Film appreciation is a course that exposes the student to a number of films that have been deemed critical in the art of film making. It exposes student to artistic and technical aspects in both classic and contemporary cinema. It also helps to explore aspects of production while the selected films are been viewed.
In theory, every film maker who has undergone this course should have the ability to see certain aspects in every film. They should also be able to make this aspects come to life in their own films. This is the reason why a specific set of films is chosen out of all the rest to ensure that each film student has had a common experience in the evaluation of the important aspects of the film. In theory, all students who have been in a film appreciation class can understand and interpret all forms of films. They can read a written film, understand the message behind a silent film, and constructively criticize and analyze any film from the twentieth century.
In practice, this course is inapplicable in my opinion to see the individual view point. Every person has his/her own way of seeing things. It is possible to plant an idea in somebody’s head, but it is impossible to control how deep the idea affects the person. In the world of film, the uniqueness of one’s ideas and capabilities is the only thing they have as a wining quality. Everyone is unique in he battle and it is difficult to imagine that a person wants to think in the same way as someone else. The whole idea of the film appreciation is to show students common features in the films chosen and to make them think in the same way about those things. It is practically inapplicable to assume that a person who is supposed to be unique will undermine the need to survive in an industry for the need to perceive the grater picture. At the end of the day the need to survive takes precedence over all other needs of the humanity.