Film School

GenJerDan said:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/m...uates-job-prospects-at-usc-nyu-ucla.html?_r=1

The “majority of students majoring in film and television will not be having careers in those professions,” Mr. Ujlaki wrote in an e-mail. “How about creating an environment which encourages creativity and risk-taking if you’re educating someone in the arts?”

Kinda makes you wonder what the school is for...
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You could substitute any other career in the arts and say the same thing. How many people who go to school to become painters make a successful living at it? Or musicians? Though it doesn't hurt to go to school and work on a craft and actually have to make films. That's what the school is for. Building skills, contacts, and giving you the best chance to make something of it. Though at the end of the day no school will hold your hand or give you the keys to the kingdom. Those who do will get it done, and those who talk will talk. You see that on DVXuser. Why do you think the number of dvxfest entries is so low these days? Lots of talking and not enough doing.
 
I went to film school years ago to use their equipment more than anything. Also meeting like minded people. The people who ended up with the most jobs were ones that took 3D animation or Special FX programs.

Film school is less about finding work and more about learning how to make films, docs, etc.m and networking. Unfortunately a lot of these schools advertise in such a way as to lead many people into thinking they will all either have steady work after word or end up big Hollywood directors.
 
Having just come out of film school. Ithaca College, and no, I don't have a job. I can tell you, one goes to film school to meet creative teams. Only in film school can you drop 2k and produce a short film with a sizable crew 20 - 100k worth of equipment, and professors to help you out. My senior thesis, which I am finishing now, would have been impossible to do outside of film school. My resume can speak for itself thanks to internships and connections made through college. If I went it on my own, I would never have worked at Warner Bros., I wouldn't have had calls with Netflix, Playtone, and Sony.

You don't go to film school to get a job right away. You do it for the connections. I know lots of people who moved to LA and couldn't cut it. Mostly because they gave up after things didn't work out for them. I also know lots of people who have jobs too. Many of my classmates who just graduated are entering the festival circuit hoping to catch a break. I'm kinda doing the same thing all while working on a startup which we now have incubator backing thanks to the school.

You make it what you want it to be. You can skate by and do nothing or you can work your ass off. And I know that out of the hundred or so in TV/Radio and Cinema Prod that graduated maybe one or two will become an exec. Several will be successful in their craft, dozens will do it as a hobby, and more will just give it up.

In the same note, however. Most people out of film school could never work on an actual Hollywood set. (They'd need lots of training). School doesn't teach you how to be a part of a crew. Camera teams are larger than most crews in film school. We are taught to do everything on set. Sending projects to colorists is unheard of. Having a pro sound guy is hard to come by. Post sound mix? Put a few fades and normalize levels and it's done. School teaches you the DIY way. We don't talk business at all, but we make lots of films. We just don't know what to do with them after.

So there are plusses and minuses to film school. But you go for the connections and yes, for the equipment. It's a chance to fail miserably and the only thing affected is a grade. I'll report back when my education gets me a job though. Judging from the lack of phone calls thus far, it might be a while.
 
I graduated from film school (studying screenwriting) in 2005. My first feature film (the fourth feature length screenplay I've written but first to be produced) is still a month from world premiere.

It takes a while.
 
Jawa Ex Machina said:
I graduated from film school (studying screenwriting) in 2005. My first feature film (the fourth feature length screenplay I've written but first to be produced) is still a month from world premiere.

It takes a while.
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That is not a while. That is incredibly quick. Way to go!
 
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