Film School

For me and a few others, it's the all-too-important Junior year of High School, and I'm starting to look into colleges. I'm fairly confident I want to attend film school, even though many have negative perceptions of them. I was wondering which other of my film pals are interested in or are currently attending film school.

Personally, I want to go to NYU. USC and UCLA have fine undergrad film programs, but UCLA is only for two years and USC is more Hollywood oriented. NYU is cited as the best film school of today (and not to mention where Scorsese went...he taught there for a while, too, and some of his students were Spike Lee and Oliver Stone). The AFI also has an excellent school (possibly the best; David Lynch and Terrence Malick, among others, went here), but it is graduate only.

Film school is risky though, so I'll probably double major in Psychology or Philosophy, too (and should I have enough AP credits to not only do that, but to do BOTH majors and all requirements in three years total).

So, anybody else going to take a risk and go to film school?

USC, where I would rather go to for business or film and play football, had, among others, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg graduate from the film school. And who can't forget Ron Howard? But yes, it depends on how you see yourself viewing film.

If, you don't mind me asking, how are your grades? Because USC and UCLA are practically impossible to get into, especially if you are out of state.

I have around a 3.6 unweighted or a 3.9 weighted for Honors/AP courses, but not counting Freshman year (I had some lower grades), I have a 3.85 uw and a 4.3 weighted (I think UCLA and USC only count those years, but NYU counts everything). I just took the SATs and have no scores yet (though I'm pretty sure I conquered in the reading and writing, but only so-so in math). I take generally the hardest courses, too. Because the two California schools don't count Freshman grades, I'm pretty sure I'm academically fine there, while at NYU I'm closer to average. I'm not so sure about my film portfolio, though, but hopefully somebody will like it.

I do hear though that being accepted into NYU Tisch or USC Cinema is harder than being accepted into Harvard or MIT! And UCLA and AFI are even harder, as they accept something like under 25 people per program.

Thug, have you considered a Canadian school? How about Y.U.? Very good fine arts program, and er...uh...the finest women of any school in North America except for maybe UCLA .

Eh, Film School. Biggest mistake of my life.

But that was MY life, so who knows. I go to Michigan State University and was a Film Major here. Sam Rami graduated with Film from here (just to give you some background). Worst mistake of my life. It took me two years to figure that out though. After 2 years, I just realized how much I hate film. I switched to a creative writing major and I'm much happier.

Though I didn't go to an actual "Film School", thank god, I know I made the right decision. In a real film school, you can't change your mind like I did. It's film or nothing. Film school seems like a joke to me. Always did. My main point being that if you are good, know a good amount about film, and make the right connections, then people don't care diddly-squat about your film school. I have a lot of buddies who went to film school for a year and are doing shit. I got one buddy at U of M who was a film major there and is in Hollywood now because he got a versatile degree from a Big Ten School.

Bottom Line: If you have the talent, the school does not matter. If you don't, and you are POSITIVE that's what you want to do with life, go to film school.

The Doc

Thug,
How're things with you? I understand you've been busy, and am delighted that you're still interested in what you've always been so passionate about.

My school is very restricted as to what it exposes you to at the applications stage. We have a system called UCAS here, which basically gives access to applications to all universities and colleges, and all courses within them. But there're more vocational schools out there too, such as the Edinburgh Arts College. I didn't find out about these until I'd applied to university through UCAS.

When I get back to school after the Easter break, I'm going to accept a place at East Anglia to study English and Film Studies. There're a few practical units in the second and third year, and a chance to branch out into Philosophy and Creative Writing too. I'd love to do a postgrad in film practice in the States. And will definitely be looking into when the time comes.

I want to go to NYU, but unfortunately I've slacked, so I have neither the grades for a scholarship or the money to get in. I don't want a 20 year+ student loan, so my dreams of being a director or actor have been disintegrating slowly.

Cathy Moriarty's film school being put up in my state won't be open until way later, so that's bad. I'll probably fall into business working a job I hate.

Who says one needs a film school to know? If anything, experience itself can teach one more of how to make a movie than some classroom.

Exactly. Hollywood is not going to let someone take the reigns of some big movie just because they are from SCU. It's going to be because they made some other great movie, and if you are smart and talented, film school will NOT help. It's just going to try and force a certain way of doing things on you. When I was studying film, it made me start to hate it because of all the bullshit.

The Doc

The only true thing that a film school can help with someone is if they teach them how to use equipment, lenses, lighting, editing, etc....then which an internship somewhere, they learn basically the workings of making a movie.

Other than that, film schools are insignificient!

Wow, thanks!

