Academic Plan

Academic Plan
Francisco Sierra
N00157327

When I composed my intellectual autobiography back in September, I said that I hoped to use my time at the New School to combine three of my passions; film, semiotics and horror to create films that can affect viewers signified interpretation of a subject. I also cited King Kong as an example of how powerful the medium of film can be in reference to my own life, and how King Kong ignited a proactive nature and passion that I hope to direct towards my own work. In the past couple months, I can’t say that my goals have changed, yet I feel that the path I will take through the program has been altered.
Since September I have reaffirmed my passion for creating and composing film, yet my goals of the program have been somewhat redirected. Yes, combining film, semiotics, and horror is truly one of my long term goals, yet my short term goals for immediately finishing the program are to get a job within visual production. I feel focusing on these short term goals is more of a practical idea for me. And hopefully, with my educational base and a facilitating job, I can eventually complete my long term goal. I believe that I have a natural flair for post-production and editing so I hope I can use this program to effectively prepare myself for the eventual job search through experience and the preparation of a demo reel. At the same time, based upon these shorter term goals, I think I should include some practicalities in my education as well. Let’s be honest, it’s somewhat of a lofty idea to think that I will immediately get a job in production simply with production experience and no knowledge of the business side of things. To counter my creative, artistic, and technical development I hope to ground myself with completion of the Media Management certificate to familiarize myself with the business side of the production industry. In all honesty, another reason why I’ve decided to change this, is because of the requirements of the programs. If it were up to me I would take all production courses; yet since we are required to take four seminar courses, why not get a pertinent certificate in the process? Therefore I hope to balance my courses to develop myself creatively and technically and at the same time prepare myself for a production job by studying the industry and the business side through the Media Management certificate.
My strategy and navigation of the program is much more of a difficult decision as some aspects of this are uncontrollable. Most of my navigation through the course is decided by me, yet like it is in many aspects of life, you cannot control every detail. Things such as credits and class availability will surely affect the route I will take in class selection. In my short time here at the New School, this has already been exemplified. My initial strategy for the program was to take the Film Form intro class next semester, Time Based, and the Media Leadership class. I feel that Time Based is necessary as it is a prerequisite to many of the editing and production classes and I also feel Film Form is necessary as I hope to use it as a barometer in my decision to focus on Film Form. The issue occurred when I registered for classes. I was not allowed to choose both, as the labs for Film Form and Time Based overlapped each other by forty minutes. Therefore, based on the fact that Time Based opened up more classes with the completion of the prerequisite I chose that. So, as of now my classes for next semester will be Time Based, Media Leadership, and The Music Industry.
After next semester I will need to complete two Media Management Courses, a Methods course, and 4 other courses that will effectively prepare me for my post graduate job search. I already have a pretty good idea of what I will take, please see below. . . . .

Spring 2010
- Media Management and Leadership
- Music Business in Media
- Media Practices: Time Based

Fall 2010
-Media Practices: Film Form
-Market Research for Media Managers
-Projects In Digital Video Editing

Spring 2011
-Film Distribution and New Media or Media Economics or Digital Media: Strategy and Implementation
-Cinematography: Art and Technique
-The Producers Craft or Semiotics for Producers or Sound and Image or Directing Documentary

Please note that I do not plan on pursuing the thesis option during my time here. The only aspect of the above chart I can’t guarantee is the Cinematography class and my other production class for Spring 2011. I want to utilize the Film Form focus to balance visual aesthetics with composition. My thoughts are, that if I feel the first Film Form class is a success I will take Cinematography in Spring 2011 and then if it’s possible, take the Film Form Production and Post Production classes in the following two semesters(Fall 11, Spring 12) on a solely part time basis. Obviously after Spring 2011 I will have completed the necessary credits to graduate, yet if the program allows me to I would like to add the final Film Form classes for my own personal education and development to create a project that would become the summation of everything I have learned and would also provide a chance for me to pursue my long term goals of including semiotics, film and horror in a composition. As of now, I cannot foresee myself utilizing courses from other programs within the university.
My timeline is also influenced by financial concerns as well. Due to my agreement with my student loans and financial aid, I must take this program full time. I am very appreciative for the fact that the classes are at night, because as much as I do need to attend the courses full time I also need to sustain an income in this very expensive city. I have found an excellent job that provides great pay with flexible hours that is perfect for balancing school. With this said I also feel that finding an internship that is relatable to my field of study is just as important as the classes. Not only would this provide me with real world experience, but it would also give me the chance to network and develop contacts in the field. The one thing I do not want to do with my internship is use it for credits as I feel those credits are too precious. Instead I want to use it solely as an experience and resume builder. From a far it may seem that attending school fulltime, working a part time job, and having an internship is too much. However, in the past semester I have been able to juggle school, my job, a part time job helping a friend out a few hours a week, and an internship with an independent record label.
On top of the academic path and internship, I feel that developing connections within the program is also an extremely important aspect of this program and my eventual transition towards a production career. Firstly finding the right professor can help you with career advice, references, and help within and outside the program. Conveniently my advisor Rafael Parra is an expert in editing and the post production field, and I have already begun establishing a relationship with him. I also hope to take the Producers Craft with Paul Hardart as I found his lecture in Understanding Media Studies to be very pertinent towards my path. Secondly, the importance of networking amongst the fellow students cannot be overstated. I hope to develop networking relationships that can symbiotically offer me and the other student something. I feel the best way to go about doing this is to help fellow students with their projects. Not only will helping them give me additional production experience in whatever project they are working on, but if everything goes well a relationship will be forged that may either be personal or develop into something professional.
There are definitely ways that the Media Studies program can assist me and future students in facilitating our goals and navigation through the program. Firstly, as I mentioned before credits are precious. The fact that we have to take 3 prerequisites which equals out to one fourth of the program is too much. I think it would be more facilitating if Ideas, Understanding Media Studies, and Media Practices: Concepts were combined into one or two courses. Some aspects of these classes I feel are beneficial such as learning how to write a literary review, analyzing key media theory works, and learning important tools for creating media. Yet others are not, such as repeatedly restating your statement of purpose, inconsistent levels of interaction and discussion with professors and classmates, and disjointed lectures. Secondly, I think the program in itself should be more facilitating towards students selecting classes. For example, I really wanted to take both Film Form and Time Based media next semester, but I cannot because the labs overlap. If the program became a little more aware of these overlapping classes or general scheduling issues it would definitely be more beneficial for me and the rest of the students. Thirdly, I mentioned that developing connections is another goal of mine. It would be very helpful if the program created more opportunities to communicate with my classmates. I do not refer to this on a social level but more for learning who needs help with what projects and how we can learn more by helping each other and working together.
In conclusion, I certainly feel that the program and my path through the program will be very important in establishing both my long term and short term goals. I believe to fully take advantage to this program I will not only need to stick to my semester by semester plan, but I will also need to develop relationships with the right professors and assist other students with their projects. I also feel that an internship in the field will provide me with the appropriate work experience that I may utilize towards a post graduate job search. At the same time, I also feel that the university could facilitate certain aspects of the program in a more beneficial way. Regardless, I am extremely excited, proud, and anxious to continue my development here at the New School and in New York City.