Starting a Film School

J.D.

J.D.

Active member
I am part of a group that is planning an Intensive 9 month Film Program. I am asking for your advice in designing this program.
SO if you will, here are a few questions to answer, and add any other thoughts you might have.

When hiring in the area of production what do you look for in an employee?
What skills do students need for an entry-level production position?
What editing programs should they know?
What type of training would you like to have seen them completed?
Describe some ethical challenges in your industry.
How important is a demo reel in the hiring process?
What training would you suggest providing a student?
What are your thoughts on a 4 year education vs. a 1 year intensive program?

Rank in order of importance of student training from 1 to 12 with 1 being most important and 12 being least important.

Business basics- how to operate your own business
Cinematography
Compositing
Directing
Editing- basic editing skills
Ethics
Grip skills
History of Cinema
Lighting
Producing, i.e.: scheduling, logistics, budgeting.
Production Design
Sound
Story, understanding of and writing ability.

What are the top 5 production books you would suggest?
thanks!
 
I don't currently have time answer all of these, I'll try to come back tomorrow and add some.


When hiring in the area of production what do you look for in an employee?
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Experience and attitude.

What skills do students need for an entry-level production position?
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a little of each role... depends on what kind of position they are looking into

What editing programs should they know?
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Avid, FCP, Photoshop

Rank in order of importance of student training from 1 to 12 with 1 being most important and 12 being least important.
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11 Business basics- how to operate your own business
6 Cinematography
13 Compositing
3 Directing
5 Editing- basic editing skills
12 Ethics
9 Grip skills
7 History of Cinema
8 Lighting
2 Producing, i.e.: scheduling, logistics, budgeting.
10 Production Design
4 Sound
1 Story, understanding of and writing ability.
 
Oh buddy, ranking jobs in filmmaking is gonna set some people off. I for one, won't settle for Cinematography to be ranked under 3~ :) Not because it's better in reality, but because that is what I do, and you always root for the home team.

Story is first, always. After that, everyone's job is to support the story via visuals, editing, producing, music, production design, etc. If someone's job performance suffers, everyone suffers. Bad producing will kill the workflow of the production, bad cinematography will take people out of the mood/story, bad sound will be distracting, etc. No one is indispensable or less valuable.

Most colleges and film schools have focuses/tracks/concentrations. These students will graduate with special training in these fields and will be applying to different entry level jobs with different requirements. For instance, when I got out of college, my editing buddies went into post houses, my writing friends went into PA/Writing Assistant jobs, Directors went into casting/PA, and I, a cinematographer is looking to get into camera departments (DP, AC, OP) or camera rental houses.
 
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My thoughts on the ranking were, when you only have 9 months you have to choose, you can't adequately cover everything in 9 months. One of the things I want to tell students that this program is a starting place, the goal should be to continue learning all your life..
 
Concerning the tracts we are exploring offering more advanced courses later on, not included in the 9 months.
 
Please have enough equipment to go around, even if you have to mainly get SD cameras. But have about four HD cams, Maybe 2 HVX200, a Sony FX1 and the Canon XH-A1. Maybe a bunch of the small Canons or something. I worked at school with only two cameras. I was teaching on the XL1 the other was an a GL if I remember correctly. They were talking about getting more but everything was in the budget except - you know- stuff the students needed. (For profit school, what can you do)? Check out this school, it's getting pretty big here in Chicago...

Flashpoint Academy

Place kicks a$$! But it's still no Columbia College but hey.

-Nate
 
I guess depending on how big the class is for a 9 month program you should teach them EXACTLY what they need to know on set and it should be HANDS ON. There should be a CLEAR run down on what will be taught, non of that "yeah we will get to that later on in the course" and never do it type crap.
Find people who are not just there for a paycheck and find people with good resumes. Students always check to see if the teacher is talking out of his/her a$$ especially if there is a heated debate in class. Nothing kills the momentum faster than knowing that the person teaching knows less than you.
Yes, have enough equipment!!! Its shows you are serious about your students getting what they need to succeed.
Put them in the trenches DURING class, not send them off after school. Maybe the last 2 months have them produce a feature together or better yet, have them split into teams so you don't have 5 DPs fighting for camera time and have them all produce a feature but written by someone else to make sure its tough enough to make them bust their a$$es. Make them do budget breakdowns. Make them do camera reports. Make them try to raise money. Everything they will have to face when they leave. I wish my school did all that.
 
Okay, I hope this doesn't sound too snarky, but I have a question -- What are you doing starting a film school if you don't know the answers to those questions already?
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
Okay, I hope this doesn't sound too snarky, but I have a question -- What are you doing starting a film school if you don't know the answers to those questions already?
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:cheesy: Haha! Good point!

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chapelgrovefilms said:
Well those are some pretty basic questions. Somebody in the group had better already know the answers, don't you think? Otherwise, what makes them qualified to teach?
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Polls like this are very useful. It's good measure to see if the people you are trying to draw in are on the same page that you are. It's also just useful to get feedback from your peers.

At least that's how I took it.

Mike
 
Well I find the list a bit much. A lot of things are as important as the others.

Usually when it comes to film schools the main important roles are Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Producer, everyone falls into one thing or another, just depends on what skills the students have, and if they're creators or project managers.

IF I had to settle on a list it would be


Story, understanding of and writing ability. (For an intensive, it is important, but maybe a focus on the technical things would be better? Feels like writting scripts it a course of it's own)
Directing
Cinematography
Editing- basic editing skills (hard to choose between these three)

Producing, i.e.: scheduling, logistics, budgeting.

Lighting
Grip skills (feels like these two, for an intensive, could fall under cinematography)

History of Cinema

Sound (Although VERY important, important as the three following the story, for an intensive program, it may be better to not focus on it. However the students should be constantly reminded that it is very very very very important...)

Production Design

Business basics- how to operate your own business

Ethics

Composition
 
Common, composition should be higher then business basics and ethics.... but then again it falls in directing and cinematography... so I don't even know why it has it's own category.
 
Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
Common, composition should be higher then business basics and ethics.... but then again it falls in directing and cinematography... so I don't even know why it has it's own category.
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Wait, composition as in composing a shot, or composition as in music? I thought it was music, and thus I put it near the end. If it's composing a shot, of course... but that would be cinematography...
 
Lol. It's neither. Just re-read the list. It's compositing!

As in green screen, blue screen, luma key, etc.

ps: Composing music would be useless for film making instruction! :beer:
 
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