Film Viewing Within the English Classroom

In reading chapter 9 of Costanzo's Great Films and How To Teach Them, I was most intrigued by the contemplation on the best viewing situation for a student when studying a film. The text offered examples of teachers who showed the movie in class, yet were faced with the obstacle of eating up 2 or more periods to see the film in its entirety. Other options were to have the students watch it at home or in a media section of the library, however there was concern that with this method the experience of viewing a film among other audience members would be lost. Thinking back to my own high school experience, all of my teachers opted to show films during classtime. Despite the intentions of my teachers, my classmates and I saw days like these as times we could slack off and not do any real work, so I feel the manner in which film screenings in classrooms are approached as extremely significant. Costanzo then introduced ideas of group projects/presentations as a way to prepare the students both before and after watching the film, in order to focus their attention on what the teacher aimed for the students to get from the viewing. I feel this would be much more beneficial than the standard study guide to follow along with the movie because it would engage the students in discussion with each other, allowing for learning not derived from direct instruction. I then wonder if my past teachers had gone about teaching their films in this manner if I would have a better recollection over the movies I watched throughout those 4 years of my life, or what meaning I was supposed to take from them.