Teaching with films has largely been limited to the attainment of the simpler educational objectives such as factual and perceptual motor skills learning. Here is an attempt to define the characteristics of filmic communication in order that it may be applied to more complex educational aims. Language and filmic symbolism are compared to facilitate coding through varying levels of complexity. Problems raised by this form of structural analysis are discussed within the framework of the codification. A functional analysis is also made of filmic communication, in which film is conceived of as a system of implementation with the potential for the conceptual manipulation of the environment. It is felt that the effects of filmic communication are accountable to a process termed coding transformation, during which the characteristics of the symbol system transform experience in such a way as to supplement individual cognitive processes. It is also felt that the inherent characteristic of film as a symbol system is its inductive nature, which is highly valuable in communicating those aspects of educational development such as discovery, inquiry training, reflective teaching, hypothetical mode or, generically, inductive teaching. References, tables, coding models and schematic diagrams are presented. (SH)