Camera Shots Lesson Plan

Media Production
Movies
Television

Level: Grades 6 to 12

Author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts

Duration: About one hour, plus time for the assessment task

This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & ENGAGE: A Digital Media Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.

Overview

In this lesson, students learn how film and related media use camera angles, distance and movement to tell a story. Students review various film techniques that are used to create visual meaning and then apply them by creating a six-shot storyboard that tells a complete story. 

Outcomes

Big ideas/key concepts: Students will understand that:

Media are constructions:

  • Media works are made by people who make conscious choices to achieve particular effects

Each medium has a unique aesthetic form:

  • Different media forms have different rules of that media creators use to draw and direct attention

Essential knowledge: Students will know...

Reading media: Important visual codes that are used in visual media such as TV and movies

Making and Remixing: Storyboarding and film editing

  • Key vocabulary: Close-up, medium shot, wide shot, zoom, pan, tilt, dolly, storyboard

Performance tasks: Students will be able to...

  • use camera angles, distance and movement to tell a complete and compelling story
  • create a storyboard

This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) are available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.

Lesson Kit