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Is English Lit. mickey mouse? Is it? Is it...?
Reply 61
BornUnderPunches
Is English Lit. mickey mouse? Is it? Is it...?



Hm...I dunno about that one. I would've thought that it would be if Media Studies is, but I think people defend English Lit. so possibly not. :smile:
Reply 62
count me in, im doing biomedical science.......but hold on....thats not a micky mouse degree! well it is.........



...... if its at De Montfort :p:
Reply 63
English lit isn't, media is, because academic snobs are idiots :wink: (just look at thr other thread on here to prove that!)
I am doing Film & Television Studies! :biggrin:

I am a true Mickey Mouser. :tsr2:
Reply 65
Acaila
English lit isn't, media is, because academic snobs are idiots :wink: (just look at thr other thread on here to prove that!)


Hey Acaila (yay, a mod).
Can you explain to me how opening up a society works? I'd love to make this into a society but don't know how and I never heard back when I tried to create one or put a thread in 'Ask a Mod'.
Thanks
HenvY
Why would you pay 12 grand in tuition and thousands more on living expenses on something you can easily study/learn yourself/vocationally, and when I say that, I mean EASILY, not in the same way it would be easy to buy science uni textbooks off the web. If I wanted to do TV production, Personally, i'd spend 3 years building contacts and managing to actually get myself into that field working and the 12 grand on some awesome video/software/pc equipment and start producing myself.


Seriously I am wondering the same thing.

If you want to become a plumber for example or do something really hands on a lot of people do an apprenticeship

Some of the best designers I know (in terms of web multimedia) go to art school, not university.

PR -- My aunt was in PR in Paris, her sister is a successful fashion designer there and she has told me that half of them are degreeless. If anything they'll have gone to art school.

Although I can see the potenital in a degree in PR - probably has the same relevance as a degree in 'Business studies'.

Other then that, a lot are self taught and just network as you said.

Someone please enlighten me.

I mean you lot will be in 20k debt afterwards. So it is a big decision to make.
Reply 67
fat_hobbit
Seriously I am wondering the same thing.

If you want to become a plumber for example or do something really hands on a lot of people do an apprenticeship

Some of the best designers I know (in terms of web multimedia) go to art school, not university.

PR -- My aunt was in PR in Paris, her sister is a successful fashion designer there and she has told me that half of them are degreeless. If anything they'll have gone to art school.

Although I can see the potenital in a degree in PR - probably has the same relevance as a degree in 'Business studies'.

Other then that, a lot are self taught and just network as you said.

Someone please enlighten me.

I mean you lot will be in 20k debt afterwards. So it is a big decision to make.


Since you asked so nicely, I'll try and explain why I'm doing my degree. :p:

Firstly, I think studying for a degree at a university gives a better overall experience than other types of vocational training. Not only do I get to experience the studying for the actual degree, there's a lot more for me to get involved in in a university environment, and for me, academics aren't everything and I'd like to become a better person overall than in a solely academic way.

Secondly, my course at university offers me more than I could get from other vocational opportunities. I study a wider range of aspects, at a more intense and difficult level. I learn all aspects of TV Production, but I also get the web-design, and the theory in there too, so that I'm going to be much better equipped for a TV Production job upon graduation than if I'd just learnt a bit of TV Production on my own or whatever. University also provides me with a lot more opportunities to practice this skills, as well as giving me networking opportunities. In short, I feel I'm getting a more intense, varied, and worthwhile education.

Thirdly, yes, some people can start off on the bottom rung of the ladder in a media career and work their way up without a degree, I understand that. However, I'm gaining the confidence from my degree that once I get out there I'll KNOW what I'm doing, and what everyone else's jobs involve too, so I'll be more aware of everything within the industry, and more confident in my own skills, able to prove myself better, and hopefully advance a little faster than someone who is less sure of themselves.
Yes, I'll still have to start, most likely, on that bottom rung, but I'll be doing so confidently and with experience.

