Considering that any curriculum components I might employ would be utilized in a visual arts classroom setting, the activity I have devised focuses on the concept of shot framing and the formal composition of a shot. In any given frame of a motion picture, there are a wide variety of formal elements and principles of design being utilized by the filmmaker, concepts such as balance, positive/negative space, rhythm, line, shape, color, etc.
Once the students have already attained an understanding of these concepts, and perhaps even utilized them in other art production assignments, I would assign the students to choose a film and to select three different still frames from within that film. Utilizing computers and software, the students would make a print-out of each of their chosen still-frames. They would then have to write 2-3 paragraphs describing exactly what elements and principles are being utilized and how they are being used. Lastly, we would discuss these examples in class in a critique format, allowing for open discussion and exchange of the students' ideas.
For extra credit, a student could find other artworks (paintings, drawing, etc.) which also employ these same concepts, to further demonstrate their understanding.
Zach, I really like the idea of having students focus in one the three specific frames/shots to do their analysis. This serves to focus their attention on aspects of design/perspective/framing/space just as they would in responding to a painting; you also foster use of writing with descriptive details.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when I open your blog, your video starts up playing. If you used MediaMill embed code, you can fix that by editing your post and changing the code for autoplay (in 2 places) from "true" to "false"
Great activity, Zach. I think having the idea of a physical frame really gets students thinking about the idea of framing, especially in art. I know, I had been limited by the edges and I made sure to fit everything in. With film, I think students understand the understood - i.e. if you see a person's head, you know its not just floating in space, but it's actually attached to a body.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think what I'm trying to say is that using film (other than studying film) is a great way to practice framing up other art forms.