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MU Home » Academics » School of Public Affairs » Department of Communication

Communication is a growing field and there are more opportunities arrising from it every day. Those who choose the TV/Multimedia concentration are likely interested in the visual arts, story telling, camera work, and the computer side of communication. Here there are many opportunites, far more than can be summarized here. What follows are a few broad areas where many of these students may expect to find opportunities to shine.

Independent Film
Not all films are made in Hollywood by massive film companies. With the rise of inexpensive digital video equipment and computer-based editing, the craft of story telling and cinematography has become much more available to everybody. Many smaller film companies have opened up all over the world where independent films are being made. In fact, there are significant opportunities in North Carolina. Story tellers can expect to find like-minded artists in a number of social media networks utilized by our department. Opportunities to learn abound and there are even several local NC film festivals in which you may gain recognition. The great film makers of every generation had to start somewhere, and none of them were born as film makers. Perhaps we can help.

Local and National Television
Television was simpler when it was a question of only a few major networks, but the opportunities were far more limited as well. Today there are many more ways of defining what television actually means. Aside from the national broadcast networks we also have cable networks. Beyond this we also have Internet-based broadcasting and even broadcasts designed to be delivered to your smart phone. All of these have one thing in common. They still need people to operate cameras, write scripts, handle lights, and edit. As long as there is television, there will be careers in television, both in front of and behind the camera. Why not get your start here?

Corporate Communication
Corporations have long used video as a means of communicating both internally and with their various audiences. Training videos are nothing new, but multimedia has breathed new life into this artform. As a corporate communications expert, you can use your skills to design messages for corporations. Processed can be demonstrated through video and animation in an interactive format that could appear on DVD or on the web. Using basic desktop publishing skills, you can also design reference material and corporate journalism. The potential is virtually endless.

Advertising and Desktop Publishing
Video and multimedia are useful components for any type of communication stratagy, but they are not the only ones. Simple photography can sometimes be far more useful and cost effective. In the context of desktop publishing, all the skills you learn in the area of 2-D design can be applied to print in the form of advertising messages and other useful purposes. Somebody who can design an efficient visual argument will be a marketable person in the advertising world. A basic understanding of desktop publishing will be a valuable basis for such a career.

Web Page Design
The Internet is perhaps the greatest frontier of all for multimedia work, which is to say that everything found on the Internet can be considered multimedia. Everything from animations to web-based videos to interactive messages found on every website are all created on computers with relatively simple programs. A multimedia designer can easily take one design and apply it to many different applications. Multimedia designers can become web masters, web page designers, animators, and any number of other professions. Looking ahead to the rise of smart phones and virtual reality, these skills become far more essential.