Robert Labinski

BFA in Film and Media Arts

Fall 2021

Expected to graduate in Spring 2022

Coming into the University of Tampa as BA in Film and Media Arts was scary because I had no prior knowledge of the field. My high school didn’t offer any classes that even came close to the creativity necessary. I don’t think that I fully grasped my passion for cinema until my American Cinema class with Professor Harris. In class we watched multiple movies I would have never considered watching until then, and hearing Professor Harris give speeches about the significance of these films. I also took World Cinema, and once again I found a desire to be apart of this industry. These classes were so beneficial in me realizing what my taste is like in regards to cinema. Advanced Post-Production gave me a deep understanding of what is required in the post-production stage. Narrative Production, Creative Triangle and Experimental Filmmaking have been incredible not only because of the experience but because of the class discussions around our work. Every professor and classmate seems to want to help others improve on their films without being judgmental towards one another. I also can’t talk about my experiences here without including my courses such as 3-D Animation, Motion Capture and Visual effects because I sometimes walk the line between film major and animation major. It was a decision I had to make before coming here, and I’m glad with what I chose because I have also been able to take the animation classes. Professor Gonçalves has been incredibly helpful in teaching all of these courses. They are something I hope to merge with my degree in film later on in life. Every semester here has given me the opportunity to get experience in every aspect of the industry. 

The aspect of filmmaking I feel most comfortable with is editing. It has been a journey learning about how the editing stage really “makes” the film. While editing my own films, It is the stage where I can sit down and just be with the story that I have created. Then it is up to me to piece everything together. Classes at UT have been very helpful for editing because we run different cuts of our films as the year progresses. The feedback is always helpful and it has caused me to grow as an editor. DIrecting has been a very exhilarating role because you are required to do much more than just one “job”. I found directing an actress in my latest short film to be very rewarding because you work with another person to get the very best out of them, at least for what fits the story.  Although animating is not always a part of the Film major, I feel very confident in animating. Throughout the courses here I have learned how to model characters, rig, and animate them using various techniques.

The area of film that interests me the most is visual effects and although I want to have a career in VFX, it has been one area I know the least about. I have taken the Visual Effects course and that was extremely fun and helpful, but it was a class I had to finish remotely due to Covid. When I had the remaining projects and finals for that course, I didn’t have the hardware to finish the projects. I had to take the alternative option and do writing assignments explaining what I was going to do. Because visual effects is something that I want to pursue, I think I will both invest my own time outside of school and even consider pursuing a masters degree in the field.   A class I plan on taking in the future is Sound in Media. Sound mixing is an aspect of filmmaking that I recently have become fascinated with just by seeing films and realizing the complexity to the sound mix in them. Everything to do with sound has been the most troubling area to me when shooting and mixing my films. I think over as I keep working with the equipment in the cage I will learn more and be more comfortable capturing audio mixing it. 

After graduating, I will probably work as an intern with a production company that I have met already back home. I could work as an editor, cinematographer or animator with them on their projects. I will most likely decide to pursue a master’s degree in visual effects within a year or two. I am still deciding if that is the best way to break into the industry. I also plan on getting a TEFL license to teach English in Japan and living there for a few years. I have had this idea since starting Japanese 101 here at UT. Whether I do this after graduating from The University of Tampa or after attaining a master’s degree I am not sure yet.  My experience here at UT has set me up with the opportunity to continue my career in the film industry.