There's magic in the shared experience of seeing a great story unfold on the screen, together, in the same room.

Sometimes showing a movie in class is just the right call. Some movies can help illustrate big, complex ideas. Others help us explore detailed topics in ways that just aren't possible otherwise. And the best movies help us enrich students' learning about the much wider world outside of our classroom's walls.

And to top it off, classroom movies are a great way to help students practice their media literacy skills. Active viewing is a skill that doesn't always come naturally, but it's something all students can practice and learn. And in today's media-saturated world, kids need all the help they can get when it comes to different ways of thinking about what they're seeing on screens of all sizes.

Movie Review Lesson Plan: Help Your Students Become Active Viewers

Use this lesson plan and worksheet to help your students practice their active viewing skills, no matter what movie they're watching! We've designed this lesson and activity for middle school, but it could also be great for upper elementary or even in a high school class. Feel free to adapt this lesson (and the included Google Doc movie guide) to suit your specific needs.

Prep for teachers

Objective:  Students will be able to build active viewing skills and write a movie review.

• First and foremost, preview any movie before you show it in class. It might sound obvious, but this is such an important step! You'll be able to see if the movie's appropriate, but also whether it's a good fit for your students' learning. You'll also be able to find some key scenes to discuss (see below for some tips on this).
• Make a copy of the Write a Movie Review!  handout. Before distributing to your students, feel free to customize the handout to your class's needs. (Note: You'll probably want to add a bit more space for students to write in their answers.)
• Review the lesson plan and talking points below (including the active viewing definition) for yourself before class starts.

In the classroom

Essential question:  How can active viewing help me write a movie review?

Hook (5-10 minutes)

Before you start the movie, ask students if they've ever seen or read a movie review -- if so, where did they see it? Was the review from an expert, a journalist, or professional movie reviewer? Or maybe was it written and posted online by an everyday viewer sharing their opinion? Some students may have already written their own movie review somewhere!

Then ask students: What makes an expert's movie review different? Are they just going on a "gut feeling"? Or are they doing something that makes their reviews better or more informed?

After entertaining students' ideas, explain that, when professional movie critics rate and review a movie, they usually go on a lot more than just a gut feeling. They're doing something called active viewing . They're not just saying if they thought the movie was good or bad. Professional movie reviewers also explain -- in detail --  why they thought it was good or bad (or somewhere in-between).

Hand out the Write a Movie Review! graphic organizer

Give students copies of the Write a Movie Review!  handout (or if you're using the digital version, copy and distribute them online). Explain to students that they'll be watching a movie in class, but also practicing their active viewing skills at the same time. By the end, they'll have everything they'll need to write their own review of the movie.

Active viewing, defined:

Ask your students: What do you think "active viewing" means? As a class, review the elements that help define active viewing that appear at the top of the graphic organizer.

Active viewing means:

• Watching with a purpose
• Paying attention
• Taking notes
• Asking good questions about what you're seeing

And it also means doing these things before, during, and after you watch.

Before you watch:

Help students jot down some key information about the movie before you start watching. Ask them to think about why these things might be important in thinking more deeply about the movie.

You can also preview the rest of the handout with students before you start the movie -- mainly the "While You Watch" section, so they know what to look for while watching.

While you watch:

Start the movie and enjoy!  Be ready to pause at key scenes so students have a bit of time to process, or even discuss, what they're seeing. During these pauses, you might even encourage students to think about whether they'd like to choose the scene as something to write about (or draw!) on their handout.

As you pause, reflect, and discuss, you might even consider rewinding and rewatching a particular scene. Some scenes in movies are truly worthy of a second look for students, especially in light of something that comes up in discussion that some students may have missed or want to see again.

After you watch:

Give students some time to process and think about what they've just seen before diving into any discussion or reactions. The "After You Watch" questions on the handout are a great start, but feel free to bring up any other relevant questions specific to the movie you're using. Be sure to give students plenty of time to look back at their notes and reflect.

