Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Film School Recommendation

I go to Sheridan College, and it's pretty decent I guess...more for the hands on than the theory though.

As I understand it, Sheridan produces more people on the technical side of things, rather than the above-the-line type people
 
Mark Collins said:
I go to Sheridan College, and it's pretty decent I guess...more for the hands on than the theory though.

As I understand it, Sheridan produces more people on the technical side of things, rather than the above-the-line type people
Click to expand...

i really like the work you did with the arri on your demo reel.. where is sheridan?
 
Steve is probably right, well, at least I went on the tour and I thought it seemed horrible personally. I know several people who went there, they said it was horrible. I went to the LA Film School and I hated it, I quit after 8 weeks, and after that I was self-taught. I thought it was basically a huge waste of money with underqualified teachers and inadequate equipment.

You're better off saving your money and learning on your own, I think, but I know some people need the rigid structure of a film school. In that case, go to a three-year university, I highly recommend USC and Chapman. I know UCLA gets a lot of love, but I don't really see why -- they haven't done anything significant in a decade, but retain a high rating based on past reputation. Haven't seen many talented grads from UCLA in my resume box either. Chapman has a fantastic program, it's top of the line now, amazing facilities and great professors, but USC remains the class of the film school world.
 
UCLA, National Film School in the UK, London International Film School in the UK, I heard there is a great film school in Lodz, Poland too. First one that come to mind but I'm sure there are others. Heard the same thing about New York Film Academy as above. Otherwise look up Dov SS Siemens DVD's, great tutorials on raising cash, casting, directing and all for micro budgets. Course best school is doing it.
 
USC must be special Ron Howard had a very long open discussion on their podcast

i think its a must listen to

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/usc-school-cinematic-arts/id129338675

thanks for the advice ... i heard the same about nyfa



Jonathan L. Bowen said:
Steve is probably right, well, at least I went on the tour and I thought it seemed horrible personally. I know several people who went there, they said it was horrible. I went to the LA Film School and I hated it, I quit after 8 weeks, and after that I was self-taught. I thought it was basically a huge waste of money with underqualified teachers and inadequate equipment.

You're better off saving your money and learning on your own, I think, but I know some people need the rigid structure of a film school. In that case, go to a three-year university, I highly recommend USC and Chapman. I know UCLA gets a lot of love, but I don't really see why -- they haven't done anything significant in a decade, but retain a high rating based on past reputation. Haven't seen many talented grads from UCLA in my resume box either. Chapman has a fantastic program, it's top of the line now, amazing facilities and great professors, but USC remains the class of the film school world.
Click to expand...
 
If you want to go to film school, I would take that as an opportunity to see some new parts of the world. Lodz, as mentioned above, is a very famous film school, as is the one in Prague. The latter one offers summer schools in English, but for the full curriculum you would need to learn Czech first (well, at least that's how it was 10 years ago). The Paris film school is supposed to be great, as is the Berlin one. London (formerly: international) film school was very good up to about the 1980s, got really bad throughout the early 2000s. Now it has a new administration and supposedly has gotten much better again. Sydney is also supposed to be good.

There certainly are many more options than the ones above. Always beware, as there are always some school whose main goal is not to educate their students, but to extract money from them.

Making films is not only about the technicalities, it is also about experience. And by traveling and living in a foreign country, you would gain lots of new experience, widen your horizon and get an international network.
 
Last edited:
York University in Toronto has a good film school
Humber college in Toronto has a good film school
 
chrislancaster said:
i really like the work you did with the arri on your demo reel.. where is sheridan?
Click to expand...

Thanks!

it's in Oakville, ON, about a half hour drive west of Toronto, if you don't get stuck in traffic.
 
I second this question; I'm not competitive for top schools but I'm wondering what good MFAs are available.
 
Last edited:
Take a look at Montana State University in Bozeman. Kind of a well-kept secret among the film schools. Hands-on with a camera your first year, lots of theory and practice mixed in, a solid equipment checkout and great facilities. Has produced talent such as Brian Van't Hul, Jon Johnson, Ed Jones, and has a huge network of alum in LA, NY, and DC. Yellowstone's just next door and magic hour is two hours long.

Also has a 3-yr MFA program for Science and Natural History Filmmaking, founded by Nat Geo and Discovery.

Both programs are very competitive and relatively small, allowing for plenty of equipment for each student.

Take a look: http://mta.montana.edu/
 
Last edited:
Both of MSU's programs are fall enrollment only, but I believe the undergraduate program is still accepting applications.
 
I already have a BA (which is completely worthless), unfortunately. I'll look into them for next fall, though.
 
Savannah College of Art and Design.

Rolling admissions.

Pretty expensive, and now getting quite crowded. All the same, they've got a lot of great equipment and facilities, and some good faculty members.

Ultimately, (and I imagine this will be true for most any school you choose to attend) it's up to you to remain driven, to push yourself to create and strive and learn from many mistakes...that's the best aspect of film school in my opinion: you're allowed to make mistakes without fear of losing your head or damaging your career. The other aspect, which can be favorable or unfavorable, is the networking and creative partnerships that take place in such an environment.

I went to SCAD for my MFA, and personally left with a lot of knowledge, but maybe half of that was from classroom...the really great thing about the school was that we were always making stuff, which I would think is better than a school that is mostly theory-based (of course, that depends entirely on what you already know going into the program).

I've heard good things about University of Texas (Austin)...good resources, great city, but very small class size, IIRC, so not so easy to get in.

Hope this helps,
Clint
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top