# Peck School of the Arts 2010



## kjba86 (Feb 26, 2010)

Anyone apply to this program?

http://www4.uwm.edu/psoa/programs/film/film_mfa.html


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## agagnon87 (Feb 26, 2010)

I went there for undergrad and worked in their equipment room so I was pretty immersed in their program.  Is there anything you care to know about it?


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## kjba86 (Feb 26, 2010)

Anything and everything if you have the time! . 

Really, I applied to the program because of the amount of freedom and I heard they had good facilities. I hear they are heavily focused on experimental/documentary filmmaking. Is there  any wiggle-room for narrative filmmakers? 

I also remember reading somewhere that tuition is waived completely and one is only responsible for living expenses...but what they do consequently is only admit a handful of students . Were you happy there? What's the area like? I haven't visited yet so I'm approaching most of this completely blind and would appreciate your input!

I thought Milwaukee would be a nice town similar to my own (Kansas City) and I like idea of being somewhat closer to Chicago.


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## agagnon87 (Feb 26, 2010)

The faculty is made up of mostly experimental/avant-garde filmmakers from the 70's and 80's, but the program itself does really give you the freedom to do literally whatever you want.  Most of the grad program classes are where you make movies and then the teachers comment on them and that's it.

I started out doing more experimental video art and 16mm work, and it really ended up just making me appreciate narrative even more.  I felt going to a school not strictly based in narrative liberated me into not taking narrative conventions for granted.  I ended up moving toward narrative my last two years of school, and I want to back to grad school to learn specifically about screenwriting.

I'm not entirely sure about the tuition waiving for grad students, but I do know they have a teaching assistant program where they pay you to teach, and the state is very much willing to help you out with tuition since it's a state school.

Milwaukee is actually a lot like Kansas City, the area around campus is really nice and the campus itself is really nice.  In terms of equipment, a lot of the school is still 16mm, but they've gravitated toward HD in the last couple of years.

The actual industry in Milwaukee is very minimal, but I think that's to be expected, so if you're just looking to get a good education and not strictly be limited to narrative it's a definitely a good school.


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## kjba86 (Feb 26, 2010)

Cool, thanks so much for your input! I appreciate it. Sounds like its a workshop/studio type atmosphere and that's exactly the type of environment I'm looking for as I loved the fury of constantly making shorts for undergraduate classes.

I too thought it would be kind of cool to step out of my narrative/documentary comfort zone and start embracing experimental work to give my future work some context and help me better appreciate what I'm doing, if that makes sense. 

Very cool that 16mm is still a strong option there. I've shot a bit of non-sync but would love to shoot film...

Thanks so much, agagnon87. Good luck on your applications! Have you applied several places? Are you considering Peck's grad program?


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## agagnon87 (Feb 27, 2010)

Right now I applied to UCLA and AFI, I have an interview at AFI next week and still haven't heard back from UCLA which I'm sincerely hoping is just because I'm in the middle of the country.  I didn't apply to UWM for grad because it would just be more of the same that I had for 4 years, as I'm sure you would understand. 

It's the same reason why I didn't apply for mfa production because I think it would just be sitting in a class learning the information all over again.


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## Daniel Peck (Feb 27, 2010)

Maybe I should have applied. I could have claimed to be the relative of the program's namesake or something.


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