Encourage students to wait before giving the movie their star rating. Remember: Active viewing takes place before, during, and after the movie. Ask them to resist the urge to judge the movie before they've considered all of the active viewing questions, saving the star rating for last. This way -- just like a professional movie reviewer! -- they'll have fully considered the movie before giving it their official star rating.

Writing Extension!

Students can revise the notes they've taken on their handout, turning it into an actual, written movie review! Better yet, encourage students to share their reviews with an authentic audience -- classmates, families, or even online!

Image courtesy of Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for American Education: Images of Teachers and Students in Action.

I'm the Director of Marketing for Common Sense's Education platform. Prior to my work at Common Sense, I was an editor and classroom teacher. I'm an advocate for the creative, thoughtful, and responsible use of technology, and I thrive on sharing his knowledge, experience, and perspectives with others.

Related Content

Inside Out and SEL: A Movie Guide and Lesson Plan for Your Classroom

Help students reflect on the social and emotional aspects of the movie and consider how their own emotions work.

Why the Movie "Eighth Grade" Is Great for Digital Citizenship

Start a conversation about social media and identity with this relatable film.

Teachers' Essential Guide to Showing Movies and Videos in the Classroom

Support students' learning, and find the best video streaming sites for schools and classrooms.

Ready to get started?

• Education , Inspiration

15 creative video project ideas for students (and their teachers)

Fall is here. The leaves are starting to change color and teachers everywhere are asking the same question: How do I come up with video project ideas for my students?

Video has been a staple learning tool for decades. But having students create, design, and edit video projects themselves is becoming a much more common classroom activity. Video projects are a great way to help students of all ages  actively engage with subject matter  and learn from one another.

Online apps like  Biteable  make it easy for students to turn video ideas for school into a reality. Templates and easy-to-use editing tools keep the process simple and offer plenty of inspiration for student video projects.

To help teachers and students alike leverage video as an  educational tool , we’ve gathered our favorite creative video project ideas for students. Each idea comes with a ready-to-edit video template so you and your students can get started right away.

Create videos that drive action

Activate your audience with impactful, on-brand videos. Create them simply and collaboratively with Biteable.

Elementary student video project ideas

It can be tricky to keep young students interested and engaged all day long. Creating videos gives elementary students a fun, creative way to learn about anything. And student-created videos are an amazing classroom learning supplement. If a video is produced by their peers, interest will skyrocket.

1. Create a book trailer

Instead of a traditional book report, have students design a movie-style trailer that drums up excitement about a novel or a non-fiction book. Creating a book trailer gives students the opportunity to think creatively, share a story with their classmates, and reinforce their learning in a new way.

2. Give a video tour

To supplement social studies curriculum, students can create a video showing off a significant location or their favorite part of the school. If you have a field trip planned, ask students to share their experience by recording videos throughout the day and adding voice over narration.

A video tour of the school is also a great way to share the campus with new students and visitors. As a way to pass the torch before they leave for middle school, how about asking your fifth graders to collaborate on an orientation video for incoming kindergarteners?

3. Celebrate the holidays

There’s always something to celebrate, no matter what time of year it is. Have students film letters to Santa, make video Valentines for parents or grandparents, or make short educational videos about lesser known holidays. Students can even create simple, digital thank-you notes for classroom visitors or parent volunteers.

4. Recreate a moment in history

Learning about historical people and events? Have your students research and recreate major moments in history, like the story of Rosa Parks or the Oregon Trail.

Videos help students visualize and remember these important moments. It also gives students the opportunity to experiment with digital storytelling. And students will be challenged to bring each scene to life accurately.

5. Try stop-motion video

Video learning isn’t limited to literary or historical topics. Encourage students to use stop-motion or create their own slides to explain science experiments or other STEM projects. With the right footage, like Biteable’s extensive collection of clay animation footage, students won’t even need to build stop motion models. They can just focus on the presentation and storytelling in their video.

