By Stephanie Stanavich
Youngstown State University offers a variety of majors and minors students may choose when beginning their college career, including a new minor in film studies.
Quincy Carrier, YSU telecommunication major, is a senior that will be graduating in the spring. Carrier has a passion in film studies and has always wanted to be a part of the entertainment industry.
“I remember in kindergarten finding great joy in amusing my peers and teachers with my impression of Elmo, Cookie Monster and various Sesame Street characters,” Carrier said. “That evolved to me acting and making short films in both high school and college.”
Carrier is also the vice president of YSU’s Film Club and stays active forwarding his career in film.
“Since filmmaking is not its own department and the track only started last year, I have no choice but to have a proactive approach,” Carrier said. “I have learned a lot from the TCOM department about camera work, editing and production value.”
This TCOM student has combined his telecommunication and theater skills together to further his education about filmmaking.
In the future, Carrier said wants his name and voice to be known.
“I want to act and make films to have my voice be heard through art,” Carrier said. “While I love Northeast Ohio, both my native city Cleveland and my adopted city Youngstown, I will move out to Los Angeles after graduation because of the opportunity available in that city.”
YSU junior Mason Edmunds is a film studies major and the treasurer of the Film Club.
“I’ve always loved film and it has always been something that I’m very passionate about,” Edmunds said. “Over the summer, I worked on some short films with Quincy, and I am also taking a lot of theater courses.”
The Film Club meets every week and makes their own short films.
“We make our own shorts, whether it be five or six minute films,” Edmunds said. “We meet on Tuesdays at 4 p.m. in the Audio Lab in Bliss on campus.”
When being in film studies, telecommunication or theater, students receive education based off of the effort they put in to learn.
“You have to take things into your own hands and work outside of school to do whatever you can to use the sources that you have to learn as much as you possibly can,” Edmunds said. “Always be willing to learn and willing to put yourself out there.”
According to Edmunds, making a successful, entertaining film is a challenge for all the people involved, whether you see them or not.
“People look at films and look at the director’s name and actors, but there are hundreds and hundreds of people that work on these films,” Edmunds said.
Many people do not realize how much work goes into films that are made. It is also disappointing for the people who worked on the film for months, even years, when the film isn’t as successful as they hoped it would be.
“You can have 200 people trying really hard to make a good movie and it comes out terrible,” Edmunds said. “People fail to understand that there are still hundreds of people working hard to try and make a good entertaining experience.”
Edmunds plans on taking his knowledge on film-making to Los Angeles when he graduates from YSU.
“I plan on moving, and I want to end up in LA,” Edmunds said. “But it’s not easy to live there; it’s very expensive and very competitive because it is the heart of entertainment. It’s Hollywood.”
Edmunds chose YSU because he enjoys this area, but his plans for the future are set in stone.
“I love Youngstown and I’ve lived here for about 10 years now,” Edmunds said. “I’m attached to this area, that’s why I chose YSU, but for the film industry there’s not much here, so my plan is to get experience in Cleveland or Pittsburgh and then LA is where I want to be.”
The film and entertainment industry is not easy, but the students at YSU are passionate and focused on succeeding.
“Focus on something that you really like about film, whether it be acting or whether it be camera operating, screenwriting or even directing,” Edmunds said. “There are tons of courses at YSU that teach you new things.”