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Satoria Ray
LBST 1102
Professor Hicks
December 6, 2015
A Reflective Look at Film Class
I initially chose to take film as an LBST because I wasnt a fan of visual arts. I
was, and still am, however a fan of movies and thought hey! Why not take a class that I
get to watch a movie in every week? I entered the class expecting only to watch a film,
have a discussion, and carry about my day. I was, at first, a little turned off by the idea of
having to write a four to six page paper in response to each film we watched, but I grew
to look forward to writing these responses. The class discussions after each film inspired
my desire to sit down and think about the film more deeply and how it connects to the
world we live in today. I had no idea how much I would learn in just one semester or how
much I would fall in love with film.
Within the first couple of weeks of film class, I began to learn more about film
that I had ever known. The class started off with the basics about film such as the
different techniques and the history of film. One of my first responses I had to write in
this class was in response to Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing. As the title
suggest, this video talked all about editing. However, it did not just talk about present day
editing but editing during the early days of cinema as well. The video noted, in early
cinema, women were the editors of film because editing was seen as similar to knitting or
sewing. However, this changed when sound was introduced into films. The job of
editing then became seen as more technical and a mans job. In my response to this video,

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I wrote about how this transition was not only sexist but also undermined womens
talents and capabilities. This thought would carry with me throughout film class. As we
watched a new film each week, I would look to see if the editor was a man or a woman. I
would then look to see if women were playing any other part in the film. Very rarely did
we watch a film with a woman director and women as a whole rarely had positions in
main roles behind the camera. Nevertheless, this video was the catalyst for my learning
about as well as thinking deeply about film.
Another video we watched in the first weeks of school was The History of
Cinema. Like stated in my response to this video, in order to understand anything we first
must understand its history. In order for me to truly understand and appreciate film, I had
to learn about its history. The history of film is extensive and dates back to 1824. John
Varley and the Lumiere Brothers both played a huge role in the creation of film. John
Varley introduced the idea that was later disproved- of presenting pictures at a fast
enough rate to convince the audience that its viewing a moving image and the Lumiere
Brothers can me accredited with introducing several modern day cinema attributes like
admission fees. This video and the one mentioned above were the most informational
videos I watched in this class and can be named the reason I became so interested in film.
After we got the techniques and history under our belt, it was time to start
watching films. One of my favorite films was one of the last films we watched: American
Beauty. This film spoke on suburban culture in America and how everything is not how it
seems on the outside. But this film connected to almost everything we had talked about in
film class as well. It spoke on how colors are used in films; it spoke on different filming
techniques; it spoke on cinematography; it spoke on and critiqued our culture. I felt that

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everything I had learned throughout the semester was evident in my response to this film
and that my response showcased my growth throughout the semester. In this response I
was able to talk more deeply about the techniques and the affect film has on culture.
Many of the films we watched this semester critiqued a certain culture or human
behavior- this film did both. Directors use film as a way to bring awareness to what is
going wrong in our world and to get the audience to think about it. Often, we as human
ignore the bad in the world but for the two hours we are watching a film, were forced to
think about it and that it exactly what American Beauty did. It made the audience think
about sexuality, marriage, self-image, and many other topics we often ignore.
The film Moon made the audience think as well. Although I was not a fan, this
film had one of the biggest impacts on me because it made me think. And like I wrote in
my response to this film, what makes a film good is its ability to be memorable and
leave you wanting to know more about its subject. Moon explored the idea of cloning
and the negative affects of doing such a thing. When responding to this film, I found
myself wondering about the ethics of cloning and how I personally felt about the subject.
In other classes, I often write essays for the sake of my grade. I absentmindedly type up
the required pages, turn it in, and think nothing else of the essay. However, in this class,
and especially with this response, I found myself thoroughly enjoying writing the essay
and researching for sources. I spent hours looking up cloning and the ethics behind it- not
because I needed to for a good grade but because I wanted too. This film made me realize
that I do not support human cloning but it also made me realize the impact actually caring
about the subject Im learning can have on my intellectual growth. I now am so much
more knowledgeable on the topic of cloning- something I knew almost nothing about

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before watching this film. If I applied this interest in what Im learning to my other
classes, my intellectual capabilities would increase exponentially.
Each film we watched in this class had a different story, but one of my favorite
things about all of the films is that they showed multiple stories. We were required to
watch Chimamanda Adichis TED Talk about the dangers of a single story. Adichi speaks
on how dangerous having a single perception of a group or person can be. This is true for
films as well. Often times people in other countries will watch American films and get the
wrong idea about Americans because they are only seeing one side, one story, of
America. This happens when America watches foreign films as well. Both are dangerous
because it limits the ability to learn the whole truth about a group of people and leads to
stereotypes and inaccurate depictions. This class taught me the importance of searching
for the whole truth and looking beyond the single story. In Crash, I learned that there is
always more going on in peoples lives then we will ever know. In Bicycle Thieves, I
learned to not just look at the poor and turn my nose up at thieves but rather look at why
theyre being forced to steal and the conditions of the environment. In Moon, I learned to
look at both the people being cloned and the people doing the cloning. The films we
watched and the three hours a week I spent in this class were valuable because not only
did they teach me about film but also about myself, others, and the culture I live in. This
class increased my intellectual development but my personal development as well.