The Reel Classroom

An Introduction to Film Studies and Filmmaking (Grades 6-9)

Jeff Danielian

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000489705
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The Reel Classroom: An Introduction to Film Studies and Filmmaking presents an educator-facilitated curriculum that focuses on a variety of aspects concerning the appreciation of film and the filmmaking process. With a goal to turn "movie day" into a teaching and learning opportunity—rather than a virtual day off for students—this book will help invigorate classrooms of all disciplines by incorporating documentaries, feature films, short films, and animated films into the regular curriculum. Chapters begin with short and effective introductions to the specified concept with accompanying class discussion ideas and background information for the teacher. Each chapter will conclude with reproducible handouts and assignment sheets along with two to three sample activities/opportunities for assessment. Suggestions for films to be used for each discipline will also be given.Grades 6-9

CHAPTER 1
THINKING FILMICALLY

LEARNING HOW TO WATCH

DOI: 10.4324/9781003238881-2

The start of any comprehensive curriculum should include a chance for students to exhibit and discuss what they know, what they don’t know, and what they wish to learn about the topic. Film literacy begins with an understanding of the language used and the principles involved, all within cultural and historical context. Educators can safely assume that the students seated before them have watched a number of movies, if only for the stories that they find exciting. It is crucial at this early stage for the students to understand and establish a division between what they recognize as personal taste and a higher level thinking process of evaluative judgment. Try starting class with a simple Q&A, like the one modeled in Figure 1.1.

FIGURE 1.1. SAMPLE Q & A.

Using this strategy is multipurposeful. First, it “breaks the ice” in the classroom by engaging students in conversation. In doing this, you engage each student right away. Having a dialogue with each of them allows you to get to know each other a little better. Second, it introduces one of the main concepts of the course: to understand why we watch movies. To understand film, we need to reflect on film’s power to affect an audience.

ASKING WHY

When a student states that he or she likes something, educators need to ask, “Why?” When a student replies with, “Because it’s good,” he or she needs to be made aware that this type of response is not acceptable. Students need to come up with specific, evaluative reasons why “it’s good.” Try to start a conversation with a focus on why we like movies. Is it because they make us feel a certain way? What is it about movies that makes them feel the way they do? Is it the narrative, the music, the characters, or the conflict? Extensions of these discussions can lead to a knowledge web, or a way to organize all the things students know about the feelings they have. Is it a battle they enjoy, or space invaders? Why? A love story? Perhaps a good mystery? The list of questions can go on and on, but if done right, the chalk-or whiteboard will be full of topics and connections, words and phrases, all of which can then be added to students’ newly forming vocabulary.

Most students go to the movies for entertainment, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. As they enter the theater, the sights and sounds surround them. They are “unplugged.” As they begin to question their own reasons “why,” they will begin to plug in, absorbing the experience and gaining knowledge about what it means to evaluate the films they are watching.

Students should be instructed on how to read a film, much like they read a novel. Instead of the traditional page turning they are accustomed to, the “reading” starts to take place on the screen as they begin to scan the film, frame by frame, gathering information. As students learn to “read” along this curriculum, they also will begin to speak filmically, using proper terminology in the correct context. The goal is to develop a new kind of film watcher and, in turn, aid in the development of a better, more informed filmmaker.

After the class is settled the teacher can administer a film-themed Interest-a-Lyzer (Appendix G). The Interest-a-Lyzer is a questionnaire intended to encourage the students to reflect upon their own passions and interests and allow a teacher to learn about them in an informal manner.

KEY TERMS

• Kinetoscope: an early device used to exhibit motion pictures to an individual
• Cinematography: a common term for all of the ways the camera captures the action
• Framing: using the edges of the frame to select what will be seen on screen
• Narrative: the story of a film

A LITTLE FILM HISTORY

Movies are a social medium. Our students’ lives are filled with them. They watch movies alone and together, and they connect with people who like and dislike the same films. They can be found quoting lines of dialogue, and often insert them into everyday conversations. It is hard to believe that it wasn’t too long ago that movies didn’t exist at all. Film is a great revelation for students to recognize. The genesis of movies, at least here in the U.S., began as a much different experience than it is today.

