<p>Actually I was a radio/tv/film major in college (Northwestern, Class of 77) and ultimately went to Law School. My S is a 2nd year at Chicago and is passionate about his involvement with FireEscape Films, the student production company. He went intending to study environmental studies, fell in love with russian and English during his first year, got turned on to sociology first quarter second year and has made or worked on 3-4 film projects during that time. We believe that college is still a time of exploration and unless a kid absolutely knows that a particular field is for him/her, then its expected that they will dabble and fall in love with many different things while in college. Grad schools, especially law, and to a certain degree others talk about looking for interesting, smart people. No particular major required. I must say, I started college pre-med, bio major and ended up in film and tv...It was great and I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I'm actually encouraging my S to follow his passion..he knows he has to support himself ultimately and if he can find a way to do it while doing something he absolutely loves, all the more power to him! His experience has also made it clear to us that you don't have to go to a "film" school, to study film, or be involved. U/C is a case in point. No film major, but lots of opportunities....</p>
<p>Yeah because I was an idiot!!!! I didn't read it closely.</p>
<p>well ok im actually seriously considering a major in film studies or something to do with commercials/television and such. What would I major in if I chose the latter? mass communication maybe?
Until last month i thought that i would def. end up studying poli sci, but after some serious thinking i figured out that its not really me. Im a very creative person and everyone tells me im an amazing communicator and poli sci seems so common and straightforward and just downright boring when I think about it as a possible career for myself.
What i wanted to know is what are the best colleges which offer film studies as a major, and are film courses in the ivies good or not so much as they tend to focus more on different majors. btw im an international student so UCLA would be pretty hard to get into as I hear…. I heard that the tisch school of the arts was really good, but im very confused about how one goes about applying their, is it undergrad or grad..... Do i apply to tisch or to NYU or what? And how early does one declare a major in this case or is it just the same as usual? Also would getting accepted into a film major be harder then getting into NYU in general
I would really appreciate your help and thank you so much, and I hope this isn’t really off topic?</p>
<p>well ok im actually seriously considering a major in film studies or something to do with commercials/television and such. What would I major in if I chose the latter? mass communication maybe?
Until last month i thought that i would def. end up studying poli sci, but after some serious thinking i figured out that its not really me. Im a very creative person and everyone tells me im an amazing communicator and poli sci seems so common and straightforward and just downright boring when I think about it as a possible career for myself.
What i wanted to know is what are the best colleges which offer film studies as a major, and are film courses in the ivies good or not so much as they tend to focus more on different majors. btw im an international student so UCLA would be pretty hard to get into as I hear…. I heard that the tisch school of the arts was really good, but im very confused about how one goes about applying their, is it undergrad or grad..... Do i apply to tisch or to NYU or what? And how early does one declare a major in this case or is it just the same as usual? Also would getting accepted into a film major be harder then getting into NYU in general?
