The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in cognitive and affective responses of eighth grade students to a short, educational film and to a videotape presentation of that film. The cognitive response involved students' understanding of such story elements of the film as plot, setting, character, mood, and theme. The affective response involved students' appreciation and reaction to both the story or theme, and to the cinematic elements of the film. The questions under consideration were: (1) How do students view a film? (2) How does the film create its effect? (3) How do the knowledge of cinematic and literary elements affect the student response? Three methods of data collection were used: observations, surveys, and interviews. It was concluded from the study that some students did understand the literary elements of the film or videotape; however, they expressed only a moderate awareness of the cinematic elements under investigation. It was further concluded that film viewers understood more that videotape viewers, although it did not follow that those who understood the film or videotape to the greater extent were also those who were most affected. Among the recommendations made was the suggestion that educators may need to provide increased training in cinematic skills. Thirteen references are listed. (Author/LLS)