I guess I haven't explained it all very well there, and there's a lot more to it than what I've said before, but I'm not great at justifying myself to others. I made a very well informed choice before choosing to take up my degree, and looked hard at the other options, and for me, this was best. I hope this post doesn't cause any arguments now. :erm:

Maybe someone else can justify their degree a little better? :p:
Reply 68
English used to be regarded as an inferior subject when it was first taught at Oxford University in its own right in the very late 19th century. It was only really by the 1950s, possibly partly due to a subconscious desire for post-war certainty about the country's identity, that it started to be regarded as something potentially as worthy as other subjects.

That people are still arguing about whether other art forms such as film or videogames are at least as worthy of study seems bizarre to me. The likes of Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the Zelda and Mario games, is an icon (though most other creators don't get enough praise). It's the quality of the teachers and the students that matters.
Reply 69
Picnico
English used to be regarded as an inferior subject when it was first taught at Oxford University in its own right in the very late 19th century. It was only really by the 1950s, possibly partly due to a subconscious desire for post-war certainty about the country's identity, that it started to be regarded as something potentially as worthy as other subjects.

That people are still arguing about whether other art forms such as film or videogames are at least as worthy of study seems bizarre to me. The likes of Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the Zelda and Mario games, is an icon (though most other creators don't get enough praise). It's the quality of the teachers and the students that matters.



Exactly. The fact is, society is advancing and so is technology. I can't understand why people feel the need to believe that we're still in the same position now as we were 20 years ago; a lot has happened in those past 20 years.
Reply 70
[QUOTE="cpj1987"]

Firstly, I think studying for a degree at a university gives a better overall experience than other types of vocational training. Not only do I get to experience the studying for the actual degree, there's a lot more for me to get involved in in a university environment, and for me, academics aren't everything and I'd like to become a better person overall than in a solely academic way.


The university experience is a great one, but its not worth 20 grand.

Secondly, my course at university offers me more than I could get from other vocational opportunities. I study a wider range of aspects, at a more intense and difficult level.


Bullcrap. The truth is, that you don't know what the hell vocational opportunities would offer. I don't know exactly either, but I'd wager that it's more relevant and valuable than the degree.

I learn all aspects of TV Production, but I also get the web-design, and the theory in there too, so that I'm going to be much better equipped for a TV Production job upon graduation than if I'd just learnt a bit of TV Production on my own or whatever.


Web design and theory? Seriously dude, nobodies gonna employ you to do that.

University also provides me with a lot more opportunities to practice this skills, as well as giving me networking opportunities. In short, I feel I'm getting a more intense, varied, and worthwhile education.


What contacts have you made then? How do you know that the university skills are relevant to the industry? (often they aren't) Maybe it's 'intense and varied' but it's costing 20 grand, and is worth next to nothing if you cant justify that cost.

Thirdly, yes, some people can start off on the bottom rung of the ladder in a media career and work their way up without a degree, I understand that. However, I'm gaining the confidence from my degree that once I get out there I'll KNOW what I'm doing, and what everyone else's jobs involve too, so I'll be more aware of everything within the industry, and more confident in my own skills, able to prove myself better, and hopefully advance a little faster than someone who is less sure of themselves.


Again, you're making the massive assumption that your education equates to what's happening in the industry in detail. What work experience do you have in TV production to back this theory up?

Yes, I'll still have to start, most likely, on that bottom rung, but I'll be doing so confidently and with experience.

I guess I haven't explained it all very well there, and there's a lot more to it than what I've said before, but I'm not great at justifying myself to others. I made a very well informed choice before choosing to take up my degree, and looked hard at the other options, and for me, this was best. I hope this post doesn't cause any arguments now. :erm:


I guess for me, the question of university boils down to useful skills learnt, and financial viability. Don't get me wrong, its not just your course I'd attack like this; stuff like sociology is also pretty hard to justify.
Reply 71
samba
Don't get me wrong, its not just your course I'd attack like this; stuff like sociology is also pretty hard to justify.


So what else would you include in this little bracket of "stuff"? So far we have TV Production and Sociology.

And why Sociology in particular?
Reply 72
samba




The university experience is a great one, but its not worth 20 grand.


