Card decks
Film Production Roles - Analytical Deck (Deck 2)
£20
65 close-viewing cards across five roles: Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Sound Design and Screenwriting. Every card turns a vague impression of a film into a precise observation students can point to and discuss.
- 65 cards across five filmmaking roles
- A definition and questions for every focus
- For IB DP Film, GCSE, A Level and BTEC
- Free teacher guide with a worked lesson
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What’s in the box
Two decks. Five roles. Every choice on screen.
Every choice on screen belongs to a filmmaking role: Director, Screenwriter, Cinematographer, Sound Designer or Editor. Two companion decks of 65 cards help students make those choices, and notice them in professional film.
Make a choicePractical DeckA hands-on task for one role at each stage of production, with a question linking it to meaning on screen.See the Practical Deck · £20
Notice a choiceThis deckAnalysis DeckA focus for close viewing within one role, with questions for interpreting its effect on an audience.
Make and analyse. The two decks are designed to work together.
- CinematographyFraming, composition, lighting and camera movement: how images carry meaning.
DirectionThe creative vision shaping story, performance, image and sound.
EditingSelection, sequence, pacing and rhythm: how the cut shapes understanding.
Sound DesignDialogue, effects, ambience and music: how sound shapes mood and meaning.
ScreenwritingStory, structure, character and dialogue: the ideas a film is built on.
Try it now
Think like a filmmaker. Make meaning visible.
Make a choice with the Practical Deck, or notice one with the Analysis Deck. Every card asks the same thing: how does this shape meaning on screen?
42 cards to try here, from every role in both decks. Each full deck has 65.
Why role by role works
Students know what they want a film to feel like. The cards show them how.
From a feeling to a decision
Practical cards turn a vague intention into a specific choice one role can actually make.
From an impression to an observation
Analysis cards turn “the shot looks interesting” into a precise choice students can point to and discuss.
One question, every role
How does this shape meaning on screen? Asked role by role, it works on any film, from a classic to a first draft.
Introduce each role as a question rather than a job title: not “what does an editor do?” but “what changes if someone controls when we cut?”
Built for IB DP Film
- Film Portfolio
- Textual Analysis
- Comparative Study
- Collaborative Film Project
And for GCSE, A Level, BTEC and MYP film and media courses.
The cycle
The habits of a filmmaker, and of a film analyst.
Watch
Observe professional film work closely.
Notice
Identify one choice through one role.
Name
Describe it precisely in film language.
Adapt
Move the idea into a new context.
Make
Apply it in your own filmmaking.
Reflect
How did it shape meaning? What next?
From the teacher guide
From analysis to production in one lesson
A worked example: students watch a professional film through one role, name what they see precisely, then make the same idea work in a film of their own.
Pick a card
The Cinematography Analysis card: Framing. What does the framing make the audience notice?
Watch through one role
60–90 seconds of Children of Men (2006), watching only the framing.
Name the choice
Not “the shot looks interesting”, but “a wide shot with the character alone in empty space”.
Interpret the effect
The empty space makes us feel the character’s isolation and vulnerability.
Adapt the idea
Draw a Cinematographer Practical card and plan framing that says the same thing in a new context.
From pre-production to the final cut
Ways to use the decks across a course or a production
Close viewing
Give everyone a different role card and watch the same extract through it.
Production meetings
Use Practical cards to structure planning for a student film.
Production reset
When a plan, shoot or edit is stuck, draw a card and apply it to the problem.
Comparative analysis
Two cards, one scene: what does each reveal?
Starter
One role, one minute: what does it contribute to meaning on screen?
Assessment task
Set a card, or a small hand, as the basis for practical or written work.
Written reflection
A card’s focus and questions become a production journal entry.
Independent viewing
Apply an Analysis card to a film at home and bring the notes to class.
- IB DP Film
- GCSE and A Level Film and Media
- BTEC Creative Media
- MYP Media Arts
- Film clubs and production teams
- Teacher training and CPD
Put it on the wall
Film posters for your classroom
Digital poster sets to download and print as often as you like: the production roles, the course essentials and the films every student should know.
Ready for the full decks?
Each deck has 65 cards across all five roles. Free teacher guide included.
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