lengthy non-interactive intro cine

hey. i'm a long-time college student (on and off, you know the deal) and this summer i'll be transferring into a school that gives degrees in video games. Specifically, this one:

http://www.aicasf.artinstitutes.edu

i thought game people might be interested in seeing what goes on, what getting a degree in games might entail, what kind of classes you take, what kind of freaks you meet, and so on.

i love games. i'm part of the first generation that grew up with video games and i've watched them change and grow throughout my life. However, for thirty-plus years, there's never been a school that's given degrees in this new art form. I know, there's DigiPen up in Seattle,they've been around for awhile, but that's not quite the same. They're owned by Nintendo, so it's kind of like a feeder school for them. Also, i don't live up there. So i jumped at the chance for this one.

I've worked in the industry before. I started out as a tester, worked at various companies, Sega, LucasArts, Mindscape, never really got anywhere. Don't get me wrong, being a tester is a good job, especially for someone young. But it's really hard to move up. If you're any good, they need good people in test, and if you're not, then you're not likely to move up either.

I eventually made my way up to game artist, did some modelling and texture mapping, shipped two games (on time, i might add) but then the company was bought up and they let all the internal artists go, which also happens a lot. Eh. So i decided to start over with the school thing. Let's see what it's like.