A 2-session film unit for high school. Before a camera rolls, a film is drawn. Students learn to compose inside the widescreen frame — choosing shot sizes from wide to close-up, placing subjects with the rule of thirds, and noting camera moves — then storyboard a short scene so its visual storytelling is planned, not improvised.
Wide, medium, close — the same character framed three ways. Each storyboard frame plans a shot before the camera ever moves.
Level
Advanced
Grade band
High school
Sessions
2 × 45 min
Total time
90 minutes
Overlay
Storyboard frame
Learning objectives
By the end of the unit, students will:
Name the common shot sizes — wide, medium, and close-up — and what each is good for
Compose a subject in a widescreen frame using the rule of thirds
Note basic camera moves such as pan, tilt, and push-in on a storyboard
Storyboard a short scene as a sequence of varied shots
Critique a storyboard for shot variety and visual storytelling
Standards alignment
VA:Cr1.2.HSIaShape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present-day life using a contemporary practice of art or design.
VA:Cr2.1.HSIIaThrough experimentation, practice, and persistence, demonstrate acquisition of skills and knowledge in a chosen art form.
VA:Re7.2.HSIaAnalyze how one's understanding of the world is affected by experiencing visual imagery.
Materials
Internet-connected device per student to study the storyboard-frame overlay and plan shots
Printed widescreen storyboard templates (a strip of empty 16:9 frames), pencil, and eraser
Fine pen for camera-move arrows, and lined space beneath each frame for notes
A short scene to board — a simple action with three to six shots
One or two film clips or storyboards to study, school-appropriate
Lesson sequence
1
Shot sizes and framing
45 minutes
Warm-up · 5 min
Play a short clip and pause on three frames — a wide, a medium, a close-up of the same character. Ask what each one tells us that the others do not. The wide places us, the medium shows action, the close-up gives us feeling. Choosing shot size is choosing what the audience gets to know.
Main activity · 30 min
(5 min) Shot sizes, named: a wide shot shows the whole scene, a medium shot frames a character from the waist up, and a close-up fills the frame with a face. Each does a different job.
(12 min) Students draw the same character in three frames — wide, medium, close — placing the eyes or subject on a thirds line in each, and leaving lead room where the character looks.
(7 min) Camera moves: students learn simple arrows for a pan, a tilt, and a push-in, and add one to a frame to show the camera moving.
(2 min) They label the shot size and any move beneath each frame.
Three shot sizes in the same frame. Wide to place, medium to act, close to feel — and the subject sits on a thirds line in each.
Reflection · 10 min
What did the close-up tell you that the wide shot could not?
Where did the rule of thirds help you place a subject in the widescreen frame?
How would you show a camera moving on a still drawing?
2
Storyboarding a short scene
45 minutes
Warm-up · 5 min
Shot list: in two minutes students write the three to six shots of their scene as a list, naming the size of each. Like a comic's beats, a shot list turns boarding into placing planned moments rather than inventing on the page.
Main activity · 30 min
(4 min) Students open their scene with an establishing wide shot, then plan how the shots vary — never two of the same size in a row if it can be helped.
(16 min) They draw each frame on the storyboard strip, composing with the thirds grid, choosing shot sizes that fit each beat, and noting any camera move below the frame.
(6 min) They add a one-line caption under each frame describing the action and any sound, the way a real board does.
(4 min) Students check their frames against the storyboard overlay and confirm the shot sizes vary enough to stay alive.
A four-shot scene: open wide, move in to medium and close for the key beat, then pull wide to end. Variety keeps the sequence alive.
Reflection · 10 min
Did your shot sizes vary enough, or did two similar shots sit next to each other?
Which single frame carries the most weight in your scene, and why?
How did planning the shots change how you imagined filming them?
Standard camera-move marks: a horizontal arrow for a pan, a vertical arrow for a tilt, and inward arrows for a push-in. A shared language a crew can read.
Film it: Students shoot their storyboard as a short video or photo sequence and compare the result to the board.
Cross-disciplinary (ELA): Adapt a paragraph of a story into a shot list, deciding what to show wide and what to show close.
Differentiation: Students who need support board a three-shot scene; advanced students add an over-the-shoulder shot and a reverse angle.
Film history: Study a famous storyboarded sequence and how the board shaped the final cut.
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