An examination of key symbols and structures of the recent film, "Fried Green Tomatoes," reveals the nature of the process of coding representations of the real world and its effects. The movie depicts two parallel stories of female friendship. Changes and development of the characters are primarily portrayed through changes in their…

Experimental phenomenology requires that educators acknowledge the experiences of the learner. Today, many of those experiences are images that come from television. In a behaviorist or humanist tradition, learning takes place through experience, and learners comprehend, make decisions, and analyze their behavior through reflection. Meaning is…

Students who are learning techniques for producing television programs and films often require guidance in three areas: acquiring knowledge of traditional art forms, obtaining audience feedback to their productions, and assessing their own capabilities and creative potential. This paper describes a programmed course of self-instruction that may be…

The positive and negative aspects of using film as a medium for inducing change in developing nations are explored in this issue. Critics of the use of film for development cite (1) the culture specific nature of film content of foreign produced films; (2) the technical, economic, and logistical problems of in-country production; and (3) lack of…

This brief history of the cinema surveys the birth, development, and modern period of silent and sound films. The approach seeks out major "auteurs" of film, discusses their more artistic works, and places them in historical perspective. Commentary on the aesthetic nature of film includes speculation on the relationship of sound to…

Because of the importance of television in the lives of our children--they spend more time with it than in school--it makes sense that they should learn to process the vast input from television and become knowing and active about the media. This collection of essays presents ideas by contributors outside of the "painfully vague conclusions of the…

A study was devised to determine the efficacy of picture sequencing as a method of evaluating a child's interaction with a film, particularly children who are low in verbal expression. A series of five photographs were used which illustrated important points in a film about the ill effects of smoking. Subjects were selected from two primary…

Reexamines the advantages of using short films in English classes, describes several effective films for classroom use, and presents a list of 150 outstanding short movies. (MM)

Argues that films and documentaries are useful in promoting critical analysis and classroom discussion. Discusses films that are effective teaching tools. Warns that some films may provide only one side of a story, and teachers must be careful to present a balanced discussion. Includes sources for obtaining these films. (AJL)

This article reports on a term's work with students in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in which the adult classic text Silas Marner was studied in both written and film form (Eliot, 1994; BBCFo, 1985). Through an extended consideration of the structures employed by different forms of narrative, students were invited to consider the knowledge and…

This paper presents an overview of three-dimensional media technologies (3Dmt). Many of the new 3Dmt are the direct result of interactions of computing, communications, and imaging technologies. Computer graphics are particularly well suited to the creation of 3D images due to the high resolution and programmable nature of the current displays.…

Reflecting the theories and practices of effective teachers who use a cross-disciplinary approach to enhance writing instruction, this collection of essays is designed to make writing teachers aware of the various possibilities for using film in their classrooms. The ten essays focus on the following topics: (1) combining essay reading and writing…

In order to understand the communicative interaction of film, it is necessary to carefully analyze the special qualities of film as a visual medium, to understand the elements of audience identification with what happens in the film, and to interpret the use of symbolism that enables an audience to derive meaning from it. Among the special…

Cinema emerged about 1900, and as the twentieth century ticked by, the cinematic process was recognized as a model for the thought processes of the human mind--of both the unconscious dream process and of the stream of conscious thought--and also as a model of the historical process. Film not only is an experiential process and a physical…

The medium of film is uniquely suited to the representation of social problems such as racism. By stressing major issues of racism--slavery, the black cultural heritage, black power, and the black civil rights movement--and coupling these issues with films which give a realistic view of the substance and problems of racism, both concepts…