David14 Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 (edited) I am thinking of swapping from History SL to Film SL because there are no final exams, and although less interesting than history, seems like a fun course.The only thing that worries me about History is that your exams pretty much determines your grade whereas in film you can guarantee your mark. Film Final Mark:50% 4 minute short Film (you work with 5 other people and you specialise in a job like being a sound editor)25% 10 minute oral presentation25% 700 word commentaryThe universities I am applying to don't care about my SL choice subjects. What is the difference between History SL and HL? Edited October 8, 2012 by gonengg Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shenrongrong Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 History is more approachable Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
funny10sport Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 (edited) Hello,I am 6 weeks into the IB and we really have to finalise our IB choices. My school is offering Film and I was wondering whether or not I should move from History SL to Film SL.I am generally interested in history, however from what it seems like, it is a lot of work and there will be 2 papers accounting for 75% of your mark which adds stress during your exam studying. With Film there are no exams and you make a 7 minute movie worth 50% of your mark and the other 50% is a 700 word essay and a 7 minute presentation.What do you guys think of film and history and should I make the swap?What is the difference between History SL and HL?I would say I find history to be slightly more interesting than film though history seems very tough when it comes to answering its questions and film seems like a fun course.What do you guys think of film and history and should I make the swap?Well I personally don't know much about film but I do for History Any subject you take in IB does have work. You can't avoid that. In all honesty, if you don't want to work so much and you are lazy then maybe history isn't for you. You need to know lots of things and there is quite a bit of work, but nothing terrible.Also, just do whatever interests you more. If you will dread taking History for the next 2 years, then maybe taking Film will be more interesting for you, thus motivating you to work in it.And lastly, what will benefit or prepare you more for university? History? or Film?What is the difference between History SL and HL?Mainly its Workload. In HL History, you obviously cover WAY more topics. Let's compare, shall we!SL HistoryExternal assessment (Your final exams) 75%Paper 1 30%Paper 2 45%Internal Assessment (Your Historical Investigation) 25%HL HistoryExternal Assessment 80%Paper 1 20%Paper 2 25%Paper 3 35%Internal Assessment 20%So if you noticed from the two lists I wrote above the difference between HL and SL History is also the percentage for the External Assessment and the Internal Assessment. And also, HL students need to write paper 3.For more info about History, check the syllabus here: http://www.ibo.org/diploma/assessment/subjectoutlines/documents/d_3_histx_gui-out_0803_1_e.pdfGood luck!Funny10sport Edited October 4, 2012 by funny10sport Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpediem Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 I can't speak personally on those subjects, but the fact that Film doesn't have any exams during your testing period means that there will be more pressure from Film as a subject to complete the work during the 2 years. This is similar to the other Group 6 subjects - I know that the Theatre students in my grade don't have a lot of time now because they are doing a large part of the coursework now. But, Film is considered to be an 'easier' subject, so if you want more of a balance/variety it'd be a good idea to take it.To put it slightly into context, History HL is considered to be difficult - sorry I couldn't tell you about SL, no one in my grade does History at SL.Choose the combination you feel you can do best. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlwiththeBlueBox Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 To add onto what carpediem said, IB Film is considered a 'lighter' subject by many universities, so they probably would look down on taking that, which is why I would recommend taking History. History's workload isn't bad at all, and I heard there's loads of work involved with IB Film too. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flinquinnster Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 History SL is actually not a lot of work - to put it in perspective, HL has double the content nearly (6 'topics' as opposed to 3, though granted they are different). If you have a combined History SL/HL class, like we have at our school, that means SL gets done in about a year, with some extra time for IAs and whatnot. I don't know about the way it's done for you, but History SL is probably manageable. I like Paper 1, but I have to say I don't like essay-writing for Paper 2, so really I'm hoping for the best. The IA is a smaller percentage than in film, but still important (which I keep forgetting as I keep delaying doing work on it). I don't know anything about film, so I don't know whether it's 'fun' or not, but I think the danger is that you might be too complacent and not take the coursework seriously. I know I'm fairly bad at making films, but if you're better and you think you'll enjoy it, Film SL should be manageable.So, I would be inclined to go with History SL It would be a different story if History were at HL though. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpediem Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 Also, lots of Film students here say that Film is like English but you're analysing films instead. (And not just making movies.) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David14 Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 The only thing that worries me about History is that your exams pretty much determines your grade whereas in film you can guarantee your mark. You have to study two years of content in an exam in which you have no idea what the questions are going to be like. In film you have weeks to prepare for your presentation.What is the difference between History SL and HL? