Last fall, I took a class at the university for the first time since I graduated with twin bachelor degrees in 1996. Four years removed from college, I decided to learn how to make a 16mm film. Since I do not have a film projector, I had my film projects transferred to VHS tape last week, and I can now watch the entire semester's worth of projects in twenty minutes. I learned several tidbits during this class, and I figure I should share these "gems of knowledge" with everybody. Take them for what they're worth:

Shooting film is fun: Your entire perspective changes when you view life through a camera lens. I've looked at a crushed Meisterbrau box on the ground and tried to figure out what angle and light are needed to create a good shot. It's similar to staring at the floating trash bag in American Beauty. Film is just photography on a manic level. Instead of one shot of suspended time, the film camera set on regular speed shoots 24 pictures a second, giving the illusion of unbroken movement. Anything can be worth shooting if you know what to do with it. I have an unhealthy habit of filming the sun.

Film is expensive: A 100 ft. roll of Black and White 16mm film (most movies are shot on color 35mm) costs about eighteen dollars. This is about two and a half minutes worth of raw footage. This does not include the cost of getting the film developed. You cannot go to your local photo lab to develop film stock, and in my case, there was no place in town that did this service. The result is another eighteen dollars plus shipping both ways. Count on spending 40 to 50 bucks to have one roll of developed film. If you film like I do, only half the stuff you shoot will be worth using. For the class, I spent over $500 for film, development and shipping. Not a cheap endeavor.

Higher education sucks: Taking the class, I remembered why I could never bring myself to apply for graduate school. The standard method of teaching young budding minds is to overload them with entirely too many projects or pieces of information and see what sticks with them after the class is over. I despise this cram-it-all-in method. Instead of being able to concentrate on two or three projects to make them decent, we had to complete five separate film projects, three of them in one month's time. As a result, you showed whatever you had when the time came. Everything could have been done much better. I think I'll keep learning at my own pace.

Don't make a film by yourself: What I would have given to have a crew of a dozen people on my projects. My projects were done either by myself or with a couple people helping me out. You need hands to help with lighting, cords, blocking and positioning, and to take care of all the minor things which would otherwise seem insignificant. Making a film is a very involved process, and the more help, the better.

Film is the ultimate medium: Getting people to read a five page short story is next to impossible (even if you know them), but getting people to sit down to watch a five minute movie is fairly easy. If the audience only has to look and listen, they are much more willing. Thinking helps, but it is not mandatory. Film actually combines several mediums to create a product (writing, acting, cinematography, music, editing and anything else you can fit into the equation) to create a Super Medium!

Everyone has something to offer: There were fourteen people in my class, ranging widely in age and experiences. While I was not enamored with everyone's work, they all had moments when they showed a little bit of film genius. Maybe just one shot, or maybe just one scene, but they all had their moments. Much like myself. Anyone can do this stuff as long as they don't go into it thinking they are the next Kevin Smith or Terrence Malick. My best effort was my last one, a five minute piece involving the first scene of a screenplay I wrote. My only film with sound (I won't even go into the difficulty of putting film and sound together). It's nothing brilliant, but there's some good stuff in it.

The art form: Making film is like any art form. It takes practice and patience. My semester could be compared with a child's first few months playing a trumpet, or an artist painting their first few pictures, or a writer typing his first stories. I'm a long way from charging people to watch my movies, but you are always welcome to watch what I've done for free.

I keep saying if time, money and willpower are on my side that I will make a movie worth watching. For now, the seed is firmly planted in my brain. Here's hoping it sprouts up some day.

Chris Jungle is the writer, director, producer, editor and best boy of this column.