schools in california

[Peter Weisberg]

I am thinking about moving out west next year and am looking to apply to schools in california.

So far i've been looking at UC Santa Cruz, UC San Fancisco, and U Southern Cali.

can anyone shed some light on the film programs offered at these schools, how they compare. I know a lot of the best schools might be in LA, but i really don't like LA as much and would perfer a smaller cleaner city. So if you know anything about any of the above schools, or just other good film schools in california please post.

 

[Tanner Stauss]

Take a look at the curriculum for Brooks Institute in Ventura, CA. Great school. I graduated from there and recommend it for any technical oriented film student. It's also a great school for directors and writers. They have a great hands on mentality. The first day of class you are required to come with a camera, whereas other schools you won't touch a camera until after the first year. It is a 3-year, year round school and is located in a nice little town, Ventura, which is about 1 hour north of LA. It's sounds like a perfect location for you. I loved it for the same reason, nice little beach town, close to LA, but not LA.

I am not sure about the programs so much at the other schools, but I do know most of them spend about a year just teaching film theory and not really actually shooting anything. Once again, thats the great part about Brooks, you are shooting stuff on your first day.

Now, it is expensive, but if you are looking at schools in that range, it's not much more than some of the top schools in LA.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Stephen Lovett]

Hi Peter,

PM me or respond here with more of what your goals are and I can provide some guidance.

I've attended USC, live about half an hour from UCSC, and am is Santa Cruz regularly. I have lived in Ventura (Westlake Village) and done some workshops at Brooks. (The Brooks campus is really lovely, and I miss the Natural Cafe Tanner)

The short summary is, it really depends on what you think you want to do.

The other key factor is will you be happy living there for four years.

I think USC has a fine program, but I'd think long and hard before I let one of my daughters attend there. The area around the school is flat out dangerous.

You should travel out and visit all the places you are considering. My daughter had Cornell about third on her list until we visited all the schools, and then it was number one. You really can't tell until you get there and interact with the students and teachers.

Other schools that you might consider are UCLA and Chapman.

Steve

 

[donatello b]

UC santa cruz does not offer a film program like USC/UCLA ...
if you are planning to make Doc's SF State has a nice program ...if planning to make "art films " then maybe UC santa cruz would work ...
so depending on what type projects you want to make/work on = that does affect the school one would recommend to you ..
IE: if you want to work in the "movie business" like hollywood movies then go to USC, UCLA, American Film institute which are all in LA area ... UC santa cruz has nothing/no connections to hollywood type productions and IMO would be a waste of Time & $$ ....

 

[Zack Birlew]

I'm attending Chapman University's program right now. I would say you should hold off on Chapman, it needs 3-5 years to develop, if not more. There's a lot of people squeezing their heads and thinking this whole digital thing is going to go away. Plus there's a lot of bias towards the directing program with the way their running things at the moment. UCLA, USC, AFI, any of those would be a better choice at the moment. Oh, by the way, there is no backlot at Chapman, that's quite a few years off. They're flat out lying about that on their website so just take that as you will. Also, they have production sound stages but so does the Los Angeles Film School, don't let that sway you either.

USC is expanding big time from everything I've been hearing. But the neighborhood is still a big problem which you'll have to decide whether you can deal with or not. Otherwise, UCLA is still a mighty fine school with AFI, the pickiest of the bunch, being the "try it and see" school everyone applies to.

 

[Tanner Stauss]

Stephen makes some great points. It definitely helps to know what field and genre you would like to work in. How much knowledge/experience do you have with the industry? Do you know what you want to do? That will really help sway your decision and the suggestions we can give you.

 

[Craig Ryan]

I'm at San Francisco State University right now; the main caution is that with State budget cuts, getting into production courses is a lot harder right now.

For undergrad work in the advanced production level during your Senior year, there is only one course focused on cinematography, which I applied to for the fall. There are of course other areas of focus in the advanced level, but I'm assuming since you're posting here you have an interest in cinematography; if that's the case I'd suggest looking elsewhere. While SFSU definitely has a well rounded program for a State school, I wouldn't recommend it to someone who's main interest is cinematography. If you're looking to get a reputable well rounded film education on the less expensive side, I'd strongly encourage you check out the program here.

Worthy of mention: Francis Ford Coppola came and spoke here a few weeks ago; I was unlucky and didn't get to attend unfortunately.

 

[Peter Weisberg]

hey everyone, thanks for the advice so far. To clarify a bit further I am looking to go into more independent film making. My hope is to handle all aspects of production from writing to directing to editing to scoring. I'm not too interested in breaking into the hollywood market as much and would rather not get caught in the madness that is hollywood. I would definitely like something more production based, but really as long as the professors actually know what they are talking about i would be happy. You wouldn't believe how many idiots they have teaching out here. it can be somewhat frustrating. I'm in the honors film program right now and its like a step up from a high school class.

I am coming out to california this july which if i'm not mistaken is the only month you can apply for winter semester in the state schools, and i was hoping to check out a few schools so all this information has been incredibly helpful so far.

also i just would like to note that I visited santa cruz a few years ago and had a blast there, which is what put them on my list. Did anyone here go there, or know how their program rates? SFSU sounded pretty interesting as well, are there are a good share of producton classes?

