BFA?

SkyCopeland

SkyCopeland

Okay... I didn't know where to post this in the forums... so I decided here... correct?

You see... I'm a Senior in High School and no need to say being the founder of my school's video production club... I really REALLY love filmmaking. So when my school asked what I wanted to do with my life, I told them that I wanted to be a director.

So then they started asking me about colleges. I'm from Connecticut, I believe it's the best place in the world so I decided to spend forever trying to find a way to get a film degree at a Connecticut college... sadly Film Studies isn't what I want... which led me to find New York Film Academy...

Now yea the BFA from NYFA isn't in NY but instead at Universal Studios in LA, California and takes 3 years plus over a hundred thousand dollars to attend. Just covering your fees to get in the school... small thousand equipment fee but then they put a disclaimer that depending on the scale of the film you seek to make you may end up going higher in cost.

Honestly though, not worried about that. I can get the scholarships (do they take them?!) and have a good amount put away for college already....

My question is... how good actually is that BFA? I know I can join the Hollywood Film guild with it, right? But that still doesn't promise me a job anywhere, huh? Am I better off just doing indie work without a degree, saving a bunch of money I could put into indie production? It's an accelerated degree too... so it'd only take 3 years...

So yea... anyone have a BFA? Thought of getting a BFA? Currently getting your BFA? Experience with NYFA? Want to recommend a different film school? I'd appreciate any insight.
 
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I am not going to suggest these fancy film schools .

Film school is great if you're from a small country in my opinion ,like me . It is not that expensive , you find a lot of people who love what you're doing which you wouldn't find otherwise .

However why would you spend so much money on film school ? You're not going to learn that much in my opinion since it's all about trial and error and you can find all the information you need on the web . Yes I know it's different , but if you spend the money on gear you can start making Youtube videos and if you take everything serious you could be successful on the internet and find people to collaborate with while trying to search for jobs as PA or whatever on indie films and little by little you'll know a lot of people on the industry and you'll maybe get noticed .

I think this is the better way to go.
 
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NickysFX said:
You're not going to learn that much in my opinion since it's all about trial and error and you can find all the information you need on the web.
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Your reasoning for not recommending film school are exactly the same as the reasons for recommending it! To learn about film making by trial and error will take forever, because there are one hell of a lot of errors you can make! The idea of film school is to have access to tutors who have considerable experience of film making and great knowledge of the history of film making and thereby pass on the knowledge gained from their own trials and errors and those of countless others, saving you the countless man-hours (and pain) of doing all the trial and error yourself.

The same is true for information on the web. Firstly, not all the information you need is on the web and secondly, sorting through all the rubbish and misleading information on the web searching for those nuggets of really useful info is seriously time consuming, not to mention how difficult it is to identify the misleading info from the really useful info unless you know a great deal about film making in the first place. Again, highly knowledgeable/experienced tutors will help to steer you through this minefield.

Additionally, based in Universal Studios, there's presumably significant contact between the NYFA and the film industry and therefore opportunities to visit working sets and even work as an intern or general dog's body and witness for yourself the working practises/methods of the top professionals.

All these are arguments for going to film school. There are also arguments for not going to film school, one of the main ones being the fact that many highly successful film makers have never been to film school and of course the inverse of this argument; that few of those who go to film school end up being successful filmmakers. You have to ask yourself how knowledgeable/experienced the tutors really are, how good they are at passing on that knowledge and how much time you really get to spend with them? How much time can you realistically expect to intern or even witness first hand the top professionals at work? Probably, even based at Universal Studios, there are some significant areas of film making which you will either never get to witness or only witness for a few moments.

You've got to research all these (and other) issues and then weigh up all the pros and cons and decide, based on what you want/expect to get out of the course, if the pros outweigh the cons.

G
 
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I went to the New School University in Manhattan (with an emphasis on screenwriting) as did my director and many of the other crew on my feature. It was a great experience for me, and for many of the people who I work with from there. I'm certainly not saying that it's where you should go, just that it's a place to look at.
 
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SkyCopeland said:
... over a hundred thousand dollars to attend. Just covering your fees to get in the school... small thousand equipment fee but then they put a disclaimer that depending on the scale of the film you seek to make you may end up going higher in cost.

Honestly though, not worried about that. I can get the scholarships (do they take them?!) and have a good amount put away for college already...
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http://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/producers-and-directors.htm#tab-6
"Job ProspectsProducers and directors face intense competition for jobs because there are many more people who want to work in this field than there are jobs available."​

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/producers-and-directors.htm#tab-5
"The median annual wage of producers and directors was $68,440 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $32,140"​

IFFFFF you can get scholarships (AKA free money - within reason) to cover over half of that then you've got considerably less in loans to pay back on what is likely to be cr@p pay for the following decade - unless of course you're Michael Bay Jr.

