Hi everyone! I'm Kabir, an international member of the class of '26, from New Delhi, India. I'm thinking of majoring in Psychology and Film & Media Studies. Outside the classroom, I enjoy watching movies, going on hikes, hanging out with my friends, and going on runs (if you see me on the streets of Hanover, say hi!) In the short while I've been here, I've come to love Dartmouth, so if you're interested in what I have to say, stick around! This should (hopefully) be fun :)
My Writing 5 class was definitely my favorite class this term — it opened my eyes to the realities of the food industry, strengthened my skills as a writer, and helped me make a ton of new friends.
My seminar was possibly the best class I've taken so far at Dartmouth. I learned about the importance of free speech and journalists in a democratic society, and how those rights to freedom are being stripped everywhere, all the time.
I've loved Cognitive Psychology as a class so far, especially because of the cool demos that the professor uses to illustrate every type of phenomena we learn about. From illusions to memory tests, it's so cool to see how the human psyche can be tricked so very easily.
Dartmouth's film program has always been a balance between theory and practice. There are classes you have to take that require you to visit the archives of cinema (examples include the Film History series, Race & Gender in Cinema), and there are others that require you to actually produce content (examples include Writing for the Screen and Directing for the Camera).
While I've taken screenwriting classes in the past, I've never taken a full-fledged production class, where we're working with professional-grade cameras on real sets with intricate lighting and audio equipment. So, I was naturally drawn to FILM031 (Filmmaking I), which Professor Iyabo Kwayana teaches.
The great thing about FILM031 is that it's relatively a smaller class—in my cohort, there are only 14 students. This is great because everybody's working on making a 6-8 minute short film that'll be screened at the end of the term, and so it's helpful to get specific one-on-one attention. Something that's always intimidated me about student films is the technical expertise required to make a good one. I've assisted on a bunch of sets on campus before, and the smoothest ones are anchored by people who know how to operate equipment.
The great thing about this class is that it weighs technical expertise equally with creative expertise. So far, we've had in-depth sessions about the audio setup, camera operation, booming, editing, lighting and other pertinent topics. These discussions have really elevated my understanding of equipment and how I can play around with it. As part of the production classes in the film department, students get access to high-tech gear in order to make their films look great.
It's been super helpful in familiarizing myself with the equipment. On the creative side, we've watched a bunch of films and started developing our own scripts. We had one class where we sat around a table and read our scripts; it was a great exercise in exchanging ideas and watching stories change as people gave their opinions. Three and a half weeks in, I'm really excited to see where this class leads.
I think it's going to be a really great opportunity for everybody else and me to explore our filmmaker sides and see if this is something that truly interests us. If you're a potential film major or have any questions about this class, please reach out to me! I'd be happy to help and give you some more details about Dartmouth's film major.
Through Dartmouth's Guarini Institute for International Study, I am getting to take classes and experience life at Wellesley College, an all-women's school!
