Recommend me a film school?

Sure, the school of hard knocks. I'm sure you'll get some great film school options in this thread but I always like to throw in the old fashioned, 'get out there and just do it' theory... but that's just me.

I'm biased, but USD and UCLA are tops for me. Stay away from those DOV SS, magazine ad type schools, most (if not all) are garbage. Just remember, if it's not tough to get in, then clearly their standards are not high enough for you to attend. Know what I mean?

Good luck.
 
Feature Filmmaking At Used Car Prices by Rick Schmidt (Genesis)

Extreme DV by Rick Schmidt (Revelations)

What They Don't Teach You In Film School by a couple of chicks (Psalms)

Film Production Theory by Jean-Pierre Geuens (Gnostics)

Acting For The Camera by Tony Barr

Lighting For Digital Video & Television by John Jackman

History Of Film by David Parkinson

The Filmmakers Handbook by Steven Ascher and Edward Pincus

Devotional Cinema by Nathaniel Dorsky (Gnostics)

Spiritual Marketing by Joe Vitale

Vegas Editing Workshop by Douglas Spotted Eagle (if you're not editing with Vegas you're making a big mistake.....:p )


Spend every available moment studying, setting up, shooting, editing.


With the money you'd spend on film school, make friggin movies instead. Give yourself a well rounded education including such things as marketing, web design, business.......network with others, make friends who share your interest and have talent....interact with them in any way you can. For instance, I have a friend in Alaska....I've never met him face to face yet we know each other fairly well. He's younger than I am but has been making movies for WAY longer and is quite talanted and I've learned a ton from him and even a wee bit of him from me. Networking in whatever manner you can pays off if you choose well.

Also, time spent in forums learning from others is quite well spent. In my opinion there is very little solid reason to go to film school when you're working with digital video....ALL of the information you need is readily available from books and the internet. Why spend several movie budgets on education when you can spend it on movies?

To those who have already gone to filmschool and will feel the need to come here and defend your decision.....:p .....you're just trying to make yourself feel better!
 
I'm just gonna say to sd006 that if you feel that you need to go to school, then go. People often generalise things in there responses. I mean, we dont know anything about your situation, sooooooooo I dont see how some people can tell you to not go to school. Making films on your own is cool, I just believe that if someone thinks they need school, go for it, just make sure you shop arround alot.
 
for the summer prior to film school, i'd try picking up an issue of "hollywood reporter," contacting someone on every movie listing, and hope that one of the low/no budget ones calls you back for a pa gig. and maybe get an LA, Vancouver, Toronto, NYC area code through skype to put on your resume as that'll make a difference in the # of responses you are likely to receive.

my opinion on a specialized school (film, law, medicine, whatever) is that the more real world experience you have going in, the more you will know what you need to get out of the experience.
good luck.
 
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DVXuser.com is the only film school anyone needs. We should all pay tuition to access this site. :) I hope that doesn't give Jarred any ideas.
 
That's easy to say if your already in the industry. DVXuser is amazing but again, people are always generalising, some people cant learn from a website, some people want to learn with people arround them. I realise you can do that out of school, but if you've been trying for awhile, why not try school ? ya soooo..... Sd006 what is your situation ?
 
I credit the time I spent in flim school as 'getting me in'... and I went to a state
school and not one of the 'big' ones. Having access to willing crews willing to
trade out schlepping gear and doing parts of eachother's projects for a few
years is fantastic... pick a focus and run with it. Befriend everyone else that
has focused. Convince someone there that they REALLY want to be a field
sound guy and buy that kid lunch everyday :)

Film school is a blast and its well worth it.

BTW... if you follow through on it, teaching opens up as an option down the
road. Not a bad place to be if you're a prolific indie filmmaker.
 
Being around a group of people who are creative, driven, and share common interests with you is alone worth the price of admission. I wouldn't own a company today with talented people I trust if I hadn't gone to school.

