It is vital that critical media literacy be integrated in media programs' skills courses. For students to become well-rounded and inclusive media makers, educators need to help students gain critical media literacy skills when producing content. This can be done through understanding and using film theory, which demonstrates to educators how…

This article explains the importance of including critical media literacy practices in skills-based classrooms in film education. Students continue to use methods of filmmaking that are inherently biased because they continue to be taught an age-old set of skills that do not engage in critical analysis. With the convergence of contemporary film…

This paper highlights the results of a project, in which a group of students, who were enrolled in an African American film criticism course at a large university in Southern California, participated in a community engagement project that incorporated visual and media literacy skills acquired in the classroom setting. The parameters of the project…

This article synthesises an investigation of the making of a didactic programme as a consequence of the excess of consumption of audiovisual messages and the non critical and non-thoughtful attitude the youngsters have towards it. As an answer to this problem, the authors have produced a didactical programme about cinema and its language, the main…

The author describes how he instructs students in his introductory film course to show how one can reveal a film's ideological dimensions in teaching. In this article, the author traces the progress of his student's arc of learning, from their relative lack of awareness of film's influence on the construction of identity to a more sophisticated…

Three conceptual frameworks for examining the cognitive response to film are reviewed. It is suggested that a phenomenological rather than atomistic conception of the film-viewer interaction will be most useful for the generation of further studies in this area. (Author/RM)

Describes a visual media course which covers the following: (1) communicative value of basic elements of design in photographs; (2) construction of messages in photo essays and advertisements; and (3) technique of scripting for moving images in scratch films. (PD)

Offers suggestions on how to make a film study course challenging and enjoyable, through using a variety of films, defining visual literacy, choosing films with cinematic and literary value, and deciding on a specific approach for the course. (FL)

Suggests that older feature-length films can be uplifting, relevant to the curriculum, and inexpensive. Offers tips on how to select and use them and a list of ten such films. (FL)

Describes a film study program to help students open up to the beauty that exists around them. Notes that key ingredients of the program are a linkage between the films shown and the asking of probing questions. (RL)

Suggests a simple, adaptable pattern for teaching the grammar of films and television, i.e., its agreed conventions of vocabulary and syntax. A variety of feature-length films and extracts are listed to illustrate the concepts being taught as well as film distributors and addresses. (MBR)

Considers whether linguistic models can be used to examine how information is structured in the screen media. Highlights differences between language and screen media that make the transference difficult. Raises interesting questions about media literacy and whether screen media may have important perceptual and cognitive effects. (JMF)

Describes a course set up for Year 11 students using digital editing equipment to examine the audiovisual fabric of films of their choice. Investigates how the advent of digital technologies enables new kinds of reading of visual texts as well as new kinds of textual production. (NH)

The articles collected in this issue are devoted to the topic of film in the English and language arts classroom. Titles include "Film Study: Some Problems and Approaches" (Judd Chesler), "The New Basic Skill: Film" (Harold M. Foster), "Caveat Viewer: Developing Viewing Perceptions" (Edward S. Dermon), "Shreds and Patches: Improvised Textbook"…

Presents a rationale for studying the visual language of film. Reports on three studies that suggest some tentative answers concerning the manipulation of film and some promising approaches to the study of the medium. (RL)