Film Analysis Teacher Resources

Movies have come a long way since the first talkies. The credits that roll at the end of a movie lists a bewildering number of titles for those involved in sound production. Learn everything you want to know about what these roles entail...

The most impressive movie you've ever seen can't compare to the astonishment audiences felt when feature films began to synchronize sound with the picture. Learn about the complex path to the talkie, including the invention of the...

A heart attack, threats of suicide, drug-fueled parties, typhoons, over 250 hours of film footage, two years of editing, Academy, Palme d'Or, and Golden Globe awards. It's time to discuss Apocalypse Now! The narrator of this episode in...

Young filmmakers watch a short overview of the major studios, players, and political events of the period between 1894 and 1929. In addition, the video narrator briefly outlines the Hollywood scandals that lead to the development of the...

The film version of Gone with the Wind is the focus of this learning guide that asks viewers to consider some of the issues that the Southern states faced prior to and during the Civil War.

Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...

Are you thinking about incorporating a film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel in a study of The Great Gatsby? Check out a guide loaded with suggestions for how to supplement a reading of the novel with scenes from three film...

The 2018 film Anna, One Woman's Quest for Freedom in Early Washington, D.C., offers high schoolers an opportunity to examine the sacrifices one woman endured to gain her freedom from slavery.

How does an author's choice of artistic medium influence an audience? What about how an author chooses to transform original source material? These are the questions class members grapple with as they compare scenes from episode IV...

How historically accurate was the film The Birth of a Nation? Using a video that features clips from the film and analysis from historians, young scholars explore the connection between art and history. Additional activities include...

To conclude the study of the play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope, class members craft an in-class essay comparing Doescher's adaptation to George Lucas's film, Star Wars: A New Hope.

"And the award goes to. . . " High schoolers investigate bias in the movie industry by reading articles, watching a short video, and examining data about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) membership, nominees, and...

Take your history class through Schindler's List with a learning guide, which offers an introduction to the film and a variety of discussion questions and related assignments. There are several useful resources in the sidebar, such as a...

Three clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick explore the events and people who influenced Ernest Hemingway.

The man, the myth, and the reality. Three clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick introduce viewers to the unique features of Ernest Hemingway's writing style and the events in Hemingway's life that influenced...

Clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick reveal how Ernest Hemingway incorporated his own war experiences in A Farewell to Arms. Young writers then take an experience from their own lives and craft it as a work...

Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; however, the critical interpretations of the novel have called it everything from "ordinary" and "schoolboy writing" to a "masterpiece." Readers are allowed to...

Challenge groups to create a recommended reading list of contemporary young adult fiction that explores the same themes found in Ernest Hemingway's short stories and novels. After examining a list Hemingway created and a list put...

After watching a short video clip from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, learners read an article by Ursula Le Guin about gender roles and sexuality. Scholars then consider how an author's concept of gender roles is...

Seven clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick inform an investigation of how aspects of Ernest Hemingway's life influenced his writings.

Three clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick form the basis of a lesson on Ernest Hemingway. Viewers use a graphic organizer to identify elements of privilege and social status that "aided him in creating,...

Young scholars analyze film terminology to become analytical views and critically examine media. For this film analysis, students identify film terminology and explain the effects of the director's choices. Young scholars analyze...

Young scholars examine cultural identity. They watch the PBS documentary, 'Daughter From Danang,' answer discussion questions, and write an essay regarding the characters ethnicities and stereotypes portrayed in the film.

Students examine how film represents different cultures. They think critically about these representations and how they affect people who are watching them.