Student Advice

[Eric S.]

Hey RED Community,

I'm a undergrad production student getting ready to graduate and I was hoping to get some feedback here on a few topics. Fear not, I've already read some past threads about film schools, registered with StudentFilmmakers.com, talked to my advisers, and so forth. Still, it's always nice to get some fresh insight. Here goes:

1. I'm planning on volunteering a year before pursuing my career and am considering a program at an arts center in Albuquerque teaching media production to special education students.

A) Does anyone know of opportunities I could pursue in Albuquerque (part-time) to improve my craft? If I had been volunteering this year, I totally would've ninja'd my way into Book of Eli shoots...

B) Does anyone know of other service opportunities where I could employ my media skillset? My search has centered on AmeriCorps programs and I've only found a couple.

2. After service, I'm considering more education. I'm looking at both traditional film schools and more vocational-esque programs with feature-length film experience. I'm particularly interested in cinematography, writing, directing, though I'm not yet fixed on any one path. I know this is general, but any insight? Film school vs. feature-length work experience?

3. Besides Craigslist and ProductionHub, any tips for finding entry-level production opportunities?

This community that Jim and Co. have founded is really pretty awesome, and I appreciate any tips you guys (and gals) can provide. Thanks.

Eric

 

[Zack Birlew]

If you can get into one of the top film schools (NYU, AFI, UCLA, USC need only apply) then do it. Otherwise you're better off taking what you know and going onto shoots and internships.

I hope you notice I didn't mention Chapman film school in that lineup. Little by little I'm learning that Chapman film school is a terrible school for film, especially as a graduate film school which is really just the undergraduate program anyway but segregated into different tracks (ie. Director, Cinematographer, Screenwriter, etc.). Maybe if you were an undergraduate Chapman would be great but, as it is, as a graduate, if you're confident enough in your abilities, go ahead and apply for internships and crew work. If you still want school, like I said, apply to the top schools only and hope you get in and, if not, fall back to Plan A.

 

[Eric S.]

Thanks for the reply. I think I might be leaning that way right now (hoping to strike it rich, but preparing in case I don't). I'm guessing you or your friends have experience with Chapman? What do you regret about the program? Or, more generally, what do you feel separates the experience of a premiere film school from mid-tier schools?

 

[Zack Birlew]

Well here's some problems:

1. The school is filled with new technology but the education part is too old school. Granted, there are some things they'll teach that are never old, such as rundowns on crew positions, preproduction techniques, etc. But some assignments are required to be 16mm film and, apparently, I'm the only person who has ever asked to film on digital instead, still haven't gotten a final answer on that, nobody seems to know what to do. But this goes to show, even if you had a RED, there is a possibility that they would still want you to work on their busted old 16mm cameras. Nobody has thought to think ahead with these assignments. Maybe they need an update?

2. Production equipment is rather tame. State of the art? Not hardly. The school has a dolly setup, a small 16mm lens selection, generic lighting equipment and fixture choices, HVX200's at most for digital film production, and a few 35mm cameras for thesis work. This weekend my group was supposed to film with an HVX200 but we got it and it was busted pretty good. I've never agreed with the policy that we have to check the equipment ourselves, maybe at a rental facility it could be like that because there is so much equipment to go through, but it shouldn't be like this at a school. Most of the time the equipment room people are standing around waiting for someone to come in, one or two of them could be in the back checking the equipment as it comes in.

3. The facilities are great but there are a lot of mistakes. The "studio backlot" at Chapman is really just the one film building. It has some sound stages to do greenscreen shoots and some pretty comprehensive set work but the rooms are just too small to be called a "backlot" and that's a shame because all they really needed was about twenty feet on each side and that would have been so much better. The classrooms are pretty small too, either that or the wrong classrooms are being selected for certain courses. Either the classroom is packed to the gills or it's almost empty.

4. The school doesn't have any PR. There are people in Orange County who have never even heard of Chapman or its film program. So, how are we supposed to get locations as film students if the people think we're just some small-time film program? The marketing for the school is very deceptive, it's not as nice and prestigious as they make it sound. For instance, there was a casting session recently that had to be in the Hollywood area and we were told not to mention that we were based in Orange until after the actors auditioned. Granted, it is a drive to Orange sometimes but maybe if there was a little more oomph in the PR then actors would be more willing to make the drive.

5. There is no funding for films, at least so I've heard. The cycle projects Chapman holds are given only $900 and $500 has to be spent on food. I've heard that they are also requiring students to do inventory on what they order for everyone just so the school can approve their choices. So what? If we save $150 by getting McDonald's for everyone does that mean we owe the school $150? It doesn't make sense. Thesis projects are worse off I hear and nobody knows how much they get yet, it may even be a by-project basis.

