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While UCLA’s film school remains highly selective, film students are not the only ones learning about film at UCLA.

Various undergraduate departments have decided to offer film-related courses in order to satiate the desire for such knowledge among UCLA undergraduate students. Departments offering film classes include – but aren’t limited to – English, history, music history, comparative literature and various language departments. These classes attempt to offer an alternative to students of all majors who may or may not be interested in pursuing film school or filmmaking.

While focusing on the historical context and literary significance of film, many of these undergraduate courses provide a rudimentary introduction to the process of filmmaking, but not to the same extent as is presented in film schools.

Thomas Harrison, a professor in the Italian department who teaches Italian 46, focuses his class around the thematic elements of film, rather than its technical aspects. For him and his class, an in-depth examination of what shots mean rather than how they were produced is more important.

“Film school (has) more of an interest in technique,” he said. “(Italian 46) teaches basics about Italian culture but also about the importance of (film) and its use on the moral, ethical and political front.”

While Harrison believes an introduction to the filmmaking process is necessary, he feels it is not the sole basis for his class.

Likewise, Andrew Hewitt, a germanic languages professor who teaches German 57 (Hollywood and Germany), teaches some film technique. But Harrison, Hewitt and other instructors tend not to overemphasize the technical aspects of filmmaking.

While they consider this information important, their courses are not aimed at creating filmmakers but film critics instead.

“There is a broad distinction that exists between us and the film school,” Harrison said. “They’re formalists, and the critical dimension is what we do outside film.”

Regardless of trends in undergraduate film schools, attendance in these classes have been staggering. For Hewitt’s German 57 class, enrollment for the class has increased from 18 to 60 students.

In addition, Italian 46 has consistently been filled with undergraduate students of all majors, as well as with students from UCLA’s film school. Harrison attributes this high demand only in part to the course’s general education status.

“Demand is always huge for my class,” he said. “(Students are) attracted to cinema because it’s entertaining, but they discover through my course that cinema can be very demanding.”

Introductory film classes such as Italian 46, German 102B and others have compelled many students to pursue filmmaking and film school. Hewitt attests that some of his students have gone on to become set and costume designers.

But as courses that concern themselves with criticism rather than production, these classes distinguish themselves as being independent of UCLA’s film school.