Useful College Courses/Minor

[Steve_in_MD]

I will be starting my second year of community college in August and am looking to transfer to an undergraduate film production program after I complete this next school year, once I have all my general education credits out of the way. Originally, I planned on completing an Associate's Degree in Business Administration at community college so I'd have something to fall back on if film doesn't work out, while taking a few film courses, then getting a Bachelor's Degree in Film Production with a Business minor. Now, I'm beginning to see that plan doesn't make a whole lot of sense. From what I understand, an Associate's Degree is practically worthless if you have a Bachelor's. So, now I'm planning on transferring without any degree and just getting the Bachelor's in Film Production.

Now, here's my question to all you people working in film now, and you don't need to be a film school grad to answer!

If there was something you wish you had studied in school besides film (and no, not a trade like plumbing as I know some of you will suggest, because I can't minor in that and I am set on film school), what would it be? I could get a business minor so I'll have a better understanding of the business/contract side of filmmaking, but I'm not particularly interested in that.

The other option would be to take several electives in different fields, ranging from extra film credits, to photography, history, literature, political science, etc. This is kind of making sense to me at the moment. I've heard many people suggest, Terry Gilliam included, that it is wise to study something besides film in college, to broaden your horizons and give you something to write about.

So, is it worth it to use all my elective credits studying business which I don't particularly find an interest in, just so I have a better understanding of the business aspect of film/video? Is it particularly difficult to understand how to run a small post-production business, for example, without any business courses, if that's what I end up doing with my film degree? Or would you suggest taking different courses in different subjects, using college time to explore and expand my horizons?

Thanks so much for any insight, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[ClockworkNinja]

I was working on an Associate's in Mechanical Design until it started getting too expensive, though any sort of 3D modeling skill is a nice thing to put on your resume. (Solidworks is a great bit of software but prohibitively expensive for hobbyists.)

 

[ItDonnedOnMe]

I spent a lot of my elective credits at community college doing photography courses, which proved to be some of the most useful classes I ever took as far as my filmmaking skills were concerned. By the time I got into actual film classes over the next couple of years I already had a very solid foundation in cinematography because of that background.

Interesting thing is this was a few years back so it was all real film, although I also took the one digital photography course they offered and that likely changed the course of my entire career. This week I'm working on developing a platform for mobile apps, an interactive exhibit for a visitor center, and a 3D animation loop for a conference - and my ability to do any and all of those things traces directly back to my introduction to the mac and photoshop in that one class. I went on to get a couple of bachelors and a masters degree after that, but that one class was literally the start of nearly everything I do today. So - choose your 'elective' classes carefully, you never know where they might lead you!

 

[Steve_in_MD]

Thanks for the input. I definitely want to take a photography class or two at some point when I get the chance.

Anyone else have any input? Specifically towards whether it's necessary to take business classes to be self-employed, or whether it's more useful to take interesting classes in different subjects.

ItDonnedOnMe - I looked at your website and I'm impressed with your work; it seems the photo classes paid off well. Did you take any business courses or have you learned whatever business skills you have on the fly?

Thanks again for the input. I'm trying to get as many people's opinions as possible so please, anyone who can share advice, please do!

 

[that1guyy]

Take a professional selling or entrepreneurship course. Very handy stuff.

 

[ClockworkNinja]

I wouldn't say business classes are necessary, but there's a lot of bullshit out there. If you're not skeptical of everything you hear you're probably best off taking at least an intro course.

 

[NickClapper]

If you want to tell stories, study literature.

Then again, we're all probably a little biased in our own ways.

 

[ItDonnedOnMe]

Did you take any business courses or have you learned whatever business skills you have on the fly?

Like just about everything else I've learned the business stuff as I went... looking back on it now I think it probably would have been a good idea to take a class or two.

If you want to tell stories, study literature.

I agree, after finishing my film degree I stayed on another year to study modern literature. It wasn't just valuable from a storytelling standpoint - I found the theory side of things very relevant to film, much more in depth than some of my film classes. That's probably specific to modern lit though as many of the classes included film and television material as part of the curriculum.

 

[Steve_in_MD]

Thanks for the input everyone. Out of my 5-6 electives I have, I'll probably end up taking one or two business courses, one or two lit courses, one or two photo courses, and maybe an extra film course, depending on what's available.

 

[GuerrillaAngel]

Marketing, marketing, marketing.