Aaron Rainwater Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 I'm a freshman in college and have a few questions regarding what path I should take in my education. At the moment, I am a Technical Theatre major working on my BFA in that area. For a while now I have been considering doing film rather than live theatre, but only recently decided that film is definitely what I want to do. Today I had a meeting with one of the film teachers at my school to discuss my academic options. He strongly encouraged me to stay in the BFA program for theatre, as he has the same degree along with a BFA in film, but apparently it was his degree in theatre that got him his jobs in film. So I am definitely inclined to go with the BFA. I had hoped that I could double major or minor in film, but I just found out that most of the film classes I would need to take are scheduled for the same times as my theatre classes. So it would appear that unless I want to stay here for much longer than I would like, I have to pick one. What should I do? I plan to be a grip or gaffer so the skills I'm learning on the electrics crew in theatre will definitely benefit me but I would like to find a way to learn how to apply my knowledge of the equipment to film. Also, how important would graduate school be for me, especially if I stick with theatre for my undergrad? And does anyone have suggestions on what schools have good graduate programs in film? I could just really use some advice so if you have it, I'll gladly take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Jensen Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 I'm a freshman in college and have a few questions regarding what path I should take in my education. At the moment, I am a Technical Theatre major working on my BFA in that area. For a while now I have been considering doing film rather than live theatre, but only recently decided that film is definitely what I want to do. Today I had a meeting with one of the film teachers at my school to discuss my academic options. He strongly encouraged me to stay in the BFA program for theatre, as he has the same degree along with a BFA in film, but apparently it was his degree in theatre that got him his jobs in film. So I am definitely inclined to go with the BFA. I had hoped that I could double major or minor in film, but I just found out that most of the film classes I would need to take are scheduled for the same times as my theatre classes. So it would appear that unless I want to stay here for much longer than I would like, I have to pick one. What should I do? I plan to be a grip or gaffer so the skills I'm learning on the electrics crew in theatre will definitely benefit me but I would like to find a way to learn how to apply my knowledge of the equipment to film.Also, how important would graduate school be for me, especially if I stick with theatre for my undergrad? And does anyone have suggestions on what schools have good graduate programs in film? I could just really use some advice so if you have it, I'll gladly take it. Quit school and get a job on a film as a loader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Rainwater Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 Quit school and get a job on a film as a loader. I appreciate the response, but quiting school isn't really an option for me. I am getting 4 years of college totally free, so I feel like not taking advantage of that would just be foolish. Also, I plan to become a teacher one day very far down the road. If I don't have a masters I cannot teach. So I can't quit. I mean sure leaving the world of research papers and what not behind so that I can follow my passion is VERY tempting, but it is, unfortunately, not an option for me. So with that being said, what advice would you give me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Jensen Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 I appreciate the response, but quiting school isn't really an option for me. I am getting 4 years of college totally free, so I feel like not taking advantage of that would just be foolish. Also, I plan to become a teacher one day very far down the road. If I don't have a masters I cannot teach. So I can't quit. I mean sure leaving the world of research papers and what not behind so that I can follow my passion is VERY tempting, but it is, unfortunately, not an option for me. So with that being said, what advice would you give me? Well then that's a no brainer, MFA in Theatre. What do you want to teach? A bunch of hot chicks that want to be actresses or a bunch of geeky guys who want to talk about Star Wars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Rainwater Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 Well then that's a no brainer, MFA in Theatre. What do you want to teach? A bunch of hot chicks that want to be actresses or a bunch of geeky guys who want to talk about Star Wars? I agree, it is a no brainer. So what would really be helpful is information from anyone that has it about film schools. But to answer your question, I plan on teaching technical theatre when I'm ready to "settle down." However, that time won't come for a very long time. As far as teaching hot girls or geeky guys goes, I imagine i'll be stuck with the geeky guys. But that doesn't really matter considering that by the time I'll be teaching the age gap between myself and my students would be great enough that I wouldn't be thinking about how hot they were.....just saying. But thanks for your advice. I'd be open to hear from you or anyone else that has thoughts on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now