Because virtually all the concentrators have overextended the VES department budget, it is ironic that they have all chosen to pursue documentaries--which often end up being the most costly type of production for amateurs. Moss explains, "In documentaries, you have to keep re-shooting until you get what you need, whereas in fiction, and I'm assuming you're not paying the actors, you shoot only when you're ready and then stop, so you don't end up with a lot of unused footage."
The Final Cut
After the filming, which can produce from a few minutes up to countless hours of footage, the students start editing (the workday generally lasts between eight and twelve hours--Weintrob keeps a sleeping bag on Sever's 4th floor) until they have produced a short documentary less than an hour long.
As for their futures, each student wants to launch a film career, some making documentaries, some writing screenplays and others directing.
Ironically, professors in the VES department discourage this pursuit. Visiting Lecturer Miklos Jancso constantly tells his classes not to go into film. "Find another profession," his students recall him saying frequently (he himself is a lawyer). Moss says the same. "I don't know why they would want to pursue a career in film. The VES department kind of makes them unmarketable and we tell them [that]."
When pressed to elaborate on this point, Moss said that the VES department intends to be part of a liberal arts education, not train students to sell their works to film companies. Film schools, not institutions like Harvard, focus more on marketing one's work for Hollywood. "A career in film is not something I would wish for any of them," he concluded.
So why would anyone do VES at Harvard? Simply put, everyone, including Moss, agrees that the amazing funds which gush out of the department is probably its biggest asset. This generosity affords students a learn-by-doing experience that many seniors say is unparalleled in typical film schools.
The films will be screened for the public sometime in May, an ending for which these six students are hastily preparing themselves.