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Should I study English and Film Studies?

I have applied to study Film Studies at university. However, I am thinking of changing it to Film Studies and English combined to give myself better employment prospects which the university is fine about. The only problem is that I haven't studied English for A level and only have GCSE English grade C so I am wondering whether or not I will find it too difficult to cope with? I studied AS Film Studies and gained a grade C so would it be better if i just studied Film Studies as a single subject? A lot of people are now saying it is a worthless degree which makes me feel like I chosen the wrong course :frown:

Any advice would be great. Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

Captain Hindsight

It's worth a go emailing them, if they say no you still have your place at X university anyway for Film

Reply 2

Sinfire

As far as I know, you don't really need a degree to become a filmmaker. What would actually help is a film production course, preferably from an independent institution. If you want to write scripts do an English literature/language course. Film studies... Well, I'm guessing a lot of people would agree with me. It isn't worth it, even judging by the sound of it. To be honest all you have to do is to become a runner to start off your career on a film set. Everything else you'll learn on the way!

P.S. I didn't really answer your question, did I?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 3

LouReed

Need a bit more information really to help you out - i.e what do you want to do in the future, do you enjoy English and reading in general etc - as a lot of that will really influence the decision.

If I was giving general advice to someone then I'd say that doing combined English and Film Studies would give you more scope in your learning and future prospects. But having said that if you feel like you aren't great at English then there's no point doing it, as you'll just be unhappy for three years and will end up with a worse mark for your degree.

You have to decide what you want out of your degree and where you want it to get you.

Reply 4

BexiG

I hate the term a degree isn't worth much if it is in media I highly believe it depends how hard you work, what you do with it and what your aspirations are!
what do you want to do in life?? when you answer that question, you'll know what to choose. If you don't then just choose something that'll interest you. Film Studies is very theory based, while film, filmmaking, creative media etc are more practical based and you can learn a great deal if you want to produce/direct film in the long run. It's not all about learning the technical side of things (that's easy) rather it's about tuning into the creative and imaginative side that not everyone has in depth.

Reply 5

sarahoo

I'm actually considering the same question--not because I think Film Studies will be a worthless degree, but because I've always been really interested and a strong student in English. I've applied to both Film Studies and an English & Film Studies course at my top choice uni and am still waiting to hear back, so I may not have to choose, depending on how things turn out :P. There are some really cool English modules offered, one even features a novel by my favorite author.

My only concern, though, is I want to go to a top US grad school for Film Producing, and to do so, I would need a demo reel. While I currently have one, I am hoping to have an even better one by the time I apply for grad school. I can always do more projects on my own, but I feel like the support network (as far as crew help, etc) I'd develop being on a strictly Film Studies course would be much stronger, as the Film Studies course offers production modules that are for single honors only.

A very important thing to consider, though, is if you'll be prepared to do all the reading required for a combined honors English course while still attending to the viewings, etc, that go along with a Film Studies course.