Thug, wherever you decide, good luck! Although myself, being at UCLA, recommend that. I've heard the film program is wayyyyy better than USC's. Way less annoying people too, though... I can't imagine spending 4 years with anyone who goes to USC, much less all of them. :rolleyes: :p

I'm great. A little busy, but am doing well. And you?

Of course film school is worthless if you have zero talent. But, blindly believing that I do have talent, I think it WILL help. The people you meet there will provide many necessary connections to the industry, and the school itself sometimes helps, too. Plus the whole environment of being surrounded by people in love with film sounds amazing. Film school gives the equipment and the opportunity to make dozens of short films and while it doesn't create talent, it can make one's talent stronger through experience. It also gives opportunities for internships. Film school is the place to learn all the equipment to the best of your ability and hopefully come out with either an amazing thesis or a script that can be marketed to Hollywood. In the end it all comes down to what school you go to (UMich, from what you're saying Ferro, doesn't sound like it likes creativity) and if you pick the right one for yourself, you should get something worthwhile out of the experience.

I think Jim Jarmusch (NYU Tisch graduate) said it best (and I'm paraphrasing here): "I had to forget about 70% of what I learned in film school, but the other 30% was invaluable."

DV, one does not need to go to AFI or UCLA or USC or NYU to study film (and these programs are notorious for having terrible financial aid). There are many other great, up and coming schools that are probably cheaper and easier to get into (and such, I'll probably apply to them, too). A film school I keep hearing about is Chapman University, which is located in Orange County, CA. The tuition is about half of NYU and the others, and they seem to actually have decent financial aid, too. They're building their own mini film studio with many facilities on campus and it should open next year. Check it out:

http://ftv.chapman.edu/

And the absolute best part: graduates are still allowed to use any equipment they want, 24/7. I hear that USC is the school of yesterday, NYU is the school of today, and Chapman is the school of tommorow.

I think the opposite is true. Film School will help if you have no talent, if you do, then it's jsut bust.

The Doc

P.S. As for UMich, I don't know about their film program. I'm at MSU and ours sucked big, floppy balls.

Sorry, my bad .

I'll use an example here of USC, just because I hear it is a very conventional Hollywood film school (its graduates like Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, and George Lucas aren't very known for being "risk-takers," but I have no idea if this claim is actually true). If one goes there and has no talent, they can learn how to follow the forumla, which could get one a job nowadays, sadly. Of couse, I do not know for a fact that USC is like this, but I'm just using it as an example.

Now, let's say that NYU encourages creativity (which is also something I've heard, but cannot prove or disprove). Somebody who is not talented in film will not have any creativity in filmmaking and thus will do terribly. Somebody who is talented will be able to flourish in this arena and get creative criticism from others who care about film. Now if they went to USC, they wouldn't be able to flourish themselves but probably could teach themselves a bit, if only how to work with other actors and crew members and how to deal with Hollywood and its lack of creativity.

Certain film schools will let others flourish more than others. But I think generally a good filmmaker will have more room to grow than a bad one. If you watch one of Hitchcock's early films, they aren't nearly as good as his later ones. He needed the time to grow and develop as a filmmaker. And getting a college degree at the same time is the best way, at least for me. But in the end, as I said, it comes down to the school.

Me and my little brother have been talking about creating our own comedy cartoon show, similar to South Park only better animation. It sounds silly right now, but we're both pretty creative when we put our heads together, and if we gather up enough ideas, why not go for it?

Why not? What have you got to lose?

The only thing anybody has to lose in life is just that; their life. Everything else is immaterial.

Why not go for anything? Who knows what fruit may spring? Good luck to everybody in the world who makes the conscious decision to cast themselves aside from the murky world of knowledge, power, wealth and politics, and takes up the life of The Artist. The God. The Immortal. The Creator of Meaning and Truth in Life.

This year, I decided I would switch my major to film and transfer to a school that actually offers film. Here's my thoughts, if you care:
Chapman (other Cali schools)- Though about this one and USC, but ultimately decited that I hate the California scene. The attitude seems to be "I should and WILL have everything handed to me on a silver platter, though I deserve NOTHING!" Prehaps I'm mistaken, but from the Cali kids I've dealt with this seems to be the case. Chapmans app seemed to be a real hastle too, so I enede up not applying to any Cali schools.

NYU- The obvious choice. I did end up getting in but I talked to a friend of mine from back home (he wanted to go for Musical Theatre) who didnt get in. In his letter, he was told that only 4000 out of 35000 apps(11%)got accepted, so it is extremely difficult to get into. This frined of mine (I Believe) also screwed around frechman year, so his grades werent as the should have been, so that might have been a factor. Also, the cost is bordering on insanity. It will probably end up costing me a little over 40 thou a year.

