Film as Composition

Abstract

Films are compositions, too. So are news shows, situation comedies, and commercials. The more we learn about these primarily constructions-how they are created, shaped, and understood-the better equipped we will be to help our students move from the world of movie screens and television tubes to the universe of written discourse. Instead of using media from time to time as visual aids, or as mere diversions from the process of writing, we can use them more directly and more productively by treating film, television, and writing as analogous forms of composition. In the early seventies, this approach was best represented by teachers like Adams and Kline, Kehl, Primeau, and Williamson, who drew on their students' experiences with filmmaking and advertisements to develop certain composition skills.' My own experience in the classroom has confirmed the value of finding even closer, clearer, and more comprehensive ties between and verbal forms of communication. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities enabled me to develop and to test a Freshman English program based on the analogy of film as composition, and the results, I believe, have important implications for teachers of writing at a time when Tv and the movies are giving unprecedented competition to the printed page for the attention of students of all ages.2 My major assumptions, based on principles of cinematography, perceptual psychology, semiotics, and current advertising practices, are quickly stated: 1) The basic steps of filmmaking can serve as a working model of the composing process, a model which can help students to visualize a practical procedure for an otherwise abstract and often mysterious activity. 2) The language of film can be compared to written English. An understanding of the code which enables us to read a movie can help to clarify the conventions of English diction, syntax, punctuation, and usage. 3) Many of the rhetorical principles of film composition (for organizing inchoate experience into a meaningful sequence, for achieving a suitable style, for selling a product or an idea) can be