Well, here I am again, marking another milestone. 7.5% of my degree is complete. I just finished ENG 225 - Introduction to Film. I am not sure how much I learned in this class, as I have been exposed to the movie industry through my normal mode of curiosity and research for years. What I did get out of the course was more practice in the world of formal writing.

I did my final paper, a complete analysis of a movie that needed to show understanding of all the major principles taught in the class, on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967). I watched it at least four times from beginning to end, stopping along the way to take notes, and to rewind looking for repeated symbols and such.

Our professor was big on "aperture framing" and how directors use frames as symbols and messages about the story and characters. I picked The Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the visual image of looking at different characters through a noose that they were about to be hung with. But when I watched the movie with a critical eye, I had a much more valuable treasure trove than I had intended. So as I wrote the paper I suddenly realize that I have 15 written pages, and they only want to see eight. In the cutting process my nooses end up in the deleted pile, but the paper was a success.

Now I am taking English composition. I don't foresee any problems.

Bill