I went to USC, and you pay a lot for the priviledge, but on the whole I would recommend it. It's a totally different experience from my understanding of places like NYU, Columbia, and so on (which are totally different from each other), but ultimately something I much preferred.

Plus, the nachos at Chano's are really good.
 
get out there and do it! if this is your passion, then school can't make you learn. i suggest contacting your local film commission and asking them for some sort of production guide to everyone in your area. email the hell out of them. atleast 1 will respond. get your equipment and shoot. making films is a creative process. if your in a class learning how to shoot a movie, then everyone in the class movie is going to be the same. therefore, that doesn't make your movie creatively interesting. NETWORKING AND DOING IS KEY! :) MY OPINION OF COURSE! :) NOW STOP READING AND GO SHOOT!
 
join blockbuster and rent as many movies as you can. study them. what makes them good, bad, mediocore.

read scripts. as many as you can. what mankes them good, bad, mediocore.

get a camera. start by shooting something easy. did it turn out how you wanted? what can you do better?

shoot something else.

then rent more movies.

read more scripts.

shoot more footage.

total cost: a lot less than film school.
 
everyone here that reccomended to read "DVXUSER, LOL!" or "WATCH MRE MOVIEZ, PLZ, U LRN" and "READ ("so and so's way to make it big") ITS A LOTLESS $$ THAN FILM SKOOL"... I'd like to know if this method actually worked for you. are you exactly where you want to be in the film business?

the truth is... you have to look into it for yourself. if you're in high school, i highly reccomend scheduling a meeting with your guidance counselor or college/career professional to start looking for schools. i chat with working, professional writers and directors very often, all of them went to school. (didnt say FILM school) even harold ramis who i see once and again went to a small, prestigious private school.

dont ask for this kind of information on dvxuser... come on man. find out what your personal wants and ambitions are. talk to guidance counselors. for christs sake, write fan mail to directors and actors but dont look for this kind of subjective information here.

"tarantino didnt go to film school." i got sick of hearing that a while ago.
 
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michael_summers said:
I'd like to know if this method actually worked for you. are you exactly where you want to be in the film business?
Click to expand...

Michael-

I didn't want to chime in but what you said struck a chord with me. I mean, I am definitely not where I want to be, however, I just dont think "don't go to school" is very good advice.

When you 'go to school' you will learn and experience much more than just the info from your major. It can be a priceless experience.
 
rlm7189-

i agree with you. i dont really want to give an opinion, but i agree that going to school is a much better idea.

i will say, if film school is going to break your wallet and leave you penniless paying back loans... DONT do it. go to community college (many professors at community college are actually professors at bigger schools teaching on their own time) and take interesting liberal arts courses. these are the courses that construct the ideas and themes you will include when you make great films.
 
I have yet to respond to one of these posts, because I didn't go to film school but man I can't believe the responses. I have to wonder how many of you recommending to a young kid who wants to make film (or any visual medium) his lifes work NOT go to school actually have careers in film??

But they are right about one thing, I wouldn't go their to learn how to make movies so much...

While I didn't go to film school, I did attend two of the countries best music schools and graduated from one. I found there were two groups of kids who went. The first group were kids like me. They had started playing around three to four years old, had done pretty much nothing else with their short lives accept practice four to eight hours a day and many of use went to performing arts high schools or high schools with exceptional music programs. By the time we had graduated high school we had all been working regularly as musicians and most of us taught as well (local music store stuff). We were lucky due to the city we grew up in that our teachers during our pre-college days were some of the best players in the world, and we had both access and insight from time spent with them, many of whom would continue to be our college teachers. Most of us were on scholarship. That was group one.

Group two were kids from podunk who had played a while, but their practice schedules weren't too hectic, but they were probably the best ________ player in whatever town they came from and they figured they wanted to be a musician so they ponnied up and went to college. That was group two.

