Prof. Brusutti was a great lecturer; at times it could get a bit dense, especially with the more technical and conceptual topics, but her lectures about the films and genres themselves were super interesting, & her choice of films for this quarter was great. Although there was a lot of work involved, if you were motivated enough it wasn't too bad.
Brusutti clearly loves film, but her lectures are long, boring, frustrating, painful, and EXTREMELY unorganized (and the posted lecture slides offer absolutely no clarity). So much assigned reading that is unnecessary and you don't have to do get a good grade. Paper prompts were incomprehensible too. Don't take if you're not a film major.
If you are not/do not want to be a film major, this is NOT the class for you. It's simply not worth the effort. Brusutti's lectures are painful and do not help at all when it comes to the content on the two quizzes for the course. The assigned reading is also quite a bit. I didn't do a lot of it but I'd say just go to section and you can do well!
Loootttts of reading. Lectures are honestly all over the place/poorly organized and the professor tends to ramble a lot.
Had to take as a film major but do NOT take as a GE. Lectures are really unorganized and extremely frustrating to sit through. Similarly, the paper prompts are difficult and I felt extremely unprepared. Lots of reading as well. If you're a FAMST major, FAMST96 is a million times better, you just gotta get through this first
Brusutti is clearly really passionate and knowledgable about film, but her lectures are so messy. She says so much without saying anything at all. Her essay prompts are long and confusing. Do NOT take this class if you are not a film major.
Lectures are okay, her presentations don't make any sense, sometimes don't relate to the reading assigned. The study guides she gives out don't help at all and she assigns a LOT of reading.
Lectures are unorganized, boring, and confusing. Essay prompts are really long and unclear. This class will make you hate film analysis.
Do not know her standing on grading paper.
took this in the first quarter of online and it was fine. theres a lot of assigned reading but you dont need to do most of it to get an easy A. her lectures were helpful but they dont go into detail of how to write analysis but its pretty easy to pick up. would recommend office hours. 2 papers and a short essay final. weekly quizzes are easy
Don't take this class as a GE. Very unorganized lectures. Would go off on tangents and you couldn't really understand what points she was making. Thankfully had a good TA that helped. Really decreased my interest in film. Most disliked class even though it isn't difficult. Very little assignments; do well on the 3 essays and weekly lecture quizzes.
The class was extremely disorganized. Lectures were extremely long and tangential. Assigned 100+ pages of reading on the first day but you can skim the book and still be fine. Took this class for a fun, easy time but ended up being the most annoying and disliked class of the quarter.
I enjoyed most of the cinema content she chose for us to watch. She taught some really interesting concepts too. Unfortunately, there is very heavy reading and her lectures are usually long and sometimes confusing. Overall, it just seemed like she had no idea how to make this class online. If you just need a GE, recommend a dif course
Professor Brusutti definitely knows what she's talking about and has a lot of enthusiasm for FAMST, but the class was unorganized and often difficult to follow. There are pop quizzes about the textbook and readings which were hard. The exams are short essay and are doable but require a lot of studying. Don't take unless you're a FAMST major.
Took during COVID-19 and she was either overwhelmed and scattered, or she doesn't know how to teach. The readings and movies were alright, but her lectures made NO SENSE- she talked about random scenes for ages, and I was expecting to learn the basics of film to continue my major. I hated the 600+ page textbook, but it taught me more than she did.
did not adjust to online well at all. lectures are just her rambling on about random scenes in movies we weren't assigned or have never seen that are not relevant at all. only focused on things like editing, camerawork, and sound instead of story or historical themes or anything actually interesting. instructions on assignments weren't clear either
I thought Brusutti was quite funny and her lectures were interesting. Aside from lectures, the class is mostly just screenings which range in how interesting they are. Most were fine or really enjoyable and it was nice because you got to just sit back for a few hours and call it "class." I don't think you need to do all the readings for an A.
Even though this is an intro to film class, be ready to work. Lectures aren't mandatory, you can barely hear what she's saying, and powerpoints barely make sense. This class is unorganized and assignments aren't clear. There isn't homework so make sure you study for the 2 quizzes, 1 midterm, & final. There's 2 written papers.
Go to section, go to lecture, and just listen. If you love film, this is the class where you can expand on your analysis. The lectures can be boring, but overall the content is interesting. And the films watched are great. If you're not really an art person this might be harder because the class asks you to analyze the artform of cinema.
Anna is a really nice professor. If you attend her office hours she cares about you a little more. She is very sweet but is not too helpful in lecture. MANY readings in the textbook, but you only actually need to read about the vocab talked in section. I never go to the screenings and rarely lecture bc its kinda pointless. I fall asleep.
The professor often talks about whatever she can think of in the lecture, unplanned and unorganized. Hence, the lecture is boring and hard to follow. However, the films shown are great.
Lectures were hard to follow at times. Lots of reading, not all of it was useful. She clearly knows what she's talking about, but doesn't know how to structure it in a lecture. Don't need to attend the lectures, do need to watch all the movies. Movies were interesting though.
Lectures kept going overtime, it wasnt even that great and most of the films were boring. Fell asleep many times. Class was easy though
The film selection is varied and interesting, however her lectures are lacking. They tend to be unfocused, difficult to follow, and not particularly connected to the films watched in class. She is a great person who clearly knows her stuff, however her communication of this knowledge leaves some to be desired. Honestly, worth it for the films tho.