statement of purpose, part 1

Katy Barnard
11/2/08

Here at Appalachian State University I am studying film. This school doesn’t technically have a film studies program so I am studying it through Interdisciplinary Studies. I could have majored in English with a concentration in film, but I decided English was not my forte and I would find a better way to study what I really wanted. What I really want to study is the technical aspect of film because that really interests me, and the English department didn’t have anything on the technical aspect of film.

I hadn’t really put any thought into what I wanted to study nor do with my life my first couple of semesters here. I was focused on taking all of the classes I had to in order to graduate. While taking those classes I couldn’t seem find anything that I liked enough to take more of or that had potential for me to work in after graduating. After putting a little more thought into it I remembered a class I was placed into in high school. One class I wanted to take was full so the school placed me in a literature and film class. Looking back that was the best thing that could have happened. That made me look into film classes offered here. I took the Introduction to Film class with Craig Fischer and I was hooked. I remember asking him one day after class if there was any way to study film outside of the English department. He was the one who told me about the Interdisciplinary Studies department and how students before me had wanted to do the same thing. He also gave me recommendations of teachers and classes in other departments that would help me out.

I’m studying the technical aspect of film through the Interdisciplinary Studies department because it allows me to take classes from different departments and put them together in a specific way that helps me plan what I want to do career-wise. The classes I have taken so far have been very enjoyable and I look forward to taking as many more as I can. I would really like to be a part of the whole film making process. I have only just recently learned how to use a camcorder to shoot scenes and to edit them with different software, but I love it! I don’t necessarily want to be the next big Hollywood producer or cinematographer, I would be perfectly happy working on independent films. Just about anything that involves being hands on in the process of making films would make me incredibly happy.

I don’t know how many times I have walked away from a film thinking, “Wow! I never thought about that before,” but I love that feeling. There have been countless films that have changed my point of view about certain subjects, whether they were documentaries or major motion pictures. I know that most films have to be taken with a grain of salt because there can be major biases present, but sometimes they hit home for people. I think it would be amazing to help change someone’s life through a film. But, then there’s the lighter side of films that interest me too. Sometimes I see films just to escape reality for a little while. I would also like to assist others in doing the same.