Full Sail is an amazing place. The Behind the Scenes Tour was a pretty fast walkthrough of what the school has to offer, but I stayed the whole day in order to learn as much as I could. Full Sail has more than one degree program that I’m interested in.

Recording Arts, Show Production & Touring, and Film

My first tour was for the Film program. They have a lot of facilities outside of the main buildings that hold the classrooms and labs. Full Sail has taken over (what used to be) an entire strip mall, which is now used as studios for casting calls and more I’d assume. The students make their own sets, write scripts, and produce short films.

Some of the tour took a peek at the Digital Arts & Design program, which is aimed at people who are interested in Graphic Design, and Computer Animation. Graphics aren’t really my thing. I’m taking Photoshop and Illustrator this semester at my school. It requires sitting still for an extremely long time, and little to no movement on your computer screen. If it became my career, I’d probably have a mental breakdown sooner or later lol. If you aren’t into designing, animation, or creating still objects, it probably isn’t for you either.

After the first tour was over, I headed straight for the FREE FOOD. Just as a note, I had to walk 7 miles to Full Sail. My hotel was supposed to have a FREE shuttle to the school, but the front desk said it was “subject to availability”. Taxicabs are too expensive, so I walked.

I went on the Show Production tour next. This one was more interesting to me. I love the whole aspect of live television or productions. This program teaches you how to program lighting, set up the equipment, how to direct, and control audio during a live studio show. It doesn’t really head in the direction of television, but I saw the same types of things I’m doing in my TV class at school. The switcher in the main control room at Full Sail, is called the ROSS SWITCHER.

How ironic? lol. Anyway, this program seems to be the one that fits me the best. However, I didn’t get to see much of the Recording Arts program. I really enjoyed doing my Audio Dialog Replacement assignment last semester, which simulates some of the duties involved with audio postproduction. I currently use Garage Band, Audacity, and Soundtrack Pro for any audio related projects. Pro Tools is another program I use, and is also used by Full Sail. All of those things seem to be a target in the Recording Arts program.

As far as tuition goes for Full Sail, it is EXTREMELY expensive. The school is open 24/7, so you’ll probably have a lab at 1am sometimes. Labs are 4 hours long, and so are lectures. I suspect there will be no time to even have a part-time job and handle the school schedule. You also have to find a place to live, which isn’t cheap either.

The biggest perks about Full Sail are job placement, networking, and knowledge you’ll learn. There are a lot of controversial reviews about the school, but I think overall you have to be totally cutthroat about success in order to make it through there. It’s not for everyone. Some people find themselves in debt for the rest of their life, or accomplishing their dreams. It’s a risk, but life is full of them.

Ross

I’m in Orlando for a few days. The main purpose of this trip is to see Full Sail. Supposedly, it’s one of the top schools in the world for Multimedia/Production etc. My tour of the school is at 2:00pm tomorrow.� I’m sure it’s going to be amazing.

I’m also looking at going to Universal Studios to see TNA IMPACT on Tuesday. They’re doing a television taping for SpikeTV.