Outstanding Media X Student Angela Salazar

Why did you choose University of the Pacific?

I chose Pacific because I first started out in community college, and I was studying communications, but at the same time, I wanted to pursue a career in film and television or the entertainment industry as a whole. I finally found the Media X program (during) its first year. I knew immediately that was what I wanted to do. Not only am I studying the things I would have loved to do at community college, but I'm also still strengthening the skills I was already working on to begin with.  

What do you like about the Media X program?

If you had told me three years ago that I was going to be writing my first screenplay, I honestly have no idea how I'd react. I wouldn't have thought I'd be doing that in a million years. Overall, I really like to work behind the scenes. I like working with cameras. I like working in editing, and overall I have a huge interest in working in locations management, as soon as I get out of school. The long-term goal is to get into producing. I'd like to work on films and in television.

What has been your favorite course?

My favorite course was critical media making. It's one of the courses that's required for all Media X students. What I loved about it was the fact that I was in a group of the same 10 students in three of my classes. That class focused more on the basics of technology use, so we were discussing cameras, audio and software programs for post-production. Not only was it incredibly fun, it was also strengthening the understanding of the students that were there. That was one of the classes where I really understood everybody else's creativity flow.

What is your favorite film?

My favorite film is a film that I don't think I should have been watching at 3 years old. Almost every day, I watched Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." It got to the point where my parents had to take it away from me. I could honestly say every single sentence in that script. I can tell you shot for shot what's going to happen next. I just always had an interest in westerns, but it's a different type of western. It's like the film noir of westerns. It's not quite good versus bad, hence the title. It's (about) finding your personal bad. There's no such thing as just a good guy or an evil guy. Everyone's kind of bad in their own way. At the same time, everyone has a sense of humanity, it's just very misplaced in some areas.  

What would you tell prospective students about studying media?

So, I think for prospective students, this is a program that really helps you understand that there is more than one thing that you can be good at, that there's more than one thing that you can explore, and there's definitely more than one way to get to the career you want.

Media X Program