Film as Film-Valerie Miller

In her article, "Film as Film," Valerie Miller discusses the importance of using film in the classroom, so that teachers are able to help their students obtain "textual intelligence." Miller discusses the impact of film in the technologically advanced society that we now live in. Students are using more technology each year and as teachers, we must remain advanced in our knowledge and our teaching. The main article of Miller's article is that as teachers we must present film as film and not as an alternative or substitute for text.
The first argument that Miller makes in her article is that as teachers, we must teach film as film. Miller says that teaching film as a text has its advantages. These advantages include allowing a level playing field because students have different levels of reading comprehension, yet most students have little or no experience in film analysis. Other than this advantage, Miller points out that the positives of teaching film as film far outweigh those of teaching film as literature. Miller says that when students learn film as literature, they are not exposed to the unique narrative that a film produces instead of a text. Another aspect of film that students are not exposed to when they simply see the film as the literature story is the differing opinions of different directors. In each film, there is a director that has shaped the film based on his or her opinion. These opinons are important for students while watching films. Miller later points out that it is often difficult for teachers to teach film as film because they are experts of literature and not of film. However, Miller says that with a basic understanding of film techniques, teachers can apply this knowledge with the knowledge of literature to challenge students intellectually and help them reach their maximum "textual intelligence" as well as "film intelligence."
Miller goes on to point out that teaching films as films and teaching students about critical thinking skills and cinematic techniques will help students understand film and the decisions made by the director about the movie even more. In made for television movies, students are able to sense when the movie is about to break away to commercial by the music or the action. Also, students can sense when something scary or dramatic is going to happen by the music playing in the background. As we have discussed, each director has biases and interprets a work of literature and portrays it as they wish in a movie. Picking up on these biases and changes made can allow students to question these changes and challenge the beliefs of the director or challenge their own beliefs.
As the article continues, Miller reiterates the fact that despite the possible lack of cinematic knowledge of English teachers, they must encourage students to look at the cinematic techniques of a film and not get caught up in the story that it tells. After explaining this for a second time, Miller gives a lists of resources that will help English teachers understand cinematic techniques and film better.
After this, Miller goes on to lay out a short unit for how to teach "Moby Dick" through literary theory and using film as film. Miller says that teachers should begin the year with a short unit on film techniques so that students have a base of knowledge for learning film as film later in the year.
I have very few questions about this reading from Valerie Miller. I find this reading useful in some cases but also see faults in Miller's theories. I believe that film taught as film is certainly a key concept for students to learn. However, film as literature is still a concept that students must understand. Focusing an entire class on one aspect of understanding, such as film as film, limits students by only allowing them to focus on one concept instead of challenging their minds.