Documentary Film and Video - They lost my exam paper??!!

I took this class hoping it would broaden my film taste and introduce me to films I had never seen before. This never happened.

If I had known what Professor Small was like I would never taken this class. But there was no way I could know and was determined to continue with it.

One of my roommates was in this class with me. This was either my first class (or one of my first classes) and my roommate had already had been to her other classes. I remember when it ended the first thing she said to me was that it had been her worse class so far. I had to agree it was particularly boring but I was still willing to give it a chance.

It didn't take long for me to realise she was right. It ended up being my worst class too. It was boring, unhelpful and they lost my mid-term exam paper. So yeah, it was pretty bad.

The worst thing about it was, not only did they lose my exam paper - the teaching assistant (Rich Housh) decided it was my fault rather than apologising for it.

Part of it actually had been my fault. A lot of exams in the States are multiple choice, and having never taken a multiple choice exam before, I didn't know I had to score my name using the boxes at the top. I just wrote my name on it, but then the computer system didn't pick it up. I wasn't told I had to do that though, so how was I supposed to know that?? Surely they should give you all that information at the start, no matter how stupid it seems. Any exam I've ever taken in Scotland, they tell you exactly what to put on it before you start.

So yeah, I took the exam. I was definitely there and had evidence as I asked a girl nearby to borrow her eraser. But basically most people in the class, including my roommate had got their grades back so I emailed the teaching assistant to find out mines. He then got back to me saying that I 'obviously' hadn't taken the exam which is why there was no result. Why would I have asked for the results for an exam I never took??? Retarded or what...

As soon as he emailed me that back I was angry. I put it all over my facebook, and was like how the fuck can they accuse me of not taking an exam even though I have proof I was there! They obviously had lost it and tried to blame it on me. I emailed him back assuring him that I had taken the exam and that I had proof. A lot of my friends on facebook were supportive and agreed it was a complete disgrace. Cheryl then told me to email the head of the film dept and said she would go to the Dean for me. I didn't think it had to go as far as the Dean, but I emailed the Study Abroad office straight away who then offered to complain to the head of the dept for me. Of course, after this they obviously made more of an effort to look for my paper.

Housh then got back to me saying, 'Well, we never found your paper, but we did find one with no name on it so we can assume that's yours and give you the grade. It's a B+.'

Thinking a B+ wasn't bad, I agreed that that was okay. Professor Small then offered me a personal apology and explained my paper was sitting on his suitcase in his living room and that we could go over the grades together if I wanted. He said he had looked over it and was certain I had got a grade around a B+. I accepted the apology and agreed that was okay (my real grade was probably shittier to be honest). I was just grateful I didn't have to sit the exam again.

Small gave us a lot of background knowledge in this class. Well, at least I had thought it was background knowledge. It turned out it was actually stuff we needed to know for our exams. Yeah, apparently knowing the original name of the film building at KU is useful in the field of documentary. The most annoying thing about it was that so many people failed the midterm, that Small was made to give us a list of possible exam topics for the final exam. So apparently, I was an idiot that studied the possible exam topics - none of which appeared in the final exam! I was mad.

Ended up getting a B- for the class overall. Which I didn't mind...until I realised this was the equivalent of a 2D-2F in Stirling grades! Ugh...worst class of my life. The most recent documentaries we studied in that class were from the early 1990s (if we were lucky). Did not see any documentaries from this century, you know which would have been nice but oh well.

Bit of a downer reading this eh? Well it gets a bit cheerier next week when I talk about the best class I took at KU, Basic Screenwriting. Check out the blog to read all about it!

First couple of classes...

So I had Basic Film Production and International Women Filmmakers earlier in the week. I should of had Basic Screenwriting as well, but missed the 1st class because I was ill...

I ended up going to my first Basic Screenwriting class the following week. Although before that, I had my other class - Documentary Film and Video.

I've never really been a huge fan of documentaries, which may sound odd considering I took that class, but oh well. However, I decided to take the class in the hopes that it would broaden my film taste and engage my interest in films that I would never have watched before I became a film student. Plus I had seen really good documentaries before like, "Rich, Famous and Homeless" (UK, 2009) and I hoped we would see more inspirational films.

That didn't happen.

Instead I sat there - bored - watching the most boring documentaries you could imagine. Of course, that might be because that class was also taught by Prof. Small.

He started the class by putting on a documentary called the "Powers of Ten" (US, 1968) which is one of his favourites. I suppose it was quite interesting, but the drawl from Small made it boring. It didn't help that he spoke to the class with his back to us.

That first class gave us the best idea of what to expect from Prof. Small. His teaching assistant, Rich Housh, ran about after him - doing most of the work; there were no lecture notes and/or slideshows (I doubt Small has ever been near a computer) and Small usually delivered lectures incoherently, taking forever to explain a simple point. I know I'm being harsh but I have specific reasons to dislike that class - which almost failed me when it wasn't my fault (I shall explain the story in another post). I just expected better considering I paid so much to move abroad and study there.

It wasn't all bad though. My screenwriting class made up for the documentary class which I hated. It was taught by Professor Willmott, who I can honestly say is one of the best teachers/lecturers I have ever had.

Not only was Willmott one of the most funniest and nicest guy ever, but he had experience writing screenplays for both independent and Hollywood films. Apparently he is more well-known in the US for his mockumentary film, "CSA: The Confederate States of America" (US, 2004) which explores what might have happened if the Confederates (southern states) had won the American Civil War. I found the film on YouTube and watched it (something I didn't ever admit to him seeing as I technically didn't pay to see it - whoops)! It was pretty good, I would recommend it - some of it was pretty shocking.

So I arrived for the first class - late. I was really embarrased but Willmott was cool about it, he just handed me a syllabus seeing as I didn't get it in the first class. Basically he was telling us about the basic formula for writing a screenplay and asked the class what their ideas were. Some people had really cool ideas, I actually felt a bit intimidated. Some people had ideas with potential, but needed tweaking to be a bit more interesting/conventional. Willmott's advice was always really helpful and he never dismissed anyone's ideas - no matter how ridiculous they were. Although he did try and suggest we do things differently if he thought the ideas wouldn't work for the purpose of the class - which was to write the first act of a feature length screenplay.

I didn't have any ideas for my own screenplay yet as I missed the first class, but tried to contribute by making suggestions for others in the class who told us their ideas. I didn't try and change their ideas or anything but suggested they convey the story from another point of view or whatever, as we were encouraged to by Willmott. The idea is that someone else might help you think about your story in more depth or a different way and so you can use their ideas to improve your story/screenplay.

I was really flattered because whenever I made a suggestion, Prof Willmott seemed to like them, like he thought I had the right idea about it.  It made me feel more confident about my writing. Of course he disagreed sometimes, but it was amazing to hear his opinions as he is a professional writer. I ended up coming up with my story in that first class...although I didn't want to share it until I had thought about it some more.

I left that class feeling really good about it. It didn't even feel like a class, I enjoyed it so much. After it I kept thinking of ways to improve my story and give it more depth. Willmott is an amazing guy and a great teacher. That class was the one that made me decide I'd like to become a writer.

This is an overview of how my first classes went. Over the next couple of weeks I'll tell you about my classes in more depth. Next Monday, I'll begin by telling you all about Basic Film Production - the best bits and the stressful times! Become a follower or check out the blog and find out how they were!