Teaching Film: Visual Planning

This course is part of our Teaching Film series, a collection of bitesize courses focused on short film production. It has been designed specifically for educators delivering film qualifications to young people aged 14-19.

Whether it’s a flying bicycle illuminated by the moon or a lion cub raised in the air for all to see, carefully planned visuals move us and can make us believe in even the most implausible stories.

Crafting visuals that meaningfully contribute to the narrative and resonate with the audience is a key skill to develop in budding filmmakers. And it all starts with a filmmaker’s vision.

“The secret to great cinematography is observation.
Look at the world around you, soak in different
visual experiences, and let them inspire you.”
– Sir Roger Deakins, cinematographer

About the course
Teaching Film: Visual Planning explores strategies you can use to help students define the look and feel of their films.

You’ll discover how different types of visual planning – from directors’ notebooks to storyboards – can enhance your learners’ visual storytelling skills. The course features plenty of opportunities to try out activities, watch inspirational short films and access classroom-ready resources to enrich your lessons. As an added bonus, you’ll also get to see director Paris Zarcilla (Raging Grace, 2023) demonstrate his own visual planning process.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to:

• Explore the components of visual style
• Deepen learners’ understanding of mise-en-scène and cinematography
• Facilitate practical activities to scaffold the visualisation process
• Introduce young people to a range of screen industry careers.  

Take a peek
Watch a quick, sneak preview of one of the videos made exclusively for this course, where Paris shares a top tip that you can take back to the classroom straightaway.

This self-paced course is available on-demand to give you the flexibility to learn whenever you want, wherever you are in the UK.

Start learning for free today.

You'll need to be logged into your Into Film account to access this course. If you don't have an account, it’s FREE to join and it only takes a moment to sign up!

Please note: Into Film courses are only available for UK-based teachers.