That's The Head Of My Department

Jeanine Basinger, the head of the Wesleyan University film program, just got profiled in Variety (again):

According to filmmaker-thesp Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, "Jeanine teaches with positive reinforcement while putting the fear of God into you." Her policies are legendary, draconian -- and inarguably effective: No missed classes. No extensions. No exceptions. (She even holds her senior seminar on Sunday!) "Jeanine would say your only excuse for tardiness was death," remembers "Cold Case" producer Liz Garcia.

But once students get past those warnings, their reward is a class more fulfilling, engaging and stimulating than any they're likely to encounter in any discipline. Basinger's quick wit and deadpan sense of humor are as legendary as her intellect. On the recent crop of magic-themed films, ("The Prestige," "The Illusionist"), Basinger quipped to former student Marc Longenecker, "Magic in cinema is a bit like ventriloquism on the radio."

That humor is an integral part of Basinger's teaching style, which is peppered with personal anecdotes and highly original notions. Her three rules for mastering film: Watch two movies every day (to absorb history), take drum lessons (to learn rhythm) and study physics (to understand space and time).

While I never took drum lessons, I bag my hands around constantly, and like to think I've got a well developed sense of rhythm. The other two I do pretty well on, so much as working life allows.

I could pull quotes from just about every part of this article, as it all resonates – which should be no surprise, since this is the exact program I went through. I will call attention to one last bit, though:

...Basinger's teaching is founded on the premise that film's form and content are inextricable. Unlike most other film schools, where production and critical studies are separate, Wesleyan's undergraduate program, "was conceived as a wedding between history, theory and production," Basinger explains. She is intimately involved, as are all the faculty, in the editing and writing process of students' senior film projects. "Jeanine's classes bridge the gap between film appreciation, film criticism and filmmaking," concurs [Paul] Weitz ("About a Boy")... She assigns no books – though she's written 10 herself – because she insists that students study films by watching them. Writer Jeremy Arnold recalls the moment when a Basinger neophyte asked what he should focus on while viewing that day's movie: "Everything," she replied.

Amen.

Great piece, and worth a read. Especially if you want a glimpse on how I think about movies, as her department was truly formative in that regard.

[c/o Leanne]