6. The school also tosses too many requirments at you. How are you supposed to make any films on your own if you have tons of papers and other homework to do? See, what they're doing is effectively killing your reel because you will be limited to only the few projects they assign. It may be better in the second and third years but this first year has instilled a lot of bad attitudes about the program with many people, especially how the cycle project crew positions are handled. Already I have been through at least three or four film projects that have been complete wastes of time when I could have been out, using this valuable time, to make a really good film. The 3-2-1 exercise we're doing right now is supposed to be 3 pages, two characters, 1 location. They don't take into account writing style or anything like that, so you might as well write three pages of straight dialogue if you hope to have anything really developed, or at least have a great visual movie or, really, just a great short idea but we needed to have these ideas by the end of the first semester practically because they just dump you right in once the second semester starts.

7. There's a touch of hazing too. The cycle projects are projects that are done by the second and third year students. This is a graduate program-only thing. As a first year, you have to serve as crew and usually that means grip work. Only a few lucky people get positions that are relative to their program but that's just it, it's only a few lucky people. While gripping, I and many other students have been met with hazing-like behavior. We're basically treated like dirt by the AD or Producer or just the other head crew members in general. It's always somehow our fault that something went wrong and, strangely, at least one of these head crew members comes along and asks if you want to be there and that it would be okay if you left. Left? Left to do what? Get an "F" in the class and have to take it all over again? Unbelievable!

8. You are in a graduate program but not everyone is a graduate film student. Yes, there are going to be people that have never done anything in film before, not even a minor in college. So, it may actually be these people that instill this weird behavior on the cycle projects because many second and third years think that all the first years don't know anything about film and are basically cattle. I've majored in film, I have a lot more experience and knowledge than many of the students at the school, even third years, but that isn't taken into account at all, I'm a first year grad student and at Chapman's film school that means I'm a newbie.

9. Locations are incredibly hard to find, even in Orange! Right around the corner, or more accurately, right up the street from the film school is the Orange Plaza which is just a great looking location to film in and it was perfect for a project I had last semester. When I tried to secure the location, I found that it was practically the most protected town square in California. The "vendors" don't want anyone to film there because they're afraid that it will hurt their business. Well, save for the Radio Shack, all that's there is old antique stores and a diner or two. It's not impossible to get but you have to go through a process to get a permit to film and then you have to negotiate for the right to film in the square. They also have cut off times so you need to watch your calendar and make sure there isn't some event going on. For me, it turned out that they closed off the square for all filming from Thanksgiving all the way to January, just right when I needed to film. The thought was that Christmas was the busiest time for the square but I didn't notice a difference. Heck they hardly even decorated save for a blow up snowman and one tree. I basically had to guerilla film my scene in front of the tree and I wasn't bothered at all. I even told them that I planned to film at night when the stores were closed and still, it didn't make a difference. Other areas I called gave an immediate "No" even though I was working for their interests by being as unobstructive as possible, didn't make a difference. Okay, I would understand if these places I wanted to film were in Disneyland, but you have a big film school right up the street, you've got to figure that the students are going to want to film in the area, why not be more open? Other projects called for other locations and the same thing happened, nobody knew about the program or didn't want filming of any kind. Heck, Las Vegas was more inviting for film than this place and Orange is right next to Hollywood! Unbelievable!

10. You may not actually get your negatives back. I'm not sure about the 3-2-1 assignment but on the last 16mm project we did, which was silent, we didn't get our negative back and the transfer looked like a $5 telecine. The files were SD and were just awful looking. That's not going on my reel I can tell you that much. The fear now is that the same thing will happen to the 3-2-1 assignments and that's why I'm pushing for the school to let me film with my Nikon D90 because at least it will look better than the 16mm telecine they might get me and with no guarantee I'll get my negative back to do a better transfer later. It may not matter to the school whether my 16mm projects will be reel worthy but, you have to think, maybe it never did. The thought is that working on film will teach you about planning and rehearsing your shots and teach you about economics of shooting choices. But this is the digital age, we have digital cards now, 16mm film isn't going to be relevant for the majority of work we're going to get. We can film all day for less than $20 per card. Why would the school limit us to an old process when even the industry doesn't work that way anymore?

 

[Stephen Lovett]

FWIW USC is very similar

FWIW USC is very similar

Well here's some problems:

1. The school is filled with new technology but the education part is too old school.

2. Production equipment is rather tame. State of the art? Not hardly.

3. The facilities are great but there are a lot of mistakes. The "studio backlot" at Chapman is really just the one film building.

