Film School

Does Biola have sort of killer film program I've never heard of? I've never seen so many people (or anyone, actually) say that they are going there. Just honestly curious.
 
blckhawk542 said:
I'm thinking of applying to it this September. I'm entering my senior year of high school and I was thinking of a few early applications.

How was the difficulty of being admitted? What do they look more for? Grades or portfolio?
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They look for both, more or less. The school has become more selective over the years (currently at a 47% acceptance rate, down from 65% about 3 years ago), and film is the hardest major to get into. But the best thing about Emerson is that it's not a pretentious place in the way that prestigious schools are. It's a very small and modest place, but will still give you a top education and great connections, opportunities, etc. Even if you don't have the 3.5 GPA that the "average" accepted student has, if your portfolio shows exceptional talent and whatnot, they'll still consider you.

Plus it's in a great spot. Just visit and you'll be sold.
 
blckhawk542 said:
I'm thinking of applying to it this September. I'm entering my senior year of high school and I was thinking of a few early applications.

How was the difficulty of being admitted? What do they look more for? Grades or portfolio?
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I got in by the skin of my teeth. I shouldn't have made it into the film program at Emerson. I applied Early Action, Got deferred, then Regular Decision came around and I got accepted for January and I will be attending then.

I took the toughest classes I could take (basically all honors and AP), sent in like 5 letters of Recommendation total, sent in a demo reel, had 5 A.P.'s total by the end of high school (a lot for my school), had a 3.4 gpa, I got a 24 on the ACT (I don't remember my break down but I do remember gettings a 31 in the math section and a 10 out of 12 on the essay), I also had tons of Extra cirriculars, volunteer work, and i'm even an Eagle scout.

End of story is that it's pretty hard to get in haha. The only reason they said I got in was because of demo reel and short film I sent in, and also my film resume (thats what the admission counciler basically said).
 
Knoxworth said:
I never attended RTF (radio/tv/film) at UT Austin but I highly recommend the program. I worked with friends on almost 50 film projects and a hundred other non-assigned projects just because so many willing bodies and minds are itching to film there.

We had a club that held its own 48 hour, two week, and two hour challenges several times a semester.
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I worked with some UT film grads and they really knew what they were doing. I hope to get a full scholarship there in 3 years. :shocked:
 
End of story is that it's pretty hard to get in haha. The only reason they said I got in was because of demo reel and short film I sent in, and also my film resume (thats what the admission counciler basically said).
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Could you give me an idea of what your experience was on sets? Do you have a link to your demo reel and the short you made?
 
DaneFoster said:
I got in by the skin of my teeth. I shouldn't have made it into the film program at Emerson. I applied Early Action, Got deferred, then Regular Decision came around and I got accepted for January and I will be attending then.

I took the toughest classes I could take (basically all honors and AP), sent in like 5 letters of Recommendation total, sent in a demo reel, had 5 A.P.'s total by the end of high school (a lot for my school), had a 3.4 gpa, I got a 24 on the ACT (I don't remember my break down but I do remember gettings a 31 in the math section and a 10 out of 12 on the essay), I also had tons of Extra cirriculars, volunteer work, and i'm even an Eagle scout.

End of story is that it's pretty hard to get in haha. The only reason they said I got in was because of demo reel and short film I sent in, and also my film resume (thats what the admission counciler basically said).
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Oh man....I knew I shouldn't have slacked off freshman year of high school...DAMNIT!! My GPA would be so high right now...I'm like just under a 3.0 and my SAT/ACT scores are like...well you kinda get the point...haha

I'm pretty good with extracurricular work and volunteering. I've got a long list of that stuff that also includes video work and volunteering on film sets. Hopefully this summer working on set as DP will get me some points to get in to schools because I know my grades aren't going to cut it. Thanks for your response.
 
blckhawk542 said:
Oh man....I knew I shouldn't have slacked off freshman year of high school...DAMNIT!! My GPA would be so high right now...I'm like just under a 3.0 and my SAT/ACT scores are like...well you kinda get the point...haha

I'm pretty good with extracurricular work and volunteering. I've got a long list of that stuff that also includes video work and volunteering on film sets. Hopefully this summer working on set as DP will get me some points to get in to schools because I know my grades aren't going to cut it. Thanks for your response.
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I heard about a guy that got a full scholarship to UT film school because he used to shoot wedding videos and make short films all through high school. I think as long as your grades are decent, they look at your film resume.
 
BFA in film/cinematography

I started going for a BS in photo journalism because I was/am really really into documentary filmmaking..... but.... half way thru my education I realized that my inner creative (visual artist) side wasnt being properly fed and fueled....

so I switched to the arts dept and focused on filmmaking/cinematography/digital media

cheers.
 
on UT RTF...

I was highly contemplating grad school there but IMO at this point in my career/life, I believe it would be a step backwards.... as well as adding to my already existing student loans... but I'd recommend it to others in a heart beat, great great school... wish I coulda done my undergrad there, for sure.
 
hoofandmouf said:
I started going for a BS in photo journalism because I was/am really really into documentary filmmaking..... but.... half way thru my education I realized that my inner creative (visual artist) side wasnt being properly fed and fueled....

so I switched to the arts dept and focused on filmmaking/cinematography/digital media

cheers.
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I started in the TRF program at the Newhouse School at SU; same thing...we were being told that we couldn't pick up a camera until sophomore year, while my girlfriend in the VPA art media/film program was already shooting 16mm projects, start of freshman year. So I switched over to VPA and I think it turned out to be a much more rewarding program.

What was weird about the VPA program at that time, though, was that they had two separate concentrations, "Film Art" and "Film Drama" with a common core structure but different ancillary focus: basically it ensured that "Film Art" people learned virtually nothing about staging, blocking, or working with actors, and "Film Drama" people learned virtually nothing about composition, art history, design or photography.
 
dougspice said:
Does Biola have sort of killer film program I've never heard of? I've never seen so many people (or anyone, actually) say that they are going there. Just honestly curious.
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Well I'm bias, but I really wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Its not nearly as big as UCLA or Chapman, but the staff is amazing, and because its smaller its not nearly as cutthroat, theres really a great community and the staff can really help individuals rather than just large groups at a time. Not that I'm bagging UCLA or Chapman, the equipment and studios they have are ridiculously awesome, but this was absolutely the right place for me.
 
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