Contextualising the Narrative: A Step Towards Classroom Cinephilia

In this paper, which appeared at the ATOM conference, Melbourne December 2003, Boris Trbic concentrates on one crucial aspect of teaching film narratives in Unit 3 Media Studies. He argues that, instead of solely focusing on the discussion of production and story elements as essential aspects of film language, teachers and students would benefit from complementing film analysis by contextualizing the cinematic narrative. This would assist students in bridging gaps in their film experience, estabishing the parameters of discussion and providing various interpretative possibilities for their work on selected narrative sequences.