Lecture 1: Taking an Online Course and Course Introduction

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Lecture 1Taking an Online Course and Course
Introduction

• Professor Aaron Baker

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Professor Aaron Baker

• Associate Professor, Film and Media Studies,
  Arizona State University
• I teach courses in Film Studies, Film History and
  Cultural Theory.
• I have written books on sports films and director
  Steven Soderbergh. Currently, I am editing a
  collection of essays on filmmaker Martin Scorsese.

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In This Lesson

• What kind of distance learning course is this?
• How can you succeed?
• Assignments
• What do we study in this course?

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Part I What kind of distance learning course is
this?

• Its Not an Automated Course
• Its Not a Self-Paced Course
• This Course Emphasizes Interactivity
• Asynchronous
• Participation is Fundamental to the Success of
  Our Course
• Discussion Board

Hint Take the Self-Evaluation of Online
Students. Itll help you better understand how
your learning style meets the demand of this
environment.
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The Advantages of this Course

• Flexibility Not Limited by Time,Space
• Study Materials Available 24/7
• Lectures (streaming audio w/ PowerPoint)
• Media Clips
• Interactive discussion board
• But Structured Like a Traditional Course
• (Lectures, Readings, Films, Essays, Exam)
• Complements Multiple Learning Styles
• (Auditory, Visual, Independent,
• Collaborative)

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How to succeed (get an A) in this course
Take
Take

• Taking An Online Class Part II

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Course OrganizationEach lesson contains

• Assigned Reading
• Screening of Film
• Website
• Lecture
• Clips
• Interactivity (Discussion Board)

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Forms of Interactivity

• Threaded Discussions onthe eBoard
• Two Posts for Each Lesson
• -Answer Question
• -Dialogue
• E-mail

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Keys To Success

• Go through the Website, or Virtual Classroom. Get
  to Know It Well
• Keep up with All Lesson Tasks
• Do Assignments Carefully, Thoroughly, and Turn
  Them in on Time
• Get to Know Your Classmates
• Discuss with Rigor Respect

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Assignments

• Taking An Online Class Part III

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Participation

• Participation is 25 of Your Final Grade
• Participation Grade is Based On
• Keeping Up with Two Discussion Board Posts per
  Lesson
• Quality of Posts - how rigorous, critical and
  original they are also how well they engage
  lesson materials such as the screening, readings,
  lecture and clips.
• Being on time with the Posts

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Critical Papers

• You will write two critical papers in this course
  that will count as 50 of your grade.
• Descriptions of these two essays (due after
  Lessons 6 and 12) will be sent to you via e mail
  and be posted on the eboard.
• They are also available under Graded Work on the
  course site.

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Exam

• There is also a cumulative exam for the course
  which total 25 of your grade.
• It will cover
• Readings, lectures, assigned films
• Be a combination of fill in the blank,
  identification, short answer essay questions
• Be due to me via e-mail
• No late exams!

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Exam

• You will do well on the exam if you take good
  notes during the lectures, keep up with the
  readings, watch the films and participate on the
  eBoard.
• It will be very difficult for you to do well if
  you get behind!

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What Do We Study in This Class?
Matewan (1987) directed by John Sayles
Taking An Online Class Part IV
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Two Aspects in Every Film Content and Form

• Content What the story is about
• Form How the film tells its story
• The two are inextricable in film as in any art
  form you cant have one without the other.

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Film Content

• What the film is about, its story.
• All films are created by people and are therefore
  historical, subjective political.
• Even if unintended, everyone tells stories from
  their experience, their perspective.

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Film Form

• Narrative Structure
• Mise-en-scene
• Cinematography
• Editing
• Sound
• These are the tools of film the techniques that
  are used to tell the story in the movie.

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International and American Films

• Using the Form and Content Distinction
• Well Analyze
• Both American and
• International
• Films

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Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum

• Foreign movies have important things to teach
  us . . . . Theyre proof positive that Americans
  arent the only human beings and that the
  decisions we make about how to live our lives
  arent the only options available. Movie Wars,
  page 108

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Six Things to Remember

• Go through the Website, or Virtual Classroom,
  with Care Know it Well
• Keep up with all Lesson Tasks
• Turn Assignments in on Time, Written at a College
  Level
• Get to Know Your Classmates
• Discuss with Rigor Respect
• Enjoy yourself! Its film, after all.

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Next Time What is Film?, How Are Movies Made and
Seen?

• Starting Point
• Define Our Subject
• Film as Business and as Art

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End of Lecture 1

Chris Cooper in Matewan