USING FILM AS A PEDAGOGIC TOOL
FILM: Abstract Experimental Short Film by Anne Marie G. de Guzman
(2021/Digital/Color/11mins 19seconds /Experimental)
Invite the students to direct their attention to an experimental short film.
YouTube Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YHIj3ZrZrA&list=PLVd1v0dLqSPwfE7I4741nrph4GjJ
n70uM&index=3
4. PRACTICE (20 minutes)
Instruct the students to open their notebooks and Student’s Worksheets. There they will find a
series of activities (Comprehension Check), written tasks that (1) will assess their recall and
understanding of the film and (2) evaluate their application of the terms for the discussion.
Comprehension Check Instructions:
MY POINT OF PERCEPTION
Examine the various images found in the experimental film. It is best that you refer back to the
actual video clips these images. Write your holistic perspective and partial point of view/s for
each image.
Example:
PARTIAL POINT OF VIEWS
 I see people wearing masks.
 I see representations of the corona
virus.
 The people who are wearing masks
are walking very fast.
 The representations of the corona
virus is floating
HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE
 This part of the film shows that the
busy people in cities who are
wearing masks are all in danger of
contracting the corona virus. In the
image, the representations of the
corona virus are floating and
superimposed to express how this
virus is just floating and can be
everywhere around those people.
1. Partial Point of View/s:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Holistic Perspective:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. Partial Point of View/s:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Holistic Perspective:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. Partial Point of View/s:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Holistic Perspective:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
4. Partial Point of View/s:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Holistic Perspective:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
5. Partial Point of View/s:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Holistic Perspective:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. LECTURE/DELIVERY (45 minutes)
●
Engage the learners with the following questions:
What did you learn in the activity?
The say that “a picture speaks a thousand words”, how can you describe this film’s
capacity to communicate with you for you to think about your partial point of views
and your holistic perspectives?
How were you able to identify your partial point of view vs. your holistic perspective
in each of the images in the film?
Were the choices of subject, object, color, positioning and framing of the visuals
aided you in further creating ideas and meaning for each image beyond their literal
meaning? Which particular aspect of the film helped you to do so?
Face-to-Face Learners: Will answer the teacher during the discussion in
the classroom
Online Learners: Will answer the teacher through the Discussion Board
or Chatbox in their LMS platform.
Modular Learners: Will write their answers in their Student’s
Worksheets.
USING FILM AS A PEDAGOGIC TOOL
FILM: Abstract Experimental Short Film by Anne Marie G. de Guzman
(2021/Digital/Color/11mins 19seconds /Experimental)
 State that in the film that the students just viewed, the cinematic property called
Shot enabled them to be informed of meanings as well as construct meanings of
their own.
 Explain further that according to film researcher and educator Nick Deocampo, “
a shot defines space. What we see and hear in a shot informs us with meanings far
beyond what is written on script.” The ideas and meanings that we get from the shot
are because of the images and actions that we either see or do not see, and this
also includes the sound or music that is accompanied by the image or images.
 Emphasize that “The shot is the visual statement to viewers.”
 Ask the students to focus their attention to this image from the experimental short
film It is best to use the actual video clip (Time Stamp: 6:10 – 6:29)
●
Engage the learners with the following questions:
What can you see here? Name everything that you can see that’s captured by the
camera in this image or video clip.
Face-to-Face Learners: Will answer the teacher during the discussion in
the classroom
Online Learners: Will answer the teacher through the Discussion Board
or Chatbox in their LMS platform.
Modular Learners: Will write their answers in their Student’s
Worksheets.
What is the setting of the image? What predominant color/s can you see? Can you
observe the contrast of light in the foreground versus in the horizon? How can you
describe the position of the cars? How much of the cityscape does this image allow
us to see?
And focusing on each of your answers, what feelings and thoughts have you formed
while observing all of these separately and together while re-watching the video
clip?
Face-to-Face Learners: Will answer the teacher during the discussion in
the classroom
Online Learners: Will answer the teacher through the Discussion Board
or Chatbox in their LMS platform.
Modular Learners: Will write their answers in their Student’s
Worksheets.


Inform the students that all of their answers refer to the mise-en-scene of
this particular shot of the film.
Give the definition of mise-en-scene.
Mise-en-scene is a French term, which means “place on stage”, and this
refers to all of the visual elements shown in a theatrical production within the
space provide by the stage itself. In cinema, filmmakers have borrowed the
term and have extended the meaning to refer to the visual elements found in
a film image.