I would really appreciate your help and thank you so much, and I hope this isn’t really off topic</p>
<p>I'm with the group that feels that it does not really matter what a student wants to study in college. College is really a place you put them to grow up for the next 4 years, and if they get any kind of an education out of it in any aea, great. It is really the most socially acceptable place to incubate these chickies. For kids who are truly serious about a discipline like film, music, theatre, there are programs that address this seriousness by asking for a portfolio, audition, etc. For those with an interest but nothing substantial to show for it, you look for a college that fits all the other things the kid likes, and also provides some opportunity in the discipline. My understanding with film studies is that a MFA degree is really where you get into the career training aspect so film since it is very important to have a well-rounded education no matter where you work. The general college courses will help you the many aspects of writing a story, learning about cultures, growing up, etc. The best book I have seen on this subject is "Film School Confidential, The Insider's Guide to Film Schools". It gives a thorough overview of what is out there in film progrmas. Written by Karen Kelly and Tom Edgar.</p>
<p>I'm a little bit late to this thread, but as the father of a film student at USC, as noted by Cheers, I'll add my two cents. Frankly, I don't care what he does with film. Do you know how happy it made my wife and I to have a child that had a passion to do something? He told us in sixth grade he wanted to make films. We told him that if he did what he needed to do we would make sure he could go to USC if he got in. He did, and we did. </p>
<p>Let me say that my son is also in a film program, critical studies, that some of you would find pretty useless since it involves more analysis, more thinking, and less actual learning of technical skills then the production major. That's perfectly fine with me since anyone can learn proper lighting or camera angles pretty quickly, but understanding the political, historical, and cultural context of a film (btw, he has a course in Hip-Hop culture this semester) or why a director did one thing rather than another, I find more appealing. To my mind it makes for more sophisticated and humane filmmaking.</p>
<p>He went to USC to become an editor, something he is very good at and seems to have a natural feel for. Now he's not so sure. He's talking about becoming a film archivist. He's only a second year student and he's still finding himself. He is politically active at USC working as the assignment editor for the liberal alternative paper and trying to start a liberal alternative to the official university council of student religious organizations. He has been selected as a fellow for the People for the American Way. He dropped his second major in history and substituted a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies.</p>
<p>I think that he'll probably wind up making documentary films or working for a group like Amnesty International. He'll make enough money to take care of himself and his family, and my wife and I will be pleased and happy that we were able to produce a child that could add something meaningful to the world. Our money will be well spent.</p>
<p>Elodie, here's a link to the Film Dept.'s page at Tisch:</p>
<p>There is an undergraduate school as well as grad at Tisch. NYU is divided into several colleges, each with a different focus. You apply to NYU but specify which college you want, in this case, Tisch Film/Tv. There is no 'general' admission to NYU. You must specify one college, and you can only apply to one. Have a look around the site and it will give you information about the program, what's involved, the curriculum, the portfolio requirements, the faculty, scholarships, etc. In the case of Tisch, you effectively declare a major when you fill out the application because you are applying to that particular program. Admission is competitive because it's one of the top programs in the country but you never know what will happen if you don't try! :)</p>
<p>elodie -</p>
<p>On page 2 of this thread, I posted a link to Tom Edgar's Film School Confidential site. But the site (and the book) are really geared toward graduate schools and film production.</p>
<p>From the way you describe your interests, you should definitely look at Ohio University's incredible School of Telecommunication at: <a href="http://www.tcomschool.ohiou.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.tcomschool.ohiou.edu/</a></p>
<p>It has tracks in Music Production, Media Production, Audio Post Production, Management, Media Studies, Electronic Media Technologies, International Communications, Media and Society, Politics and Media, and Individualized Concentrations in Management, Multimedia, and Video Production.</p>
<p>What more could you want, and there are opportunities for working with OU's Scripps School of Journalism as well.</p>
<p>It's also a big enough school to offer all the usual majors in case you change your mind, it's a beautiful campus (feels like a private school), is very affordable (compared to most private or out-of-state publics), is rated in USN&WR's top 100, and offers decent merit scholarships if your stats are high. Plus it has rolling admissions so you can know soon after you apply that you're acceepted.</p>
<p>Take a look.</p>
