film school necessary?

Steve Laramie

Steve Laramie

Veteran
Im starting to wonder if focusing so much on grades to get into nyu is a waste of time when I could be geting more involved in film. So is film school necessary?
 
From what I hear, the greatest benefit of filmschool is the social networking. But then again, we now have forums such as this one, myspace, facebook, etc.

Technical skills can be self taught and as SurrealSolutions mentioned, creativity is not likely to be learned at filmschool. (IMO)
:beer:
 
Film school is great. I'm in film school right now and it couldn't be better.

I knew a little bit about filmmaking when I started and had worked on a few sets. But I have still learned a million new things about filmmaking since I've started. I'm only just finishing my first 8 weeks and I've already directed 3 short films and I've worked on numerous projects. I've made priceless contacts, and I go to Hollywood, so I'm right in the middle of the magic.

Also, my school has a special connection with huge companies like Kodak, Mole-Richardson, etc.

So, imo, it's really worth it. But it does have it's downsides. There's always a circle jerk when we're certified to use new equipment and it's hard to get your hands on stuff when the entire class is there. Also, some of the policies suck for the school. And as stated, they sometimes try to teach you what "creative" is. But if you go in, like I have, and just want to learn about the technology and leave the creativity up to yourself, you'll be fine.
 
ericengland33 said:
Film school is great. I'm in film school right now and it couldn't be better.

I knew a little bit about filmmaking when I started and had worked on a few sets. But I have still learned a million new things about filmmaking since I've started. I'm only just finishing my first 8 weeks and I've already directed 3 short films and I've worked on numerous projects. I've made priceless contacts, and I go to Hollywood, so I'm right in the middle of the magic.

Also, my school has a special connection with huge companies like Kodak, Mole-Richardson, etc.

So, imo, it's really worth it. But it does have it's downsides. There's always a circle jerk when we're certified to use new equipment and it's hard to get your hands on stuff when the entire class is there. Also, some of the policies suck for the school. And as stated, they sometimes try to teach you what "creative" is. But if you go in, like I have, and just want to learn about the technology and leave the creativity up to yourself, you'll be fine.
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What school are you in?
 
No one in the film industry will ever ask to see a degree. School provides a lot of contacts, and a lot of debt.

My friends just graduated from Art Center and are about $100,000.00 or more in debt. I never went to film school and I had to help them with their final projects.

What you learn in School is very different from what you learn in the field. There is no simple answer. I personally didn't think film school was for me, sure I sometimes wish I'd have gone, but usually I'm glad to not have to worry about grades, homework and student loans.

- Greg
 
lairhair said:
Im starting to wonder if focusing so much on grades to get into nyu is a waste of time when I could be geting more involved in film. So is film school necessary?
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Film school is only necessary if you want to actually understand what it is that you're doing.

If you just want to shoot stuff, you don't have to go to film school for that. Just like if someone wants to hammer wallboard to studs all day, they don't have to go to architecture school for that. But they won't be a general contractor or an architect, they'll be a drywall hanger. And someone who decides to skip film school and just shoot will be a shooter. But that doesn't make 'em a filmmaker.

But if you want to learn the how and why, you'll never get that from shooting. That comes from learning and watching and studying and discussing. That doesn't have to take place in a film school; you could get yourself a library of about fifty books on every subject and watch and discuss the greatest films and learn the structure and intricacies of all of them. But that's basically just a way of doing the same "film school" experience, on your own. It's going to take just as much time and just as much work. Not so much expense though!

One other thing: going to "film school" is not a generic thing. I mean, it's like going to "college" -- are you going to Yale? Harvard? Brown? Or William Sprunt Community College? It makes a massive difference as to what you'll learn. Any school is only as good as its teachers, and a sub-par film school may be worth nothing more than debt. USC, NYU, UCLA, AFI -- those are some of the schools you want to get into.
 
Steven Spielberg went but didn't finish. Lucas characterized himself as a bad student but he did graduate. I think vision is what's important in any case and deciding what you want and how you'll go about getting it. Attitude will be what allows you to get through those times when the vision doesn't seem practical or realizable. You also need to decide who you'll work for--yourself or others.

School would probably be mandatory for someone that wants to work for others. The lack of imagination or competence to evaluate people in the human resources department or certain levels of management in corporations is made up for by whether you have a degree or not. It's their simple, quick test to see if they think you're even worth considering. Somehow if you have a degree or even an MBA you must be better than someone who doesn't. It's just the way they think in most cases and its their filter.

School is not mandatory for someone that decides they're independent and will be successful on their own track and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. Someone like this can learn the skills necessary as the needs arise and adapts to new situations as necessary. Acquiring this attitude cannot be taught in school but has to be cultivated on your own.
 
Just went and talked to a NYU admissions guy today at school.

He said the film students often go to NYU universities all over the globe for a year or so and make really cultured films. That seemed to be the only thing appealing about NYU over another film school. He was trying to impress everybody and kept talking about a "Will Smith film" that was being shot on campus.
 
i think film school is overated.if your driven, focused,and sold out to making films schooling could be a mute issue.i'm self taught and have been shooting going on 2 years now and what i've learned by just these forums and how to books has put me farther ahead of the game than if i had went to school and had to wait for someone to bring back equipment i wanted to check out.i know film graduates who have went to school only to graduated and work dead end jobs that has nothing to do with their film major.case and point.for me,i was driven enough to save and purchase my own equipment and went out and learned through trial and error.
 
I have a few issues with some comments here.

Barry_Green said:
Film school is only necessary if you want to actually understand what it is that you're doing.
...if you want to learn the how and why, you'll never get that from shooting...
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I would not say film school is necessary if you want to understand what you are doing. If you can get work as a PA, then grip, you'll learn a lot working for key grips, gaffers, bb's DP's, etc. I'd say not just the theory, but the reasoning behind it. I'd also say that by shooting, through deductive reasoning, you can gain an understanding of what you are doing. You may, or may not understand the terminology of working on a pro set, but you can certainly learn to understand what you are doing.

School would probably be mandatory for someone that wants to work for others.
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I would disagree with this as well. I don't think it's mandatory for that. Depending on where you are living, it's actually pretty easy to get work on at least small sets for other people and work your way at least a little bit up into positions where you could learn a lot.

I will say this though. I completely agree that very few schools or teachers can teach creativity. And most art schools (including film school) do not teach resource management, interpersonal communication, and human interaction skills needed to make films.

Of course, that's my point of view. I took several classes in filmmaking, but did not go to film school.
 
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