This unit is in serious need of review.
My initial concern is with the fundamental dishonesty in calling it "Independent Production Practice". A more accurate name would be "Experimental Film Theory and Practice". The handbook entry and Unit Guide mention nothing about experimental or avant-garde film, but the unit focuses entirely on these genres. There was one ten-minute discussion about non-experimental independent film in class, and then it was only referenced comparatively.
I was angry to discover that the unit contained nothing about, for instance, financing, distributing or otherwise finding support for independent films. It was also asserted that independent films do not strive for mainstream success, which is patently untrue.
The structure of the unit was woeful. The allotment of time was hopelessly wrongheaded. John Cumming took the first three classes, for the purpose of outlining our assignments. The useful content of these three classes could have been condensed into one. Steve McIntyre (who took over teaching of the class after Mr Cumming went on leave) was given no space to do any teaching of his own, because the next five weeks (in practice, six, because we ran overtime) were taken up entirely by student oral presentations.
He also told us that he marked all our first assignments generously because he felt we had not been clear about the intentions of the assignment. This tells me that despite devoting an excessive amount of class time to detailing the assignment, Mr Cumming did not get his message across.
My major suggestions are these:
- Change the name of the unit. It is not about independent film; it is about experimental film. As a person who is interested in one but not the other, I feel personally ripped off. I enrolled under a false impression.
- The assignments would better reflect the learning if they were essays, not films. As it stands, this unit is actually a film history class. Two out of three of the assignments were practical, make-a-film exercises, but they shouldn't have been. They did not reflect the nature of the learning we did, which was exclusively theoretical.
- Make serious structural revisions. Assignment 2 (the oral presentation) dragged out far longer than it should have done. If we are to undertake practical work at all (making films), we should spend some class time on them - if only to discuss them after screening them. We were not given an opportunity to do this at any point.
- The assignment outlines should not be given in bulk at the start of semester, and they should not take nine hours to explain.
