During my junior year, I was searching for different English electives to take for my senior year. I was instantly sold when I came across Writing and Critical Analysis of Film. When the class was pitched to me, it seemed like a random class that you would take just to watch movies all the time. However, after a few weeks of taking the class, I learned that there is so much more to film than I ever could have imagined.
“Students often want something different in an English class,” said film teacher Mr. John Wanninger, “and studying film is a great change of pace for a lot of kids.”
On the first day of class when I walked in I was expecting to watch a movie and end up getting bored by the end of class, but I was pleasantly surprised. My teacher, Mr. Wanninger, handed me and all of my classmates a yellow packet labeled “Study Guide.” My expectations had been shut down in the first five minutes, and I quickly learned that studying film is a much more complex process.
“Film puts a picture to some similarity to forms of literature, instead of reading a book you have to imagine it,” said senior film student Stefan Cucuz.
We spent the first week of class studying how different camera angles mean different things in film, and how a certain amount of light can convey a specific message. I quickly learned how directors can manipulate a scene to show an underlying message that our minds recognize but do not think of at the moment. Certain camera angles show strength, while others show weakness. Some forms of lighting can create joy and others can create evil, and this was very cool to learn before watching the first film.
“It is essentially a literature class, but you’re directed out of your inner mind the way that you look at it, and you get to design the world itself,” said film teacher Mr. Peter Lubliner.
When I first heard that I would have to write essays about each film I was not happy, but now that I have written a few, it is so much fun to go back and look at each different scene and look at all the cool notes you made along the way. You get to look closely at each scene and figure out what the director is trying to say, just based on the camera work, which I think is super cool.
“I like to watch TV shows, and films are the next progressive step. I really enjoy writing essays on each movie, and I feel that I have really expanded my mindset on film,” said senior film student Avi Srivastava.
This class may not be for everyone, but I highly encourage people to at least give it a try during their senior year. It has made me see movies in a different way and I have learned some very interesting things.
