MDST 2200

Prof Etem is definitely super passionate about film, but her knowledge is almost too much for an intro film class. I barely understand any of what she is talking about during the 2.5 hour class each week. You learn more from 20 min of reading (if you do it) than you do from listening to her for 2 hrs. Grade is based off: weekly workshops that ask super specific questions, so if you didn't do the readings or go to class, good luck (I'm still able to get by with skimming readings and sometimes going to class though) + weird archival research report + attending film festival and writing report + some other writing assignment. Overall, way too much work and not worth it for an "intro to film" class. Should be a film history class instead. However, extra credit is given and it's not a lot of work outside class, so if you really need to take this for some reason & you're not a media studies major, you should do fine.

Prof. Etem was super nice and engaging but the lectures definitely felt more like a film history class than an introduction to film class. There are lots of readings + movies assigned each week and usually a writing workshop to go along with them, which for some reason always were graded slightly harshly. Other than that, most of your grade came from submitting notes and writing two reports. #tCFF24

This class is pretty bad. I thought it would be a fun elective but the grading was randomly pretty harsh. The lectures were kind of all over the place, and there were a bunch of guest lecturers that weren't super helpful. Professor Etem would randomly assign long assignments that felt more like a test of our attention than an attempt to help us learn. There were times where my friend and I would spend a decent amount of time on an assignment and then not do great on it, but as long as you follow all instructions you should get an A in the class. But still would not recommend this professor.

Prof Etem tries to do a lot of things in this course, but falls short often. Her guest lecturers are sparse and rarely interesting, and her lectures are kind of scattered and hard to follow. She expects you to be watching multiple films and doing multiple readings in between every class, but will go weeks without referencing the material or testing you on it. She had a span of a few weeks where we received many writing assignments that followed weeks of nothing. The course is very up and down, but definitely on the easier side. The grading is inconsistent as well too, with you sometimes receiving 100 for a workshop and an 80 the next time. It's BS-able. But not the best class I've taken and certainly not a good class to take if you truly have a love for film or want to know more. it's too all over the place. However, Prof Etem is nice and helpful and I recommend talking to her if you have questions.

Do not take this class. I signed up thinking that this would be a super fun, chill, and interesting class, but it is NOT. I thought the other reviews were exaggerating, but this was definitely my least favorite class this semester. She assigns so so much reading every week, and you are also expected to watch multiple films/ videos prior to class (but she never truly checks). You just have to respond to discussion boards on canva discussing the material. There are also multiple papers/ projects, which can make the regular homework feel even more overwhelming. The class itself doesn't even really introduce you to film- I feel like I barely learned anything all semester. It's more like a film history class, with the majority of the time spent discussing and showing silent black and white films. She sometimes plays videos in class, and I learned far more in those 5 minute videos than in her 2 hour lectures. Her "lectures" are simply her reading off a script while we all sit there. I don't think anyone really liked this class or was able to pay attention, even if they tried. The grading is also super harsh, and the TA takes off points for the most random stuff (on major assignments, not on discussion boards). I will say though, the professor is such a sweet person, and she is very excited and passionate about the subject.

This class was definitely my least favorite class this semester. The two-and-a-half-hour class is not ideal, and it was made worse by Professor Etem's lectures. She is not a very engaging lecturer and just described clips of films rather than showing us the actual clip. There was also a decent amount of homework each week that consisted of readings and watching some clips or films, and then answering a discussion post or two about what we learned. Luckily, the discussion posts are based on completetion but it is still a lot of work. Throughout the semester, there are also three projects/papers. The actual assignments weren't too bad, but they were graded kind of harshly, and it wasn't exactly clear how the grade matched the comments given.

However, this class isn't all bad. If you are really interested in film or majoring in media studies, it is a good introduction to film history and some important films. Also, watching clips and movies is still better than homework in other classes. Finally, one of our projects was based on the Virginia Film Festival, which was a really cool experience and definitely one of my favorite parts of the class.