Help me to pick a major

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1

I don’t know which major to pick at the university. I’m really passionate about Cinema. I want to be involved in everything related to film. I would like to study Film and TV production,screenwriting,acting and Film studies. I have a few questions:

  1. Is there a major with all these subjects?
    2.will a degree in any of these fields help me to pursue career in entertainment industry? (Except acting. I will either take it as a minor or join a club)
    3.if these fields are not worth majoring in is there any other major that will help me to build background for a career in film industry?

Also i read a quote that says “to be successful in film, you need to know not just the skills of filmmaking but history,literature and science” so it made me think about taking course that teaches these subjects maybe social sciences or Liberal arts?

Thank you for the answers in advance

2

@ananoit are you currently enrolled at a university? Or are you in high school at the moment?

3

I’m senior in high school

4

I don’t know too much about it, but you should check the courses that are offered in the major that you want, you may find them in the webpages of many universities. Also, try to look for double major programs if you can’t find a major with everything you want.

5

@ananoit what university are you thinking of attending? Does it have a school of communication and/or a film department, by any chance? Your questions indicate that you feel drawn to something like that but some universities require that you be accepted to that program of study as a freshman, others allow you to declare a major later on.

6

Loyola Marymount or Ithaca college as a know that they have good film programms

7

@ananoit those are obviously excellent choices for film.

Easy answer first: you definitely should take advantage of the college/university setting and enroll in courses outside the school of film or communication. Usually you can get that additional exposure via fulfillment of the general education requirements.

As for what specifically to major in, you need to check to make sure you don’t have to declare a major right away, then spend part of your first year exploring a bit. You will of course want to fulfill prereqs for these schools so that when you do declare a major you can graduate on time.

Your first step will be to visit each school’s website so that you know more about the offerings in your area of interest (if you haven’t done this already, that is). Look up the curriculum so that you understand what you need to take and when. Some offerings will be for a BFA as opposed to a BA or BS and that’s going to be more work, perhaps extending beyond 4 years so make suer you understand expected time to graduation for your fields of interest.

You probably should schedule a visit to each school very soon so that you can choose one by May 1. Definitely visit the film/television/communications schools and take a tour of the facilities there.

Good luck!

8
  1. Look for a film or film production program if you are interested in the creative production side of things. Theater or theater set/lighting design is another major that can be helpful. Avoid critical or film studies programs if you are more interested in production.
  2. No. The degree itself will be pretty useless but the people you will meet and work with together on projects will become your future contacts and collaborators in the industry.
  3. Depends on what you want to do - theater for acting/set&lighting&production design, film for directing/cinematography/lighting/tv/production/screenwriting, fashion/theater for costume design? Art majors for production/art design. Sound/music related majors for sound design. Any social or medical sciences or anything really if interested in writing. What to start as a gaffer or grip? Get out and volunteer on shoots in school.
  4. Go out and shoot, edit, create. You can shoot and edit a short film completely on an iPhone these days. Pick up some cinematography, editing and lighting books to learn the language of film. Listen to the directors commentary on your favorite DVDs. What you create and who you know is what will get you a job. School is just one stepping stone of many.
9

Do you make films currently or in the past?
Have you written any scripts?
Do you do any writing creative writing currently?
Have you taken any film production classes in HS or summer programs or art programs?

Side related: have you been in any theater productions on the acting or technical side?
Have you performed in front of an audience in any way?