If you were part of group one, it was the greatest experience of your life, and it was ESSENTIAL to your career. Not because they taught you how to play your instrument, you already knew how to do that, but because the entire process transformed you and made you so exponentially better. Everyday was a master class with the best teachers in the world. You were constantly playing and giging with world class musicians and your peers, everyone pushing each other harder and harder. Then you got to see the truly gifted kids come through. I grew up playing around a young pianist by the name of Brad Mehldau. That was humbling. He is truly a musical genius, the best jazz pianist of our time, certainly of my generation and probably more. I was offered jobs and gigs, that my teacher couldn't do/or didn't want to do. I played with guys I had no business sharing a stage with. It was hard as hell, we didn't sleep and it was the best time of my life. Most importantly, were the contacts and relationships built. I lost the use of my hands about two years after graduating. Typing this hurts like hell, and I can no longer play my instrument. But I still have those friendships. That network you build in college is where ALL future work comes from. Sure your net grows, but your college network (most importantly the teachers you had) were the foundation and the most important part. To this day my colleagues who still play ALL get their gigs because of who they know and met then.

If I had a kid who wanted to be a musician, and he was talented enough and driven enough and had the chops - I would insist he went to one of three or four schools depending on what he wanted to do (jazz, classical, composition, films scoring) - not to learn how to play his instrument but to begin building his career. And each of those schools are either in NYC, Boston or LA. Boston was a stretch, but two of the best schools for Jazz are their and they are worth their weight in gold, I went to Berklee, but also attended colleges in NYC... To study anwhere else, no matter how great and well respected the school or it's program is usually a waste of time. Granted you might get into a b orchestra and if that's the best you can do fine, but if you want to play make the right connections you have to be where the best have settled and are working.

The folks in group two either dropped out or became music ed majors. Their time was hell. They didn't get in the best bands, they didn't get much face time with the best teachers, they didn't get good gigs, the felt overwhelmed and under tremendous pressure. Often one winds up killing themself.

Is film school the same? I have no idea, but I'd be willing to bet it's at least similar. If not then disregard this post, but make sure you find out first. If it is similar, then go. Go to one in either LA or NYC depending your style and bust your ass. Will they teach you how to make creative movies? Probably not. Could you learn everything they're going to teach you by renting movies, reading books and surfing the web? Probably. Would you get more "hands on" experience shooting your own movie? Perhaps depending on the school. But you will NEVER forge the contacts and relationships you would have had you attended college.

Besides, on a per transaction basis, the amount of sex you get in college makes it worth the price of admission alone....

Good luck,

Matt
 
I mean, let's face it...its a very subjective thing with convincing arguments pro and con on both sides. Do a little home work and research and see what the options are and then decide for YOURSELF. No one can tell you which school is a match for you. With the amount of money you'll be spending to attend, you should be making the decision and for sound reasons.

There are many varied opinions on going and not going. Do some reading and see what rings a chord for you.

Good luck!
 
The first time I played with Brad he was 15-16. He was going to Hall High and he was sitting in at a club in Hartford called the 880 club where a couple of my teachers played and I used to sit in with them. I was about 18. At 16 he was amazing... One of my teachers was a pianist (I was a bassist) by the name of Gary Dial, who may have also heard of (Red Rodney/Ira Sulivan Quintet). And even he when he heard Brad was like, whoa.....

My main teacher then was a bassist named Dave Santoro, he's one of Jerry Bergonzi's bass players. I use to sit in clubs and watch Jerry play all night. It was like being in the presence of divinity.... I was also able to study with Ron Carter and some other very capable dudes... Played the blue note... It's an experience I'll never forget..

Matt
 
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And Ought2bCommitted,

Just so you know I agree with everything your preaching, but I think what you're suggesting should have already been done by the time your heading off to college. Rodriguez is a good example of that.. That's why I give a kid like Avery so much support. Get your chops down NOW, before you head off. To me, that is really the gift of the DVX and all the tech that is at our disposal now. Get the youngsters shedding before it's too late. 'Cause guaranteed some kids are doing just that and THEY will be the next big thing...
 
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