Do you need a degree in film for undergrad?

[Rob the film guy]

I been reading this bood called Film School Confidential and it suggest to get degrees in either psychology, sociology, political science, history, or economics instead of film for an undergrad so you can have more knowledge of how people are and write better scripts with more of a depth. It also suggested to go travel before going to get your MFA. I was wondering whats everyones thoughts on this and if anyone has any comments/suggestions on this.

I was going to double major in film and philosophy but thinking about doing philosophy and sociology after reading some of this book.

 

[AshleyM]

If you get a degree in film as an undergrad, you may find that some of it is repeated in the beginning year of grad school. However, it depends upon the school and the program you want to attend whether or not this is the case.

Most film schools look for well-rounded people with some life experience and creative potential (it's harder to be a good storyteller if you haven't experienced much of life), but again, specifics vary from school to school.

I would recommend checking out the graduate entrance/application requirements for schools that you are considering after your undergrad. Some schools may require a reel or specific classes, which means that maybe a minor in film would be good. San Francisco State requires a basic editing class and a class in 16mm before you can start taking classes in their grad program, for example. But not all schools are like that. If you want to be a director, you'll definitely want to get some experience so that you have a reel to show. Still, you don't have to major in film to get a reel; just make movies!

 

[Rob the film guy]

Thank you so much, there are some schools I am thinking about more than others, i will make sure to post a topic of thost schools and their requirments if i cant find any info for them on this forum. Thank you again for your help.

 

[Jayimess]

Major in what you want in undergrad...don't plan on an MFA if you can get that stuff out of the way in your undergrad.

Film School Confidential is a crock of hooey anyway. Wildly inaccurate.

 

[AshleyM]

Yeah, that's a good point, Jayimess. I didn't major in film for undergrad (hadn't discovered how much I liked it, yet), so if I want to study it, a MA or MFA is the choice for me.

But if you can study it as an undergrad and you're sure that's your career choice, then that would make sense. You'd need a Master's if you want to teach college, but you don't actually need any degree to work in film, just experience.

What have you found about Film School Confidential that's inaccurate?

 

[lotrfan]

Film School Confidential is good for reading, but that's about it. It's not a substitute for researching and visiting different schools and their respective film programs. The most important thing is to do what makes sense for you. For me, spending $100-$150K on a Bachelor's degree in something I'm not even interested in and then spending another 4 years and $200K in a graduate film program didn't make a whole lot of sense, especially since I've known since 8th grade that I've wanted to be a filmmaker. Also, this isn't the 70s; undergrad film programs are widespread, and you can gain not only a lot of theoretical knowledge but also practical knowledge as well. And that's pretty much why I didn't find Film School Confidential very useful at all, was because they only highlighted graduate programs.

 

[Rob the film guy]

I know I want to be in film for most of my life, however I want to be able to teach (dont know if I want to teach film or teach in another subject yet). I will think long and hard about this and will decide in about 2 months or so, when I start sending all of the applications. Thanks for all of your help guys!

 

[Jayimess]

I wrote a long post about it on here somewhere, I happened across the latest copy last spring, and their description of the USC programs were completely inaccurate...from the classes we take, the requirements, the state of mind of the students. It was appalling. I specifically recall it saying we need 12 credits of crit studies when we only need six.

That was a hurried reply, I suppose. I meant that the OP should major in film if that's the goal...no sense majoring in something else to get a master's when an BFA will do just fine.

And FYI, if you have the industry credits, you can teach at any LA school. My thesis advisor may have only gotten a BFA from Columbia, but he got an Emmy for Mad Men, so I'm not splitting hairs, lol.

 

[Rob the film guy]

alot of this is making me think twice and three times about what i want/should do. going to be interesting lol