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmi Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 The only thing that worries me about History is that your exams pretty much determines your grade whereas in film you can guarantee your mark. You have to study two years of content in an exam in which you have no idea what the questions are going to be like. In film you have weeks to prepare for your presentation.What is the difference between History SL and HL?The difference between SL and HL history is huge. In SL history, you will study a prescribed topic for Paper 1 and then two topics from 20th century history (Paper 2). You also have the IA which is worth 25% of your grade. In HL, in addition to everything stated you have an additional Paper 3. Paper 3 is a study of a region (such as the Americas, Europe, Africa, etc). So basically in HL, you're reading more, learning more, and writing more than if you did SL.The exam for HL is:Paper 1: Document-based paper based on your prescribed topic and mini-essay, one hourPaper 2: Two essays, each chosen from a different topic in 20th century history, 1.5 hourPaper 3: Three essays, chosen from at least two different topics in a regional study, 2.5 hourIA: Historical investigation, 20% of final gradeThe exam for SL is:Paper 1: Document-based paper based on your prescribed topic and mini-essay, one hourPaper 2: Two essays, each chosen from a different topic in 20th century history, 1.5 hourIA: Historical investigation, 25% of final gradeThat being said if you're good at history, analysis, and writing it's not too difficult and it's quite fun. I liked my history classes a lot. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David14 Posted October 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 The only thing that worries me about History is that your exams pretty much determines your grade whereas in film you can guarantee your mark. You have to study two years of content in an exam in which you have no idea what the questions are going to be like. In film you have weeks to prepare for your presentation.What is the difference between History SL and HL?The difference between SL and HL history is huge. In SL history, you will study a prescribed topic for Paper 1 and then two topics from 20th century history (Paper 2). You also have the IA which is worth 25% of your grade. In HL, in addition to everything stated you have an additional Paper 3. Paper 3 is a study of a region (such as the Americas, Europe, Africa, etc). So basically in HL, you're reading more, learning more, and writing more than if you did SL.What if the SL and HL content overlap? As in you learn the same general topics, such as Peacekeeping 1916-1936, in both SL and HL, would the difference then be huge? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmi Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 What if the SL and HL content overlap? As in you learn the same general topics, such as Peacekeeping 1916-1936, in both SL and HL, would the difference then be huge?The exam for SL and HL for Papers 1 and 2 is the exact same, but HL students are marked a bit differently I believe. The big difference comes from learning an additional 200+ years of history for your regional topic. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaby Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 What if the SL and HL content overlap? As in you learn the same general topics, such as Peacekeeping 1916-1936, in both SL and HL, would the difference then be huge?The exam for SL and HL for Papers 1 and 2 is the exact same, but HL students are marked a bit differently I believe. The big difference comes from learning an additional 200+ years of history for your regional topic.Em, I'm somehow only learning 70 years or so. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmi Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 What if the SL and HL content overlap? As in you learn the same general topics, such as Peacekeeping 1916-1936, in both SL and HL, would the difference then be huge?The exam for SL and HL for Papers 1 and 2 is the exact same, but HL students are marked a bit differently I believe. The big difference comes from learning an additional 200+ years of history for your regional topic.Em, I'm somehow only learning 70 years or so. WHAT.We learned from the French Revolution through World War II.Be right back going to go cry now Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaby Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 What if the SL and HL content overlap? As in you learn the same general topics, such as Peacekeeping 1916-1936, in both SL and HL, would the difference then be huge?The exam for SL and HL for Papers 1 and 2 is the exact same, but HL students are marked a bit differently I believe. The big difference comes from learning an additional 200+ years of history for your regional topic.Em, I'm somehow only learning 70 years or so. WHAT.We learned from the French Revolution through World War II.Be right back going to go cry nowHaven't done French Revolution, sorry. Started with German Unification. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YangYou Posted October 28, 2012 Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 I would recommend you to swap History to Film coz from my personal opinion, film is really fun and appealing.My school doesn't offer Film due to its small size of IB students,which is very sad,so I'm not lucky enough to swap my subjects to the ones that I have strong interests with. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierrawf Posted October 28, 2012 Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 Film is incredibly interesting, but don't be fooled : it does require a lot of work, dedication, and creativity if you actually want to make something decent. Plenty of people screw around thinking it's a bull**** class, but let me tell you it gets graded HARSHLY, and any IB class you take is just as important as the others in terms of graduating. That being said, I entered the course with the intention of coasting, and ended up finding a passion for film, now planning to study Film Production in university. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan.tes Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 I am taking Film SL as an online course. It is really fun, and my teacher is great. You can improve your interdependent work, and overall have a bit of fun. I have learnt alot so far, and I do not regret in taking film. But, I think that film is only worth it, when you are actually into the subject film. So if you just take film sl as a gap filler, I wouldnt suggest to take it, as you will have to put effort in it. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJD Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 Film is time consuming. Only fun when you use it correctly and watch what interests you. Otherwise it's another subject easy to fail and easy to excel Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibhistoryishard Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I would recommend sticking with SL History. It really is approachable and if you know what you're doing, with the right techniques etc. and a decent amount of work (as is required by ANY IB subject), you can do well. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Efta Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Film is probably the smarter choice, as you could do much of the work for a good grade in IB1/beginning of IB2 and then put more time into studying for exams and IAs. If the uni doesnt care about it, dont do it. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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