Communications/Media Q+A!

[elysepopplewell]

Hey!
Just wondering if either of you lived at the uni itself? If I were to get in I’d have to move there. Any ideas on what campus life is like?
Also, for journalism what things do you generally do or learn? Is it very practical or group orientated?
I know you mentioned that it wasn’t very social but how did you find it transitioning from high school and making friends and that. I’m quite worried because I’d have to move very far without knowing anyone 😅
Any other tips or advice for aspiring journalists/UTS students would be greatly appreciated

Hi! Neither of us live on campus. But, the MAIN reason I'm not involved in much of the social side is because I don't live near to uni. In Journalism especially, I find that people are very outgoing and keen to mingle and make friends, and I have made lots of friends, although I only consider three to be people I'd like, invite to my 21st or something to that effect You will DEFINITELY make friends, ESPECIALLY if you live on campus.

In terms of tips - try everything, give it all a go, put yourself out there! There's a milllion opportunities at UTS, especially for Comms/Journalism. So make sure you take them up on what they offer!

[diesxel]

Hi so I just finished my HSC and I'm really just tossing up between law, communications and media at the moment of what to go into. I had a few questions for you guys if you could answer, and BTW really appreciate you both doing this question thread!!

Sorry if I have a lot of questions!!!

1. What exactly is "media" and "communications". Are they both separate parts of a whole?
2. Would you recommend doing a double degree with media and communications?
3. What kind of major  options are there in a media and communications degree?
4. What kind of assignments and exams do you get as part of this degree?
5. What is the daily worklife like for someone who works as a journalist, or for a magazine etc. What kind of projects or deadlines would they have to complete?
6. What made you choose this degree out of all the others? What are you aiming to achieve?
6. What do you LOVE the most and HATE the most about your degree?

thanks so much!! 

[sudodds]

Hi so I just finished my HSC and I'm really just tossing up between law, communications and media at the moment of what to go into. I had a few questions for you guys if you could answer, and BTW really appreciate you both doing this question thread!!

Sorry if I have a lot of questions!!!

1. What exactly is "media" and "communications". Are they both separate parts of a whole?

When you say "separate parts of a whole", do you mean are they two separate subjects within the same degree? If so - kind of! Though all of the majors (in the context of UTS) are "communications" based, in first year (broadens out a bit in second when you can take on a second major and/or electives) you have to take three subjects.

Subject 1: You Major (at UTS Comms, that could be Media Arts and Production (what I study!), Journalism (what Elyse studied), Creative Writing (my second major), Public Communication (stream 1: Advertising, stream 2: Public Relations), Sound and Music Design, Social and Political Science or Digital and Social Media)

Subject 2: Communications Core. No matter what your major, if you are a UTS Comms student, you have to study this. These units are often more theory based than your prac-heavy majors, and deal with various issues such as active citizenship, politics, literacies (especially within a digital context), and just the general world around us, and how communication mediums impact/are impacted by such factors.

Subject 3: Second Major. You can pick any of the subjects I mentioned under Subject 1 (except for Media Arts and Production - this cannot be a second major), which you will study alongside your major You can then choose to continue this on in 2nd and 3rd year (assuming you get the required GPA), or drop it after first year and take on electives. For me, this is Creative Writing

So yes, in a way they are different things - however, all the majors are still related to Communications

2. Would you recommend doing a double degree with media and communications?

I'm not too knowledgable on this to make a definitive judgement, however UTS fosters this by encouraging a second major (still within the communications field). At UTS, I know that Communications is also one of the most common double majors with Law. Though Comms can get intense, as the projects are quite full on, a benefit of combining Comms with something else is that you don't do exams for Comms, which will allow you a lighter workload when exam periods come round

3. What kind of major options are there in a media and communications degree?

See my first answer

4. What kind of assignments and exams do you get as part of this degree?

No exams! In terms of assignments, here is a brief overview of what I received during my degree (though it varies from subject to subject)

Media Arts and Production
1st Semester (Exploring Media Arts) --> 1 min soundscape (using adobe audition), 3 min group audio-visual montage (using adobe premiere pro)
2nd Semester (Composing the Real) --> 2 min video essay, 1000 word documentary proposal, 5 min group documentary

Creative Writing
1st Semester (Fictional Forms - Writing for Performance Stream) --> 500 word proposal, 10 minute script
2nd Semester (Imagining the Real) --> 500 word proposal, 2500 word creative non-fiction work

