bachelors degree worth it in this field?

[Grinner Hester]

A great reel and awesome attitude are what get ya gigs and jobs. A degree will seldom come up in this industry. Mine has never gotten me a job.

[Ty Yachaina]

Wow, more responses than i thought. Thanks everyone.
Having the degree wont really hurt anything besides my current
wallet. Then again, keeping on the path I’ve been on isn’t bad
either. At least this gives me a few options to think about.

Thanks for your opinions!

[Richard Herd]

To do it all over again, I’d make my own degree up. Most Universities have programs for that too. I would take the following:

— Drama, because that’s really what the audience relates to, all these tools serve the drama. There’s two kinds of courses, here, so take both: being on stage and also reading plays.

— Accounting, not just business stuff, but actual accounting, because that’s where the money literally is; that means you might need to take prerequisites like math.

— Poetry, because being able to write in an imagistic way is exactly important, things like metaphor, synecdoche, and meronym all deal with turning words into images

— Film Editing, because you should get some critique and direct instruction on aesthetics and technical vocabulary

— Photography, even if the program offers cinematography, I would still take photography in addition to cinematography. Also since “videography” is not really a word, I would avoid programs that use that term. (Okay that’s kind of a joke on my part, but not really…)

— Motion Graphics, because you can’t be an editor without some Motion Graphic knowledge and those expressions can get tricky

***

I find myself this week in a position of hiring someone, not an editor, mind you, but an assistant. For that, I need a strong guy who can carry my equipment and also who would like to learn more, who works fast, doesn’t make the same mistake twice, and doesn’t need every sentence to have a please or a thank you (because we’re moving fast, no time for egos).

If I was hiring an editor, I would want to see his or her reel first and the education wouldn’t matter. But I do think that getting the *right* education will make your reel better. Moreover, there’s two kinds of clients: one client will look over your shoulder while you edit and try to be a part of every cut (a silly waste of time in my opinion). The other client will let you go do. Having said that, the editor I would hire has great people skills and an emphasis on client service; the editor does not impose his or her style onto the client’s project; rather, the project and client needs dictate the outcome. That notion of “client dictates the outcome” is exactly what you learn in the University.

[Tim Wilson]

[Richard Herd] “– Accounting, not just business stuff, but actual accounting, because that’s where the money literally is; that means you might need to take prerequisites like math.

— Poetry, because being able to write in an imagistic way is exactly important, things like metaphor, synecdoche, and meronym all deal with turning words into images

— Film Editing, because you should get some critique and direct instruction on aesthetics and technical vocabulary “

Great stuff, Richard. I’ll add some anecdotes from my specific experience.

Most of your math will be word problems. You have to be able to wrap your head around the actual issues before you can make calculations. In fact, in my Physics classes, we only had to come up with the equation. As one of my teachers said, a monkey can solve it from there. But in addition to accounting (agreed, a must), old school algebra will come in handy.

My favorite math joke: a calculus major, when you turned to her to split the bill for lunch – hey, it’s your major, right? – would stare blankly at you, and say in complete seriousness, “I don’t do finite math.”

Precision elevates your work. And more than any other kind of writing, poetry is precise. Think about even low-level forms like limericks. 9 syllables, 9, 5 5, 9 – 9s rhyme with each other, as do the 5s. You can’t get away with just anything. You have to think it all the way through, and if you can’t get it right, you start again.

But also precision of language. I was an assistant to a teacher, an older woman quick with a randy wink, who wouldn’t tolerate anything that lacked specific images. She also insisted on memorizing poetry. “Start with this one,” she said, by Robert Herrick, 1591-1674.

WHENAS in silks my Julia goes
Then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows
That liquefaction of her clothes.

Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave vibration each way free;
O how that glittering taketh me!

Love it.

Training your ears will train your eyes. Specific images.

Watch and learn. I think you should spend more time watching movies than cutting them. Almost to a one, the great filmmakers are film WATCHING nerds. Scorsese would be the first to tell you: skip the films of Michael Powell at your peril.

Magic. A guy who has written a couple of articles for Creative COW Magazine told us that sleight of hand was the best thing he ever learned, because it taught him how to direct people’s eyes in the course of a narrative.

Not related to any of these, but I always like to note that Full Sail, one of the hardest of hardcore industry-specific training facilities, won’t let you touch a computer before you’ve mastered a pencil. Life drawing for everyone, period.

Last observation, following Mark’s: when I went to school, there was no such thing as a personal computer. Computer graphics was a field beyond arcane. Virtually nothing that exists today existed then, certainly not a job like anything in the COW job listings. Heck, as recently as 1998, you couldn’t even edit text in Photoshop!

The job that made me the most money: yeah, I had visual chops, but a monkey could too. What vaulted me over everyone else was my knowledge of geology and biology. There’s no such thing as “I’ll never use that after I leave school,” not if you’re paying attention.

