Ryan Youell presented at Teacher Talk a series of resources and insights exploring how to integrate film and filmic analysis into the composition classroom. The resources provided below can be used in any composition classroom (111, 131, 182, etc…) and can be downloaded by clicking on the links below.
Where do I start?
Just as picking an essay or book for your class requires extra planning, the same is true when it comes to picking a film to incorporate into your class. “Think about authorship,” Ryan told me as during the Teacher Talk, “select films that are in conversation with previous or upcoming lessons.” In addition to this advice, we talked about how film selection requires careful consideration of who’s voice is being highlighted, both for those actors/actresses in the film, but also the director/writer. Ryan provided a curated list of the most useful texts he’s found while teaching filmic analysis as well as a list of film terminology. Both of which can be downloaded here – Film Terminology / Filmic Analysis Readings
Staging Filmic Analysis in your Classroom
Incorporating film into your classroom can help change up your sequences and introduce students to viewing texts and composition in new ways. Whether you want your students to dig into the mis-en-scene, a shot-by-shot analysis, or looking at how the film is constructing an argument as a whole, filmic analysis offers a diverse and flexible series of teaching opportunities. Ryan has provided two scene analysis examples that he uses in his classroom. The first exercise seeks to build a student’s analytical eye, requiring them to apply the various film terminology and awareness of how a single shot is put together to create an inventory of ideas. The second exercise builds from the first, asking students to use their inventory to consider how the scene they’ve picked is relevant to the film as a whole. This work also helps challenge students to move away from visual summary, which Ryan has found to be a common and resilient practice.
Following this, Ryan supplied a examples of students’ close reading and two major assignments that he’s used in his class. These assignments bring together the work done in the first two exercises, putting the students in conversation with author bell hook’s writings about the film and the film itself.
Download the exercises here – Scene Analysis Excerises
Download the major assignments here – Major Assignment Examples
Thank you to the workshop participants and facilitators who were a part of Teacher Talk and special thanks to Ryan Youell for curating these resources for use by the Teacher Talk and the Expository Writing Program. Teacher Talk is hosted by the Expository Writing Program’s Critical Classroom Series. Critical Classrooms is a workshop series and teaching endorsement available to graduate instructors.