Video project ideas for middle and high school students

Video projects for high schoolers can be a little more advanced, as students should be practicing editing and narrative skills in addition to learning about new topics.

6. Create a news channel

To supplement learning in a current events class, have your students film a news broadcast covering both local and international events.

Ask students to take on certain roles in the newsroom: anchor, sports reporter, weather reporter, or entertainment correspondent. Doing a news segment helps everyone get involved and promotes teamwork.

7. Start a portfolio

Many high school students are thinking about college applications. Give them the chance to  jumpstart their applications with a portfolio video project  and showcase what makes them unique.

Art students can show off their best work and design skills. Students applying to traditional schools can answer an application question or create a video showcasing their community service and extracurriculars.

8. Promote a good cause

Rather than writing a traditional essay or report, have students create a video advocating for a cause that’s important to them. This helps students build their identity and develop persuasive skills. And students can share their  promotional video  with everyone, not just their teacher and classmates.

9. Questions for your future self

Think ahead with a video full of inspiring questions. This project is great for incoming freshmen. At the beginning of the year, have students create videos with questions for their future self or with goals for their life and career. At graduation, send the videos back to them. It’s a fun, positive way to celebrate their success throughout high school.

Higher ed video project ideas

Higher education might not seem like the place for student-made videos. But in the real world, businesses use video for all sorts of things. Video projects build plenty of resume-worthy skills that college students can take with them to the workforce.

10. Create a university promotion video

It’s easy to forget that colleges and universities are businesses, too. And they need help with promotion. A solid college or university promotion video could open opportunities for internships or college employment. Promoting something that they’re already familiar with is a great way for students to build video persuasion skills.

11. Record and edit interviews

Being able to conduct a good interview and edit it in a way that’s appropriate for the purpose of the interview is a valuable skill in multiple industries. And interviewing experts in the field is appropriate for just about any class.

12. Make a video self-assessment

Grades are important. But being able to self-assess is also an incredibly valuable way for students to incrementally improve at any skill.

Making video self-assessments gives students a more active role in the grading process and offers them a creative way to highlight the work they’ve put into a course. It also gives them a chance to make an argument for the grade they feel they deserve — a skill that easily correlates to performance reviews in their future workplace.

13. Film a job interview guide

For most people, the interview is the most nerve-wracking part of getting a job. Practicing interview questions is a great way to prepare. But most students don’t know how to prepare for a job interview.

Creating a job interview  how-to guide  is a perfect way for students to learn how to prepare for a job interview and help other students prepare at the same time.

14. Create a video presentation based on a written assignment

Written assignments are the backbone of a university education (in most disciplines, at least). However, the audience for most written assignments is limited to the professor and assistants. Creating presentation videos for their assignments gives students the opportunity to share their hard work with their fellow students, while also learning valuable video editing skills.

15. Build a video resume

For most students, the job search starts even before graduation. A video resume helps students highlight the skills they acquired and the experience they gained during college. And, given the global workforce, a  video resume is a great supplement to a paper resume, especially when applying for remote or distant positions where an in-person interview may not be an option.

Take your video project from idea to reality with Biteable

Ready to get started  making an education video project ?

Biteable has a huge  library of video templates that help students get going fast rather than struggling to start from a blank screen. Drag-and-drop editing and easy to use tools let students focus on what’s important: the project assignment and delivering a thoughtful message.

Make stunning videos with ease.

Take the struggle out of team communication.

Try Biteable now.

• No credit card required
• No complicated design decisions
• No experience necessary

Browse Course Material

Course info.

• Prof. Alvin Kibel

Departments

As taught in.

• Media Studies
• Film and Video
• Comparative Literature

Learning Resource Types

Studies in film, course meeting times.

