Skills you learn from Film Studies (Year 9)

This is one of three lesson plans for teachers introducing Film Studies to Year 9 students:

• Jobs that use Film Studies (Year 9)
• Skills you learn from Film Studies (Year 9)
• Why study GCSE Film Studies? (Year 9)

These lesson plans will help you show students how Film Studies connects to their future careers.

We recommend using this lesson plan at the end of the autumn term. By this point students will have had time to engage with films and screen content this year - through English, Drama, or Media work in class, and through their own viewing - giving them real material to draw on when thinking about the skills Film Studies builds. Recognising those skills helps students see Film Studies as more than something they watch for fun, and sets them up for GCSE choices in the spring.

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Learning objectives

• Students will understand that Film Studies builds a broad range of transferable skills.
• Students will be able to name 2-3 skills they recognise from films they've watched or studied, and give examples.

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Before the lesson

• You will need a computer connected to the internet and a classroom screen.
• Open the What can you do with Film Studies? page and have it ready on the screen.
• Review the Skills that Film Studies builds section and think of teaching examples for each one - films you've discussed in class, or well-known scenes students will recognise.

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During the lesson

1. What films have we watched or studied? (5 mins)

• Ask students to call out films or screen content they've discussed in school this year - in English, Drama, Media, or any other subject - and films from their own viewing they want to talk about.
• Write the suggestions on the board and highlight any patterns.

2. Skills that Film Studies builds (15 mins)

• Bring up the What can you do with Film Studies? page on the classroom screen.
• Review the contents of the page with students so that they understand what it covers.
• Scroll to the Skills that Film Studies builds section and work through each skill in turn.
  • Ask students which film or scene from the board involved that skill - reading shots and edits, recognising genre patterns, building an argument about why a film works, or imagining how they'd make their own version.
  • Share your own teaching examples if students are stuck.

3. Making it personal (10 mins)

• Ask students to pick 2-3 skills from the list they feel they've used when watching or talking about films.
• Go round the class, asking each student to name one skill and give an example of when they used it.
• Close by reminding students that these are valuable skills for work and life, not just for exams.

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After the lesson

• Share the What can you do with Film Studies? page with students and their parents/carers:
  • www.coffeewith.xyz/subjects/what-can-you-do-with-film-studies
• Encourage parents/carers to explore the page with their child and to discuss the contents.
• Use the School Tools / Activities feature to record the lesson activity:
  • Activity name: Year 09 - Skills you learn from Film Studies
  • Activity type: Linking curriculum learning to careers
• Read the follow-on lesson plan:
  • Why study GCSE Film Studies? (Year 9)