ABSTRACT
When students are challenged to "close read" a video/film, they must not only learn how to deconstruct the "media text," but they must also understand and appreciate all of the elements and techniques that are used to create it. Films can be read like texts. Their images should be unpacked just as one would unpack the imagery in a written passage. The author defines the language of the moving image (video/film) as both the tools and the techniques used to imply or create meaning. The short list of those language elements are: cameras (cinematography), lighting, audio/sound (includes music), set design, post production (editing, special effects) and actors (wardrobe, makeup, body language, expressions). The late film critic Roger Ebert suggested that teachers first consider using film stills (for example, publicity stills) rather than film clips to introduce what he called "frame analysis".