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Course Description

The aim of this subject is to sharpen appreciation of film and literary fiction by studying the differences and similarities between the ways that filmed narratives and written narratives tell their stories. To this end we shall (1) imbibe and digest a modest amount of theory about narrative in general and how it works, and (2) view films and works of fiction in tandem. One way to proceed upon this enterprise is to study the filmed adaptations works of fiction, but we shall be taking another way. Each film will be paired with a work of literary merit which either deals with similar thematic materials and narrative situations, or else employs a technique of presentation that directly corresponds to a technique employed by the film with which it is paired. To illustrate this latter sort of relationship, we may note that Billy Wilders film, Sunset Boulevard , derives more from stories of vampires and possession than it does from social comedy, but both Wilder’s film and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice depend importantly on the presence of a discernable narrative voice (in the case of Wilder’s film, voice-over) whose capacities to comment on the action are superior to all the actors in the story and carries a large portion of the story’s meaning and effect. For this reason, although the stories told by Wilder’s film and Austen’s novel have little or nothing to do with one another, we might study them in tandem.

The films and literary fictions dealt with in this subject will be important each in their own right, and the point of our encounter with them will not only be to investigate narrative media but also to appreciate their artistic merits and the value of their conveyed view of life. The subject will pair, among others, works by Aeschylus and John Ford, Sophocles and Clint Eastwood, Shakespeare and Francis Coppolla, Henry James and Billy Wilder, Cervantes and Akira Kurosawa, Scott Fitzgerald and Orson Welles.

Course Format and Grading

The student should be advised that the amount of reading in this subject will not be remarkably less than the amount in other literary subjects and yet the subject will require viewing of films as well. The subject will meet twice a week for two one-and-a-half hour sessions and will screen a film (whenever a film is under discussion) on Monday evenings, starting at 7:00 PM. Each session will begin with a lecture of varying length, but will change over early into general discussion. Since active participation in discussion is essential to the life of the class, the force and cogency of students’ remarks will have a marked influence on grades. Much of the grade will also depend upon the quality of the three written assignments required by the course, which will be spaced fairly evenly over the term. The papers will total twenty pages in entirety, with two papers running to at least six pages each and a final paper running to at least eight pages. The papers will each deal with some aspect of the readings and discussion; topics may be invented by the students but an extensive list of suggested topics will be circulated two weeks in advance of each paper’s due date for those students who require it. The maximum number of students per section of this subject is 12. There will be no final examination.

You are leaving MIT OpenCourseWare

There is NO AI content on this website. All content on TeachWithMovies.org has been written by human beings.

• FOR TEACHERS
• FOR PARENTS
• FOR HOME SCHOOL
• TESTIMONIALS
• SOCIAL MEDIA
• DMCA COMPLIANCE
• GRATUITOUS VIOLENCE
• MOVIES IN THE CLASSROOM
• PRIVACY POLICY
• U.S. HISTORY
• WORLD HISTORY
• SUBJECT MATTER
• APPROPRIATE AGE LEVEL
• MORAL/ETHICAL EMPHASIS
• SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING
• SNIPPETS & SHORT SUBJECTS
• MOVIES BY THE CALENDAR
• DOCUMENTARIES & NON-FICTION
• TALKING AND PLAYING WITH MOVIES: AGES 3-8
• TWM’S BEST TEACHING FILMS
• TALKING AND PLAYING WITH MOVIES
• SET-UP-THE-SUB
• ARTICLES & STUDENT HANDOUTS
• MOVIE PERMISSION SLIP
• MOVIE & TELEVISION WORKSHEETS
• MATHEMATICS
• EARTH SCIENCE
• ANY FILM THAT IS A WORK OF FICTION
• FILM ADAPTATIONS OF NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, OR PLAYS
• ANY FILM THAT IS A DOCUMENTARY
• ANY FILM THAT EXPLORES ETHICAL ISSUES
• ADAPTATION OF A NOVEL
• DOCUMENTARIES
• HERO’S JOURNEY
• SCIENCE FICTION
• WORK OF FICTION
• WORK OF HISTORICAL FICTION
• PERSUASIVE DOCUMENTARY
• FICTION (SOAPS, DRAMAS, AND REALITY/SURVIVAL SHOW)
• HISTORICAL FICTION
• INFORMATIONAL DOCUMENTARY
• NEWS AND CURRENT EVENTS
• SEARCH [Custom]

