A Match Made in Heaven
Over the summer I conducted research under Dr. Rebecca Drucker in Furman University's Computer Science department. I researched the 1970s match-based, comedy game show Match Game hosted by Gene Rayburn. Not only did I learn a lot about the show and the host/panelists, Python, Pandas, NLP tools, and Matplotlib, but also myself. This research project not only made me have more faith in my knowledge of Computer Science as an I.T. major, but also Sociology and Film Studies, my other disciplines.
During the school year right before I began my summer research, I had a year long research project in the Sociology department. That research project was a statistical analysis of film characters in crime films. I really enjoyed that project and the process itself. I decided to attend the summer research presentations in the Computer Science department, and I was thoroughly convinced that Dr. Drucker's project would bring me the same amount of interest.
I decided to reach out to Dr. Drucker and she was rather excited to work with me with my qualitative experience from Sociology. Previously she had only done hard quantitative analyses of Match Game, so this would be a new and interesting experience for her. She was also excited because of the fact that I had experience in qualitative analysis of media, which is even closer to her project! During the summer research itself, Dr. Tartaro and Dr. Drucker commented that this project was a beautiful blend of my three disciplines and I couldn't agree more. My research questions ending up concerning the host/panelists comments on contestants during non-gameplay moments, looking at sentiment of comments, comment type, and gender for further analysis.
I took on this research for a variety of reasons, the first of which I previously mentioned with the combination of my disciplines. Another one was that I always heard Dr. Drucker talk about Match Game and I was incredibly interested. I find the 1970s to be a fascinating time that I wanted to learn more about, and I did! Now there's a variety of celebrity characters living in my memory. Additionally, Dr. Drucker is my favorite professor in the department. Although the ultimate goal of summer research was not to have fun with your professor, I certainly did have fun discussing topics like film and pop culture.
My last and most important reason behind why I took on this research is that this sort of acted like a trial run of my post-college goals: whether or not to pursue data analytics more whether as a career, or otherwise. I knew I was interested in data analytics, especially in film. Every now and then I check out Stephen Follows website and feel both envious and inspired. He is a film data analyst constantly thinking up the most unique questions and answers I haven't even began to think, but it pushes me to want to do more in data and film. I look at it and I hoped I could do something close to his work, but now I have more faith that I could one day be like him. During this trial I found that I was not burnt out on research after working for over a year on two different research projects and working a 9-5 this summer. Instead, I felt invigorated and wanted to do more.
Prior to the summer, I was thinking about going to film school post-college roughly one to three years after entering the workforce. I have since changed my mind and decided I'd rather pursue an Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) because of this experience. The reason is not just because there's more job security with an MFA, but because of the unique experience it can provide me and my interests. I've been told Film School is more of a certificate unless you get into the right one with the right connections, it doesn't help elevate your career besides the work and experience. With an MFA, I can potentially pursue teaching as a professor as a backup career, which I would not be able to do with Film School. As a masters student and one day maybe a professor, I can continue my passion of research.
An MFA for my interests is slightly complicated because I want to enter the world of film production, so in an ideal world it would be a Film MFA that requires a research component. I have found that meet this criteria. I would love to focus in on screenwriting, as my dream career is to be a feature film writer-director. When I researched there are also some MFA programs that have opt-in research classes. I would do more research as a Media Studies/Film Studies MFA, but that is not where my passions lie. My passion is somewhere in the middle between production and research, as I have many questions about film and the film industry and although data is a great way to get answers, making films is just as valid in some circumstances.
This summer really taught me a lot about myself and what excites me. I grew to found new perspectives and love for my majors of I.T. and Sociology, as they really help me stand apart from other people interested in film and the film industry. This experience gave me the ability to pursue hard questions and not solely rely on dreams of production because ultimately my dreams aren’t just in production. I do like research. I would like to continue research and this summer proved that. I feel more confident in my coding abilities and sociology knowledge than ever, and I am absolutely ready to take on another research project. Lastly, I now consider myself quite the Match Game fan and I am ready to tune into more episode without the research component.
Comments