Ashley Adams
BFA in Film and Media Arts
Expected Graduation in Spring 2023

Before I entered middle school, I had no clue what I wanted to do when I grew up. I had dreams of becoming a fashion designer, a professional soccer player, a gymnast, and careers of that sort but all of those I lost interest in because of lack of interest or family steering me away from artistic career fields. I wanted to please my family, so I decided to look into STEM fields. I wasn’t very good at math or science, and I found those subjects complex. Thus, I was very lost and scared for my future going into seventh grade, despite being so young and having so many years to find a path that suited me.

Thus, the second week of school started, after-school activities began, and I joined my middle school’s media team. From there, I found my joy in telling stories. After directing my first short documentary on a student’s journey from helping kids with cancer, I fell in love with the camera, storyboarding, and everything that went into film production. Years went by and I got accepted into the University of Tampa’s film and media arts program. My love of cinema grew stronger with every class I took, such as screenwriting with Professor Aaron Walker and Narrative Production with Professor Taylor Curry. I learned how to advance my writing to a higher level and receive feedback on how the story translates to a screen.

After being here for three years, I understood my strongest aspect in filmmaking is production design. Seeing how scenes look in my head, creating outfits, finding or creating props, and other aspects of the art direction in a film excites meā€”being on the sets that I greatly appreciated taking part in creating. Possessing roles such as prop master, art director, and production designer incorporates my past love of being a fashion designer since I think about the character’s wardrobe in these films. It also helps me develop other skills like digital art for very artistic concepts. On the other hand, my weakest ability in filmmaking is editing. I typically find it frustrating due to the countless errors I make, and the program itself makes when it comes to editing. However, I do feel as though I don’t prefer editing every time I edit, and I get better at it. My editing skills improve because of my peers and professors’ new things I pick up on.

After I graduate, I plan to go out of state and find work in production studios in Atlanta. I want to get my master’s degree in screenwriting while working on sets. My overall goal after graduating is to be a screenwriter and production designer. I want my art not only to be told through writing but also to be seen in the artistically created scenes, costumes, and props that the audience sees on the screen.