I have been teaching film studies courses at a private high school for five years now, and I have never, not once, screened Citizen Kane for my students. I have shown Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil before, but my students’ interest began to wane in the back half, once the sheen of that opening long take began to wear off. From that experience and a few others, I’ve learned that the novelty of an early classic has an engrossment expiration of about 45 minutes for a group of high schoolers. So unless it’s Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin shorts, I use clips only, just enough to whet their appetites without overstuffing them.
I think the focus on classic film in a typical Introduction to Film Studies course is the wrong approach to take with high school students. They already love movies. Teenagers engage with movies regularly of their own accord. My hope is to use that affection as a springboard into learning, to reveal to them the craft behind the thing they already know and love. To do so, I primarily screen popular, contemporary films. The first step to educating my high school students is entertaining them.
So how do I balance entertainment value with educational value in my high school film studies courses? Here is a snapshot of my considerations when putting together my curriculum for the semester.
