There’s this thing some people do at universities called “Film Studies.”  

Sounds kind of boring, doesn’t it?  

After all, isn’t "studying" just a bunch of hard work?  

Certainly, gaining knowledge about anything in the world requires time and effort.

But why on earth know anything about the movies?  

Well, for one thing...

Watching Movies Is Never Hard Work

If you have a few seconds, I’d like to tell you exactly why “film studies” is never hard work. In fact, it may be the most energizing activity you ever engage in. All you need to do is learn how to see movies. Really see them. After that, the process of learning to see creates energy that will guide you through even the toughest scholarly article.  

Plus, when you learn how to see movies for what they really are, some magical things happen to your life. I’m not just talking about the obvious stuff like coming to understand art, culture, economics, politics and human psychology.   

I’m also not just talking about picking up good research and communication skills, the kind of things that you’re bound to get when writing essays about the movies. These are really impressive skills and also give you time and project management abilities. Imagine being better at organizing yourself and working to deadlines just by watching movies and completing a few assignments about them!  

You might also wind up with opportunities to write journalism about the movies. You could find yourself in a career as a content manager or editor. You might even wind up working in the Film Industry itself.  

For example, you could become a screenwriter, skills I’ve covered in Horror Genre Secrets for Screenwriters and Disaster Genre Skills for Screenwriters. You might also wind up in editing, directing or any number of production roles, all of which will make you proud when you see your name up in the credits.  

All of that is fine and dandy. You can probably picture yourself benefitting from some of that, can’t you?  

As wonderful as those outcomes will be, what I’m really hoping for is that you learn to think at a higher level. I’m talking about developing your creative and analytical abilities, skills that are sorely lacking from the world. In fact, they seem to be disappearing at a pace faster than most films run through the projector!  

But since nearly everyone watches movies, it doesn’t have to be that way. Anyone can learn to think historically, theoretically and analytically about the movies they view.  

The only question is …  

Why Should You Think About Movies Like This?  

Here’s the thing:  

Life is filled with vital problems. For thousands of years, people have been chewing on those problems and trying to find solutions – or at least ways to dumb down the pain.  
 

Stories have been one of the highest forms of solving humanity’s problems. This form of communication creates all kinds of images in the mind and makes discussions possible that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.  
 

The movies have taken stories and made them an even higher form by bringing together nearly every art you can think of into one package: painting, acting, music, editing, architecture, lighting, cooking … the list goes on and on. Every movie is like a cathedral that required a helping hand from each and every artisan around.  
 

This means that each movie is a compression of the unconscious minds of every person involved in making it. If we know how to interpret the movies, we know how to interpret those minds. And those minds have clues about how to survive in the world.  
 

So if you’d like to think more open mindedly by tapping into the other forms of thought and recognizing the complex problems and solutions humans create through stories, you’re in the right place.  
 

As a result of developing this skill, you’ll become more self-disciplined, self-monitoring and self-correcting. You’ll create new standards of excellence for yourself and communicate more effectively. All by thinking at a higher level about stories.  
 

Why Learn About Movie Genres?  

Genre is interesting because it not only gives us multiple frameworks for thinking about stories. It also gives us ways to think about thinking. Whenever we label movies with genres like “Action” or “Horror,” we can step back and ask why these choices were made. These create interesting discussions that often have surprising conclusions.  

The question of genre is also the question of history, which opens up themes of lineage, people and the places from which they originate. But ultimately, genre is a tool. It is a lens through which we observe the movies and describe them clearly and precisely from certain angles. From other angles, the same tool muddies the waters and we need to step back and look at the field from another plane of thinking altogether.  

Genre Frameworks invites you to develop in all these ways through a number of creative exercises. Through short written assignments, you’ll strengthen your thinking, your observation skills and even become a better storyteller yourself.  

In other words, Genre Frameworks is an interactive course. If you’re interested in growing as you learn about the movies, Genre Frameworks is your chance to develop as a thinker and take action.  

Now that doesn’t sound boring at all, does it? 

Give me a couple of hours of your life as you go through this course, watch some movies and complete a few simple thought exercises. You’ll be astonished by how rapidly your thinking abilities grow, along with all the other skills needed to be a contributing member of society who also has time for the movies.

Above all, you’ll enjoy the movies more. Just as the pilot takes more pleasure in the flight than anyone else on board, you’ll bask in more joy and happiness than anyone else in the theatre. You’ll be the ultimate movie critic and person to know because your love for the movies and passion for knowledge will come shining through in everything you say and do.  

But there’s no time to delay. The previews are coming to an end and the show’s about to begin. Register for this course now!

What Others Say:

I am binging your videos! So insightful & helpful thank you! - Black Varsity

My thesis is on Deleuze & I wish you were my teacher! Thank you sir for showing that WE CAN understand Deleuze. - Zzt

Thank you very much. I'm learning a lot! - Mehdi Ghassemi