Everyone wants her or his name on banners, billboards, social media sites, television and newspapers – if you think it is tough, it is. However, if you think it is impossible, it is not.
The world of audio-visual production is undergoing a stark change, especially after the pandemic – the old structure of film-funding-making-distribution-exhibition is slowly fading away. New avenues are created, new paths are laid for such purposes.
Adamas University’s post-graduate program of M.A. in Film and Television is the course that realises one’s dream to be a filmmaker. With four dedicated semesters with courses covering both theoretical and practical aspects of filmmaking, the aspiring student will have the following ‘out-of-the-box’ career options at her/his disposal:
- Feature Filmmaker
- Documentary Filmmaker
- Short Filmmaker
- Corporate Filmmaker
- Advertisement Filmmaker
There are other avenues of the audio-visual industry, which might entice a youngster with promising career prospects. They are:
- Script Writing
- Assistant Director
- Script Supervisor
- Cameraperson
- Executive Producer
- Sound Designer
- Sound Recordist
- Editor
- Colourist
- Gaffer
Apart from these industry-oriented careers, M.A. in Film and Television and B.A. in Media Technology also come with an assurance of a career in academia. They are:
- Researcher
- Assistant Professor
- Subject Coordinator / Specialist
Primary Career Aspects in Details
- Feature Filmmaker
Filmmakers are one of the most popular faces and celebrities of the world – yes, more than a doctor or an engineer. It is not always about the paycheck that is collected at the end of the month, but it is all about what life can give you, and what you can give to life, and to the lives of the others. Filmmaking is a not a ten-to-five job. This profession aspires a lot of love, philosophy and of course, once the filmmaker is on track, he does not have to look back.
- Documentary Filmmaker
Documentary Filmmakers’ lives are not entirely different from the previous one, and more than often they are the same because a filmmaker makes all kinds of films. But the only difference that we can feel is that the documentary filmmaker is more accustomed to the realities of his world he is capturing on his camera and representing, and has a certain sincerity to the research and excavate the truth that she or he wants to unravel.
- Short Filmmaker
Short films are like poetry in comparison to the features, which are more like novels in their genealogy. However, shorts films are the launching pad for any filmmaker as they are mostly independent films and provide a rich portfolio or show reel for you!
- Corporate Filmmaker
Corporate filmmaking is a long advertisement made for a corporate company instead of a product or service as in advertisement. In the post pandemic era, this has become more than necessity because a company or a brand has to reach out to people instead of people reaching out to them.
- Advertisement Filmmaker
Ad filmmakers have an exciting as well challenging life to bring out the best of the ideas on audio-visuals, which will stick to the audience’s mind. Ad filmmakers are the best liars who are successful in reality.
- Script Writing
Script is the heart of a film, series, serial and an ad. One has to know the art of writing to have engaging script. This demands the ideas of literature, music, history, politics and most importantly -emotional quotient along with a critical and thinking mind. This is the reason why the PG and UG programmes of Entertainment Media have courses on literature, theatre and music.
- Assistant Director
Assistant Directors are the most important second in command in a film who eventually evolves to be a director.
- Script Supervisor
They are the script experts, or to be precise, script-doctors. There are certain nuances, character and narrative arcs, developments in narratives in terms of three act-structures, development of plot points, hooks and references that are used, or rather planted in a script to make it more appealing.
- Camera person
Camera person, or DOP, needs to have a clear understanding of what the script and the director wants. If the director decides what shot and frame will be in a shot, the DOP decides how to create that particular shot to make it mesmerizing for the audience.
- Executive Producer
Executive Producers (EPs) have to have a thorough idea of the filmmaking process and have to control a production. Starting from the pre-production process till the end of post-production, an EP coordinates and controls the creative aspect of the entire production as bridge between the production company and the directorial team.
- Sound Designer
Sound is an area that is does not gain so much of attention except for those who are in the film industry. Sound is more complicated than visuals. In order to tell a story properly, any production requires a sound designer, who would take each and every aspect of sound into consideration – diegetic (the sound which has its source inside the narrative) and extra-diegetic (the sound that does not come from the physical aspect of the narrative, but psychological) and design it at the level of the script.
