Life after high school: College?

shockimpulse

shockimpulse

I'm going to be a Senior in high school this year so I have to start considering my options for what to do after I graduate. Obviously, I have to continue education because of film, but how?

I was abroad my Freshman year but the international credits did not count in America so I spent my Sophomore year in a special institute, making up my credits for Freshman year. And this previous year in my Junior year, I was back at a regular high school but my grades weren't all that great because I was juggling Junior year and making up Sophomore year.

So my grades are horrible to say the least, aside from an A+ (116.2%) in English, and a B+ in Weight Training; the rest are Ds and Fs. I'm hoping to finally do better my Senior year but I'm afraid I can't go anywhere but a junior/community college.

However, I have considered the option of film school. Nothing high end like Chatman, and all UCs are out of the question. Just somewhere where my grades won't matter TOO much. I saw that the LA Film School only required a high school diploma but that it wasn't a college but just a 12 month program that cost over $80,000 in the end. Is it really worth it? My family's financial situation isn't so hot, as in pretty bad shape as it is; I wouldn't want to put them into a mountain of debt or myself for that matter if it can be avoided.

Does anyone know where I can go after high school to further my film studies? And if I must attend junior/community college for the first 2 years and transfer, where should I go?

I live in Southern California but I'm open to anywhere really.
 
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I don't recall any bad talk about LAFS but in NYC, it's equivalent: NYFA (New York Film Academy) is crap.

In reality, you don't need film school to make it in film, but it helps.

You can try and get into a good film school, and if it doesn't work, go to a city college and just tough it out, shoot films on the side.
 
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shockimpulse said:
I'm going to be a Senior in high school this year so I have to start considering my options for what to do after I graduate. Obviously, I have to continue education because of film, but how?
Click to expand...
I dropped out of high school and started working
on films.

That's one option. It worked well for me. I have
been making my sole living in entertainment (film,
TV and theater) my entire working life. I've never
had a non entertainment job.

I had terrible grades so I knew college was out. My
one A was in Stagecraft. I even got D's in english
and then ended up making a living as a writer.

I learned so much by watching and working with
professionals. And that's where I made all my contacts
for future jobs.
 
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directorik said:
I dropped out of high school and started working
on films.

What did you do after high school then? Most jobs nowadays
need like some college degree. I mean finding an entertainment
job requires some sort of diploma or degree.
I mean even a job at Starbucks looks for grades and what educational
background you have.
I'm not trying to discredit you or anything. I'm just really
interested in how you did it.
Click to expand...
 
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Debt=badness... especially for filmschool imo... I don't know what getting into a really good film program can do for your career.... But I do know that the kids who went into the mediocre film program at my school aren't any closer to being "real" filmmakers then I am (couldn't afford to be a film major X p).

What I would think about were I you, is how much are your bad grades a product of external circumstances and how much are they the school system not being great for your ways of achieving success? If it's the first (and you want a college degree) I would say either do a year or so at a community college, get your grades up, then try to transfer to the school you want to be at. Most schools do consider upward trends in grades pretty strongly... Alternatively, you can take some time off, work/and work on films, then apply to schools as a non-traditional student. If you go the non-traditional route schools normally have a more complicated set of evaluation criteria, and your hs grades may not factor in as heavily.

Of course every school is different in terms of acceptance criteria. Assuming again you want to go to school, you could research schools that you want to end up at as though grades were not an issue... then once you decide a handful of places you want to go talk to admissions people and try to get their help in determining what would be the best path for you to get into their school.

If school is just a bad place for you to achieve well in, there are def other options... Get a day job, and spend all your spare time working on movies. Offer to be a free PA to everyone, post ads, see if you can audit any film classes, and mostly just work insanely hard at what you want to do. There are usually a ton of ways to get wherever it is you wanna go... just try to make the smartest choices you can, and remember there is no substitute for working your ass off :)
 
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Wow directorik, that's very inspirational. I doubt my parents will let me drop out of high school, and it's only one more year, so I might just finish it. But I guess I still have a month to decide if I'm really going to stay the last year or not.

