Attending A "Non-Film School" College

[Dallas Heinlein]

I seriously am considering attending CSU San Marcos, because they recently instituted a Mass Media Production major to their communications department. I am concerned the program will focus on video production in lieu of a film based production setting. It's fine and dandy to attend a program to learn first hand the aesthetics of how a feature length movie production works. But if it's hands on work with just video based equipment I'm afraid I will be missing out on something important.

 

Has anyone here attended a state school that may not of had the film equipment available for the production lab exercises? I need to know if it would be worth it to attend a program if video equipment was the only accessible equipment. If I track down a decent rental house I may be able to rent out video equipment for any projects for school, but it would be a great monetary risk to do such a thing. If you have any experiences in this educational situation I would like to hear about your story.

Edited January 14, 2007 by Dallas Heinlein

[Corey Bringas]

Hey,

I currently go to SDSU and am a TFM major- just 2 semesters left :-D. Its a great school, with its ups and downs. I have one buddy who goes to CSU San Marcos. I think he was origionally in it for film but i'm not sure any more. I'll ask him about it. PM me and we'll talk more about state's program...

[Bhavin Amin]

I would make sure whichever school you consider attending has a film program or a nearby film school it can cover. My biggest regret is choosing a school without a strong film program.

 

I go to Pitt - whose film department is considered with film analysis more than production. However, there is a nearby film school, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, that offer classes in film production, video production, animation, lighting, etc. Only downside is there is a limit of classes I can take there.

 

I wouldn't count on a school that solely teaches video. Not to bash on video, but I feel experience with film equipment will get you further in the realm of cinematography.

[Dallas Heinlein]

I would make sure whichever school you consider attending has a film program or a nearby film school it can cover. My biggest regret is choosing a school without a strong film program.

SDSU does have a good reputation for the media program that they have, but I'm afraid I would have to commute to L.A. for an official and well established film school. I could attend the CSUSM college close by like I'm currently planning on and then take a couple of film workshops after I graduate to get some hands on training with the film equipment.

[Jonathan Bowerbank]

I have friends who have gone to SF State, and have only come out of it having shot at most 100' of 16mm. Most of it was video based with a lot of lecture & theory. It isn't until you're in their grad program that you have priority access to 16mm equipment and actually get full on 16mm production assignments.

 

In the meantime, I've attended the local community college and have already rolled I don't know how much film for class assignments.

 

I think you should find a school that specifically has "Film" courses within their curriculum. Mass Media sounds like a lot of broadcasting and probably even shooting for the internet venue.

[Dallas Heinlein]

Would it be a decent idea to attend a college for a BA degree in something else such as Communications or Journalism and then attend film workshops after graduation?

[Bhavin Amin]

Would it be a decent idea to attend a college for a BA degree in something else such as Communications or Journalism and then attend film workshops after graduation?

 

That can work if you don't mind more education. I plan on going to a grad school to specialize in Cinematography after getting my BA in Film Studies and Political Science.

 

It's always good to have a backup plan in case breaking into the industry doesn't initially work out. That's basically why I picked up a second major.