MOVIES AS LITERATURE HOMEWORK PROJECT

Screens show the literature of today’s students whether it’s a movie, a television program, or even a video game. Today’s English Language Arts curriculum originated in past centuries to teach people about the popular culture of their time, written stories. But today’s literature no longer relies on print alone; instead it has expanded to include stories told on screens. Most of the reasons to teach the structure and devices of fiction apply with equal force to screened stories. In fact, the need to teach about screened fiction becomes more urgent every day as today’s youth increasingly shift their attention toward screens and away from the written word. For these reasons, TWM contends that ELA teachers who desire to impart lifetime lessons about the wonder of stories will give students the tools to analyze screened fiction. Since the best filmed stories use many of the elements and devices of written fiction, ELA educators are well qualified to provide instruction on how the elements and devices of fiction are used in screened stories.

However, there are obstacles to teaching film as literature in ELA classes. The Common Core Curriculum Standards give minimal attention to the need to teach screened fiction and teachers are bound by their contracts to teach to the standards. In addition, class time is extremely limited.

Some teachers have pointed out that today’s students are often so unused to reading that teaching the elements and devices of written literature by showing appropriate film clips assists students in applying those concepts to written texts. Reading in the Dark: Using Film As a Tool in the English Classroom (2001) written by John Golden, published by the National Council of Teachers of English Publications. While this is a valuable insight, it doesn’t teach students that the entirety of a filmed work of fiction can be subjected to literary analysis. Moreover, just as reading an entire book in class is by necessity an infrequent occurrence, showing a movie and leading the class through an in-depth literary analysis of the film is something that can be done only once or twice a semester.

Part of the solution to this conundrum is TWM’s Movies as Literature Homework Project which requires students to watch movies at home and prepare an analysis of the film based on TWM’s Film Study Worksheet .

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE ASSIGNMENT

The assignment consists of the following documents: (1) The Movies as Literature Homework Project and (2) a list of films. Click here for TWM’s suggested list . Keep a large number of TWM’s Film Study Worksheets for students to take them home when necessary.

Make sure that students understand each term used in TWM’s Film Study Worksheet . For classes below the tenth grade, go through the questions and demonstrate how they can be answered. In the alternative, have students respond to the prompts in the worksheet (or a shortened worksheet) after seeing a movie in class. After students have had time to write short responses to the prompts, discuss the responses in class.

This project can be used directly as presented by TeachWithMovies or it can be adapted to enhance its benefits. For example, teachers can have students make presentations to the class about literary elements or devices that they have seen in the movies they have watched for the assignment. If the class has been focusing on a group of literary devices, question #10 of the Film Study Worksheet can be modified to refer to them. Teachers can, over the semester, require students to view a popular and easily accessible movie outside of class that can then be analyzed during school. In this case, teachers should also show the movie once or twice after school for those who can’t get access to the film.

Other variations include the following: Students can be required to watch three or four movies. Students can also be separated into groups of four or fewer with each group being asked to give an oral presentation in response to a question on the Worksheet. For middle school or junior high school classes, the Worksheet can be simplified by eliminating some of the questions or by requiring that fewer examples be given. For students who are not familiar with archetypes, delete question #10 or substitute another question. For example, the following question can replace #10 “Describe three images or scenes that stand out in your mind when you think about this movie.” Questions relating to topics that have been studied in class can be substituted for some of the questions in the Worksheet. Students can be given time in class to peer review each other’s Worksheets. The possibilities are endless.

TWM has developed a list of films to attach to the assignment. This list is based on movies for which a Learning Guide or Lesson Plan is available on TWM. Teachers should add movies that they feel would be appropriate.

Review the instructions on the assignment with students after handing out the project.