Communications
1st Semester (Citizenship and Communication) --> Three 600 word journal entries, an essay, a group project board game.
2nd Semester (Digital Literacies) --> Five 500 word journal entries/blog posts, Visual Image task (hard to describe, but was worth 60%)

6. What made you choose this degree out of all the others? What are you aiming to achieve?

UTS is a very "hands on", practical based university, which is really focused on experience, which for all communications careers is SUPER important, as these are all careers that are based around connections and portfolios. Aiming to achieve a career in film/TV production

6. What do you LOVE the most and HATE the most about your degree?

Love how practical and hands on it is. Not a fan of some of the lecture content - particularly in the first semester. Did feel a bit like they were just trying to fill up space, by chucking in random theory that no one is ever going to remember/need to know to succeed within the industry (eg. really really obscure genres, styles and theories).

Hope this helps!

Susie

[raeannechamii]

Hey guys!
Do you think the Media Arts and Production course prepares students for work in the entertainment industry after uni?

[sudodds]

Hey guys!
Do you think the Media Arts and Production course prepares students for work in the entertainment industry after uni?

Well it does depend on which university you wish to study at. I can only specifically speak about UTS, but yes, it does UTS in particular in fact, because it is so focused on prac, rather than theory. IIRC, what we do in first year isn't even studied until 3rd year at UNSW or MQU. Don't even consider USYD if you want to go into the film industry - there version of it is basically film studies, i.e. english, i.e. no work experience whatsoever. Though a degree will never guarantee a place in the entertainment industry on its own, as UTS is so prac focused, and is really big on industry experience, you'll leave the degree (if you work hard/get involved) with a heap of experience to add to your portfolio (what employers will be looking at), credits to put on your CV, and a heap of contacts

[paigek3]

Do you guys know what Media exams are like for non-UTS students (cause I know it is assignments only there). But at a uni like maquarie, what do they examine you on?

[Potatohater]

Hey, these courses sound super cool so here are my queries
- are there any units you find boring in your course?
- what is it like to work for the different companies you've had experience with?

[sudodds]

Do you guys know what Media exams are like for non-UTS students (cause I know it is assignments only there). But at a uni like maquarie, what do they examine you on?

Unfortunately I don't know. The closest I've got to an exam was a 10 mark multiple choice quiz of circuits (to make sure that we wouldn't blow up the equipment by accidentally plugging in film lights into a circuit with too much voltage), so I imagine with media arts exams may follow that pattern? Looking at safety, set etiquette, and maybe some film theory? In general, I'd imagine that for all media/comms degrees, if there are exams they're based in media theory, with various case studies. Sorry I couldn't be more specific!

Hey, these courses sound super cool so here are my queries
- are there any units you find boring in your course?

I found first semester fairly boring all round (apart from creative writing) to be quite frank! With media arts, it was really going over editing basics which many of us already knew, and then those super obscure theories (like i'm sorry but when am I ever going to need to know about photogene UTS? Even Google doesn't know about it ). The tutorials for Citizenship and Communication were fine, but I found the lectures painfully dull (which is unfortunately because they actual lecturers for the unit are legends - just the content )

- what is it like to work for the different companies you've had experience with?

For me, working with Disney was super surreal. We were making christmas themed cinemographs (basically still photos with one moving element). I was a runner on set, which means for the most part I was just getting coffees, helping set up and watching what happens, but at one point I also got to work as a "test dummy" essentially for this little girl before we started filming. They needed the tiara to be extra twinkly, but they didn't know how to do that, so what ended up happening was I had to sit in the same position for 30 minutes, with a little tiara on my head, as the Disney employed industry professionals worked out what as the best place to stand to shine their iPhone light onto my face without their hands being picked up by the camera ahaha.

ABC Soul Mates was fun. Again I was a runner on set, but also helped design some aspects of the set, along with help construct some of the large shooting areas (including clearing out an abandoned mental hospital... ). My best friend was also working as an intern there as well. This one was particularly useful, because I got a letter of recommendation out of it

[fridakahlo]

Hi Susie!
My first preference is the Bachelor of Communications in Media Arts and Production at UTS, so I had a few questions about it

1. How much would you say is practical and how much is theoretical?
2. I'm very passionate about film and made little movies as a kid, but do you think this is enough to justify me picking this degree? I've never made a "professional" short film on my own or anything, so I'm concerned that I may not know what I'm getting myself into.
3. Do you know how flexible the ATAR cut-off is for UTS? I think I'm going to get around 83-ish, although last year the cut-off for the degree was 87!!