Yeah I can understand that, but that, paired with my course, is worth that much to me, otherwise I wouldn't be paying it. :smile:


samba


Bullcrap. The truth is, that you don't know what the hell vocational opportunities would offer. I don't know exactly either, but I'd wager that it's more relevant and valuable than the degree.


But how can you say that it would be more relevant and valuable if you don't know about my degree on any in-depth level either? This is a two-way thing.



samba


Web design and theory? Seriously dude, nobodies gonna employ you to do that.


No, nobody will, and I don't want to be employed in that, but it widens my knowledge and experience which can only be useful. Audience theory, for one, is pretty valuable when you're making films and TV for an audience. :p:



samba


What contacts have you made then? How do you know that the university skills are relevant to the industry? (often they aren't) Maybe it's 'intense and varied' but it's costing 20 grand, and is worth next to nothing if you cant justify that cost.


All of my lecturers are either currently in work within the TV industry or have been in the past, we have a list of contacts within the BBC who we are able to communicate with, and whilst this might not be much at the moment, I've got another 2 years to go and it'll be valuable once I finish. People with real experiences can only be useful.



samba


Again, you're making the massive assumption that your education equates to what's happening in the industry in detail. What work experience do you have in TV production to back this theory up?


I've worked on a TV programme before, but in front of the cameras. Whilst this isn't a clear idea, obviously, it gives me some idea. As do my lecturers, who tell us everything like it is. Obviously with no real experience in TV production itself I don't know exactly what it'll be like but I do have a very good idea.


samba


I guess for me, the question of university boils down to useful skills learnt, and financial viability. Don't get me wrong, its not just your course I'd attack like this; stuff like sociology is also pretty hard to justify.


Yeah, university's the same for me, which is why I chose to be here. I wouldn't have chosen to get myself into so much debt if I thought there was a better way forward for me.
Reply 73
Socs button at the top --> Create new society
Once it gets admin approval it's all sorted and you can request it to be moved to the socs forum if you want it in there.
I'd give it a few more days to drum up necessary interest btw.
Reply 74
Acaila
Socs button at the top --> Create new society
Once it gets admin approval it's all sorted and you can request it to be moved to the socs forum if you want it in there.
I'd give it a few more days to drum up necessary interest btw.


Ah right. See I did already apply but didn't hear back, so I was going to wait and see if there was more interest, but was worried it might annoy people if I apply again, so do I apply again later, or just leave it and assume my application still stands?
You know where I stand on the matter :p:

My course probably isn't that Mickey Mouse, but definetly not the "norm" as some people put it.
Plus, amount of times i've had to stand up for ICT against the hard nosed comp sci guys...grrrrr

Sign me up (once i've applied at least). :smile:
Reply 76
When did you apply? Leave it I'd say. As I say, it needs a bit longer for necessary interest anyway.
Reply 77
Politics here, and apparently we have it all easy.
Reply 78
Acaila
When did you apply? Leave it I'd say. As I say, it needs a bit longer for necessary interest anyway.


Two days ago. Ok, thanks for the help there Acaila :smile:
strawberry_wise
I do Screen Studies, and I love it.

Everything that we study is so interesting to me. I have learnt all about the history of film from its invention in 1895 to the contemporary landscape, from Hollywood to independent film to world cinema. Every essay is a joy, as sad as that sounds. I'm just about to go into my third year, and am currently doing preliminary reading for my dissertation, in which I am going to write about science-fiction films from the 1950s and their contemporary remakes, looking at aspects of communism, postmodernism and the historical, social and political contexts of these films. Very exciting!

I used to think that when I finished I would go into production, but the things that I have learnt (the course contains a 15% practical element) have made me want to go into post-production or become an academic.

When I was selecting unis I had a few teachers take me aside and give me a hushed talk about "the kind of university you should be going to". Now, as then, I hear their sentiments echoed in the right-wing press and on this forum. And, whilst I appreciate the concern, I made my decision after careful research and consideration, and I haven't regretted it for a moment.

I vote yes to a soc!



Sounds like a dream (being the film geek that I am).