by
Arriflex74
»
Wed Jan 11 2017 07:40:31 Flag ▼ |
Reply |
IMDb member since May 2006
Well I would like to save money for actually making movies so I really don't want to leave the country and be in debt on student loans. Everyone I talked to who is says they regretted doing it.
That is everyone's dream, to just make their own movies. The problem is that if you don't know how to learn from your mistakes, you're just going to keep throwing your money away on bad projects that don't improve.
You also don't have to leave the country to get an education. I linked to Canadian film programs. All I was trying to show you is that not all film programs are the same. You have to do the investigating and ask the critical questions about what you want from a film program, what the program offers and value for money.
You said that 6 months is not enough, yet 15 months is, in comparison? What is the approximate minimum do you think when looking into programs?
It isn't a quantifiable variable. It all depends on the program, but less than a year is a waste of time and money in my experience. It takes time to learn this craft, and you are always learning. Film school gives you the fundamentals of the medium and the start of a skill-set that you take out into the world and expand upon.
What you need to look at is; how is the program structured, how many sets do you get to work on, what is the programs emphasis, what is the quality of the gear, facilities and faculty, and how many of the alumni are working in the industry.
Here's the thing about film school, it really exposes you to the different jobs on set. At FSU we had a class of 22 students, about 18 said they wanted to be directors at the start of their coursework. Half-way through, only about 8 remained on track for directing. All the rest of us realized we preferred either cinematography, editing, sound design or producing to directing. While there I directed 3 short films, produced 4, edited 4 and shot 8, while being crew in various position on about 100 others.
I was thinking about what you said about "note taking time is minimal". I also talked to the guy who ran the school, and I asked him if they go into teaching how to budget your filmmaking much... He said that they can modify the course so I do learn budgeting, but "most students fall asleep when it comes to learning budgeting though". This statement also made me feel like I wasn't being totally sold on the program as well.
That speaks volumes about the program, but it speaks louder to the caliber of student that goes to this program. IF they have to modify the program to teach you the basics, then walk away.
Never go with a hippy to a second location.
