Film Production · Film (Sch Of The Arts)
One essay per week and several film projects
Not bad. Reading each week that isn't really necessary. The only written work is a take-home midterm and final. The take-home midterm consisted of several identifications and then a 5-page paper. The final was 4 2-3 page essays
9 short (2-3 page) papers, which is actually pretty intense. A take-home final that had to be a minimum of 8 pages (some people wrote 18+). More work than your average film class.
1 short film/project per week. There are assigned readings but I don't think anybody actually read them. I never touched them but I probably should have. The final project is fun, and you finish the semester with a couple short films to show to your roomates.
Sandra Luckow is the most self-obsessed, manipulative and exhausting professor I have ever had during my four years at Columbia. I do not believe I have ever encountered a less experienced yet blindly narcissistic individual. For the love of god do NOT TAKE SANDRA'S COURSE. I am fully, 100% convinced that the only positive review on CULPA was written by her. She is the very definition of "Those who can't do, teach."
Prof. Frankfurt is a nice guy who teaches an okay class. His interpretation of silent cinema isn't thought-provoking and doesn't evoke enthusiasm from his students, but was informative and a pretty good intro to silent movies. His papers are sometimes annoying. The first two topics were so incredibly general. For the third archival paper, it was interesting to go see archival slides at the Rare Books Library, but no one had any idea what he wanted us to write because there was no precedent for the assignment. He is nice (slightly awkward) and responsive to student comments, but there's nothing to get worked up about.
I guess Falk must have studied since he first started teaching this class, because he definitely seems to know what he's talking about now. This class is really structured like an intro course. You go over a lot of the same things as you do in intro, about the advent of film and the basic history, but you also go into more detail. The films are pretty boring, with the exception of the Chaplin and Keaton (in my opinion), but Falk does his best to make it at least slightly interesting. As a film major, I did find it interesting to learn about the history of film. Unfortunately, watching silent films week after week can get pretty draining. I was wondering why more people haven't reviewed this class, and then I realized there's really not much to say about it. It's a requirement, so you'll have to take it no matter what, so these reviews don't matter much. And the class is pretty straightforward. The workload isn't too bad, and you watch a lot of silent films. That's about it.
Like the other reviews said, this is primarily a history class. Not just a history of films or style, but literally a history of the country or culture that produced each film and the effects that they may have had on the filmmaker. Some people may find that interesting, but others will find it very tedious. Strangely, all of the papers and the final focus on more traditional aspects of film. So unless you go out of your way to incorporate history and culture into your work, the lecture will have very little relevance on the rest of the course. Still, the films were well chosen and Pena is truly encyclopedic in his knowledge of film. Not a class I would take if I wasn't a film major, but it's manageable.
The school is lucky to have Larry. He is one of the few teachers in his field that actually knows what he is doing, and that it works in the REAL WORLD. He is a producer, cinematographer, director, and screenwriter all in one. If you look him up on IMDB he has a real repertoire unlike the other people in the film department who are floating around in academic-la-la-land. Larry may be a bit harsh, he might talk too much and too loud, he might be really busy outside of class (he has a job outside of Columbia) but he is the real deal. He always makes time for his students and always replies to e-mail asap. He cares immenseley about his students and about well-made movies in general.
Weekly readings and movie screenings. Final film.