Seelig’s switch came from an initial desire to study 3D modeling. However, upon discovering that EMU only had a 3D modeling program for video games, he came to MSU for the film studies program and eventually decided on filmmaking.

Like many other student filmmakers at MSU, Seelig said much of his work is “your typical student short film,” a type of film that typically consists of a few characters, a single location, and a single conflict. 

But that doesn’t stop Seelig and his fellow filmmakers from keeping their sets professional and productive. This, he said, allows them to form good habits for when they eventually find themselves on professional film sets post-college.

“I’m sure we’re making a lot of mistakes, but things are definitely getting more professional with every project,” he said. “Every project just feels a little more put together, more structured.” 

For another digital storytelling student, senior Jennifer Laukonis said that filmmaking is in her blood.

"There was never really a question of anything else I really wanted to do,” Laukonis said.

But becoming a filmmaker at MSU looks a little different from other college majors.

While most STEM and even humanities majors generally consist of quizzes, exams and papers, Laukonis said much of her work for classes consists of film projects. So while digital storytelling students like Laukonis may not have as many paper-pencil assignments as other majors, she said that projects still take a lot of time and effort, as editing alone can take hours to complete. 

Laukonis’ projects in particular tend to teeter on the horror genre, she said, but they also touch on topics such as climate change and the struggles of womanhood.

Her major is also paired with an entrepreneurship minor, meaning that on top of the work she does on set, Laukonis has also been drawn to another important aspect of film: marketing. 

Laukonis is the marketing and communications director for MSU Telecasters, a video production club at MSU made up of five different shows each containing its own unique style. On top of that, she also worked as an ambassador for Paramount Pictures, which consisted of helping set up local events to promote new films and promoting those films to students. 

Seelig, on the other hand, is a cinematographer, meaning he’s in charge of deciding where to put the camera on sets, how to frame shots, and how lighting should be adjusted. Films in Seelig’s portfolio range from a conversation between two characters walking at night, to a romance that takes place at the end of the world. 

Even with his portfolio, Seelig said his knowledge of filmmaking has come largely from the work he does outside of class, and that his experience with the digital storytelling major at MSU has been lackluster. 

At MSU, film is split between two majors, one being digital storytelling in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, and the other being the film studies major in the College of Arts and Letters. MSU also offers minors in fiction filmmaking and film studies.

The issue with this, Seelig said, is that there is a lack of communication among instructors, not only between the two majors, but within the classes in the digital storytelling major. He said this often leads to students taking advanced filmmaking courses that feature the same material covered in introductory courses.

According to Seelig, this has led him and many other student filmmakers to the MSU filmmakers club, which allows students to network and get more hands-on experience with filmmaking.

Seelig said he sends his work to professionals for feedback, as in his experience he’s found that professors don’t always provide the best feedback for film projects. In turn, this makes him less inclined to work hard on class projects. 

Yet before digital storytelling was called digital storytelling, it went by a different name: media and information. So while digital storytelling is technically a relatively new major at MSU, many of the issues student filmmakers have with the program are not. Seelig said many students he’s spoken to who were here before the switch have many of the same gripes that students have now.

Having been at MSU before the program switched names, Laukonis said the content of the curricula has remained mostly the same, but her experience has been different from Seelig’s.

Laukonis said that she has overall been happy with the last four years at MSU.

Laukonis said she believes the curriculum is structured so the course load is scattered throughout the four years, which allows student filmmakers to figure out whether or not the program they chose is the right fit. Her only issue with the program is the lack of advanced courses MSU has to offer.

Seelig, however, said there was an apparent lack of a clear goal in mind for the program. According to him, a typical response he gets from professors to why the program exists in its current state is that MSU “isn’t a film school,” which he said is very different from how the program is made out to be. 

“I'm okay if it's not a film school, but MSU shouldn't market itself that way,” Seelig said.

Yet where the program has shortcomings, the filmmakers club can succeed, Seelig said. The networking aspect of the club means students can get their films in front of an audience and find people to work with on future projects. 

“Let's say you are planning on making a film and you hated everything about what you just watched on the student project, except the production design was great, and you see who that production designer was, and they're sitting five rows away from you,” Seelig said. “You can go get their information and go talk to them.”

Like many young filmmakers in the industry, Laukonis said she plans to go to Los Angeles or Atlanta. She said she has always had a passion for Disney and Paramount, and she’s not super centered in one area of filmmaking, meaning she’s looking to experience all aspects of films. 

For now, though, she’s ready to start entry-level and work her way up.