REALLY EASY! I never went to the first 5 lectures and I still got an A on the midterm, the only thing you NEED to go to lecture for is the film viewings. He will ask specific questions about the 5 minute clips in class we watch. if you've seen the films before you can probably make an educated guess. he also brings in grad students to show their films which is actually pretty fun and interesting and most of the class stays for that, also he showed us his own film at the end of the quarter which was actually a really awesome film. he's an engaging and goog professor. Easy A, however I left the class knowing a few more film "terms" but nothing more than that.