Welcome!!

Hi folks and welcome to the blogosphere. Classes are yet to begin and yet I'd like you to start to get comfortable with using blogs a little before we get into the nitty-gritty of the very quick summer semester. This is important for two reasons:

1. On a small level, you will be turning in a number of writing assignments on the blog rather than in a "paper" format. Your blog entries will be quicker and easier, although you will be submitting things to the blog on a weekly basis.
2. On a much larger level, your contributions here will contribute to what is really a distinct lack of information on short films that is available. As we will discuss when we get into class, there is very little written about short films out there; therefore, this is an opportunity for you to get some information out there.

For now, however, start getting some basics down. Blogger is a fairly user-friendly way to publish on the web, even if you have not blogged before. Before the semester begins, try the following:

• Sign into Blogger and establish a basic profile for yourself. You can make this as elaborate as you want.
• If you have never used Blogger before, read up in the Getting Started section and learn a little about how to use this thing. In particular, see if you can figure out how to use html to provide links (using "things like this ") for your posts. You're going to want to do that at some point to provide information for everyone else in the class.
• Introduce yourself to me and the rest of the class (and, heck, the rest of the blogosphere -- who knows who will be reading this?). Consider stating why you're interested in taking this course, and what sort of background you have with film in general. Use this as an opportunity to try some of the skills you may have picked up in learning some of this.
• Comment on other people's introductions. (You'll be doing this throughout this short semester, too, so get used to it!)

If you have any problems with any of this, please let me know. Email me with any concerns, questions or comments. (And no, I don't have the syllabus ready yet, so don't ask for that.)