Badmovies.org Forum

So I was signing up for college classes when I saw something great among them.  Introduction to Film

The course description: Study of the history and development of film as a distinctive medium of communication, an art form, and an industry.  Students will be introduced to a wide range of theoretical perspectives that have been applied to film in academic settings.

That sounds complicated, but awesome!  I love film (Big shocker) and this sounds like a great course.  I might be able to expand my knowledge in films and learn many things about them!  The class is about 2 hours long though, but I'm willing to go the mile for a class that I really want to experience.  I'm not major in film or want to be apart of the film industry, but really want to know more about it!

So with that, what about you guys?  Have you ever taken a course in film before or ever expressed an interest in that?

Sounds like a good class. I am a college counselor. There is absolutely no harm in registering for the class if you really want to experience it. However, if that's not your major, you may have to accept that, if you've already filled up all your electives, it won't count for your degree. However, if you've never taken any class that is not in your major or a General Education class, then it may count toward your electives and count toward your degree. If that's the case, then there's no reason not to register. Go for it.

It does count towards my electives (It's my only elective because I don't want to overload on my first ever semster in college) and I think it should count towards my degree.

I took a film class.  We made two short films over the course of the semester.  The first time, I basically did everything myself except the editing, strangely (it's what I do best).  The second time, my new group had absolutely no drive and no one but me had any idea what to do.  I couldn't pull the group all by myself.  The result was a complete monstrosity of randomly filmed musical scenes that will never be seen by anyone anywhere.  Hopefully.

I'm a film grad.  So, yeah.  Tons of them. 

You'll probably enjoy it, and learn a good amount.  The class discussions can be very interesting and informative.  The quality of the professor can make a BIG difference.  Usually college level film text books are very dry, but also pretty informative.  Be aware there may be big holes in history, etc, for an entry level class.

I'd say go for it.

Yup, I've taken a proper film class. I even came out of it with a pair of short films under my belt (they're not very good, but they were fun to make and hey, I was just learning). I've also taken a couple of animation classes, although the thinking behind them is a little different (there's more emphasis on learning the technology first, for starters, then more emphasis on creating an effective short that, more often than not, is silent).

Take as many film classes as you can. You'll learn how to appreciate films in a completely different way than someone who doesn't know anything about film theory. If nothing else, you'll be less likely to be taken in by overhyped mediocre films and you'll get more of the references to classic films that pop up in The Simpsons.

Yup.
And it was awesome.

No, though I've always wanted to. Closest I've come is an entertainment law class where we learned a lot about the business of making movies and what can go wrong on that end.

I give them now and then when students come to the Film Archives to sit at the feet of the Master and learn from the shattered remains of his underpants.  :buggedout: :buggedout:

Seriously, I can and do give film classes and try and impart my knowledge to others: my motto regarding that is "if you want it, I share it".  :smile:

Yes.  I started out as a film student at Boston University in 1982.  I took classes for a year-and-a-half, but the tuition was very high and I decided to leave school so I could work full time for a few years and save some money.  I ended up spending most of the money I made and after 3 years of working, I decided to go to a state college (Salem State) where I got my accounting degree.  About 10 years ago I decided to pursue my film degree, so I enrolled in the adult education program at Emerson College.  They transferred a lot of credits from my previous schools, so I didn't need to take any core classes . . . just stuff related to my major.  I did that for awhile, but it was really tough to do while I was working full time.  When I left, I believe I needed only 9 or 10 more courses to get my degree.  Maybe some day . . .

I wish I did...  :bluesad:

Did my undergrad as a cinema studies student.  Came out in the end with a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in history and cinema studies.  Was a blast but it was all theory.  Am now studying my Masters in film and TV production.  We just completed a community TV series called the Temperature is Rising which I directed a couple of segments and supervised the post production team.

Visit www.temperaturesrising.net to check it out.  The particular segments I did were the Sun Moon Earth segments, one of which is online so far [you can search it out there if you want to see it]  I also have some writing on there too somewhere but its not exactly the best quality.