Curriculum fit
- Art
- Media Studies
- First Language
- Second Language
- Social Sciences
- Arts and Culture
About the activity
This methodology is designed for teachers, school principals, and cultural professionals who are looking to integrate film into their curriculum and need a theoretical foundation to create film activities and lesson plans for arts lessons at the elementary and secondary education level. The goal of this methodology is to provide a basic introduction to film education and its potential for developing elementary and secondary students’ knowledge and skills.
This text comprises findings from Netwerk Filmeducatie, a network of over two hundred passionate educators and film professionals. Led by Eye Filmmuseum, these professionals have joined forces to include film education in the curricula of Dutch elementary schools, specialized schools, and high schools. The network’s activities are based on the belief that film can expand teaching practices and support media and digital literacy. Film education is directly tied to major educational goals – learning, socialization, and personal development. It is founded on the principles of authentic art education, where meaningful learning connects students’ experiences with professional art as a source of inspiration.
Today’s young generations grow up surrounded by film. With a tablet in their lap and a smartphone in their hand, film is always at their fingertips. Continuing digitization has made film more ubiquitous and dominant in everyday life. However, schools don’t pay much attention to its impact (and aesthetic), even though the unique language of sound and moving image has much to offer. Film has become a go-to way to communicate in the 21st century – right alongside spoken and written language.
Film education includes mindful film watching, filmmaking, and analysis. Film is a broad category, encompassing animated films, feature films, documentaries, short films, made-for-TV shows, as well as video games, trailers, music videos, video art, AR and VR, and social media videos. The goal of film education is to teach film language, here focusing on elementary and secondary school students. Understanding film language is important because film has a crucial effect on the way we see ourselves and the world around us. In addition, film is a great tool for telling your story and sharing it with others.
What participants gain
- active, conscious, and critical viewing and listening skills;
- express feelings and thoughts generated by film;
- listen to other perspectives and improve empathy;
- sit with your own emotions, experiences, and thoughts;
- learn to find relevance of a film’s vision to your own life;
- develop personal film taste;
- improve creative skills and self-expression;
- get familiar with cultural and historical diversity;
- learn to place film images within personal, cultural, social and historical contexts;
- recognise and describe creative choices of narrative form and film design;
- improve self-awareness and understanding of others through exposure to different social contexts and perspectives;
- recognize different strategies in storytelling, imagery, score or editing, as used by filmmakers to inspire, persuade, evoke feelings, and convey meaning;
- explore similarities and differences between filmmaker vision and intent versus personal opinions, feelings, thoughts, other viewpoints and current events;
- learn about (historical) technology development and its impact;
- better user knowledge of technologies.
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What educators gain
- learn to guide inclusive and respectful discussion, fostering students’ curiosity and excitement from film experiences;
- improve and regulate the teaching process;
- create suitable conditions for collaboration, discussion and presentation;
- get access to extra information, technical resources and other materials;
- monitor and evaluate the teaching process while encouraging students’ personal development.
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Resources
Venue requirements
- a room equipped for film screenings, with a cinema-like atmosphere (windows blackout option, etc.)
- a space for physical activities
- a space for arts & crafts (may be done on the floor)
- an adjoining room for parents (optional)
Technology
- projector (with the option to stop the movie or fast forward/backward)
- sufficient audio tech
- computer
Supplies
- crafting supplies – scissors, crayons, paper (different colours), glue, drawing pads, furry wires, etc.
- film poster for each title / (printed) stills from the movie (if available)
- colouring sheets, movie themed
Step by Step
Preparation
Here are some key terms to get you started.
What is film education?
It involves the mindful watching, creation, and analysis of film. It teaches students to find meaning in what they see or create by helping them name, explore, and reflect on their personal film experiences (watching or making films). Crucially, film education helps students accept uncertainty as part of the creative process and collaborative work towards a goal. As a result, students gain a broader perspective and a wealth of knowledge about the arts, culture, society and history.
Ask your students:
- Why do you feel uneasy or excited while watching a particular film?
- Why do you think the film is unjust or representative?
- What is your attitude toward the main protagonist?
- Why is the film story told in this particular order/manner?
- Does the film score strengthen the film’s message?
This will help them:
- express feelings about a film
- explore filmmaking technques
- name their own intentions
- think about the historical, artistic and cultural context the film was made in
- work together on making a film
What is film design?
Films are told in a variety of ways to express particular feelings, ideas or thoughts. Film devices that complement the story through image and sound include:
- camera movement
- camera angles and shot types
- use of colour
- animation techniques
- production design / mise-en-scène
- sound and score
- editing
- digital and analogue visual effects
- (digital) post-production
What is film context?
The artistic, economic, cultural, social, historical and other circumstances of making and/or watching a film.
Ask your students:
- What is the filmmaker’s concept, thought, message, vision and intent?
- Is the intended purpose commercial, artistic or informational?
- What is the filmmaker’s background?
- What audience is the film intended for?
- What is the viewer’s individual experience?
- Which people (crew and actors) and organisations take part in the film’s development and influence the final product?
- Under what (political) circumstances was the film made? How do those circumstances relate to the ones in which the film was watched?
What is film narrative?
Storytelling techniques are found in films, TV shows, documentaries, online content, and various hybrid forms.
Film narrative comes from:
- the “5 W’s” – who, what, when, where and why;
- story structure – beginning, middle, end, conflict and resolution;
- characters – protagonist, antagonist;
- storytelling techniques – eg. flashback, flash forward, voice-over, cliffhanger.
The role of teachers:
- Guide equal and respectful discussion, fostering students’ curiosity and excitement from film experiences.
