Last year, the authors presented “Teaching Leadership with 10,000 Words” a paper about using film as an integral part of to teaching leadership in an Engineering Leadership class.1 This course was originally developed by the lead author, and has proven itself to be highly successful at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown’s Engineering Technology curriculum. Two years ago, the second author joined in teaching a portion of the course because of his expertise and experience in teaching film as literature. By working together, the authors are continually refining the process by which film as a leadership example is taught. A new refinement now adds another element to the course, focusing on considering the film as the mediator (the delivery system) of the leadership message and then asking the students, to consider just how the film communicates its messages. When individuals watch a film, what they are observing is the culmination of conscious choices made by a production team of artists and craftsmen. Normally films are identified as the product of the director, I.e. Peter Weir’s Master and Commander Commander, but it is inherently recognized that the finished film represents the product of many contributors, each of whom has processed the message of the film through his/her own consciousness. In short, these artists have “mediated” the message of the film to the viewers. Even if the film has a historical context, that context has been “mediated” through the minds of the contributing artists. Thus in watching the film, the viewers make a judgment as to the relative success or failure of the various presentational choices made and decide whether or not this is a “good” or “bad” film. Since the class and the students are specifically interested in “leadership” issues, students are asked to analyze how these choices affect the leadership issues demonstrated in the film. The need exists to go beyond the literal meaning of the film into questions of what the film itself intends to communicate to its audience. This approach also has a direct impact on developing leaders, and especially leaders in the engineering and engineering technology field. By requiring students to become more aware of the medium, the authors, by default, require them to become more observant and more critically aware of the context in which the message is delivered. Enhanced observational skills undoubtedly make for more competent leaders (and better engineers). The ability to accurately observe one’s environment and to be conscious of what one observes is critical to one’s success in the field. The authors’ intention is neither to turn the leadership course into a critical/analytical film studies course nor to create a new course in the curriculum. Instead, the following should be viewed as a “unit” within the larger course. In stressing the methods by which a film communicates with its audience, this paper will present four, easily recognized, choices a director makes in order to communicate the film’s primary message and to portray the leadership characteristics and traits of the main character. Included as examples of these techniques are be script choices, camera placement, film editing, sound editing, and especially use of music. Using several brief film clips, the authors will provide a clear, concise demonstration of how film communicates its message to the audience, thereby allowing students to make reasoned judgments about the film’s effectiveness and the veracity of its message. This approach will afford students a clearer understanding of what they must look for as they analyze the leadership dimensions of the movie’s primary character. Also, it assists any professor who wants to use this concept with developing a deeper understanding of how film is literature expressed in a visual manner. The presentation will include specific examples of how this leadership “unit,” or module, can be used in a v
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