4. The school doesn't have any PR. There are people in Orange County who have never even heard of Chapman or its film program. So, how are we supposed to get locations as film students if the people think we're just some small-time film program? The marketing for the school is very deceptive, it's not as nice and prestigious as they make it sound. For instance, there was a casting session recently that had to be in the Hollywood area and we were told not to mention that we were based in Orange until after the actors auditioned. Granted, it is a drive to Orange sometimes but maybe if there was a little more oomph in the PR then actors would be more willing to make the drive.

5. There is no funding for films, at least so I've heard. The cycle projects Chapman holds are given only $900 and $500 has to be spent on food. I've heard that they are also requiring students to do inventory on what they order for everyone just so the school can approve their choices. So what? If we save $150 by getting McDonald's for everyone does that mean we owe the school $150? It doesn't make sense. Thesis projects are worse off I hear and nobody knows how much they get yet, it may even be a by-project basis.

6. The school also tosses too many requirments at you. How are you supposed to make any films on your own if you have tons of papers and other homework to do? See, what they're doing is effectively killing your reel because you will be limited to only the few projects they assign. It may be better in the second and third years but this first year has instilled a lot of bad attitudes about the program with many people, especially how the cycle project crew positions are handled. Already I have been through at least three or four film projects that have been complete wastes of time when I could have been out, using this valuable time, to make a really good film. The 3-2-1 exercise we're doing right now is supposed to be 3 pages, two characters, 1 location. They don't take into account writing style or anything like that, so you might as well write three pages of straight dialogue if you hope to have anything really developed, or at least have a great visual movie or, really, just a great short idea but we needed to have these ideas by the end of the first semester practically because they just dump you right in once the second semester starts.

7. There's a touch of hazing too. The cycle projects are projects that are done by the second and third year students. This is a graduate program-only thing. As a first year, you have to serve as crew and usually that means grip work. Only a few lucky people get positions that are relative to their program but that's just it, it's only a few lucky people. While gripping, I and many other students have been met with hazing-like behavior. We're basically treated like dirt by the AD or Producer or just the other head crew members in general. It's always somehow our fault that something went wrong and, strangely, at least one of these head crew members comes along and asks if you want to be there and that it would be okay if you left. Left? Left to do what? Get an "F" in the class and have to take it all over again? Unbelievable!

8. You are in a graduate program but not everyone is a graduate film student. Yes, there are going to be people that have never done anything in film before, not even a minor in college. So, it may actually be these people that instill this weird behavior on the cycle projects because many second and third years think that all the first years don't know anything about film and are basically cattle.

9. Locations are incredibly hard to find, even in Orange! Right around the corner, or more accurately, right up the street from the film school is the Orange Plaza which is just a great looking location to film in and it was perfect for a project I had last semester. When I tried to secure the location, I found that it was practically the most protected town square in California. The "vendors" don't want anyone to film there because they're afraid that it will hurt their business. Well, save for the Radio Shack, all that's there is old antique stores and a diner or two. It's not impossible to get but you have to go through a process to get a permit to film and then you have to negotiate for the right to film in the square. They also have cut off times so you need to watch your calendar and make sure there isn't some event going on. For me, it turned out that they closed off the square for all filming from Thanksgiving all the way to January, just right when I needed to film. The thought was that Christmas was the busiest time for the square but I didn't notice a difference. Heck they hardly even decorated save for a blow up snowman and one tree. I basically had to guerilla film my scene in front of the tree and I wasn't bothered at all. I even told them that I planned to film at night when the stores were closed and still, it didn't make a difference. Other areas I called gave an immediate "No" even though I was working for their interests by being as unobstructive as possible, didn't make a difference. Okay, I would understand if these places I wanted to film were in Disneyland, but you have a big film school right up the street, you've got to figure that the students are going to want to film in the area, why not be more open? Other projects called for other locations and the same thing happened, nobody knew about the program or didn't want filming of any kind. Heck, Las Vegas was more inviting for film than this place and Orange is right next to Hollywood! Unbelievable!

10. You may not actually get your negatives back. I'm not sure about the 3-2-1 assignment but on the last 16mm project we did, which was silent, we didn't get our negative back and the transfer looked like a $5 telecine. The files were SD and were just awful looking.

For what its worth, I did a production intensive at USC last year, and pretty much all of this would apply there as well.

e.g. I wanted to shoot my video project in HD instead of standard def on my own camera. I took intense persistence on my part to get approval through all the layers of red tape to do this, and really didn't have final approval on shoot day.

