Film Students Are Having Trouble Sitting Through Movies, Professors Say
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Edit: let's just remove this attempt at being chill and block this board. I'm in no mood to argue further with people that just want to fight me.
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A well constructed film does not feel rushed in a shorter run time.
I like long films, like really long ones. Ones where the length is part of the experience. For example, I loved Apocalypse Now Redux.
What I don't like is films that are substantially longer than they need to be. I don't want them pared down, I want them built around the format their story suits rather than padded out. I like breathing room (mostly!) but it's a fine line to walk.
A good film opening gets on with things quickly, getting the viewer up to speed, but too often I find myself quoting Springfieldians from Marge vs. The Monorail - "GET TO THE MONEY!"
I honestly love when I get really engrossed in something, credits roll and I look at the scrub bar... ”wtf that was barely more than an hour?"
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They just see the glamour and the $$$, and don't know about the ridiculous hours and working conditions (when you're actually working).
When I did film school, our first lecture was 9 hours long. We watched a bunch of experimental films. The second lecture was 7 hours long, watching more (but completely different) experimental films. We started with 300 students, and by the third week we were down to half that. Only a handful of us ever worked professionally and I only know two that are still working (I left a few years ago). It's a brutal industry.
Hello fellow film industry abandoner! I never went to film school, but I did briefly join the editors union in LA prior to the industry imploding shortly after lockdowns in LA. I switched to contract commercial work and, while it's been far more soul-sucking, at least it pays the bills. I no longer live in an industry city, so I've been trying to find my footing in a career that doesn't treat (and pay) a former union editor like a youtube editor (no hate on youtube editors, that work seems extremely tedious and they deserve to be paid more). But maybe I'll just break down and become an electrician if my client work ever slows down.
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What's next? Philosophy students that can't make it through Heidegger's Sein und Zeit?
Kant is pretty hard to get through to be fair.
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Why they failed is the topic of the thread, but feel free to make it about your feelings
Then feel free to start a new top level comment instead of arguing about mine.
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Consistency and structure seems to be the key. People that grew up in trauma, me included, were under constant chaos and struggle to survive. Things like dinner at 5pm, play until 6:30 then bath time, then reading a story, the bedtime at 7:30. No mater how tired I am if I committed to doing something on the weekend or take them to practice I do it. Break the rules theres a logical consequence every single time, no negotiating or "if you do that one more time you only get one piece of candy instead of three". These children grew up with abuse, broken promises, and lack of resources. Also, getting them into trauma based therapy. Constancy and structure seems to work best which is funny coming from someone with ADHD.
Thank you for what you do, we need more people in the world like you.
My wife and I have pretty much decided on no kids. She works at a daycare so she gets plenty of time with kiddos, and doesn't know if she wants one at home, all the time. Me, I have such a huge slew of my own problems that I really don't think I would be capable of being a good parent. I was raised with the whole world on my plate, middle class, vacations, presents, not spoiled rotten but certainly privileged. If I can't provide at least the kind of childhood that I had, the opportunities, the travel, I would feel guilty. And I know that I don't have the resources for that.
So we have always left adoption or fostering on the table. Maybe as the years pass I will heal and grow and be capable of providing the steady stable environment that a child in need requires. Until then I get to be the irresponsible uncle to all my friends kids. Gonna take a 7 year old skiing later this winter lol.
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Kant is pretty hard to get through to be fair.
I know, Heidegger is very dense too. As a former Philophy major I got to pick my turf.
It is a bit curious to me that what you obviously thought you'd be interested in doesnt grab your attention.
You just Kant always get what you want.
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Hello fellow film industry abandoner! I never went to film school, but I did briefly join the editors union in LA prior to the industry imploding shortly after lockdowns in LA. I switched to contract commercial work and, while it's been far more soul-sucking, at least it pays the bills. I no longer live in an industry city, so I've been trying to find my footing in a career that doesn't treat (and pay) a former union editor like a youtube editor (no hate on youtube editors, that work seems extremely tedious and they deserve to be paid more). But maybe I'll just break down and become an electrician if my client work ever slows down.
I worked in the industry for 30 years. Longer if you include the acting stuff I did as a kid. I'm too old for all the shit, especially now with AI threatening every part of the industry, but who knows I might be dragged back in. It's happened before, but I'm happy with what I'm doing now.
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My son got a degree in being an unemployed actor, and nailed the unemployed part, the actor part not so much. So after a few years of deeply studying film, he's gone back to college at 26, to get a degree in film studies.
He's SHOCKED at his classmates. He just started a class where they will break down a film throughout the entire semester. They watched it in class together, and EVERY single student, except him, absolutely hated it (my son had already seen it a half dozen times before he even knew the class was showing it).
He's getting frustrated that so much of every film class is the prof justifying the choice of film to the students. My son wants to talk about the film's elements, but he has to sit there and listen to idiots disparage a great film because it isn't a Marvel movie. He says the profs are getting frustrated, too.
I told him not to worry about the morons, and to just keep on digging in at a high level, and his professors will appreciate him.
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Yeah, maybe they're in the wrong field
Are they? Do modern writers and directors need to care about 60 year old war movies to make their art?
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Anyone see 1962 François Truffaut film Jules and Jim?
Never heard of it. The film kids i knew watched movies like Casablanca and citizens Kane.
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Are they? Do modern writers and directors need to care about 60 year old war movies to make their art?
First of all, yes they should. But second, 60 year old war movies aren't the only kind of film that exists...
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First of all, yes they should. But second, 60 year old war movies aren't the only kind of film that exists...
They're the only kind of film referenced as an example in the article.
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I meet people who can't even watch a 21 minute TV episode. \
People train their brains to be like this.
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Anyone see 1962 François Truffaut film Jules and Jim?
Never heard of it. The film kids i knew watched movies like Casablanca and citizens Kane.
No, but it sounds really cool. But it won't be on streaming, it will probably require me going to university library to go see it.
I was a film kid and I never watch Casablanca or citizen Kane for class. They were considered too cliche and overdone. There are a lot of more interesting films than famous ones everyone has heard of.
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What's next? Philosophy students that can't make it through Heidegger's Sein und Zeit?
most philosophy students don't ever read Heidegger. And those that do aren't doing it outside of a 300/400 level class.
In my grad program of 25 students, only 2 of us had read any Heidegger and he was not taught at all at my university.
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Does this mean we can see the end of the overly long film trend?
I miss films being ~80 - 90 minutes. I've had a long day, I don't want to commit to three hours unless it's something really special.
most comedy and horror films are that short.
the long films are action movies. and you'r emostly talking about comic book movies.
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Millennials were shifting left towards progress and democracy, but recent voting demographics show Gen Z shifting in the opposite direction. They don't have "even worse problems".
the left doesn't offer gen z anything appealing.
in order to get people to vote for you you have to be appealing to them. a concept the democrats have failed to grasp for about 50 years now. except for Obama. btu the democrats act like he was jesus, and not just someone who listened to the voters and gave them what they wanted.
people who voted for Obama also now vote for Trump.
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Id just blame stupid people. Especially blame the stupid people who had kids.
Most humans dont have the brain power and self reflection to be trusted with the amount of slop and propaganda peddled non stop on corporate media. We were doomed from the start.
yourself included, no doubt.
