GEH1053 - Film Art and Human Concerns Review

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Taken in: AY20/21 Semester 1

Lecturer: Gilbert Yeoh

Tutor: Gautam Joseph

Grading:

  • 20% Tutorial attendance and participation
  • 20% Midterm Test
  • 25% End-Semester Test
  • 35% Final Essay/Short film

Coming into FASS, I had already wanted to pursue a minor in film studies, so I took this module as one of the requirements. This module was also recommended to me by a senior, as I could just watch the films at home, making the most of my home-based learning. No regrets!

Lectures

In this module, you'll watch a film every week and analyse it the next. You'll also learn about the four aspects of film and how they are used to convey a message. Nothing too technical, I didn't have a background in film nor literature before taking this module. The lectures really make you start to notice things you never noticed before in film, which really changed the way I viewed other films. The films are curated by the instructors, and looking at LumiNUS it seems they were the same in 2019 and 2020. They're mostly old films, some more interesting than others, but I'm glad to have been introduced to some great directors and their works, and also revisit some films I had watched in the past but never analysed critically.

Tutorials

In tutorial sessions, you'll discuss questions about the film of the week, literature-style questions along the line of "Make one point about the use of sound" or "How does this shot relate to so-and-so theme", and so on. To be honest, I didn't even realise tutorial participation was graded, only while writing this review and looking for the score breakdown did I realise. Tutorials are chill, some days I couldn't answer the questions beforehand so I just went in unprepared and see what others say/think of things on the spot. I believe in literature in general, there's no right or wrong answer as long as you can substantiate your point. Tutorials were useful because the tests were roughly the same format.

Assessments

Tests were mostly literature-style questions, whereby you had to answer a few questions or make points about specific clips given to you. These clips were from the films studied in this module, and films outside of this module, that you won't know until the test is given to you. However, some of the film clips and certain points were addressed in readings, so again, read the readings! Oh, and they were open book so no memorization needed, just be able to make points and substantiate them!

For the final project, you either had to write an essay or make a short film, making use of the aspects of film you learned in this module. The essay questions are given to you at the start of the semester, it's not a long essay, about over 1000 words. I chose to make a short film, because I hate writing essays and I wanted to try something new. You can really start anytime, but most people start later in the semester when you've covered more of the content. I'd say the workload for this module is next to nothing, besides the time you need to invest in the readings and film screenings. You just need to plan your time for the final essay/project and you'll be good.

Remarks

With regards to the film screenings, they were conducted on zoom, so instead of watching (Cos of lag), I watched the films in my own time. The prof provides online links for us for some videos, and they even got a netflix account for us to use for other films! Besides the viewings, there were some readings. If you're going to take this module, READ THE READINGS. They can be dry at times but the tests just about lifted from the readings. I think the more difficult part was watching the movies, because some of them can go for more than 2 hours, and I just do not have that much attention span to spare. Take note, you don't HAVE to go for the film screenings but the timeslot is allocated for the module, so you need to email them if the film screening timeslot clashes with other lectures, if you intend to skip the screening and watch the movies in your own time.

Expected grade: A+ (I got A for both tests and A+ for my final project so I was quite sure)

Actual grade: A+

Verdict: TAKE THIS MODULE! It's only offered in Sem 1, so try and get it when you can. It's a good GEH even if you don't want to take it for film studies minor. Prof Yeoh is super passionate about his lectures and it made for a very enjoyable class.

Reviewed by: ZH

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