Hofstra- This was the other school I applied to, and also got accepted. Quite a bit cheaper than NYU, but is also a close proximity to the city wich may or may not be a selling point for you. I am assuming (this is a big issue for me right now) that another (relatively)big name school in NY would be easier to transfer credits to NYU. I believe it is also easier to get into.

Remember, it never hurts to apply, who knows, you may get in. Good luck.

Excellent news, DSC! Which one do you think you'll go to?

Although I was aware of the somewhat negative opinion expressed in previous posts towards film schools, I decided to go ahead and apply to a number of colleges that had them anyway. I do really just hope that I can be taught the mechanics and technical aspects of making a film such as lighting, cinematography, camera operation, etc, and a bunch of new creative bullshit is stuffed down my throat.

My dream was to go to USC's film school, but unfortunately I didn't get in. I did get into the Pittsburgh, Hofstra, and Fordham film schools, and I'm 90% sure I'm headed to Pitt at this point, but I'm still hoping to get out to USC or UCLA after my first year.

Ultimately, I am very afraid that a college film school will ruin my passion for film and hinder my creative processes, but I feel like it is somewhat of a neccesity. Although I am aware that a film degree doesn't mean much in the film industry when it comes to writing and directing, I feel like it can't hurt.

I just hope I don't feel like pulling a P.T Anderson and withdrawing my tuition from my film school after two days.

Good luck to you wherever you go.

Well I'm going down in the next month to take a look at both of thier film depts. but I'm really leaning towards NYU. The money is now my biggest concern.

If I get into the movies, it'll be through writing, I suppose. I'm taking my SAT's on May 6th, a day after I finish my Ap American History test but it's history and that's a piece of cake. I'm VERY confident about my Writing and Reading scores. The math though just scares the living shit out of me, but I've got to see where I'm at.

I plan to try and stay in Florida. Florida stae and FSU are good schools and U of M is at my finger tips. Money issues and SAT issues aside, I'd like to see myself enrolled there. If I can double major, I will double with film. and my other major would be most likely Jornalism.

My future is in writing. I'm doing reviews now, and my writing is getting rave reviews where ever I post and i love being on deadlines and writing about events so it just seems like the right thing.

Now, the thing about film is that although my first love is film, the thing is is that chances are I'll never make it beyond the school. It's a tough goddamned business, ya know?

At the moment by the way I am sporting a healthy 3.1 GPA unweighted. Weighted, I pull in a 4.0. Hopefully, before I graduate next year, I can make it a 4.1 or 4.2.

How far is your class in APUSH? We're only at the Civil War . Most people claim that it is one of the hardest classes they've ever taken, but our teacher is a complete joke and we've only had one test so far. I'm taking AP Euro the same day, but feel much more confident about that since the DBQs are graded much easier and the material is much more interesting (and plus we actually learned it all).

Well. We're wrapping up the Cold War. We're pretty much done. With a few exceptions. But I know that stuff like the back of my hand.

Yeah. AP Euro is a piece of cake though.

I'm not doing "Film School"; not at undergraduate level. I would like something more financially feasible for the next three years, take a year out, then do a post-grad practical course somewhere...in the States? If I can, I will.

For now, though, I'm set on East Anglia (Norwich), to double major in English and Film Studies. It's a good course; the uni has a massive film archive, the third biggest in the country after the BFI and Warwick. The second year (of three) opens out to other options, such as Creative Writing, Philosophy, and filmmaking modules, before coming together for an intensive third year in English and Film. Come September, I will be living away from home, a four-hour train ride, for the first time in my life.

Same here. You'll go home in the weekends?

Question:
Is it going to help to get someone to read your script or finance your movie if you've been to film school?

Generally, no, unless one of your classmates is in a position to help you out (say they become successful). But that is actually a great reason, IMO, to go to film school. Industry networking is key, and you're bound to meet somebody through school (not only classmates, but even teachers, people you meet on internships, or those attending student film festivals).

Same here. You'll go home in the weekends? [/b][/quote]No, it's too far, and too expensive; once every so often maybe.

Another question, to those questioning the relevance of film school: for a film lover, who wants to spend the next three or four years of his academic life doing something he loves, what is the alternative? I can't think of a better way to spend time than to learn about the thing you love and, as Thug has said, surround yourself with like-minded people. If not, then university could well be a mere extension of high school, where you meet one or two good friends with similar interests, but most of the others you'd rather not know.

Too many people, I think, think about things in terms of a career. They may not necessarily be wrong, and have certainly been brought up to think that way by the way schools drill the fear of failure into them, but with Thug's reasoning, you can't go "wrong". Good luck, mate.