Early in the program I volunteered my time to help the editing staff come up to speed on HD workflows, and they were not interested. I went ahead and made it work in spite of the fact that a lot of unimportant road blocks were raised. "You have to use the countdown clip from media composer, the final cut one will not work" - uhm yeah, that countdown clip is pretty important stuff in the real world.

A day before my last project a couple of the professors came to me and asked to shoot and edit on a new camera "because I understood this HD stuff." I wanted to pull my hair out, and declined as I just didn't have time to learn a new camera and figure out workflows in one day.

The reason why I was approached with this...

wait for it,

they had ordered new HD cameras, and they hadn't figured out the cameras and workflows yet, and were worried that they didn't have time to do so before the next semester began. They knew this at the time that I'd volunteered to help out early in the program.

I joke not.

I think what you describe here is pretty universal, technology is evolving quickly and it's unrealistic to expect the schools to be on the cutting edge.

I'm going to push back on the 16mm comments though, as shooting 16 made be a better film maker. Being forced to work within the latitude of 16mm B&W negative taught me important lessons about exposure, and really most of the important lessons were technology agnostic. They were about story telling, pacing, working with actors etc.

USC has one huge advantage, once you have a production number, you are a real filmmaker as far as the industry is concerned. I had great turnouts at auditions, no trouble with rental houses, and the insurance policy allowed me to get locations that I probably wouldn't have otherwise.

Chapman has one huge advantage over USC, as at USC the school owns the rights to anything you do there, (this wasn't made to me before I plunked down a five figure number for the program) you can't submit to festivals, post on the web etc. without going through their process, and getting approvals which are not granted for things like Vimeo. I think that's BS. At Chapman you own your film.

Lastly your comment on getting locations is a universal phenomenon. Even with a USC production number I visited over thirty grocery stores and chains before I finally paid more than I could afford to a small mom and pop to get the location for a grand total of three hours. This is just a reality in small productions IMHO.

I'm a mid career professional looking to become a cinematographer, and I'm glad I went. I learned a ton, but a four year or graduate program wasn't a good fit for me.

Since returning the San Francisco bay area, I've had little luck in networking to allow me to volunteer on productions to gain additional experience. L.A. was far better for that. But I'm not giving up!

Hope that helps, and best of luck.

Oh, and leave your credit card at home when you go to filmtools, it's easy to spend the gross national product of Peru at that place if you aren't careful



Steve

 

[Kingslea Bueltel]

The fairer sex chimes in

The fairer sex chimes in

Hey Eric, I recently attended the Vancouver Film School's Film Production program. I'd be happy to discuss my experience with you if you're interested in the pros/cons of a one year course.

And my 2 cents on the 16mm/HD matter: I think shooting film is one of the most compelling reasons to go to a film school. Sure, you're likely to work frequently in digital production upon graduating, but film is such an incredible medium and you should embrace the opportunity to make mistakes and learn it while you're not the one paying for stock, processing, camera rental, etc. Understanding allocation and shooting ratios, and being forced to carefully plan and prioritize are crucial in my opinion. Learning to load, keep proper camera reports, properly expose, work with the lab, and pull focus without a little LCD are experiences that will serve you well if you're interested in a career at camera. And if your school will let you run around with a Bolex and then cut your own footage on a Movieola or a Steenbeck, it's something to be cherished - don't pass that up!

+k

 

[Stephen Lovett]

I think shooting film is one of the most compelling reasons to go to a film school.

+k

Couldn't agree more.

Besides exposure, I'm much more disciplined in my shoots. The cost or film teaches you to plan and execute far better. I'm working in 16mm color on a current project, because I'm still a monitor cripple :whistling:

Good advice!

Steve

 

[Eric S.]

Thank you all for spending the time to post your thoughts. You've really helped give me some solid insight going into this process.

 

[Kingslea Bueltel]

Here comes a big one pt. 1

Here comes a big one pt. 1

Eric-
First, I think you're very smart to take such a thorough approach, it's a big investment of time and money and I hope some of our shared insights will help you make an informed choice for yourself.

Zack gave a very in-depth accounting of issues with his school and they’re all valid and probably opinions held by many others. My own experience was a little different given that VFS is an intensive one year program, rather than a degree-granting institution.