And it does sound smart to get to work right after high school instead of going for a degree. But the thing is, my high school never offered a healthy film program so I'm kind of flying blind when it comes to film. I've tried my best to learn the basics on my own, with camera angles, shots, and how to film a scene, etc.etc. But there's still a lot to learn, like I just learned what rack-focusing was last night. And I don't know how to work my camera to its fullest potential. I have a Canon XL1 and I just point, shoot, angle it right, zoom in&out, focus&de-focus and that's about it.

I just want to further my studies in learning more. A degree isn't that important I guess, but is college the best way to further my studies?
 
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College cant hurt... What do you want to do in film? DP, post, write, audio?? Narrow it down a bit and start with your core classes.....

I'm also a high school dropout... I've never regretted it. I was always artistic... painting, drawing, sculpting.... and I've had a computer since the Vic-20 days....

I took a drafting job and worked my way up to a machinist and then a mechanical engineering position.
I sucked at math, and I even failed art......go figure.

My wife finally talked me into business for myself....
I've been self employed for about 7 years. I do stuff that I love now. Things just have a way of coming together.

College will be a good experience.

Nothing you learn is ever wasted.
 
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Find a copy of the film El Mariachi and watch it and all the features, and then watch them again. The find a copy of the book Rebel Without A Crew. And if you can find any free time work on a few shorts. After you finish high school then decide if you should go to college.

Goodluck.

Terry
 
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I'm not suggestion you drop out of high school. My parents
wouldn't let me drop out either. I just did it.

My high school didn't offer a film program so I was just flying
blind too. I can totally relate to your situation. I never took
a single film class. I did exactly what you're doing now. I
took my Super 8 camera with me everywhere and shot movies.
Every weekend I was making some film. I didn't know how
to use my camera to it's fullest potential so I kept trying
different things until I got pretty good at it.

Better yet, I found someone who COULD use a camera well
and made movies with them.

There is no better education than getting out there and doing it!
 
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Haha, oh it's so ironic how my first camera was a super 8 as well; a family hand me down! And what you're saying does make sense. I should just keep filming&filming and hopefully meet someone whose talents lie in cinematography!

And Stardust Walking, your suggestion seems...unique to say the least. I'll try to look for the movie and definitely order the book.
 
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Yeah, I've always wanted to form a crew; couple creative writers and some tech people and some actors that i can call upon to film something. But it's hard to find others interested in film around here especially since I'm only 17.
 
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You and I have a lot in common. My first camera was a family hand
me down. I saved and saved and finally bought a super 8 sound
camera. All the while shooting on first regular 8 and then super
8 silent. I would try and try to sync up a cassette player with
the projector so I could at least show my movies with music.

Of course you have an excellent video camera so you don’t have to
worry about any of that. Your XL1 was once the top of the line DV
camera.

I’ll never show most of my super 8 films because they are
terrible. But I’m proud of this one. People here have seen it
over and over so I won’t imbed it. I was between my junior and
senior year when I made this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjLQy3CXFAk

I love super 8. Check out this music “video” I shot on super 8. I
think I was 22 or 23 when I did this.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=41456274
 
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directorik said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjLQy3CXFAk
Click to expand...

Holy historic hairstyles, Batman!
smiley_mono.gif


That was awesome. :)
 
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Thanks guys. We had no idea we were making such
an 80's statement. We just wore what we wore.

shockimpulse said:
Right now I can only hope to make something as good as that!
Click to expand...

You can.

That was my first "serious" film. But by no means my first film.
If I were to make a guess, I'd say it was my 20th. Most were
just three or four of us running around with a camera making
up stuff as we went. We would write out a little script, start
shooting in the morning and then finish when we ran out
of film or out of sunlight.

You should be making a movie every week.
 
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I SHOULD be. But my resources of actors are so tight here cus I'm abroad and I know absolutely no one but my younger sister who's 9. I've been trying to see if I could work with that but right now; nothing.
 
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