- Teach students to regulate their own learning process.
- Create suitable conditions for collaboration, discussion, and presentation.
- Provide access to extra information, technical resources, and other materials.
- Monitor and evaluate the teaching process while encouraging students’ personal development.
- Offer guidance and encourage students to be independent.
Implementation
Film education helps develop five skills that support creative abilities and curiosity about film, empowering students to watch and make films in a more mindful and meaningful way.
- Experience
Students learn to explore different types of films using different modalities (online, in the classroom, at festivals, in the cinema) while keeping an open mind. - Expression
Students verbally express what they see and hear and identify different film elements. By posing open and thought-provoking questions (based on their personal experiences, with no right or wrong answer), they foster discussion and a sense of wonder at their direct experience, which helps form a personal connection with a given film. Additionally, this improves their language skills, perception, and critical and creative abilities as well as emphatic abilities. - Exploration
Students learn to focus on watching or listening to a film (or segments of it) by exploring one or multiple film elements: storytelling, production design and
context. - Reflection
By developing reflection skills, students learn to connect their personal perception to the exploration process, and thus to interpret and evaluate a film. Additionally they meet with different views and opinions. - Creation
The filmmaking process is by no means less important than the other four skills. To experience filmmaking firsthand means to understand more.
Filmmaking teaches students to:
- create and shoot their film idea alone or with a team – interviews with people at/outside school, consultation with a filmmaking professional, etc.;
- consciously use narrative and stylistic elements, experiment with them, and become proficient in “film language”;
- cultivate their signature filmmaking style;
- remain active and flexible in the creative process;
- plan, collaborate and reflect on the process and the completed film;
- present their views and believes and thus working on self expression.
Sample Creative Assignment:
Part 1: Create an idea for a film (fiction or non-fiction) using a reference
- Students receive a prompt from a professional filmmaker or draw from their own lived experience or use current events as the initial reference to form their film idea (non-fiction)
- They conduct simplified source research on the given topic.
- They conduct interviews outside school (non-fiction literature).
- Using guidance and references that can come from their own experience, they modify elements of the narrative into a simple story for a film.
Part 2: Develop an idea for a short film (fiction or non-fiction) using a reference
- Students draw from their own lived experience or use current events as the initial reference to form their film idea (non-fiction).
- They independently formulate questions as the result of source research (non-fiction literature).
- They write dialogue or create a simple script to build on their reference or idea.
- They independently develop their own film topic.
- While researching possible topics, they choose socially or culturally relevant perspectives.
- For their film story, they explore a variety of film forms (e.g., documentary), filmmakers, traditions, styles, and genres.
Network Film Education – the Netherlands had formulated an extensive continuous learning path that describes the skills of all five abilities according to age and educational level. This publication is in Dutch only.
Evaluation
(optional) – 1 hr
(optional) – 1 hr
Film education helps students enhance their knowledge, skills, and thinking, making them better equippped to explore and analyse the meaning of visual language, comprehend its impact on society, and independently create and share their visual stories.
Students get better at understanding and utilizing moving images. In the classroom, film encourages personal and social development and builds technical expertise. Abilities and skills improved through film education make for a broader, comprehensive, and connected 21st-century toolkit of skills.
Films to watch
Make it accessible for all
- get a sense of participants’ special needs ahead of time and make necessary adjustments
- visual and or/hearing disabilities: provide subtitles, visual cues, sign language interpretation, induction loop system, audio descriptions, tactile aids, verbal explanations of visuals
- developmental and learning disabilities: break up activities into shorter segments, use clear, simple graphics, predictable structure, visual aids
- physical disabilities: offer transport, minimize physical effort
- sensory issues: reduce noice, dim lights, avoid strong scents, select films with little to no dialogie
- encourage safe and supportive dialogue where mistakes become teachable moments
- address exclusion or discrimination immediately and set clear expectations for respectful behaviour
- promote self-competence and responsibility by letting kids make their own choices, encouraging their active participation
- engage all five senses in the learning process
- nurture inclusivity with gender-neutral language, respect for each participant’s identity, and clear communication
Thoughts & Experience
FOR ORGANIZATIONS
What organisations gain
- expand your early-childhood care programmes
- new young audiences who participate on a regular basis
- earn reputation as a family-friendly institution (plus, the participants can learn about your other programmes)
- a connection to the film industry and events, with the possibility to host the workshop at festivals, cinemas, etc., boosting visibility
- connections to local kindergartens and the early childhood care community
Team requirements
- 1–2 tutors with early-childhood care background and/or film education expertise. For bilingual workshops, two tutors are required. In the case of only one tutor, you should have extra tech support (see below).
- a workshop coordinator responsible for registration (if held outside school) and promotion
- a technician
Funding tips
- workshop fees (partial funding)
- grants by the Ministry of Culture or Education (NPO: Podpora projektů kreativního učení | mkcr.cz)
- calls from cities and regions, which often support cultural and educational projects
- grant calls of national film funds
- support from social services-related funds (employment offices)
- sponsoring & crowdfunding
- The European Social Fund (ESF)
- Erasmus+
Promotion tips
- in-person communication about the programme (events, in-person meetings with parents/kindergarten teachers)
- social media posts – looking back at past workshops, invitations for upcoming ones
- newsletter campaigns (especially good for registration)
- event platforms (to promote your programme and registration)
Find your audience
- point out all the benefits your activity offers
- map the scene (local teachers, audiences at your institution)
- introduce your workshop at a bigger event
- offer workshop to film festivals, kids’ events, online parents’ groups, expat communities
- always communicate in both languages if running a bilingual programme
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