Aesthetics of the Moving Image
Aesthetics of the Moving Image How do films convey meaning, generate emotions, and work as an art form? What aspects of film are shared by television and videogames? This course is designed to improve your ability to watch, reflect on, and write about moving images. The course will be grounded in the analysis of cinema (feature films, documentaries, avant-garde, and animation) with special focus on film style and storytelling techniques. Study will extend to new audio-visual media as well, and will be considered from formal, cultural, and theoretical perspectives. Note to students: this course involves substantial streaming of films and television for assigned viewing.
Aesthetics of the Moving Image How do films convey meaning, generate emotions, and work as an art form? What aspects of film are shared by television and videogames? This course is designed to improve your ability to watch, reflect on, and write about moving images. The course will be grounded in the analysis of cinema (feature films, documentaries, avant-garde, and animation) with special focus on film style and storytelling techniques. Study will extend to new audio-visual media as well, and will be considered from formal, cultural, and theoretical perspectives. Note to students: this course …Read more
Louisa is clearly very passionate about the material she teaches which makes for a fun class. Final grades consist of several projects/short papers with self reflections where you rate how much effort you put into them. Readings are not difficult and she is very accommodating regarding due dates of work.
This is honestly probably one of the worst courses I've taken at Middlebury. It's basically a room full of people mildly interested in film being forced to participate in unproductive group discussions for an hour twice a week. This should not be a requirement for the film major. It is a completely uninspiring and unsatisfactory introduction to film and the film studies department.
This is honestly probably one of the worst courses I've taken at Middlebury. It's basically a room full of people mildly interested in film being forced to participate in unproductive group discussions for an hour twice a week. This should not be a requirement for the film major. It is a completely uninspiring and unsatisfactory intr …Read more
The course was overall very boring. Besides a couple of cool movies, the rest of the class was not very enjoyable and Dobreva didn’t really help out with that either. Not only does she not grade fairly, she also doesn’t really explain what she wants from you. She just states that it is in the syllabus and to find your answers there. I don’t recommend taking a class with Dobreva. Course overall again was pretty boring.
The course was overall very boring. Besides a couple of cool movies, the rest of the class was not very enjoyable and Dobreva didn’t really help out with that either. Not only does she not grade fairly, she also doesn’t really explain what she wants from you. She just states that it is in the syllabus and to find your answers there. …Read more
Film studies is a very interesting subject and this course serves as a general introduction to it. There are some fun viewings and the production assignments (in which you get into groups and film two very short videos throughout the semester) really make you appreciate the work that goes into producing films. Professor Dobreva does not really lecture, instead relying on class discussion, which is forced since there is a system in which every student has to talk so often for their grade. And while it is a large intro course, she made no effort to get to know anyone's names, so we had to submit a Canvas post after each class explaining what contribution we made to the class discussion. Overall, the grade structure is strange (with you having to do different amounts of assignments based on the grade you want to get out of the course) and the material at times a bit dry, but overall it was still and enjoyable class and a classic Middlebury experience.
Film studies is a very interesting subject and this course serves as a general introduction to it. There are some fun viewings and the production assignments (in which you get into groups and film two very short videos throughout the semester) really make you appreciate the work that goes into producing films. Professor Dobreva does …Read more
This course was enjoyable and not very much work aside from several group projects and individual papers throughout the semester. The weekly readings were easy and usually short. The screenings varied from quite interesting to only moderately so. It's approachable for students who don't have a background in film studies and provides a good intro. Louisa is a good professor and very excited about the course content and supporting students' projects and creativity.
This course was enjoyable and not very much work aside from several group projects and individual papers throughout the semester. The weekly readings were easy and usually short. The screenings varied from quite interesting to only moderately so. It's approachable for students who don't have a background in film studies and provides …Read more
She is very kind and the material is interesting. I have no interest in film or media, but I did enjoy the class. This is a good class to get art requirment for if it is needed. A couple essays and reading annotations due weekly.