• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / College Majors / CM’s Guide to the Film and Digital Arts Major

CM’s Guide to the Film and Digital Arts Major

October 19, 2015 //  by Rachel Mann

Shares36FacebookTweet

Few things in this world have the ability to make us laugh, cry, obsess over fictional characters and wait an entire year for the sequel to do it all over again. Movies are unique and powerful methods of expression, capable of rendering us both weak in the knees and outraged over injustice. They’re so completely integrated in our culture that it’s hard to imagine a world without them. If you rendezvous on the reg with the latest box office bashes, then a major in film studies might just be the path for you.

What You’ll be Doing

giphy.com
giphy.com

Film and cinema courses are challenging, but fun. You’ll develop your filmmaking abilities in classes on screenwriting, production, cinematography, editing, directing and more. With technology constantly evolving, you’ll likely also study the basics of 3D animation, rendering and stop motion. You’ll even produce your own short films where all of these skills combined will ultimately lead you to the mother of all cinematic skills: character development. Through scriptwriting and intensive media studies, you’ll spend a ton of time learning how to craft characters that act and feel real.

Upsides

pixabay.com
giphy.com

1. “I’ve loved seeing myself and my classmates develop distinct creative voices over the years. When we first came in, we were all kind of unsure of ourselves, and would make projects just for the sake of making them. But the more films you make, the more you discover that the stories you want to tell reveal who you are as a unique individual, and now I can look at my classmates’ work and say ‘That’s totally a Daniel film’ or ‘That’s such a Victoria moment,’ which is something I couldn’t say before.” – Christian Klein, Florida State University, Senior

2. “For me the upsides are the writing classes because that’s the part of film that I love. My family moved here from Colombia when I was three, and I remember that a lot of the English I learned was from watching cartoons with my uncle, and since then, I’ve just had a soft spot for TV and film. I love the stories that they can tell and the ways that it can effect a person’s life.” – Daniel Vinasco, University of Central Florida, Junior

3. “One of the biggest perks of the program (Animation and Digital Arts), which assisted in landing this amazing opportunity, was the fact that the program is geared towards making you versatile. I was able to not only learn how to create films that look visually stimulating and tell a cohesive and engaging story, but also how to animate, composite, light and tell a story through another medium: visual effects and animation.” – Anthony Cabrera, Visual Effects Coordinator at Pixomondo, Florida State University Class of 2015

Downsides

1. “The only real downside in my opinion is the massive workload. It can be pretty life consuming at times. I’ve had plenty of moments where I’m waking up at the crack of dawn for a 13-hour shoot day, or I’m sitting in the lab at 2 a.m. trying to finish an assignment, and I just think to myself, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ In retrospect, I think it’s a pretty small price to pay for the privilege of making movies for class credit and hopefully one day for a living.” – Christian Klein, Florida State University, Senior

2. “One downside is the competitiveness of the field since it isn’t a common job. But in the end it’s worth it because if you want to make something good, you’ve got to work with a good team and sometimes you’re spending weeks focused on a project with certain people so you form a creative relationship.” – Daniel Vinasco, University of Central Florida, Junior

3. “We dealt with a lot of change (in our program), which gave us a thick skin, but it’s like being the first child; you make your mistakes as a parent with them and learn for the next one, and then you learn from the mistakes you made with the second for the third, and the cycle continues. People say you don’t have to go to film school to make it in the business. My take on that is that it’s true, but it would be so much harder. Why? Because you could not gain the experience, the knowledge, the connections or the opportunities I achieved without it.” – Anthony Cabrera, Visual Effects Coordinator at Pixomondo, Florida State University Class of 2015

Career Opportunities

Walk_of_fame
Photo by Ben Sherman

Communication is the heart of any career involving teamwork, and what better communicators are those who can tell a great story? From action to animation, this is a field where technology, striking visual effects and well-written scripts combine to comment on the nuances of the human experience. While the competition for high-paying positions is fierce, there are plenty of jobs across all kinds of platforms for recent film graduates.

