Professor
Veronica Paredes
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - Class Breakdown: Attendance and Participation: 15% -- Attendance is required after the lecture and screening, you sign in with your TA. Attendance is also required in discussion sections, additionally, you should engage (ask questions, answer questions) in sections to get full participation points. Mid-Term Exam: 25% -- One part is multiple choice (it was insanely easy, like I'm pretty sure Professor Paredes said that the majority of the class got 90% and above on this portion). However, as she recognized it was really easy, I'm pretty sure she's going to make it harder in the upcoming years. I only got a question wrong on the multiple choice by studying the slides in class (she uploads them on CCLE). Additionally, she makes midterm review slides which makes studying even easier. I only studied the day before and again only got a question wrong. The HARDER part of the midterm exam is the shot by shot analysis of a film. You have to identify formal elements of the shots, as she puts it on loop on the big screen. (Don't worry, she gives you the portion of the film before hand on CCLE which you can identify the formal elements beforehand and memorize them and bring them to class. I really appreciated that she did this, it would not have been possible to do this in the 1 hour midterm exam.) Take Home Essays: 30% -- You have two take home essays, which are relatively easy. The first one is only 750-800 words, I felt myself wanting to write more but was limited by the word count. The second one is 1000-1100 words, and is a little bit more difficult because you have to recreate a scene with different elements. (It's much more creative than the first one.) Final Paper: 30% -- Final is a paper! You have to present in your discussion section your thesis and your ideas about your paper. Your essay is about 2000-2200 words, and it has to be about a film that you didn't watch in class in where you analyze diversity themes such as sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, etc... Grading Scale: 90 is an A !!! (80 is a B, and so on.) The Professor: -- Professor Paredes is a super nice, warm, and welcoming person. She's really educated (she got her PhD from USC), and she can some times be funny. But not the most entertaining lecturer, she's very monotone and I would sometime just zone out. HOWEVER, she's super organized and uploads EVERYTHING on CCLE which is super awesome, and I really appreciate that about her. She genuinely cares about your learning, she cares about the TAs, and she cares about her class. Summary: -- This class is really easy if you're a good writer and you can memorize certain stuff. I stopped going to lecture and the screenings after the midterm, and just signed up for attendance after the screening (she might change the way of taking attendance in the future.) I still got an A however.
Spring 2019 - Class Breakdown: Attendance and Participation: 15% -- Attendance is required after the lecture and screening, you sign in with your TA. Attendance is also required in discussion sections, additionally, you should engage (ask questions, answer questions) in sections to get full participation points. Mid-Term Exam: 25% -- One part is multiple choice (it was insanely easy, like I'm pretty sure Professor Paredes said that the majority of the class got 90% and above on this portion). However, as she recognized it was really easy, I'm pretty sure she's going to make it harder in the upcoming years. I only got a question wrong on the multiple choice by studying the slides in class (she uploads them on CCLE). Additionally, she makes midterm review slides which makes studying even easier. I only studied the day before and again only got a question wrong. The HARDER part of the midterm exam is the shot by shot analysis of a film. You have to identify formal elements of the shots, as she puts it on loop on the big screen. (Don't worry, she gives you the portion of the film before hand on CCLE which you can identify the formal elements beforehand and memorize them and bring them to class. I really appreciated that she did this, it would not have been possible to do this in the 1 hour midterm exam.) Take Home Essays: 30% -- You have two take home essays, which are relatively easy. The first one is only 750-800 words, I felt myself wanting to write more but was limited by the word count. The second one is 1000-1100 words, and is a little bit more difficult because you have to recreate a scene with different elements. (It's much more creative than the first one.) Final Paper: 30% -- Final is a paper! You have to present in your discussion section your thesis and your ideas about your paper. Your essay is about 2000-2200 words, and it has to be about a film that you didn't watch in class in where you analyze diversity themes such as sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, etc... Grading Scale: 90 is an A !!! (80 is a B, and so on.) The Professor: -- Professor Paredes is a super nice, warm, and welcoming person. She's really educated (she got her PhD from USC), and she can some times be funny. But not the most entertaining lecturer, she's very monotone and I would sometime just zone out. HOWEVER, she's super organized and uploads EVERYTHING on CCLE which is super awesome, and I really appreciate that about her. She genuinely cares about your learning, she cares about the TAs, and she cares about her class. Summary: -- This class is really easy if you're a good writer and you can memorize certain stuff. I stopped going to lecture and the screenings after the midterm, and just signed up for attendance after the screening (she might change the way of taking attendance in the future.) I still got an A however.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - The class consisted of three unit papers, one final, and 6 discussion posts. you have opportunities for extra credit at the end of the quarter which was great. highly recommend talking to your TA because they can be so helpful. talking and engaging during your discussion section matters and you typically go over the readings and topics talked about in lectures. the professor at times could be a little boring, but still very clear and gives good information that you can use in your papers. I didn’t care for the way she capped the grades at a 95 so it was impossible to get higher than that, but the extra credit helps. Im not complaining since the class was a breeze. I would take again because it was cool to learn about digital media. I also would leave class early before she starts a screening because more than half the films we watched in class were online or posted on bruinlearn.
Winter 2024 - The class consisted of three unit papers, one final, and 6 discussion posts. you have opportunities for extra credit at the end of the quarter which was great. highly recommend talking to your TA because they can be so helpful. talking and engaging during your discussion section matters and you typically go over the readings and topics talked about in lectures. the professor at times could be a little boring, but still very clear and gives good information that you can use in your papers. I didn’t care for the way she capped the grades at a 95 so it was impossible to get higher than that, but the extra credit helps. Im not complaining since the class was a breeze. I would take again because it was cool to learn about digital media. I also would leave class early before she starts a screening because more than half the films we watched in class were online or posted on bruinlearn.