Right now, in high school, you may be a big creative fish in a little pond.
But the moment you get into the job market...

You gotta weigh the risk/reward balance.

Consider taking a part-time job/volunteer/internship with a local video producer or TV station.
See if you really want a $30k-80k loan to be paid back with a $32k (minus insurance, taxes, social security deductions) paycheck.
I'd rather have a $30k-80k loan towards a house than a piece of paper that says I graduated. Yay.
 
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I've heard nothing but bad reviews about NYFA. I'd spend your money more wisely on a better school. Film school can be great, so I wouldn't suggest that you skip film school altogether, but I'd highly recommend finding something that's going to offer you a little more. In LA, there are some great options, I've also heard good things about NYU.
 
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SkyCopeland said:
So then they started asking me about colleges. I'm from Connecticut, I believe it's the best place in the world so I decided to spend forever trying to find a way to get a film degree at a Connecticut college... sadly Film Studies isn't what I want... which led me to find New York Film Academy...
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You'd learn more about filmmaking in film study. NYFA is a scam and a rip off. It has terrible reviews, and I have known people who have came out of NYFA who wanted their money back. They are the only film school that has a whole site dedicated to how much they hatred people have for it: NYFAsucks.com

Sorry about the rant, but I feel really strongly about "film" schools like that.
 
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wheatgrinder said:
Specialized schools are for insects. A human should generalize..

Go for a business degree, and minor in film from your local state school.
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This, very much this.

Go to a regular university, even if all you can afford is a state school in your home state. DO NOT GO TO ANY SCHOOL THAT ADVERTISES ON TV, IN THE BACKS OF MAGAZINES, OR IN BANNERS ON FILM RELATED WEBSITES.

Can't emphasize that enough. The cost ratio for schools like that vs. regular education is absolutely criminal and those schools do absolutely nothing in terms of the broader education that one needs (in some form or another, not necessarily school) in both academics and general life in order to be a successful storyteller. There's definitely value in the study of film history, language, craft, and criticism - and studying these at the undergraduate level can be fine, but there is much more to making a film than just that. Also, you are probably more likely to get into a quality graduate program (see below) if your bachelors is in something else and your application/portfolio are strong.

So again, go to a regular university. Major in something that is interesting to you (many examples of outstanding directors with educations in Engineering, Literature, Business, just about any degree imaginable) and allows you time to explore minors or electives in the arts. Look around for film clubs, indie co-ops, and other opportunities while you are there. You're in football country. If you are interested in doing camera work you can find a school where the students shoot films for the football team. I assisted for a DP who did this in college - he said that the people doing that got access to all the best gear in the film department and were shooting constantly.

If, when getting your bachelors in <whatever> you still want to go to "film school," then apply at the graduate level to places like RISD, AFI, or NYU. Outside of going to a "crew school" like Academy of Art or Full Sail, or something those three are the only "film schools" I'd consider worth the expense. If you want to go to "Crew School" that is something different and generally falls under my "schools that advertise on MTV" rule, though I have worked crews with AASF grads who definitely know their craft. They just miss out on a whole lot of other education that I personally feel is important.



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Just to reiterate. Don't go to NYFA. :D


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I also highly recommend going to college or university of some kind. Don't skip it. I skipped it and went back later, huge mistake. Missed out on a whole portion of life (that rush of being on your own in college, but not having all of the worries of adulthood just yet) that I cannot relate to when people reminisce. Also, the dreams of our youth are not always the dreams of our adulthood and you may find that your passion for film making was rooted in a broader passion that finds new expression outside of film. No sense in robbing yourself of that opportunity by skipping post-secondary education all together because the consensus on the internet is that directors don't need "film school."
 
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I agree 100% with David.

The college experience is awesome, and I definitely think it's worth it. The film school part is less important. Once upon a time going to film school was the only way to get access to the equipment you needed to learn how to make films, so it made total sense to do that if that was your career objective. That's no longer the case anymore - you can go to business school and the same laptop you use for your accounting classes can be used to edit your films, the same camera you use to take pictures of your friends can be used to shoot your films. Look for a school with an active drama department and you'll find an endless stream of people you can work with to make films while you're there.

That said I'd be wary of taking out huge student loans either way. Look for a school that's affordable so you can get through on a mix of part-time income, small loans, etc.
 
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