I am switching to English as my major from Computer Science. I want to go into the television or movie industry and I will probably attend film school after I get BS or Master's degree. I was wondering if anyone has taken a film class (the study of films, basically you watch movies and write about them) and if they have any input about the class.
Has anyone taken a film class at college?
- Thread starter ScottyB
- Start date
Just how it was and if would be helpful for getting into writing for TV, fun, etc. Also if it was fun, I believe we will be watching two movies a week, and discussing them once a week.
It totally depends on the professor, and the stated direction of the class.
Scholarly film study courses--which are usually the upper-level film courses--prolly don't focus (no pun intended) on the script much, if at all.
They analyze works "shot by shot" and try to decipher the visual language in a film.
Consequently, the classes I took were centered around the idea of the "auteur" and such directors' films.
Directors whose works we analyzed:
Luis Bunuel
Alfred Hitchcock
Marcel Carne
Ingmar Bergman
Robert Bresson
many others, but at the time...not many directors I had ever heard of.
We watched an AMAZING amount of films a week.
I also gave a hideous amount of money to BlockBuster (when the film was available) to go over them more than once (VERY important)
The director I chose as my independent project (someone whose work was NOT viewed or analyzed at all in class):
Stanley Kubrick (I scored the highest in the class, and was the ONLY non-film major to be allowed in the class at all)
I basically watched every film of his that I could get my hands on a minimum of three times.
Another class I took was an actual filmmaking class.
We used 8mm, since it was an intro class, and they wanted to stress some of the techniques (such as manual focus and zoom, exposure, etc.) that you can neglect to learn properly if you use videotape.
LOVED it!
Spent a solid week trying to run down a lab that would process black & white 8mm film for me.
If you are interested in screenwriting, make sure you sign up for classes that are actually ABOUT screenwriting . Many times screenwriting classes will be offered by the English Department, not the Film Department, depending on your school.
Scholarly film study courses--which are usually the upper-level film courses--prolly don't focus (no pun intended) on the script much, if at all.
They analyze works "shot by shot" and try to decipher the visual language in a film.
Consequently, the classes I took were centered around the idea of the "auteur" and such directors' films.
Directors whose works we analyzed:
Luis Bunuel
Alfred Hitchcock
Marcel Carne
Ingmar Bergman
Robert Bresson
many others, but at the time...not many directors I had ever heard of.
We watched an AMAZING amount of films a week.
I also gave a hideous amount of money to BlockBuster (when the film was available) to go over them more than once (VERY important)
The director I chose as my independent project (someone whose work was NOT viewed or analyzed at all in class):
Stanley Kubrick (I scored the highest in the class, and was the ONLY non-film major to be allowed in the class at all)
I basically watched every film of his that I could get my hands on a minimum of three times.
Another class I took was an actual filmmaking class.
We used 8mm, since it was an intro class, and they wanted to stress some of the techniques (such as manual focus and zoom, exposure, etc.) that you can neglect to learn properly if you use videotape.
LOVED it!
Spent a solid week trying to run down a lab that would process black & white 8mm film for me.
If you are interested in screenwriting, make sure you sign up for classes that are actually ABOUT screenwriting . Many times screenwriting classes will be offered by the English Department, not the Film Department, depending on your school.
Thanks for that in-depth synopsis TallGeese. I plan on taking other classes, but this was the only English class I can take next semester and this is my sophomore year. I need to take 36 - 40 English credits and I haven't taken any yet, I just switched from CS. It is an intro class so it should get too in-depth and there are continuations on it. Film is part of English here and screenwriting is a requirement for the Film option of English. The advisor told me not to take the film option though, because she wants me to take creative writing, fiction, etc; which are not part of the film option.
Heh...sounds very familiar...
Tallgeese = BS in English, Creative Writing major; MFA in Creative Writing
Tallgeese = BS in English, Creative Writing major; MFA in Creative Writing
How is the job market for an English major? (In case I can't get into Hollywood 
) I guess I can always go to law school.
) I guess I can always go to law school.Weeeeelllll...I finished my MFA in 1995.Originally posted by: ScottyB
How is the job market for an English major? (In case I can't get into Hollywood
I've been working in IT ever since.
Now I'm the director of a technology consulting practice for an accounting firm.
That answer your question?
Originally posted by: TallGeese
Weeeeelllll...I finished my MFA in 1995.Originally posted by: ScottyB
How is the job market for an English major? (In case I can't get into Hollywood
I've been working in IT ever since.
Now I'm the director of a technology consulting practice for an accounting firm.