And then there was that class in symbolic logic, which I could take as a math credit – how hard can it be, right? It was the hardest class I took in my entire education.(You could also take a 5th semester of Greek to substitute as a math credit. Ever try it? There’s a REASON why it’s a math credit.)

So the symbolic logic teacher kept hammering on you if you only got half way through an argument: “Necessary, but not sufficient.” You laid the foundation for an argument. You didn’t actually MAKE the argument.

The degree is necessary – you already pegged that – but not sufficient. Do the rest of the work to get the rest of the way there.

[Jim Biffle]

Tyle,

I often wondered the same thing after I graduated from college. My first two jobs in the industry did not require a degree but did prefer one. As it turned out I worked with lots of folks who had no degree but could do amazing work! It wasn’t until my current job that a degree came into play. If you didn’t have one you weren’t even considered for the job. So, I think it boils down to which type of job you are going for.

Having a degree is never a bad thing as other people on here have pointed out. Looking back now I’m glad I got a degree and wouldn’t change that for anything. It’s something nice to have on the resume.

As for the certifications, that is a mixed bag. I posted a similar question on this forum about software certifications. Here’s a link if you would like to check it out. Lots of good responses.
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/17/872443

I can tell you it hasn’t helped me any yet but, it is nice knowing that I earned that on my own and can put the Adobe logo by my name. Sorry if that sound egotistical because I’m not meaning to but it did give me a great feeling of accomplishment.

Hope this helps you out a little.

[Kai Cheong]

I have an Honours degree in Communication Studies – which meant I studied Advertising/PR, Journalism, Research & Broadcast – before I chose to major (in Broadcast). To put it in the local context, I don’t think it’s necessary to be employed in the industry – and I think there are more Polytechnic graduates in it anyway. But I wasn’t dead set on going into the industry when younger & knew I wanted a university education… Kept my options open. 

After graduating, like many of my peers, I lament that we were taught too much theory & too little technical skills – unlike our Polytechnic peers who also have the advantage of starting work younger/earlier. 

But 5 years into my job as a Preditor, I’m beginning to see the value of a more holistic education (plus, as someone had commented above – the value of learning how to learn & the discipline to complete a 4-year course.) Maybe it’s also because I deal more with Corporates & outreach/marketing/facilitation videos with communication focus – that’s why the knowledge of communication theories, different kinds of journalistic writing, target audiences & ideas like USP, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (heh) come in very handy.

I’d like to think these plus my bilingual skills have helped me along in my editing (and producing) by bringing an additional understanding & awareness to the script & communication objectives. It has also given me the confidence to correct factual, grammar & structural errors to scripts while editing. Perhaps the jobs you are applying for are more along these lines than more “creative” work?

I remember working with experienced editors (when I was a wee intern) who probably wasn’t strong in languages… And it was a horror when dealing with projects with lots of supers or subtitles – Typos! Out of context! Glaring errors! It might be the producers’ job to watch out for this but when deadlines are looming (as they always do), I think an editor who has the additional education/understanding can help a lot.

Though I also do wish clients could see & appreciate the additional value-add I bring to the table sometimes… That I’m not just an edit monkey 😉

Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
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[Ty Yachaina]

I really do believe my only dilemma is time and money. Ofcourse I dont want to wait till im too old to get the degree. At least it’s very easy nowadays to keep up with the industry via the internet (And especially the internet).

I’m keeping up with the things i should be doing, Looking for creative freelance work, adding to my reel, keeping up with the growing technology, trying to network.

The field i “want” to be in is creative editing, which, as I understand, is a lot about reels and connections. However, my current field, that I see as my Safe and Backup Career, is working in Network TV. (This is the field that having the degree would really help me advance in, and at some point, may leave me stuck in a position if i don’t have one)

Hey, it could also be my location that’s killing me. There’s not much creative film/video work in CT, but there is a lot of news and broadcast stations.

It’s funny btw that Tim mentioned Full Sail, that’s where I got my associates and was thinking about pursuing my bachelors.

Anyhow, I do think I’ll go for the degree, at least it will assist with getting interviews!

Thanks everyone!

[Scott Cumbo]

You say you worked for A&E, so I assume you live in NYC.
As an editor in NY, no one cares if you have a degree.

BUT getting your foot in the door is not easy. And the easiest
way to get your foot in the door at any post house is an internship.

Good Luck

Scott Cumbo
Editor
Broadway Video, NYC

[Mike Cohen]

I got my first editing job thanks to what I learned while pursuing my bachelors degree so my response is perhaps biased.
In the early 90’s you could not learn video production without access to someone’s facility unless you had rich parents. I suppose my parenrs could havee spent 60 grand and bought me a BetaSP camera but I learned a lot in college having nothing to do with my field but everything to do with being prepared for working and living
Mike Cohen

[Richard Herd]

I love Linguistics. Everyone should read The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker.