If you had a benifit that would pay for 3 years of college, would you go to film school. Or, would you choose a profession that will allow for you to fund your future projects (ie. healthcare).
Film school. Yay or nay?
- Thread starter wparrish24
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Seattleite! I'm telling you -- there's a conspiracy, ya'll. Don't trust these coffee-drinking grungies.
parrish, I think the answer to your question depends very much on what your specific goals are. Beyond that, I'm afraid I ain't got much advice.
parrish, I think the answer to your question depends very much on what your specific goals are. Beyond that, I'm afraid I ain't got much advice.
That's a tough call.
How much do you know about film making now? Do you think you'll want to stick with film making in some way or another for the rest of your life? What do you want to do in the film industry?
Hey, if you want to go to school and be a nurse or a doctor and have the money to back some decent indie projects, you go to town. That will be a huge investment in time. And it is definitely secure (health care is always secure).
But it's not easy...so prepare for lots of studying. Both my parents are nurses.
Cheers.
How much do you know about film making now? Do you think you'll want to stick with film making in some way or another for the rest of your life? What do you want to do in the film industry?
Hey, if you want to go to school and be a nurse or a doctor and have the money to back some decent indie projects, you go to town. That will be a huge investment in time. And it is definitely secure (health care is always secure).
But it's not easy...so prepare for lots of studying. Both my parents are nurses.
Cheers.
there r a couple of older threads on this with the same debate.
check em out, they might help.
check em out, they might help.
I just finished my first short. It was a great learning expirence. I am working on a documentary. I have done various editing tasks for establishments. Filmmaking is something I plan on doing for the rest of my life. On one hand, I have to support my family and my craft. On the other hand, film school could provide me with the tools, networking, that will enchance my craft to the point where I could be come more marketable. Ultimately, I want to either write, produce, or direct my own projects. Either way in the end, it will probably come down to $.
I just did an interview with a film student who is also an indie movie maker check it out and see what he thinks about film school http://buckonstuff.com/?p=1328
Also if any of you want to be interview let me know and we'll work something out, maybe.
Also if any of you want to be interview let me know and we'll work something out, maybe.
This probably ain't worth much, but for what it's worth, here's my experience with film school:
I got into all of this by accident. I had a career as a high school teacher. But something just wasn't right. One Summer, I went crazy, recording an album's-worth of music in my "home studio" (my PC, with a shitty mic). I had so much fun with it, I decided that music was the thing for me.
After much deliberation, I decided to move to Memphis. Understandably (Memphis being the birthplace of blues), UM has a really nice audio engineering program. In order to pay in-state tuition, I decided to just live there for a year, before enrolling full-time.
While waiting for a year, I took a couple pre-req classes. One of those pre-req classes was Intro to Videography. It actually makes sense for videography to be a requirement for an audio engineer, as they should all have at least a basic understanding of how to sync sound to video.
Anyway, the pre-req was a 100-level class. I looked at the class description, and attained that I already knew everything that was to be taught in the class. You see, I actually had some experience with video, having focused a lot of my Anthropology degree on Visual Anthropology (documentary-making).
So, I approached the professor, and asked permission to be allowed into the 200-level Intermediate Videography class. The school of music told me that, obviously, the higher-level class would also work as a pre-req. And, thankfully, the professor of the videography class allowed me in, even though it was supposed to be a class strictly for filmmaking majors.
So, there I was, an outsider, in a class full of film students, all of them with a full year of film school underneath their belts. And you know what? I bested them, by a large margin. By the end of the semester, I was practically tutoring my classmates.
For the final assignment, we had to propose our production plans to our professor. When I ran my plans by my prof, he told me I was biting off more than I could chew. He strongly advised that I scale it back. I told him, respectfully, that I felt confident in the play I'd laid out, and that I could get it done. He reluctantly approved. What he didn't know was that I was actually holding back. I didn't tell him about the action-sequence I had planned. I didn't tell him about the breakaway bottles, or the arrow being shot at a dude's head, or the near-collision with a car. The production ended up being a smashing success, and we got an "A+".
Every year, the University of Memphis has a student film festival. In addition to larger projects, from Master's students and Senior thesis stuff, this film festival also chooses to show one example of the best work from each level of filmmaking. The best beginner work, the best intermediate work, the best advanced work, etc. My film was chosen as the best example of intermediate work. Me, a non-film-student, bested all of the sophomores in film school, with considerably less education in filmmaking than any of them.
Now, mind you, the University of Memphis ain't USC. Still, this experience was rather encouraging. Not only did I have a lot of fun, but it made me think, "hey, I can do this".
Since then, I've networked, to the best of my ability, with the best indie filmmakers in my city. None of them went to film school. I've got a friend who just recently began a professional career in filmmaking. He did not go to film school.
Take a look at the top directors in Hollywood. Most of them never went to film school.
I got into all of this by accident. I had a career as a high school teacher. But something just wasn't right. One Summer, I went crazy, recording an album's-worth of music in my "home studio" (my PC, with a shitty mic). I had so much fun with it, I decided that music was the thing for me.
After much deliberation, I decided to move to Memphis. Understandably (Memphis being the birthplace of blues), UM has a really nice audio engineering program. In order to pay in-state tuition, I decided to just live there for a year, before enrolling full-time.
While waiting for a year, I took a couple pre-req classes. One of those pre-req classes was Intro to Videography. It actually makes sense for videography to be a requirement for an audio engineer, as they should all have at least a basic understanding of how to sync sound to video.
Anyway, the pre-req was a 100-level class. I looked at the class description, and attained that I already knew everything that was to be taught in the class. You see, I actually had some experience with video, having focused a lot of my Anthropology degree on Visual Anthropology (documentary-making).
So, I approached the professor, and asked permission to be allowed into the 200-level Intermediate Videography class. The school of music told me that, obviously, the higher-level class would also work as a pre-req. And, thankfully, the professor of the videography class allowed me in, even though it was supposed to be a class strictly for filmmaking majors.
So, there I was, an outsider, in a class full of film students, all of them with a full year of film school underneath their belts. And you know what? I bested them, by a large margin. By the end of the semester, I was practically tutoring my classmates.
For the final assignment, we had to propose our production plans to our professor. When I ran my plans by my prof, he told me I was biting off more than I could chew. He strongly advised that I scale it back. I told him, respectfully, that I felt confident in the play I'd laid out, and that I could get it done. He reluctantly approved. What he didn't know was that I was actually holding back. I didn't tell him about the action-sequence I had planned. I didn't tell him about the breakaway bottles, or the arrow being shot at a dude's head, or the near-collision with a car. The production ended up being a smashing success, and we got an "A+".
Every year, the University of Memphis has a student film festival. In addition to larger projects, from Master's students and Senior thesis stuff, this film festival also chooses to show one example of the best work from each level of filmmaking. The best beginner work, the best intermediate work, the best advanced work, etc. My film was chosen as the best example of intermediate work. Me, a non-film-student, bested all of the sophomores in film school, with considerably less education in filmmaking than any of them.
Now, mind you, the University of Memphis ain't USC. Still, this experience was rather encouraging. Not only did I have a lot of fun, but it made me think, "hey, I can do this".
Since then, I've networked, to the best of my ability, with the best indie filmmakers in my city. None of them went to film school. I've got a friend who just recently began a professional career in filmmaking. He did not go to film school.
Take a look at the top directors in Hollywood. Most of them never went to film school.
I'll interject that you probably have alot more life experience than the rest of your classmates, experience managing groups of people (students) and a background in learning and teaching... which influences how you deal with problem solving and abstraction. Which does nothing to lessen your accomplishments - good on ya!
I am a film student currently (1 class left
). I was a filmmaker before that. The exposure to cinema that I would not have sought out, nor even agreed to see has expanded my toolbox as a filmmaker, in the same way that reading helps writers, watching films helps filmmakers. As a filmmaker in a film studies program, I watch films somewhat differently than many of my classmates, but the exposure is phenomenal.
Reports back from production students who have graduated our program is that the industry folks they've had a chance to meet and work with have liked the fact that they were as well versed as our program demands. I am also surrounded by really talented students who have a creative vision and are learning the technical while I've got a strong technical skill set from my IT career and am learning from them how to take the story as I see it and make it translate creatively to the screen.
The collaborative learning that I've experienced is wonderful. The network I've built through school compliments the one that I've built through YAFI. I've got a head full of cinema that doesn't make me laugh and nothing blows up now... wouldn't have happened without film school.
I am a film student currently (1 class left
). I was a filmmaker before that. The exposure to cinema that I would not have sought out, nor even agreed to see has expanded my toolbox as a filmmaker, in the same way that reading helps writers, watching films helps filmmakers. As a filmmaker in a film studies program, I watch films somewhat differently than many of my classmates, but the exposure is phenomenal.Reports back from production students who have graduated our program is that the industry folks they've had a chance to meet and work with have liked the fact that they were as well versed as our program demands. I am also surrounded by really talented students who have a creative vision and are learning the technical while I've got a strong technical skill set from my IT career and am learning from them how to take the story as I see it and make it translate creatively to the screen.
The collaborative learning that I've experienced is wonderful. The network I've built through school compliments the one that I've built through YAFI. I've got a head full of cinema that doesn't make me laugh and nothing blows up now... wouldn't have happened without film school.