Why?
"Films are a powerful influence on most of our students. As much as teachers may not wish to face this fact, films compete with books as the primary mode of stories, and "stories matter, and matter deeply" ( McConnell, 1979, p. 3)
How?
"We have developed strategies for teaching film that honor the art of film for what it is, not what it isn't -- strategies that enable students to understand what films do, not just what films can't do. Sometimes we have taught film terminology as a way of promoting "close reading" of film "texts."(Basic Film Terms: A Visual Dictionary, Pyramid Film & Video, Box1948, Santa Monica, CA 90406, is a good resource for this purpose.) Students then analyze film clips, write film reviews, and study film genres such as Westerns and detective films."
Here are some websites to help you get started:
Some useful questions when analyzing a film:
Does the film's theme make a significant social statement?
Has the film made a direct communication with the audience to produce an emotional response? How?
Do we find similar techniques and themes in literature?
Do we find similar techniques and themes in the director's other films that suggest a certain style or ideology? Could we consider this director to be an auteur?
Consider:
Narrative, Character, Themes, Editing, Lighting, Color, Camera placement, Music, Space, Time, Genre, Conventions
Caution!
"Film study should become a major part of the modern curriculum if education is serious about helping shape thinking skills required in the new technological age. Students need help in understanding, appreciating, and controlling the most powerful stories that enter their lives. Not only must students discuss important films, but also they must read and write about them in order to learn about film. Ironically, by studying films, students will be learning the very skills that film has so badly eroded -- language literacy skills."
Blasingame, James. Goodson, Lori A. The Alan Review. Vol 21 No 3. Spring 1994