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What is film studies like?

What is some advice for my son who is interested in majoring in Film Studies?

  • My son will be attending a film studies program of some type in 2012. He is entering his senior year in high school and has had the good fortune of being able to take some film studies classes both last year and again this year through a cooperation  with our local high school and college. In the past year, we have visited Brooks Institute in Ventura, CA (my son's leading school right now), Vancouver Film School, and the newer Tribeca Arts Institute in Chicago. His dream school is either UCLA or NYU, but which young art/film kid's isn't one of those schools. I have been in the camp that the time and financial commitment to get a four year degree is strongly outpaced by being able to get some solid training, then jumping into the field and start getting experience and making contacts. ANY input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

  • Answer:

    If he wants to make films, go to a school with a good production course using up-to-date technology and taught by people who make films, not by academics. If he wants to act, go to a school that specializes in that, taught by people who do/have done it. If he wants to study the history and theory of film as an academic subject, you have to be really careful. I've recently reviewed two books for Documentary magazine written by film studies academics. They were unreadable, So find a school that looks good and then get a look at the publications of the faculty members. If they are heavy on academic jargon, e.g. This is an anthropology that foregrounds the phenomenological priority of embodiment in our apprehension of the world, as the existential condition of possibility of both self and culture. (The Cinema of Robert Gardner) then look elsewhere. Find a school where it apperars the faculty members: Love films Believe the average audience of nonacademics can understand and appreciate a film Can write a simple declarative sentence in standard, nonacademic English I wish I could make a recommendation, but I can't. You'll have to do your own research.

Barry Hampe at Quora Visit the source

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I went to a school that had an emerging film studies program (UNCW), and from my friends who went through the program I garnered that the most valuable time they spent was working on projects over at Screen Gems studios in Wilmington in various crew roles, and working on television programs that were also filmed in the city. The department only has so much material resources in terms of cameras, tracks, etc... that it's only a worthwhile program if its near at least one big studio. If your son is looking for a technical/crew role, then you're probably right that the best first steps might be working on some film projects before you pay tuition for a film studies degree. If your son wants to go the academic route, to study film theory and history, then a four year degree is in order. If your son wants to go into acting, then film studies isn't the best place for that (I'd recommend researching some good theater schools that prepare actors for film).

Chris Blakley

Create a YouTube channel. Use phone camera to start making movies. They can be short movies or even him talking about films. Get the goal of 100,000 subscribers Because that will put him to work in film immediately and will teach him to understand what the audiences of today are looking for... And he may not even need film school....com

Claudia Azula Altucher

We live in California and did extensive research on film schools in the state. Brooks is actually a very good school where photography is concerned, but I've never heard of anything about their film program. USC is obviously the top film school in CA and Chapman College has an amazing and prestigious film program. As far as UCLA is concerned, they don't allow a film student to declare their major until late in their studies (3rd or 4th year) so most young film majors are starting to come out of UC Santa Cruz' film program because of the extensive studies they are doing that UCLA only does at a graduate level. UCSC's game design program is also extremely competitive. The Princeton Review and GamePro Media ranks UCSC 7th in the nation and only #2 in the state. So there are some great prospects right here in CA without traveling to NY or Canada.

C. Aragon

I have a film degree from UCSC and made sure I learned the digital media side of the major. Digital media is so prevalent in our society that you have a much better chance at a good career on the digital media side of the major. Very few people actually wind up making films after college. I became an engineer at Netflix in 2007 and have had a incredibly rewarding and fruitful career.

Nick Levin

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