Point out to the students that by answering the previous questions, they are
in effect analyzing the image or video clip based on some the common
elements of the mise-en-scene, which are lighting, framing and composition,
props, setting and décor, color, costume and performance.
And using them as reference for their analysis, they were able to come up
with different meanings and interpretations.
Emphasize this statement:
The mise-en-scene in a film provides us with the visual information that
creates an imagined world and the meaning/s of that world.
●
Engage the learners with the following questions:
Collaborative Discussion
 Give these instructions to the students.
Partner up with a classmate and go back to the film. Based on the definition of the
shot and the mise-en-scene, look for the parts of the film that includes the images
from the previous Comprehension activity (Partial Point of View/s vs. Holistic
Perspective); and try to answer these question: “What do I think is the visual
statement of this shot? And how was it expressed through its mise-enscene?” Discuss, compare and contrast your answers from this question and your
answers from the previous activity (Partial Point of View/s vs. Holistic Perspective)
with your partner.
● Engage the learners with the following questions:
What have you learned through your discussion with partner? Were you able to compare
and contrast your ideas and opinions about the different images? Based on your
sharing, were you able to observe how your classmate thinks and make sense of the
images and how he rationalizes his answers? What did you learn from how he/she sees
the visuals, and in turn sees the world? Did it somehow open you to different ways of
seeing and thinking?
Face-to-Face Learners: Will answer the teacher during the discussion in
the classroom
Online Learners: Will answer the teacher through the Discussion Board
or Chatbox in their LMS platform.
Modular Learners: Will write their answers in their Student’s
Worksheets.

Tell the students that what they just did during the collaborative discussion is to engage
in Philosophy.
What is Philosophy?
Philosophy means “love of wisdom”, from the two Greek words Philo (to love) and
Sophia (wisdom).
We can also define it as the science that by natural light of reason studies the
first cases or highest principles of all things. Let’s break down this definition.
As a form of scientific inquiry, it can be described as an organized body of
knowledge, it is systematic and it follows specific steps or applies specific
procedures.
With regards to the natural light of reason, it uses a person as a philosopher his or
her natural capacity to think or his or her human reason, also called the unaided
reason.
Lastly, Philosophy is the study of all things; which enables philosophy to
distinguish itself from other sciences because it is not one-dimensional or partial.
Thus, a philosopher does not limit himself to a particular object of inquiry; making
philosophy multidimensional or holistic.
From that description of Philosophy, let’s now take a look at the two concepts
Holistic Thinking and Partial Thinking.
HOLISTIC THINKING vs. PARTIAL THINKING


State that individuals can exercise both holistic and partial thinking. And what an
individual is mostly inclined to do also generally speak about how the person views
situations, events, places, things and people.
Define Holistic to the students by starting with its etymology.
Holism is derived from the Greek word ‘holos”, which literally means ‘everything’ and
‘whole’. Thus, Holistic Perspective pertains to the way of thinking and seeing that
considers large-scale patterns in systems. Have you ever heard of the phrase “looking at
the big picture”? If a person does that in a situation, his/her holistic perspective
requires him/her to have an open mindset and an ability to get the general sense or
impression on the situation.

From here, define Partial point of view to the students.
On the other hand, Partial point of view, emphasizes on specific aspects of a situation.
This manner of thinking is an essential component of analytical thinking, as an individual
zones in on certain areas or aspects of an issue in order to understand it.

Emphasizes this statement to the students:
Though partial point of view is useful, philosophy utilizes holistic perspective in making
sense of problems and issues connected to human experience.
Let’s take a look at this table that gives us brief contrast between Holistic Perspective
and Partial Point of View
Holistic Perspective and Partial Point of View
Holistic Perspective
Examines all aspects of the given
problem or situation.
 Considers all aspects as important
when arriving at conclusions.
 All aspects are synthesized to
form a general overview of the
problem or situation.
Example:

A police officer pacifies and then listens to
both stories of two men who were
punching at each other before making an
official arrest.
●


Partial Point of View
Looks at only a limited number of
aspects of the given problem or
situation.
Conclusions are made based on
considering some, but not all,
sides of the problem or situation.
Example:
A police officer immediately handcuffs
Person A and officially makes an arrest,
after he sees Person A throwing a punch
at Person B. However, the police officer
only decided to make the arrest based on
what he initially saw, not knowing that
Person B was the first one to provoke.
Engage the learners with the following questions:
Given the characteristics and examples of holistic perspective and partial point of
view, which of the two approaches do you think is philosophy more aligned with?
Expected answer: Holistic Perspective
Philosophy operates on a holistic perspective, rather than a partial point of view
because the latter only sees limited knowledge on the situation; which may lead to
wrong conclusions.