Thanks so much

[sudodds]

Hi Susie!
My first preference is the Bachelor of Communications in Media Arts and Production at UTS, so I had a few questions about it

1. How much would you say is practical and how much is theoretical?

Media Arts and Production as a major is way way way more prac than theory, particularly in the 2nd semester (first sem the lectures are pretty theory heavy, HOWEVER you don't actually need to really remember any of it because there are no exams, so if you just take note of a few and intergrate them within your prac work you're sweet) Theory only crops up in lectures (and maybe a tiny bit in the tutes when you go through the readings, but again this was only in the first semester). All assessments are prac based. All workshops are prac based, and every tutorial involves some prac component.

2. I'm very passionate about film and made little movies as a kid, but do you think this is enough to justify me picking this degree? I've never made a "professional" short film on my own or anything, so I'm concerned that I may not know what I'm getting myself into.

I know some people in my degree who have never made a film before, and some who have already worked in the industry for a few years and are just coming back for a qualification You'll also be making film projects in your first year, so you can test it out then! Remember that you are also never locked in to a degree. If you realise you actually aren't a fan of your course, you can always transfer! That's actually one of the reasons why I chose UTS over AFTRS even though on paper the latter is marginally more prestigious - if I did realise that I wasn't a huge fan of the course, I could transfer into another one quite easily. As UTS also makes you pick another major subject in first year, you may find you like that better and decide to continue that on as your primary major instead!

3. Do you know how flexible the ATAR cut-off is for UTS? I think I'm going to get around 83-ish, although last year the cut-off for the degree was 87!!

Thanks so much

Unfortunately I don't know much about it :/ I have some friends that got in through insearch, but unsure about the process. However don't count your chickens before they hatch My friend thought she wouldn't be able to push 80, ended up with a 91!

Hope this helps,

Susie

[elysepopplewell]

Hey, these courses sound super cool so here are my queries
- are there any units you find boring in your course?
- what is it like to work for the different companies you've had experience with?

Just adding my thoughts on top of Susie's...

The companies I've worked with are vastly different from one another. I've not had a significantly negative experience anywhere. My experience at Cosmo was very fun, very fast paced, always something to do, and really 'bustling' - and my experience at my current internship is more slow and solo-based work, but I enjoy that very much as well.

In my course there hasn't been anything I've found to be notably boring. Tutorials can be boring if your teacher isn't making it interesting, but the course content itself is usually really intriguing and I enjoy going through readings at my own pace

[hollie.hughes]

Hello Elyse! I am planning to study Communications (Journalism Major) next year and I have as just wondering what I should be writing on a resume/cover letter in order to apply for internships? I have a regular resume but should I start from scratch and only include information on my writing experience?

[SSSS]

Hey. I am pretty stuck on what I want to do. I know I want to work on developing human rights and international law but don't know which course to do. The bachelor of law and bachelor of communication (social and political sciences) looked amazing but then I was also thinking of pairing it with journalism ... And then I loved business so much that I don't want to let go off it. But what do you think, with what I want to do and the options I have? I know it's fine if I don't pick the "right" thing right now but just feel pretty limited with knowledge regarding these courses. I tried researching but the only one I understand was the business one. Thanks!

[raeannechamii]

Hello again,
I was just wondering what sort of stationary/overall uni essentials would you need to buy/bring in such a prac heavy course like Media Arts and Production?

[sudodds]

Hello again,
I was just wondering what sort of stationary/overall uni essentials would you need to buy/bring in such a prac heavy course like Media Arts and Production?

Not much to be honest, as the equipment you need will all be supplied by the uni (ie. computer labs, camera, microphones, etc.), however I have found that having my own personal laptop with some of the software downloaded has been great, as it means I can practice editing without having to travel into uni. So if possible (as it is expensive) i'd recommend having a MacBook Pro (anything less won't be able to sustain the software - my Pro is already suffering aha) and the Adobe Suite (in particular Premiere Pro, Audition and After Effects!). You can get the Adobe Suite for much cheaper than normal as you're a student