Here's my situation. I live near two colleges, both of which have film programs. The first one is a community college (Sacramento City) - they have a great website with detailed descriptions of all their classes and programs, although the school itself is not known to be one of those gem community colleges that just happens to have a good film program. I've done plenty of internet searches, and the school comes up completely cold on all film radar. I can't find any specific reviews for the film program either.
The second school, the University of Davis California, does have a film program. Although it also isn't particularly renowned, I'm guessing it's still quite good, because student samples posted online all look very nice. I can find quite a bit of advertisement for the program online, but finding specific information on classes has been difficult.
My dilemma is as so. I don't want to spend 20k/year to attend UC Davis. I would however very willingly pay the 1k/year tuition to attend Sac City. When I go to college (I'm not entirely sure if I'll take a gap year or not), I plan on majoring in something practical and non-film related. That being said, if I do take a gap year before college, or even if I do attend college out of high school, I still want to pursue filmmaking heavily outside of school. That's going to be my first priority for at least the first two-three years after I graduate high school.
This is where I encounter roadblock #2. While screenwriting is a mostly solitary pursuit, you can't shoot a film all by yourself. You need at least a few actors to be in it, and a few other students to help shoot it. You need friends who like film just as much as you do. Maybe when you're older and have some experience under your belt you can afford to hire strangers for pay, but at my age, other students are far more realistic.
I originally thought Sac City (with its super-cheap $1,000/year tuition) would be a great gateway into making filmmaker friends - after all, it's so much easier to make friends if you're in a program with other like minded individuals. However, after pouring over the student reviews of Sac City, I've grown an unsettling suspicion that the students at this school (not in the technical programs like the nursing program - which is very highly regarded by the way - but the art department) may not be the most 'motivated' bunch. Though 1k is pennies compared to what most colleges charge, I don't want to tie myself into a program that'll mimic the film class I was in this previous year of high school - a whole lot of very nice, funny, interesting people who liked film, but didn't like it nearly enough to take it seriously and do the work (aka, they looked for the shortest, safest, easiest video idea they could find for a minimum grade)
This leaves me with one other option, which is to opt out of Sac City and attend UCD, where I would either double major in film and another practical degree, or minor in film. This isn't an option I'd really like to explore though, because money really is a big personal concern of mine.
I guess my main question is as follows - do you find that the students in film schools and film programs are open-minded towards working with people outside of their school? Or do they mostly stick to their own classmates. I understand that any film student would drop everything if James Cameron offered them a spot working alongside him. But, do you think these film students are open to forming friendships with regular filmmakers who aren't attending film school or the same film program as them?
I'm a little shy, and I don't want to rip off the Universities facilities or equipment. I'm not looking for lectures or materials at all . I'm just looking to branch out and make some filmmaker friends who I could shoot videos with. I don't live in an area with a strong filmmaking community; the only place I know of that has a concentrated number of students interested in film are these two schools, especially UCD.
To be honest, right now it sort of seems like college is one big bubble, and the kids inside of that bubble living the college-life wouldn't be too interested in leaving that bubble.
I'm planning on touring both schools later in the year. But I was hoping to get a little personal perspective from you guys first.
So what do you think? In your own experience, are the actors and filmmakers at film schools or film programs open to forming friendships with other young filmmakers who aren't currently attending college, or do they mostly stick to themselves and the niche groups formed inside the classroom? The big fear I'm grappling with now is that if I don't drop 20k/year to major in film, I'll be stuck by myself with no one to practice shooting videos with. Filmmaking is a team effort, and you need a good team (even if it's a tiny one) if you want to learn and grow. And really, filming a tree or your pet can only get you so far. I've heard this cautionary tale before that not attending film school is filmmaking suicide, if not for the lack of instruction, then certainly for the sheer lack of like-minded, motivated individuals to collaborate with.
Thanks
The second school, the University of Davis California, does have a film program. Although it also isn't particularly renowned, I'm guessing it's still quite good, because student samples posted online all look very nice. I can find quite a bit of advertisement for the program online, but finding specific information on classes has been difficult.
My dilemma is as so. I don't want to spend 20k/year to attend UC Davis. I would however very willingly pay the 1k/year tuition to attend Sac City. When I go to college (I'm not entirely sure if I'll take a gap year or not), I plan on majoring in something practical and non-film related. That being said, if I do take a gap year before college, or even if I do attend college out of high school, I still want to pursue filmmaking heavily outside of school. That's going to be my first priority for at least the first two-three years after I graduate high school.
This is where I encounter roadblock #2. While screenwriting is a mostly solitary pursuit, you can't shoot a film all by yourself. You need at least a few actors to be in it, and a few other students to help shoot it. You need friends who like film just as much as you do. Maybe when you're older and have some experience under your belt you can afford to hire strangers for pay, but at my age, other students are far more realistic.
I originally thought Sac City (with its super-cheap $1,000/year tuition) would be a great gateway into making filmmaker friends - after all, it's so much easier to make friends if you're in a program with other like minded individuals. However, after pouring over the student reviews of Sac City, I've grown an unsettling suspicion that the students at this school (not in the technical programs like the nursing program - which is very highly regarded by the way - but the art department) may not be the most 'motivated' bunch. Though 1k is pennies compared to what most colleges charge, I don't want to tie myself into a program that'll mimic the film class I was in this previous year of high school - a whole lot of very nice, funny, interesting people who liked film, but didn't like it nearly enough to take it seriously and do the work (aka, they looked for the shortest, safest, easiest video idea they could find for a minimum grade)
This leaves me with one other option, which is to opt out of Sac City and attend UCD, where I would either double major in film and another practical degree, or minor in film. This isn't an option I'd really like to explore though, because money really is a big personal concern of mine.
I guess my main question is as follows - do you find that the students in film schools and film programs are open-minded towards working with people outside of their school? Or do they mostly stick to their own classmates. I understand that any film student would drop everything if James Cameron offered them a spot working alongside him. But, do you think these film students are open to forming friendships with regular filmmakers who aren't attending film school or the same film program as them?
I'm a little shy, and I don't want to rip off the Universities facilities or equipment. I'm not looking for lectures or materials at all . I'm just looking to branch out and make some filmmaker friends who I could shoot videos with. I don't live in an area with a strong filmmaking community; the only place I know of that has a concentrated number of students interested in film are these two schools, especially UCD.
To be honest, right now it sort of seems like college is one big bubble, and the kids inside of that bubble living the college-life wouldn't be too interested in leaving that bubble.
I'm planning on touring both schools later in the year. But I was hoping to get a little personal perspective from you guys first.
So what do you think? In your own experience, are the actors and filmmakers at film schools or film programs open to forming friendships with other young filmmakers who aren't currently attending college, or do they mostly stick to themselves and the niche groups formed inside the classroom? The big fear I'm grappling with now is that if I don't drop 20k/year to major in film, I'll be stuck by myself with no one to practice shooting videos with. Filmmaking is a team effort, and you need a good team (even if it's a tiny one) if you want to learn and grow. And really, filming a tree or your pet can only get you so far. I've heard this cautionary tale before that not attending film school is filmmaking suicide, if not for the lack of instruction, then certainly for the sheer lack of like-minded, motivated individuals to collaborate with.
Thanks