How to Read a Film

Master film studies as you learn how films create meaning

When you watch a film there are many elements working together to produce what you see and hear. The different elements, known as devices, have been carefully constructed so that your attention is drawn to certain things at certain times, forming the way in which a film communicates its story.

On this five-week course, you’ll unpack these elements to discover how they work, what they are called, and how they work together.

You’ll watch a range of short extracts from films and hear from filmmakers to understand why different devices have been chosen and the ways in which film creates meaning.

Understand how a filmmaker uses mise-en-scène to create a narrative

To help you gain practical skills in reading a film, you’ll start by exploring the story world.

You’ll unpack elements of mise-en-scène as well as shot choices to understand how a filmmaker creates a narrative.

Explore the importance of continuity editing

Next, you’ll delve into editing devices to understand how films create sequences. Exploring techniques such as continuity editing, you’ll learn how a film ensures consistency in its narrative.

Through different examples, you’ll see how these devices are used in practice to ensure you gain skills you can take outside of this course.

Delve into different film genres

Finally, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how plots are created in film as you explore different genres. You’ll also understand film from an audiences’ perspective as you uncover theories of spectatorship.

Guided by the experts at The Film Distributors’ Association, you’ll finish the course with the knowledge and skills to read a film and its devices.

This course is designed for anyone interested in films.

It may be particularly useful if you are studying film either at A level or degree level.

This course is designed for anyone interested in films.

It may be particularly useful if you are studying film either at A level or degree level.

• Apply your learning to a range of film extracts.
• Compare the different ways in which filmmakers convey meaning on screen
• Reflect on the ways in which film stories are constructed.
• Develop a of critical thinking, aesthetic appreciation and production of knowledge by analysing and interpreting films.
• Explore, identify and interpret the meaning of camera angles, sound and mise-en-scène using film extracts.
• Discuss the genre of a film and interpret and evaluate its use.
• Investigate important elements of the narrative of selected film extracts (e.g. characters, conflict, narrative, story, plot, key scenes
• Compare the function and effect of different narrative forms and structures.
• Describe important rules of shot composition and their effects.
• Evaluate the importance and impact of individual elements of the mise-en-scène, and their interaction in various settings and sequences
• Identify and interpret the acoustic design of a film
• Reflect on the particular importance of editing as a fundamental filmmaking element through close-reading of film sequences
• Debate the various issues surrounding the idea of film viewing and spectatorship.