<p>tsdad, your post about your son's choice of film as a major is beautiful. :) I could echo a lot of what you wrote re: my D2 who is a drama major. We have always supported all four of our Ds in whatever activities/paths/interests they've had, since they were little girls. We were thrilled with her passion for drama which started when she was in middle school. We encouraged her to audition for an arts h/s and we made it as easy as possible when she attended there and had an hour commute each way daily. She's happy to have this love of theatre, in addition to her other passions in life, and it makes us very happy. I can't tell you the number of snide remarks we've heard from people, though, when they learn that she's studying drama. Or the times we've heard people say 'oh, my, she could have been a doctor or anything she wanted!' Well, yes, she's chosen what she wants and we're happy to assist her in any way we can. She's double majoring in English lit. to satisfy her interest in writing, she's working on getting her second play published, she still plays soccer at a high level, and she's going on a trip next summer to Kenya to volunteer in a village. She may not be choosing the more traditional routes, as her sisters, but we're pretty proud of the individual she is. :)</p>
<p>elodie,
I'm philosophically with runnersmom & jamimom on this, as to the undergraduate breadth that is so valuable to film studies no matter how specialized one wants to become, & narrow one's interests. Definitely search for a school that has a good film <em>component</em>, but the general education is so critical to understanding & creating film, particularly the cultural studies aspects & the storytelling aspects, as well as an appreciation of symbols. In this latter regard, I would add a strong art component to your curriculum, both the theoretical (use of symbols, etc.) & the practical side of art. A course or two in photography would not hurt. Anyone serious about a film career needs to be able to communicate with the cinematographer & art director -- or perhaps one of those 2 will end up defining you. </p>
<p>And then, after your research, you can clue us parents in on the best schools for our aspiring S's and D's. (LOL)
--e.</p>
<p>Thank you so much on all of your help, i really do appreciate it. You gave me very helpful peices of information and some strong points to discuss with my parents...as they are not so "keen" about the idea yet...but o well we'll c..thnx!</p>
<p>elodie -</p>
<p>Two more bits of information from the OU site, regarding two organizations that TCOM students are in:</p>
<ol>
<li>AVW Productions (AVW)
This student-run video production house provides experience in all aspects of production from management and advertising to the production process itself. Students learn techniques of field and studio operations while producing video for various outlets. The central mission of AVW Productions is production that is marketable to different regions of Ohio. AVW also produces independent videos for clients</li>
</ol>
<p>2.Telecommunications Center (TCOM Center)
The Telecommunications Center operates the Public Broadcasting Services of Ohio University. These include WOUB-TV, WOUC-TV(Cambridge), WOUB-AM/FM, WOUC-FM, WOUL-FM, WOUH-FM, and ACTV-7, Ohio University's community cable channel. The Center is a non-academic unit of Ohio University. Well known for its quality training program, the Center offers experience in a wide range of areas in radio, television, educational telecommunications, engineering, promotion, and news.</p>
<p>o ok thnx...uo seems to have a really good program...it basically has everything</p>
<p>The top film schools in the country are VERY competitive to get into. If your son is truly interested, I've heard spectacular things about these programs (my sister's dream path of choice), but one highschool course in the area won't get him into the top programs. I'd encourage him to take more classes in it, maybe a summer-school course, a summer program (my sister is doing 6 weeks in Universal Studios with the New York Film Academy. Expensive and time consuming, but hopefully when she comes out of it, she'll be SURE that she's still interested), internship, whatever. I have a cousin who did film--editing, creating, directing, everything--all the way through highschool, for his highschool, for other groups, etc., and he was GREAT at it. He still didn't get accepted to USC for film. The schools that will best guarantee your son job preparation and security are very competitive in this area, so he'd do best to really pursue the interest beforehand and see if he's hooked. Otherwise, schools that are less strong in film obviously still exist, but these may be the ones where he looks into a double/dual major so that he can pursue his film interest and back it up (or supplement it) with something more "practical" (because it is a VERY competitive indusustry with a VERY glamourized, idealized portrayal, and a film degree from a lesser known school won't be useless, but it may not get him to the job he's imagining...encourage him to research the lesser known aspects of film-making, beyond just director/writer/producer/actor). My roommate, for example, is extremely passionate about film, but she had never considered a degree in it. Now she's a dual English/film studies (another field he may want to look into...film studies) major, and she manages to overlap a lot of the classes. This way she's able to pursue a lifelong passion as well as something in which she wants a career (publishing).</p>
<p>No doubt, I'm jealous of my roommate sometimes. She gets to go to class and watch movies. She's taking an entire class on Hitchcock this semester. It's a cool field, but the film industry itself is highly glamourized. I'd advise your son to both research and pursue it.</p>
