Anyone had experiences with NYFA?

[Andrew Ravani]

Alternates to NYFA

Alternates to NYFA

Hi - I work in NY mostly, and I've taught film (cinematography, directing and production) here and in Atlanta.

I have had quite a number of students from NYFA on my sets, as well as some from the other local schools, and quite a few more that came from a non traditional background through workshops and mentoring. The best ones I have had - that knew the most about on set mechanics and had a great working ethic - came from workshops (Maine Photographic, SVA, Cooper Union, Full Sail) and had spent some time on set as PA's.

I highly recommend the Maine Photographic Workshops and Full Sail in Florida. They both have developed excellent local and international relationships with equipment houses and excellent instructors, and they both have a wide range of offerings that lead to a solid foundation in fundamentals bolstered by some learning in more specific areas such as visual effects, special effects, and nature cinematography.

Also - being Swiss - you should try and see who is Swiss and working as a cinematographer and see if you can work under them as an assistant. This would probably be far more valuable to you in the long run. PM me if you are interested in this (I know a few fairly prominent Swiss DP's).
Best of luck!
Drew

 

[Antoine Baumann]

You guys have no idea what it's like to live in a movie-free country like Switzerland. We have no sense for good entertainment and hence no film schools or rental shops nearby. If you want to make movies here you usually apply for some state funds (no kidding) or try to push the most out of ur cheap material and live in the underground.
We have a regular short-film festival in my town, big thing here LOL. I went 1 evening a few years ago and man you wouldn't believe the horros I have seen there. I felt so ashamed to be swiss. So it is kinda vital for me to go to where the flavour is.
:emote_head_explode:

Not on topic, but...

Hi Patrcik, I think you are not 100% right about swiss movie. I think they are technically very good, but the main problem IMHO is the stroy writing, dialogue and so on.
State funds are a minority part of the fundings and you dont have to ask for it, you can do like in the US, find only private funds that are normally only interest in making money.

cheers,
antoine.

 

[Nick Stewart]

Though it's been awhile since anyone's commented here...

http://www.NYFAsucks.blogspot.com

The name says it all, but the site says the facts.

--
Nick Stewart (waitin' on my name change)

 

[James Howard]

Don't go near nyfa

Don't go near nyfa

A little bit late to reply to this thread but ....
I work at nyfa , its not where you want to be if you want to learn to be a professional film maker , there are only campusus in NY,LA and Abu Dhabi, the rest are summer courses run for a couple weeks (I think london is a sort of co-operative mission but I am not sure).

Alot of us work really hard but get totally boned by the Administration ,the students are really the ones losing out while the school makes a retarded amount of money.If they change their tune then good on them , but do yourselves a favour and put some money into a well planned short movie and apply to NYU's program.

Best wishes and Regards
James Howard

 

[Adam Beck]

I have not attended NYFA, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I did take a tour of the LA campus back in October and felt that is was not the right place for me. My advice is that if you have the means to travel to different schools, then do it. You will find why some schools are better than others. You will get your answers then. Taking a trip in the long run will save you time, money and a little bit of frustration. In the end, no program is perfect, but some are much better than others.