Thomas Edison is credited with bringing film to life here in the U.S. Edison’s initial idea was that the experience of movie viewing should occur on an individual basis. His invention, the Kinetoscope, was a device through which customers could view moving images by looking in a peephole. Obviously, this presented a mere novelty. Picture a bunch of folks pushing each other out of the way to get a glimpse of the images displayed in this new invention.

It was actually a pair of brothers from France, Auguste and Louis Lumière, who really advanced the concept of film viewing closer to what we know it as today. Their invention involved both a camera and projector that made the display of their short films possible for a large audience. The Lumières’ works are a great way to illustrate the evolution of camera technology and the genesis of cinematography. In particular, “The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat” shows advancements in cinematographic framing by the inventive positioning of the camera. In this short, the Lumières decided to put the camera at an angle to the station platform, which helped create a depth unattainable if the camera were placed anywhere else.

George Méliès (1902), another filmmaker of the time, made A Trip to the Moon, which is a great example of one of the first narrative films. Here, unlike with the Lumières’ first films, Méliès used editing to put his fantasy together. That, along with animation and special effects in the form of early trick shots, made A Trip to the Moon a groundbreaking short film, and one that should be viewed by any budding filmmaker.

HISTORICAL FILMS OF INTEREST

• Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 1: This DVD includes films from Thomas Edison, the brothers Lumière, and George Méliès. The compilation can be found at DVD retailers, including Amazon, and some clips can be found on YouTube.
• A great article to share with your students is “The Oldest Movies” by Chris Dashiell (2000), which can be found at http://www.cinescene.com/dash/lumiere.html.
• If you would like to explore more about the history of cinema, please visit Introduction to the Story of Film: An Odyssey, presented by the Turner Classic Movies network. It is a 15-episode documentary directed and narrated by Mark Cousins. There are also numerous links and resources to access in addition to descriptions of more than 100 classic films. A description of the documentary can be found at http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/650688%7C650689/Introduction-to-The-Story-of-Film-An-Odyssey.html.

Continue the discussion with students by sharing the story of the advent of photography. When it was invented in the mid-1830s, people thought it was cold, even vulgar, and certainly not art. Of course, it did not take long for them to get over the shock of it all; in fact, people were fascinated by it. The moving image was looked at in much the same way when it arrived. A quick search on the Internet can reveal so much of this history. If time permits, students could conduct a short historical research project on the evolution of film.

As you work through the chapters and assign in-class or independent viewings, you might also want to explore a great app available to Google Chrome called VideoNotes, which allows you to annotate a YouTube or other streaming video found online with notes that link to the time code of the clip. It also provides an environment for students to take notes on a video clip they are watching. You and your students can watch videos and take notes while it is playing on a split-screen interface. The great part of this program is that everything can be stored and saved and accessed from just about anywhere, and clicking on any one note that is entered and saved will take you directly to the related part of the video. For example, if you are watching a scene from Close Encounters of The Third Kind (Phillips, Phillips, & Spielberg, 1977; a great film) and want students to see a particular connection to one of the elements of a science fiction genre, you can pause the clip and enter a note for them to read. They, in turn, can also comment or do the same with a clip they are viewing.

After viewing some of the films suggested, discussing all that was seen, and again, placing that information on a board or in notes, a fun exercise for the class involves the creation of a moving image from simple still images. Figure 1.2 is an example of such an exercise.

FIGURE 1.2. SAMPLE MOVING IMAGE EXERCISE.

THE BIG PICTURE … LITERALLY

The key to introducing this unit of instruction is to appeal to the variety of students’ interest and to allow them to see the separate parts of filmmaking as a whole. They can then begin to recognize the diverse offerings that provide the elements for the films they are accustomed to and ones that they will be exposed to. The important thing at the onset is getting them excited. The following sections of this chapter offer a list of the main contributors to the film process, with activities developed to appeal to and guide student interest. The culminating exercise involves a viewing analysis. Recall that each student may have already completed the Interest-a-Lyzer, provided in Appendix E, and you will have a greater understanding of their interests as they relate to the discipline.

Every film has a process, whether it’s an independent film, a blockbuster, a documentary, or an experimental film. Each has a specific set of steps to follow. All films begin with an idea. From this idea a script is born, and from there a film is made. The skills involved in filmmaking carry over into any field, but each i...