mcnamara is one of the best profs i have had so far. very interesting lectures and great film choices. he cares a lot about his students and making the industry less daunting. the course itself was very easy and i enjoyed showing up, graded only on attendance, midterm paper, and final paper. both papers are straightforward and easy to write.

Mr. McNamara is a great professor; I love his teaching style and lectures. He makes the course interesting, but he is giving out a massive amount of information. His lectures are dense, and the papers are graded strictly, pretty unfair I would say.

He means so much to the film department at UCSB. Can say there is a lot of respect and love for this man.

Very knowledgeable. Lectures have all the materials you need for writing papers, which is basically all your grade consists of. He posted slides/lecture notes which kind of made going to lecture unnecessary, even though he was a good lecturer. Very tough grader -- he wanted us to get better as the papers went on, but seemed a bit unfair sometimes.

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Talk about information overload! In trying to simply ideas and concepts he actually overwhelms you with tons and tons of information. Lectures are not that bad but slides are always filled. Super monotone so it can be hard to stay alert after the first hour.

One of the best profs in the department, very knowledgeable and passionate. Can be a bit forgetful with posting assignments and readings but the class is easy. Beware of which ta you have, the grading criteria can be a bit confusing so go to office hours. Lectures are long but interesting, while not on zoom attendance is optional.

Professor McNamara is easily one of my favorite professors I've ever had the joy to learn from. He is enthused in the curriculum he teaches and truly cares about his students well being and adaptability. He takes the time to make sure his students are happy and absorbing his knowledge.The only downside is the TA's grade harshly. Awesome guy!

Professor McNamara is one of my favorite film professors at ucsb. His lectures are clear and very easy to understand. There is very little classwork and two papers for the course and the readings and screenings are fun like Harry Potter and Clueless. He is also very understanding of student's lives and often pushes back due dates.

His lectures are clear and easy to understand. Lots of examples and film clips to demonstrate some abstract examples. His offers much help regarding papers. The instructions of paper are specific, and his even shows how he might write the paper. Really a gentleman and caring teacher who know what he is doing.

96 was my favorite class I have taken. It was definitely challenging the papers are graded harshly and you are warned many times that you may not do as well as you are used to but the content is great and McNamara is wonderful as well. He makes an effort to be accessible, his lectures are thorough, interesting and clear, and overall a 10/10!!

The best professor I've had, reinspired my love for film. Papers are extremely challenging and graded harshly, but Professor McNamara genuinely cares about improvement in writing and his teaching. He chose super interesting screenings and the lectures were amazing too! Couldn't recommend him more.