 

[Rick Darge]

Trojans! USC was a great school & it's not all (University of Spoiled Children) The film professors are top notch and most have major street cred. They have guest professors and speakers (my old roommate took an acting class taught by Jason Alexander(Seinfeld)). They buy the best tools and have just recently added a new redesigned wing of the film school. George Lucas donated $180 million for its construction. The general education classes at USC were fine. I wish I spent 2 years there rather 4 but if you're young and want to go through a 4 year program and are able to get financial aid or scholarships to pay for your school, there's no better place to go through. The campus is really beautiful too and doesn't feel like you're actually in Los Angeles. If you're afraid of the neighborhood, there's always Campus Cruiser! Or a bike? It's not really that bad if you're smart.

**just checked recent tuition, $27,000 per year.. ouch. More than the cost of 2 red cameras

 

[Chad Lancaster]

I went to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for still photography. Film program was good from what my friends have said. Sallie Mae will definitely own your soul for the rest of your life but whatcha gonna do..

 

[Stephen Lovett]

If you're afraid of the neighborhood, there's always Campus Cruiser! Or a bike? It's not really that bad if you're smart.

Hi Richard,

I respectfully, but strongly disagree.

I was there last summer for a production intensive, so my experience is pretty current.

On the bike, I had one for the first two weeks I was there, then it was stolen. They didn't bother with the individual bikes. During broad daylight in a campus parking lot, they took a blow torch to the rack and took all the bikes in the rack.

So good luck with the bike.

In the eight weeks I was there, three fellow students were robbed at gunpoint. One of those was... wait for it, waiting for the campus cruiser outside my dorm room on orchard and 30th.

This was at nine at night. Not the wee hours of the morning.

I had a gun pointed at me while I was in my car at the taco bell on Figueroa about six pm one evening as the group in the other car left the drive in. You can throw a rock and hit the Zemeckis center from there.

there were three campus area rapes in the eight week period I was there.

This doesn't include the little stuff like the three friends cars that were broken into etc. etc.

More to the point, Bryan Richard Frost a film student was shot and killed a block from Campus the month after I left.

It's the only place I've lived where the grocery stores have multiple armed guards outside, and armed drivers provide minibus transportation to the surrounding community so they will be willing to come and do their grocery shopping at Ralphs after six.

It is objectively dangerous.

You can make it work, . But its a serious enough situation that it shouldn't be casually dismissed.

And in case you harbor the notion that it's magically got better since last summer, I'd point out that I'm still get incident reports to my usc mailbox, because I'm still officially a student.

How about this from Monday:

Date: May 4th, 2009

To: USC University Park Community

From: Department of Public Safety

Re: Incident Resolution Notices

In an effort to better communicate with the campus community about
public safety issues, we are pleased to provide the following Incident
Resolution Notice.

Notices of this nature detail instances in which DPS and/or LAPD have
been able to bring a resolution to reported illegal acts affecting our
community members. We look forward to providing you with more updates
of this nature.

Incident: Robbery
Date: 4/24/09 - 8:24 PM
Location: 36th Place & Catalina Ave. Los Angeles, CA. (Off
Campus).

Description: A female employee of the university was approached by a
male suspect who brandished a firearm, demanded her property and when
she screamed, pushed her to the ground and struck her in the head with
the weapon. The suspect then fled from the location with the victim’s
property.
Disposition: Based upon investigative leads obtained from DPS
officers along with the victim, the suspect was arrested by LAPD. The
victim was subsequently able to positively identify the suspect from a
photo line-up. This suspect may be responsible for similar crimes in the
area during the past two weeks.

Sincerely,

USC Department of Public Safety


My $.02

Steve

 

[Joseph Ward]

I am thinking about moving out west next year and am looking to apply to schools in california.

So far i've been looking at UC Santa Cruz, UC San Fancisco, and U Southern Cali.

can anyone shed some light on the film programs offered at these schools, how they compare. I know a lot of the best schools might be in LA, but i really don't like LA as much and would perfer a smaller cleaner city. So if you know anything about any of the above schools, or just other good film schools in california please post.

If you want to double major, or have a minor in something else, or build a network, or use equipment that you may not afford to learn to use right now, then go to some good reputable school like UCLA, USC, ect. Best of luck to you!

 

[Rick Darge]

It's definitely not like Westwood's UCLA campus but I guess it's just horses for courses. None of my close friends were ever robbed or attacked and during my entire 4 years there, I never had a problem. That's to say that there aren't problems there, they just weren't my experience fortunately. North of campus is a lot better than south of. Anyway, if you get on campus housing, then you don't have to worry as much. USC campus is pretty damn safe IMO.

Hi Richard,

I respectfully, but strongly disagree.

I was there last summer for a production intensive, so my experience is pretty current.

On the bike, I had one for the first two weeks I was there, then it was stolen. They didn't bother with the individual bikes. During broad daylight in a campus parking lot, they took a blow torch to the rack and took all the bikes in the rack.

So good luck with the bike.

