Reading films: key concepts for analysing film and television

Jackie Newman and Roy Stafford
BFI Education/in the picture 2008
£18.99
62pp photocopiable A4 sheets.

ISBN-13: 978-1903786093

This text is part of ‘Moving Media in English’, a new series designed to support the moving image media requirement in the National Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4. I generally find that reference to the English, as opposed to Scottish, curriculum puts me on my guard because the assessment criteria and descriptions are often unwieldy and not easily transferrable. However my concerns in this case were unfounded. The materials are straightforward and unencumbered by the jargon of assessment.

The ‘text’ is really a wire-bound pack of useful classroom resources such as photocopiable worksheets and teaching notes. It focuses on four films described as being from the ‘youth picture’ genre: Clueless, Pleasantville, Pretty in Pink and, perhaps incongruously, Kes. There is a particularly good section for students on reading film language which offers clear, well-illustrated information on the basics of mise en scène and editing. Also very effective is the section on film narrative which makes direct reference to the particular films being used in the ‘case studies’ section.

Both sections are followed by activity sheets which are spot-on in terms of reinforcing the ideas and information from the preceding sections. One drawback is that the ‘key aspects’ are not all given equal coverage: representation is dealt with mainly in terms of distinguishing characters by the way they look, despite the fact that the films selected would yield a great deal of fruitful material in terms of cultural assumptions and stereotypes. The ‘Institutional contexts’ outcome is not covered in any detail, but given the title, and the fact that the teaching pack is quite thin, this is a forgiveable omission.

The pack is most suitable for use as a starter text for someone new to teaching Media Studies. The language is simple with jargon kept to the most simple, and useful, technical terms. The opening section on basic teaching techniques shows teachers how to make effective use of video texts as a starting point for film analysis. The layout makes the information in this section particularly easy to follow. Each technique (e.g. things to notice when using freeze frame, how to draw attention to transitions, types of shots and so on) is set out across three columns. One describes the activity iteslf, the second provides simple questions for class discussion, and the third contains learning objectives. Simple but very useful.

The ‘case studies’ section contains student notes and activity sheets on the chosen films which can be used pretty much as they stand. They look as if they were prepared by people with real classroom experience, which is refreshing. However given the introductory nature of the pack, some of the suggested essay questions are a touch ambitious. The question on Pretty in Pink asks students to ‘write up your notes in essay format, demonstrating how diegetic and non-diegetic sound is used to introduce and reinforce the audience’s understanding of the characters’. A daunting task for most beginners in the subject, I would think.

At the end of the pack is a ‘case study’ section on TV soaps. It offers some useful comparisons with film in terms of language and narrative, but looks as if it has been tacked on as an afterthought. Perhaps soaps are being dealt with in another pack, or perhaps the BFI feels TV is beyond its remit. If so, it would be a shame. Media studies is inundated with materials for the teaching of film but there is a dearth of good teaching resources at this level for other media genres.

http://www.mediaed.org.uk/content/view/112/133/