Ziggy Stardust said:
captainsolo, I've begun considering going to film school, but I'm not sure now since you posted that. Would you still recommend it?
If it's really what you want to do, then yes. Just keep in mind some of these things:
-When applying you will have to decide between film studies (scholarly/criticism) and production. Some schools are better in one than the other, but most only have a spattering of real film studies courses. Be sure and find one that has what you're looking for with an actual dedicated film program.
-The undergrad degree is going to be the same everywhere. It's still a Bachelor's in Fine Arts no matter what. So don't worry if you wind up at a smaller lesser known school instead of the big three (UCLA, USC, NYU) etc. because the basics are the same everywhere. It saves an unbelievable amount of money. (I got accepted to NYU's Tisch school but couldn't afford it.) And there's always grad school for later on.
-No matter what, film is the degree that is almost entirely self-taught no matter what people try to tell you. It all depends on how much work you're willing to put in, because you're going to be spending untold amounts of hours and late nights on projects and the like. It is still something that has to be self-taught essentially.
-And you're going to need resources. People to help, people to work with, and $ because otherwise you'll end up like me and have a whole project to do and no one to help and no capital to put into it. This is one thing the schools don't tell you, because you can't just go in and make a whole student film with no resources.
The nitty gritty:
-The vast majority of people are there for the wrong reasons. It will be rare to find someone who actually cares about the field or medium and you will wind up putting your head through the wall at the ignorance of the other students.
-Get a job somehow in the department. This is how I learned things and stayed connected inside the department. I worked in the equipment rental cage and facilities management as a work-studyon Fridays and weekends. this gave me access to the buildings, equipment, soundstage and productions that I normally wouldn't have had access to. Plus I had to man the desk for everyone which gave me all kinds of experience.
-Don't expect to work with film. I got to dabble in 16mm but everything is digitized now.
-You will learn to love computers even more so. They will own you completely for four years.
-Learn the necessary programs. Especially the editing and processing software. Your school will have a certain program and stick to it. Learn that because it will save your life. I had to spend years with Apple and Final Cut Pro.
-Network! Network! Network! This does have it's limits.
-Get in, get out. I took several AP courses in high school, so with that and my GPA I managed to shave off a whole year of school and get my BFA in three.
-I still maintain that you can learn everything you really need to know about films and filmmaking from studying great and awful films and genuinely reflecting on every single aspect of them. Read every book you can get your hands on. think about the people involved, the culture, the times, read criticism, study the film market, understand the way things are delivered today, understand home video and always keep self educating. I've pieced together all of my knowledge since I was a little kid and so I've gotten to the point where I can't stop. What you find in film school is that no one cares about film itself.
The adage coined by Roger Ebert is still true: "There was a switch from everyone trying to make The Great American Movie to making The great American Hit". Even with so-called "independents" you need to seek distribution and then get your product out there to sell to the masses in the hopes of achieving greater success.
I could turn this into a giant tome of a book, but the gist of what I'm trying to say is this: Film school is necessary these days. It is the thing everybody looks for at the beginning to see if you've proved your worth. For most it is a good learning experience and will usually get you to a better place. For those like me who already have a deep insatiable knowledge and love of the cinema it is a trying and living necessary hell where you will feel absolutely neglected. But if you keep working, you can teach yourself a bit and get that all important degree.
Then the problem is finding a job. That's the big one.
If you've got any other questions Ziggy feel free to ask.
Most importantly, keep watching films. Watch everything you can. As much as possible. New viewings will bring in new insight. And if at all possible watch things on a projector with a large screen and sound system. This will give you a greater connection to the film and allow for better composition. It really opens things up. Really. I used the empty screening rooms every weekend I had free at school, and would just watch all kinds of things.