1. Cinematographer

Cinematographers are in charge of all the camera elements of film. They’re occasionally referred to as the directors of photography (DoP) as they align the camera lenses and filters to the director’s vision. The cinematographer works close with the director and controls the lighting aspects of the production and by extension the visual “mood” of the film. It’s one of the more artistic jobs on the production side, allowing for lots of creative freedom–depending, of course, on how lax the director is.

2. Casting Director

Depending on the size of the project, this job may be broken down into multiple positions. For example, a casting director’s sole job could be hiring extras. The director or producer is often involved in the process, working alongside the casting director, and remains the ultimate authority. The audition process can be grueling, possibly expanding several months, but is a rewarding process. Most of a casting director’s work lies in pre-production and they only work afterwards as liaisons between performers and their respective agencies.

3. Screenwriter

Without words to bring it to life, there can be no story. Professionals are usually represented by agencies, but scripts can be written by anybody with a creative thought or idea and can then be pitched to a film studio, director, producer or production company. If you’ve got the idea, talent and a little bit of luck, anything could happen.

4. Visual Effects Specialist

Roles in the visual effects field can widely vary, depending on the project. The visual effects specialist oversees all computer-generated imagery (CGI) placement, any post-production animation, the green screening process—basically all elements of the film that would be impossible to shoot in real life, such as the blue cat-like aliens from Avatar or the giant robot fight scenes from the Transformers series. This field is so relevant to the cinematic experience that it holds its own Oscar category.

5. Film Distributor

The distributor is in charge of marketing the film once it’s completed and will often work with a distribution company rather than a production company. This could include everything from securing contracts with theaters to ensuring the production company retains its share of funds from ticket sales. The distributer will strike a deal with the theater chains and negotiate what percentage will go to each party. Distributers also decide the film’s premiere date, and control all promotional materials prior to release.

Shares36FacebookTweet

Filed Under: College Majors

About Rachel Mann

Rachel is a third-year production major at the University of Florida. She enjoys young adult adventure novels and hopes to one day publish her own. Other hobbies include Disney, OneRepublic and getting emotional over Harry Potter.

You May Also Like

film clapper

College Magazine’s Complete Guide to the Film Major

CM’s Guide to the Print and Digital Journalism Major

College Magazine’s Guide to the Special Education Major

books

College Magazine’s Guide to the Comparative Literature Major

Writer

How to Use Your Creative Writing Degree: 10 Tips and Tricks

agricultural communications major

The Agricultural Communications Major: Everything You Need to Know

computer studying

CM’s Guide to the Communication Arts-Media Management Major

japanese major

CM’s Official Guide to the Japanese Major

future teacher

CM’s Ultimate Guide to the English Education Major

Four Students Graduating

10 Social Science Majors that Prove Liberal Arts Degrees Aren’t Worthless

cat memes

10 Purr-sonalities You’re Bound to Meet in College

A Master Guide to Debunking the Political Communication Major

I Survived Public Relations Research and Strategies at FAMU

marine science

Fish Are Friends, Not Food! CM’s Guide to the Marine Science Major

a computer with code on the screen

College Magazine’s Guide to the Information Science Major

professionals working together

CM’s Guide to the Public Relations Major

Guide to the Global Health Major: The Major You Never Knew You Wanted

harry potter

All Sorted: If the Harry Potter Sorting Hat Took on Muggle College Majors

italian major

CM’s Guide to the Italian Major: What Makes It So Cool?

Friends

7 College Majors Reimagined as Friends Episodes

education major

CM’s Guide to the Education Major 2020

communication major

CM’s Guide to the Communication Major

how to be a publisher

10 Ways English Majors Stand Out to Publishing Companies

2 people in masks sip from a smoothie together

A Slightly Stereotypical Take on What Each Major is Doing During Quarantine

Previous Post: « One Shot, Two Shot, Three Shot, Floor: How Tequila Ruined My Birthday
Next Post: Florida, Texas…Germany, Japan? A TCK’s Guide to Answering Where You’re From »

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

50

Stargazing in the Sand: My Trip to Terlingua, Texas

42

How My Childhood Bully Followed Me to College

9

Top 10 Covid-19 Safe Spots to Explore Near UCLA

Brass-colored 21 foil balloons inside a room.
8

10 Spots to Celebrate Your 21st Birthday Near UCLA

Featured Chapter: St. John’s University

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.