In the eight weeks I was there, three fellow students were robbed at gunpoint. One of those was... wait for it, waiting for the campus cruiser outside my dorm room on orchard and 30th.

This was at nine at night. Not the wee hours of the morning.

I had a gun pointed at me while I was in my car at the taco bell on Figueroa about six pm one evening as the group in the other car left the drive in. You can throw a rock and hit the Zemeckis center from there.

there were three campus area rapes in the eight week period I was there.

This doesn't include the little stuff like the three friends cars that were broken into etc. etc.

More to the point, Bryan Richard Frost a film student was shot and killed a block from Campus the month after I left.

It's the only place I've lived where the grocery stores have multiple armed guards outside, and armed drivers provide minibus transportation to the surrounding community so they will be willing to come and do their grocery shopping at Ralphs after six.

It is objectively dangerous.

You can make it work, . But its a serious enough situation that it shouldn't be casually dismissed.

And in case you harbor the notion that it's magically got better since last summer, I'd point out that I'm still get incident reports to my usc mailbox, because I'm still officially a student.

How about this from Monday:

Date: May 4th, 2009

To: USC University Park Community

From: Department of Public Safety

Re: Incident Resolution Notices

In an effort to better communicate with the campus community about
public safety issues, we are pleased to provide the following Incident
Resolution Notice.

Notices of this nature detail instances in which DPS and/or LAPD have
been able to bring a resolution to reported illegal acts affecting our
community members. We look forward to providing you with more updates
of this nature.

Incident: Robbery
Date: 4/24/09 - 8:24 PM
Location: 36th Place & Catalina Ave. Los Angeles, CA. (Off
Campus).

Description: A female employee of the university was approached by a
male suspect who brandished a firearm, demanded her property and when
she screamed, pushed her to the ground and struck her in the head with
the weapon. The suspect then fled from the location with the victim’s
property.
Disposition: Based upon investigative leads obtained from DPS
officers along with the victim, the suspect was arrested by LAPD. The
victim was subsequently able to positively identify the suspect from a
photo line-up. This suspect may be responsible for similar crimes in the
area during the past two weeks.

Sincerely,

USC Department of Public Safety


My $.02

Steve

 

[Peter Weisberg]

Right now i'm going to school in Detroit so I'm used to the not safest of conditions, but that's also part of what i don't like about the school I go to (wayne state) I'd rather be in more of a college town atmosphere than an urban city, which is what really caught my eye about Santa Cruz. I'm also a big fan of the bay area and even further north. My main concern is that if i go to a school outside the LA area will i still be able to receive a top notch film education. Maybe not to the same standards as a school based out of LA but enough to acquaint me with a real work flow experience and prepare me for actual work (something i feel the education I have been receiving is not really preparing me for).

 

[Stephen Lovett]

It's definitely not like Westwood's UCLA campus but I guess it's just horses for courses. None of my close friends were ever robbed or attacked and during my entire 4 years there, I never had a problem. That's to say that there aren't problems there, they just weren't my experience fortunately. North of campus is a lot better than south of. Anyway, if you get on campus housing, then you don't have to worry as much. USC campus is pretty damn safe IMO.

It's a fine program. The new Lucas center was under construction when I was there, so I haven't had a chance to see it in action yet, and the school is investing heavily in the cinema arts program.

During the course of the year a lot more of the campus services would be available, and if you could stick to the campus proper, I'd agree that it is more likely that you could avoid some of the problems.

But even a block away where some of the dorms are (North of Jefferson, the Zemeckis center) etc, it gets pretty dicey.

Frankly the "if you're smart" comment bugged me. I don't think that uniformly all of the people who've gotten robbed, raped, killed are all idiots. I've known some of these people. Certainly there are the incautious few, but most were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, and they chose to go to a school where it is objectively far more likely to happen than it is at a lot of other schools.

If I were to attend again, I'd live off campus and drive in. Yes traffic would be a hassle, but as you state, just five miles west or particularly north, and your into MUCH better territory.

Having said that, my USC mailbox gets an awful lot of bad news. Another student was killed just a couple of weeks back.

Thus my advice to Pete to visit all the institutions he is considering.

Steve

 

[Andrew Kimery]

Right now i'm going to school in Detroit so I'm used to the not safest of conditions, but that's also part of what i don't like about the school I go to (wayne state) I'd rather be in more of a college town atmosphere than an urban city, which is what really caught my eye about Santa Cruz. I'm also a big fan of the bay area and even further north. My main concern is that if i go to a school outside the LA area will i still be able to receive a top notch film education. Maybe not to the same standards as a school based out of LA but enough to acquaint me with a real work flow experience and prepare me for actual work (something i feel the education I have been receiving is not really preparing me for).

Honestly, no school is going to do that for you. People care about your work experience not where, or even if, you graduated from college. The best thing you can do in school is get internships or part time jobs at near by post or production facilities and/or crew some real gigs whenever you can (even if it's just as a PA). IMO instead of paying for a big name school take that money, put it in the bank and label it "post graduation living expenses" because living in LA or SF or NY isn't cheap and being able to sustain yourself there is the first step to getting a job there.


-A