That answer your question?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I am sick of computer crap
I am sure I can get a job doing something.Seriously, for most English majors...the reality is:
* To get ANY kind of tenure-track job teaching literature at a university, you must have a PhD from a top school (Virginia, etc.) and either be published or about to publish
* To get ANY kind of job teaching Creative Writing at a college or university, you must have published your work in "appropriate" journals. The more significant the publications, the better off you will be.
Most folks I knew ended up teaching at private schools, etc., especially if they didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting a teaching certificate to teach in public school.
* To get ANY kind of tenure-track job teaching literature at a university, you must have a PhD from a top school (Virginia, etc.) and either be published or about to publish
* To get ANY kind of job teaching Creative Writing at a college or university, you must have published your work in "appropriate" journals. The more significant the publications, the better off you will be.
Most folks I knew ended up teaching at private schools, etc., especially if they didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting a teaching certificate to teach in public school.
I want to work on tv shows though not teach at a University. I wouldn't mind teaching at a high school though.
The key is to network network network and start making contacts NOW. Use your professors mercilessly. If they don't have any connections you can shamelessly milk, then get somewhere where the faculty IS connected.
The entertainment industry can be a BRUTAL industry to break into.
A good idea: Sign up and attend summer writers conferences, where they have a working screenwriter (or better yet, working screenwriters). Network and shmooze shamelessly. Make contacts. Get your foot in a door somewhere.
Most professional screenwriters (esp. TV) will tell you that the keys to a career in that field are: Consistency (get the work done, on-time, every time) and Flexibility (expect that EVERYONE and their brother will conatantly be changing what you wrote. Be professional about it, and don't take it personally).
True story: At the last company I worked for, one of the engineers there submitted some Star Trek scripts to Paramount (DS9 scripts) and was actually invited out for a sit-down with some of the wheels (fans would recognize names from the credits).
He did not get the job.
His mistake?
While describing the meeting and the outcome to me, I realized that they weren't testing his scripts and his ability so much as his ego--that is, his ability to work with others without being a completely arrogant pr1ck.
He, of course, failed miserably at this (and prolly still does).
I also never shared my observation with him.
WOW...this costume (devil avatar) tonight is like a second skin, eh?
I am always critisizing my own work and asking people how I can make it better, so I won't mind changes.
Keep in mind that writing progams can be BRUTAL!
I came out of my graduate program as an almost insane bastard (in the words of Mrs. Tallgeese) without a single shred of interest in ever writing a single word again.
Many folks came out the same way I did.
Others didn't.
So there's no telling how it'll be for you.
Just realize that you might end up forever hating something you enjoy now.
I came out of my graduate program as an almost insane bastard (in the words of Mrs. Tallgeese) without a single shred of interest in ever writing a single word again.
Many folks came out the same way I did.
Others didn't.
So there's no telling how it'll be for you.
Just realize that you might end up forever hating something you enjoy now.
I am that way with CS. With writing I never really thought about it. I have always gotten high scores and etc but I was afraid of it because you can't study it like math, etc. My teachers and mom always told me I was good, but I thought they were just saying that to be nice. My friend always told me I wasn't very good also, but the other day I was basically breaking down about what I can do in my life and he suggested writing and I was like WTF you always told me I was bad and he basically said that he wanted to bring me down a notch because "My self esteem was to high"; which is sh!tty because I have low self esteem.
I watched a general film studies class and it was a lot of fun
we watched a movie from pretty much every period and took time to study it. The last 2 weeks of class we were to current film and the class got to choose out one guy movie and one girl movie as the movies to analyze.
I really enjoyed it and it made me want to possibly pursue a film minor.
we watched a movie from pretty much every period and took time to study it. The last 2 weeks of class we were to current film and the class got to choose out one guy movie and one girl movie as the movies to analyze.
I really enjoyed it and it made me want to possibly pursue a film minor.
And people will try to exploit that 10x worse in a writing program (more so at the graduate level, but I've seen some amazingly nasty idiots even in undergrad).
I know I'm sounding like the voice of gloom and doom.
I'm just trying to be upfront about the kind of cr@p I saw when I went through a writing program.
Before I switched to English as an undergrad, I was still working construction part-time to pay my way through school.
So I would show up with mud on my clothes, the whole nine yards.
I had professors who absolutely refused to believe I was in the right class, and would threaten to have me removed.
Eventually that kinda cr@p died down after awhile, but if you wanna find the snobbiest pr1cks alive, go to the nearest college or university's English department.
yeah, I took one. The professor was kindof an x hippy type. Really cool getting credit to watch some great movies
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