Film grammar

The following activities will help to develop students' understanding of some of the key elements of film, which are used by filmmakers to construct meaning.

Activity 1 - shot types

Answers: 1e, 2d, 3b, 4g, 5f, 6h, 7a, 8c

Activity 2 - camera movement

Activity 3 - creating a scene

You will need this transcript of a scene from the TV version of M R James's A Warning to the Curious. (NB This has been transcribed from the film. Teachers can easily develop their own script extract from one of the other films.)

1. Divide students into groups and give each group a copy of the scene.

2. Ask them to discuss how they might film this short scene, using different shot types and camera movements.

3. Ask them to mark-up their copy of the script indicating which camera shots, angles and movements they would use and where. They should also consider where they will make cuts. Given that the scene involves a central conversation and then a character making a discovery the majority of the cuts are going to be what's called 'motivated' - in other words determined by the events in the scene - but clearly this leaves the students a lot of room for experimentation. The key thing is that the scene should contribute to the generally spooky atmosphere of the film in which it occurs.

This activity is valid even if the class does not have the actual film version to look at afterwards - though this is the best way to conclude the exercise. There are scenes that would be equally rewarding for students to annotate from the other films. For example:

• The sequence when Professor Parkins returns to his room, remembers the whistle, cleans it and then blows it (Whistle and I'll Come to You). He experiences some kind of vision of a figure approaching him along the beach. Back in his room, the wind has started to howl. (17.35 - 19.52)
• The sequence in The Signalman where he describes the second appearance of the spectre and the mysterious death of the young bride. (23.17 - 25.55)