Film in the Curriculum
These are a few of the ways that film education can contribute to learning across the curriculum.
| PRIMARY | SECONDARY | |||
| KS1 | KS2 | KS3 | KS4 | 16+ |
| English | ||
| Use moving images as a stimulus for speaking and listening | ||
| Use short films to develop understanding of narrative and point of view | ||
| Use moving images as a stimulus for writing, eg letters, news items, film reviews | ||
| View the opening scene from an adaptation before reading the book, and consider what it tells the viewer about genre, narrative and character | ||
| Translate a short film excerpt into a written story, poem, news report or letter | ||
| Make a film adaptation of a story or a scene from a book | ||
| Use filmmaking to explore the imagery in a poem | ||
| Explore and compare the techniques used in print and moving image texts | ||
| Explore how film language techniques are used for effect and persuasion in propaganda and documentary films | ||
| Analyse or compare film versions of literary texts, considering features such as depiction of characters, narrative structure and the use of film language | ||
| Write film scripts | ||
| History | ||
| View archive film to develop understanding of an historical period | ||
| Use clay animation to depict an historical event | ||
| Make film documentaries incorporating archive footage | ||
| Make fiction films based on an historical period or event, perhaps one in the local area | ||
| Compare, analyse and discuss different (fictional or documentary) film representations of an historical period, event or character | ||
| Explore the techniques used in propaganda films | ||
| Geography | ||
| Use film to record and present information about an area, eg the local area, or an area visited on a field trip | ||
| Use clay animation to represent geographical processes, eg glaciation or the formation of oxbow lakes | ||
| View, discuss and consider fiction or documentary representations of places, natural phenomena or environmental issues. | ||
| View contrasting fiction films about a country and consider how they represent it | ||
| Modern foreign languages | ||
| Watch a film excerpt in the target language, listening for specific words or phrases | ||
| View films to develop country-specific knowledge | ||
| Make films (using either live action or animation) of fictional stories, or real-life scenarios such as visiting a shop or going to the dentist. | ||
| Script and perform a voiceover in the target language for a film sequence | ||
| Create a film advertisement in the target language | ||
| View film extracts in the target language to develop comprehension skills; use visual and audio clues – eg lighting, performance, music, sound effects – to aid understanding | ||
| Science | ||
| Use film to record experiments | ||
| Use film techniques, eg closeups, timelapse and slow motion, to analyse and demonstrate processes and principles | ||
| Use fiction and factual films to stimulate discussion and writing about aspects of a scientific debate, eg global warming, overfishing, genetic engineering | ||
| Design and technology | |
| Use video to record product testing and disassembly, eg using slow-motion, timelapse | |
| Use film as part of the design research process | |
| Design characters and sets to make an animated film | |
| Make films to explain the function of components in a product, eg through a disassembly with explanatory voiceover | |
| Mathematics | ||
| Use video cameras to collect examples of shapes, numbers, patterns, angles | ||
| Watch films that feature simple numbers and shapes | ||
| Make animations to explain mathematical or geometric principles | ||
| Use video cameras to record and plot movement, eg to show that the trajectory of a thrown ball is a parabola | ||
| Citizenship | |
| Use short films, children’s films and feature films to stimulate discussion and writing about issues of citizenship. Using film can provide a way for children to address personal issues at one remove. | |
| Explore the techniques which films use to present issues, groups, institutions or events in positive or negative ways | |
| Explore issues of film censorship and regulation | |
| Consider how representations can change over time, by viewing modern and older films | |
| Create campaigning videos on specific issues | |
| Make fiction or documentary films about their own lives or local problems. Use techniques such as animation, montage and film poems to explore difficult or challenging issues. | |
| PE, Dance | |
| Use video as a way to immediately review performance and correct technique | |
| Create films which use slow-motion, freeze-frame, close-up and voiceover to explain technique in detail | |
| Drama | |
| Use video to review and improve performance | |
| View film extracts to explore aspects of performance | |
| Make a film version of a drama performance | |
| Music | ||
| Use a short film sequence as stimulus for a simple composition | ||
| Create a soundtrack for a short film sequence | ||
| Create a film interpretation of a piece of music | ||
| Analyse the techniques used in the score for a film sequence | ||
| Create several different soundtracks for the same sequence to change the genre or mood | ||
| Create a piece of music to use as the basis for a montage or title sequence | ||
| Use a cue sheet to plan a score | ||
| Art | ||
| Use video to collect examples of shapes, colours or patterns | ||
| Look for examples of shapes, colours, patterns in film extracts | ||
| Use video to record making processes | ||
| Use video to record observations | ||
| Create animations including sets and models | ||
| Create costume and set designs for films | ||
| Investigate artist and non-narrative filmmakers | ||
| Create abstract/montage films | ||
| Explore the use of lighting in film | ||
| Explore animation techniques used in title sequences | ||
| Create title sequences using these techniques
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