VII

		of short films for a minimum amount of money. As all of this was taking place, professional moviemaking was losing some of its aura. It was found that directing, shooting, and editing did not, after all, require the kind of training enforced by the unions. Why spend years loading magazines before being able to get behind a camera? More generally, why shouldn't you be able to write and cut your own projects? Overnight almost, Hollywood was dismissed as an out-of-date factory producing goods nobody wanted. With good reason then, students could see themselves as genuine filmmakers who were going to take on the system. As for the film schools themselves, although their policies may have changed along the years, they never looked back, their continuing success with students allowing them to evolve into strong departments, even bona fide schools within their universities.

		V

		Going back to the USC charter, we notice that it states that the lecturers for the technical courses are to be selected from among "the best brains in the industry and the University." 27 Thus, from the very outset, cinema courses were to be taught by two types of instructors, those who took a breather between two movie projects to relate their know-how to the young crowd, and academics who were progressive enough to be interested in the new area of study. The two types of instructors still share the podium today. Let us look first at the former group, which has not changed much along the years. They still consist of professionals who are regularly invited to teach whenever their schedule allows it or, if that is not possible, to make an appearance on campus as guests, perhaps when their latest movie is being released. Like stars, these Hollywood stalwarts carry the aura of the industry into the classroom, charging it for a while with the glamour of real moviemaking. In addition to this group, one finds semi-professionals, partially retired cameramen and editors, educational filmmakers, independents brutalized by the system, documentarians who need to supplement their income between projects, etc. Whether permanently hired or adjuncts, this second group carries in fact the brunt of the instructional process. Despite their generally being more open-minded than the true professionals, they nevertheless originate from film practice. Filmmaking, for the most part, is still what they are all about. Hence they cannot be said to represent truly the "university" or scholarly