Recommened "best" film schools?

A

Andor

Active member
I have decided that (unrelated: right after typing that the UPS man arrived with my FCP package) film school is a good route for me to take. I know there's a lot of criticism around a film school, but does anyone have their opinion on the best ones available?

By "best" I strictly mean:
1. The knowledge gained
2. The experience gained
3. The connections / possible work after graduation

I am ignoring price since money isn't really a concern of mine. Also, any thoughts / opinions and additional information anyone wants to share is more than appreciated!

Thanks!

ps- I tried searching the site multiple times with "film school" but each time the search was blank and I even once got an error message:

"Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 24 bytes) in /home/dvxuser/public_html/V6/search.php on line 1011"
 
If $55,000 per year for NYU (tuition + living expenses) isnt a concern for you then I would recommend just using your money for making a feature film and trying to sell it.
 
If $55,000 per year for NYU (tuition + living expenses) isnt a concern for you then I would recommend just using your money for making a feature film and trying to sell it.
Click to expand...
Man does have a point . . . .

I'd probably add Chapman and Full Sail to the usual list of suspects if not all ready there. It seems in this line of work knowledge and contacts trump any paper "degree". If finances are really not a concern, why not sample several? Cruise until you find a program you like. Your list of contacts and experience will be the better for it.

Just be sure to report back with your impressions of each.
 
Yes, paying $1000 for software is intimidating to me (but paying for the macbook brand new for the sole purpose of installing FCP is not. It's just how I am). Paying money for a degree that will potentially help me down the road is not a concern to me. What a person sees as "worth the money" is entirely subject to the individual. But I'm not here to discuss the psychology or philosophy behind my mindset, and you're more than welcome to send a private message if you want to discuss that sort of thing.

So back to my original question:
Does anyone on these forums have a film school that they think is worth going to? If no one has any recommendations then I apologize for wasting your time.

Edit: I didn't notice your response, pixelated, when I started this reply. The only place a person really recommended to me once was UCLA, but he said it was for the location and the connections and not so much for the education. I've looked at several schools, but I don't want to go on my research alone. I was hoping for feedback since there are so many amazing minds on this site.
 
There are many many many many many many threads on this... which always always always sparks up the same debate... i.e. "use the money to make a film instead!" But yes, I've been getting that error message with my searches as well.

I feel like jumping in, sooo... I'm just finishing up a so called good film school, and it's not all it's cracked up to be, meanwhile it's also phenomenal. I gained a bit of knowledge, got to work with film stock and film cameras, but all in all learned very little on the craft. Maybe it's because I already had some films under my belt when I entered (and they teach assuming you know nothing), but it was nothing special. It also depends on the teacher, my level 2 film teacher was not too great, but my level 3 teacher was phenomenal. Another brother program of film production in my school had some teachers on sabbatical and they said it was an aweful experience.

On the other hand now I have loads of friends and filmmakers that I can go to to start up a company and work on films. Meanwhile I know a few people that dropped out of film school because they were 'too good' for it... and now they're struggling to find people to collaborate with.

IMO, film schools have very little to offer, but also a lot. People always quote Quentin Tarantino... but look at how many of the 'greats' actually did go to film school... makes you wonder...

Another great thing about film school... deadlines...

My suggestion, just find a film school you can afford that has a good cred, and take what you can out of it. Myself, I studied at Concordia in Montreal and it was okay.
 
USC, UCLA, NYU & COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY are pretty much "the big ones". And for graduate school AFI. Those are the only schools that can do something for you just on their name. Can't speak for how "good" they are, but you get out of college what you put into it.
 
My vote goes for Chapman University as well... I personally looked at NYU, USC, UCLA and Chapman, and Chapman won in my book...
You probably want to apply to a whole bunch of schools... the good ones are all pretty hard to get in...
 
I will not say the "use your money to make a film." quote as my answer. Even though I was first told that on the first day of class by a Professor that was a NYU graduate.

In our digital age if directing films is what you want to do then get a regular job with flexible hours, a netflix subscription (at least 3 at a time), and visit this site often. I

If you want a career in the Film/Video trade and you have the passion to learn and keep learning, then almost any school will be "good".

.and don't forget to keep learning.

If you do end up going to a Film/Video School make sure to not piss any classmates or instructors off. You will be very surprised at how small of a circle filmmakers and vidiots can be (I can say it cause I is one). Speaking on 12 years distance from my alma mater I am constantly running into people that worked with classmates or were classmates. The networking is the real value of film school. That and your family thinking your in "College" and not turning their garage into a sound stage with the trust money you should have used for "an Education".
 
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