<p>Also...did you mention your sons year in school? Because I know that I made my parents FLIP a few times with the array of majors I was considering. When I was a freshman, I wanted to go to MIT and major in marine bio. As a soph, I wanted to go to NYU and major in psych. I wound up in Claremont majoring in philosophy with a minor in math, both of which I'd thought about, but neither upon which I'd decided upon entering college. So don't worry too much...there's plenty of time for him to jump on other bandwagons, and when he gets to college, he may pursue film and find out that it really isn't for him. Or maybe better yet, that it is. </p>
<p>If he's still in HS, there's really no reason to worry about it yet :-)</p>
<p>I would love to take a class on Hitchcock too. All these posts are facinating to read. Majoring in film is a terrific major, I have nothing bad to say about it, some of my daughter's friends have gotten jobs in the field. The son involved is here one day there another (mentally)so I don't know what's on his mind. He has a good camera, he does animation too but it's all for fun. He doesn't have a portfolio. He doesn't seem to be taking the initiative too much about this. I suggested a local college which is running some non credit classes. He is afraid if he gets tied up in something then he will have more school homework and just do badly at everything. SO now he's tied up with a term paper . This is all a work in progress. BUT I GOTTA TELL YOU, these posts are facinating to read.- kids really enthusiastic about what they are studying- there are gooing to be some great movies in the future!</p>
<p>Student615 thnx for you feed back, do u have any idea tho how hard it is to get into the top film schools like tisch maybe or soemthing along that line? i mean do they consider your grades and such more then or as much as they consider your protfolio creativness ect...</p>
<p>I honestly know very little about it beyond the fact that it's HIGHLY competitive. From what I know, USC and UCLA both have tip-top film programs, I'm unfamiliar with that at Tisch, but it would make sense for it to also be very strong. I've heard that Chapman has a fairly strong program. Outside of this, I know very little. </p>
<p>As far as those that I'm familiar with, I can <em>guess</em> that both of those facts will weigh strongly, but perhaps moreso in the case of the portfolio, assuming that grades meet general standards. As they're good schools to begin with, they'll be looking for decent grades, but an excellent academic record and crummy portfolio will almost surely be inadequate for entrance into such competitive programs. Likewise, a strong portfolio but below average academics will probably not be helpful in gaining admission to the university, itself. </p>
<p>I honestly can't do anything but hypothesize in this case. Because I've heard that great emphasis is placed on portfolios and experience, I would recommend talking to the departments and admissions regarding this program as far as possible before applying, at any schools that you think might interest you.</p>
<p>If you've heard the Steven Spielberg anecdote, it's pretty entertaining. I only roughly remember it, but the gist is that Steven Spielberg applied to USC for film something like 3 times, and was rejected each time. After he'd made it big, he went back and offered to donate a pretty huge sum of money to the school, help build up their program, etc., in exchange for an honorary diploma...signed by the same admissions counselor who'd signed his previous three rejection notices :-) Luckily for USC, I've heard that Spielberg (as well as George Lucas, unless I'm remembering incorrectly) pretty much sees to it that their program stays on top. Totally irrelevant...just a fun story, sorry.</p>
<p>elodie,
When I went to the Tisch page on the NYU site recently, I was surprised to see how they even wanted good standardized test scores, etc., -- which implies an answer to your question that admissions takes into account everything , & competitively, as Student615 says. (Some art & cinema schools within colleges are more forgiving of the non-portfolio elements). If I were you I would call Tisch directly, ask to speak to an admissions officer (one is usually accessible by phone at most colleges) regarding the "weighting" question you just raised.</p>
<p>Adding my two cents of what I know of Tisch.....while I do not have a kid going into film, I do have a child who is currently an applicant for admission to Tisch, but for musical theater. Even though that is not film, I know for CERTAIN that with Tisch, that 50% of admission is based on academics (the written application piece) and 50% on audition (for my daughter) but in the case of film, that would be 50% based on portfolio (in both cases, this would be considered artistic review). This is NOT the case at other programs in my child's field where the audition counts for a bigger piece of the admission pie and academics not as much (though still counts). But Tisch wants kids who are academically qualified for NYU but also must pass a difficult artistic review. In my child's field, only 5% are admitted. It is a bit better at Tisch for film students but still very competitive. My daughter's friend is a freshman film student at Tisch. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>I went to NYU over the summer and they informed us that attending the program enhanced our chances from the normal 10% acceptance rate (where did you get 5% soozievt?) to over 60%...so, check out their summer film program.</p>