- Sound Recordist
In most of the cases, sound designer is the sound recordist. To be precise, a sound recordist has to record sound on and off the location, along with post-production sound.
- Editor
Editor of any audio-visual is the person who joins shots, puts transitions – in short, weaves images into a single strand we call a narrative. Editors are as important as the Cinematographers.
- Colourist
Colourists, similar to editors, balance colours and make the final output look charismatic. Colourists are one of the significant people in the post-production process of any film.
- Gaffer
Gaffer is the chief lighting technician of a film. The role of the gaffer is slowly gaining immense significance in India since the Indian film industry has realised the significance of light in a nay production that can change the mood, tempo and even the narrative arch
- Researcher
Project Fellowship, PhD, Post Doctoral degree and other such commissioned projects from various institutions, universities of India and Abroad along with the Film Archive of Pune and Online MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) projects always require academic scholars of film, media, society and culture. Film and Television Studies encourages academic research as well as film criticism.
- Assistant Professor
Strictly academic, post-graduates of Film and Television students can dedicate their career to academic streams where the scholar can teach and train students in various colleges and universities in subjects like audio-visuals, advertisements, film and film making, film studies, cultural studies and so on.
- Subject Coordinator / Specialist
As mentioned above, a number of career opportunities have evolved for the freelance researchers and subject specialists in audio-visual medium. There are online courses. MOOCs like SWAYAM, Coursera, LinkedIn and a host of other evolving companies require subject experts and coordinators for creating academic content, images and even video contents for various subjects of media and other overlapping subjects
- Graphic Designer
Someone with an interest in software and creation of computer generated images and design can choose the career of a designer or an illustrator. As we are in a world that is dominated by the world of images as primary information vis-a-vis communication, the requirements for good designers (who can use pen, software, or any form) to communicate through visuals and designs (like illustrators in ad agencies) are acute. As we are speeding up in the information highway, designers are becoming an integral part for any industry.
- Animators
Animators create a world of their own. A number of television, OTT, film and ad productions always feel the need for an efficient animator. Apart from this, an animator can be an independent filmmaker on her or his own right on the basis of his skill of creating animation, both 2D and 3d although the latter is gaining more prominence.
Secondary / Tertiary Career Aspects
Courses on Media, Film and Television open up Pandora’s box. If the above 21 career paths were primary options for someone pursuing MA in Film and TV and BSc in Media Technology, there are uncountable secondary and tertiary career options open.
If someone has a flare for writing (both the courses thrust on writing skills – both creative and reportage), she or he can explore the options for:
- Film Critic
- Film Journalist
- Content Writer
- Promotional Video Maker
- Professional Blogger
- Professional Vlogger
- Social Media Strategist
- Social Media Manager
- Photographer
- Designer
- Radio Programmer
- Actor
Industries Open for our Students
Since film, media, television and culture are overlapping with technology, communication, business, information technology and print and even theatre, a graduate or a post-graduate student with these two courses (both or any one of them) have the key to work in the following industries:
- Film Industry i.e. Production houses, as Indie Independent) films
- Television Industry, i.e. TV channels, TV production houses
- Advertisement Agencies
- OTTs
- Newspaper Agencies
- Social Networks
- PR Agencies
- Colleges and Universities
- All Business Processing Outsource (BPO) companies and Knowledge Processing Outsource companies (KPO)
- Online Course Creation companies
Afterword
It should always be borne in mind that someone who chooses MA in Film and Television or B.Sc in Media Technology can easily fathom the depths of cultural representations including cinema, television, literature and other arts with a little effort and self-persuasion. We believe that such a scholar or a film and TV expert that this programme will produce can venture on their own. From running their own online companies to being indie filmmakers, they can do whatever they want.
These two courses do not tell you what you have to do. Rather, these two courses empower you to dominate the world through your own key of creativity. It is often said that a course trains its students according to the industry need. However, we think a little further – these courses create students not according to the dictates of the industry (which is always changing), but creates such leaders who can mould the industry and the way industries work. These courses believe in the creative freedom of the individual, which will help them to get into, mould and lead any industry they want.
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