Finance and Film: New MOOCs

My latest MOOC additions...

New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs

University of Maryland on Coursera, 01/12/2014 - present

I have now started the third course in my entrepreneurship specialisation.

Funding for Entrepreneurs - syllabus

Finance is rarely ever an enjoyable subject, but it is an essential one and one that I am fully determined to master!

The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound and Colour

Wesleyan University, 02/02/2015 - present

This MOOC is more of a side curiosity and really is just exploring a subject I have always been fascinated by in the world of cinema - innovation.

Additionally, I get to watch a number of films as part of the course which is always a plus.

Scandinavian Film and Television

University of Copenhagen, 02/02/2015 - present

Another side curiosity which I am not bothering to study too minutely, I am just using the course materials in order to provide an overview of Scandinavian cinema.

Scandinavian Film and Television - Syllabus

However, I do wish that I did have the time to study it a little more closely, but I will more than likely sign up for an additional session of this MOOC later in the year.

Explore Filmmaking: From Script to Screen

National Film and Television School, 02/02/2015 - present

I am not really studying this MOOC as much as I am reviewing it to determine how it teaches the various facets of filmmaking in the online space.

However, it has been refreshing many of the pieces of knowledge and practice I gained from my BA (hons) in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies. Knowledge that is currently being put into practice in my 365 FRAMES 2015 project.

Documentary: New Trends, New Formats

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 17/02/2015 - present

This MOOC caught my eye some time back and is one that I have been eagerly awaiting to undertake; mainly because it picks up where my traditional education in documentary left off and considers a subject that is at the heart of the Ways 2 Interface research project and study log - the ways in which we interface with ourselves.

Additionally, this MOOC deals with a progressive area that I am currently exploring in my 365 FRAMES 2015 project; as well as various other creative projects I am developing.

Psychology and Photography MOOCs - completion reflection #IntroPsy #PHOT

I have now completed my 4 week courses in the Foundations of Psychology and The Art of Photography. 

I have also passed both courses!

Foundations of Psychology

I undertook the Foundations of Psychology in order to provide myself an introductory overview of the field of psychology and to bring order to all of the Psychology literature I have been reading for a decade now, as it is a subject that greatly interests me both from an academic point of view, but also in regards to day-to-day application.

I found the Open2Study course to be a very concise introduction that coherently broke down and explained the fundamental principles of the academic field and of human psychology. Overall, it did exactly what I need to the course to do and I can now approach psychology from a foundation approach from here on out. 

Owned it.

Finally, Foundations of Psychology is a prime course to undertake if you are considering studying Psychology over a more prolonged period, as this course will allow you to test the psychology waters and see if you can handle the more laborious and technical aspects.

Foundations of Psychology - Certificate of Achievement.

The Art of Photography

This has been a course I have been meaning to enrol myself in for some time now, as the competent use of a Single Lens Reflex camera is something I have never really mastered; mainly because I have never allocated the time. This knowledge is paramount now that I am engaging myself more and more so in filmmaking and the SLR is the best weapon of choice. A colleague and myself have already experienced many problems with the use of a SLR in a project we filmed last summer and it is not something I am prepared to go through again!

Did this course breakdown and supply the technical knowledge I needed?

Yes.

And it supplied a great deal more as well.

Having already undertaken a photography course previously and being something of a digital photographer anyway, the theoretical and artistic considerations of photographic practice are something I have already mastered. Therefore, it was very refreshing to see that this course covered those areas of photography in addition to the technical how-tos of actually successfully using your camera.

Still have some more practice to do.

Ultimately, I would recommend the The Art of Photography short course to anyone who is interested in gaining an introduction to the discipline of photography and wishes to become an active photographer through the course of doing so. 

The Art of Photography - Certificate of Achievement.