"You pay a lot of tuition to watch movies that people otherwise pay money to see in real theaters. Interesting."

It's not a class where we just sit around and watch movies. Theatrical Film Symposium was started at USC in the late 70s in response to the growing feeling among cinema students that while they were being taught the historical background of cinema, they knew next to nothing about how the business worked today. Yes, we get an opportunity to watch films before they are released, but like every other critical studies class here at USC, we don't just all show up to watch movies. The class begins with a lecture from the professor, a lecture we have to take notes about. Then, there's an open discussion about last week's film. We watch a short--a serial, a filmed vaudeville sketch, a cartoon, a newsreel--as a way to study very dramatically how much film has changed in just a century. After watching the main event, people involved with making that film come to join us. The writer, or the director, or the cinematographer, or even the actors, sit down and talk about making their film--how did they raise the money? What was their inspiration? What did their film mean?

It's an invaluable look at how the film industry works, how today's artisans and filmmakers craft the films that we would otherwise be "paying money to see in a real theater" that very weekend. We have exams in this class; we don't just sit around watching the movies.

Anyways. Mike White? Was awesome. I think we should randomly screen another film of his and have him come back again. Because he was good times.