To give some background for my own decision to attend:
In the spring of 2007, I was 140 hours into a double bachelor’s (General Studies and Radio, Television & Film) at the University of North Texas. UNT has a well-respected RTVF department but I was extremely dissatisfied with the program – approx. 80% lectures/theory and 20% actual hands-on filmmaking. While at South by Southwest I wandered by the VFS information booth and spoke at length with the recruiting rep. I had never considered a film program of that nature but I made it a point to look into several options immediately upon my return home from the festival. I checked into AFI, NY Film School, LA Film Academy, Full Sail, etc. VFS was ultimately the most attractive to me in large part because I was more interested in spending a year in Vancouver than in LA, New York, or Orlando. They are all comparable in cost (anywhere from $40,000 to $65,000 per year) and the schools have different term lengths of 1 year, 18 month, or 2 year programs. VFS is only 1 year and was right in the middle, tuition-wise.

I’m going to address some of the points Zach made in his earlier post , because the same issues apply to VFS as well.

1.The year is divided into 6 two month terms. First term is just learning the basics, script formatting, basic cutting on Avid, intro to camera, sound and light gear, aome art direction, etc. VFS shoots 5 rounds of projects for each year/class: HD Documentary, HD Midterm Drama, 16mm Midterm Drama, HD Final Project, Super 16mm Final Project. The docs and all Term 1 and 2 exercises and projects are done on EX-1s. The Midterm and Final HD projects are shot on XDCAM F-335s, the Film projects are filmed with Arriflex SR1s. They use smart slates and 3 or 4 or the rounds are dual system with a dedicated sound crew. You do not have a choice – even if you own your own RED camera, the projects have to be filmed with what the school gives you, no exceptions. I don’t mind this policy at all. Part of it is a level playing field and part of it probably has to do with insurance. Additionally, VFS has a standardized curriculum; how can they certify your mastery of a camera that the instructors and staff may or may not be familiar with? How can they guarantee a film that 7 or 8 students worked on will ever be completed if the school is set up for XDCAM discs and express cards, but you shot your project to P2? There has to be a line drawn somewhere, right?

2.The gear isn’t state of the art, to be sure. I’ve already mentioned the cameras (there are also DVXs and Handycams that students can get pretty easily for their own use, practice, pre-vis, whatever since the school went all HD. I attended in the middle of the SD-HD transition, so it was pretty frustrating for my class at times- few working decks, gear not getting repaired in a timely manner, etc., but it’s apparently running pretty smoothly now. VFS uses Mole Richardson and Arri lights, from 300’s-2Ks and a couple of 15 inch 2 bank Kinos. That’s it. No HMIs, which sucks I guess, but makes total sense: our films are shot unsupervised. They rent us a van and send us out into the world, None of us are electricians and the liability factor goes way up dealing with heavy ballasts and proper power distribution. We got doorway dollies with straight and curved track and a snazzy set of street wheels. Throw in some apple boxes, a few clamps, bead board, and expendables and it’s movie-making time, kids! Whatever we were given, it was always plenty to tell the stories we wanted to tell.

2a. The part about checking your own gear before taking off with it should be standard practice. As soon as you take possession, anything wrong with a light or the camera is now YOUR problem. Showing up on set with improperly working or completely unusable gear is unacceptable. It can mean costly delays and sacrifices for the show, or you may find yourself or your show responsible for replacing it. And sadly, the condition of school gear is pretty representative of the way a lot of rental gear is treated. If you get in the habit of doing it now you’ll make many a producer happy down the road.

3.Our 2 main classrooms are theatres. Which is pretty damn cool when you think about it. There are some crappy general/utility rooms for exams or lectures and 3 studios for cine exercises and workshops. The VFS backlot is downtown Vancouver. Or maybe the roof. We didn’t really have any soundstages or standing sets. You just gotta get out there and beg nice Canadians to let you use their homes and businesses. Or you can book one of the cine classroom/studios in a pinch. Again, it would have been nice to be able to shoot in studio occasionally, but what the hell, it ends up working out just fine for most of us. And I think it prepares you for indie projects; not many super low budgets can build out hangars so it helps to have to figure out a creative way to get your shot in a 6’x6’ bathroom without double shadows or crew in the mirrors. And for the students with their hearts set on producing, it’s definitely good practice to wheel and deal your way into a free location or score donated props/food/music.

4.VFS is a PR machine, so I can’t comment on the unknown factor. I will say at times it can work against you, though. If you’re unknown maybe no one takes you seriously but if you’re a household name, a lot of people think our projects have huge budgets behind them. Makes it extra tough on the hard-bargaining producers.

5.VFS allows $425 for Midterms and $475 for Finals. Students each pitch in some of their own cash (never more that $40 or $50 apiece) to pay for the crafty and catering for the entire cast and crew. It’s fair, so no one really bitches too much. Strike that: we bitch a lot, but we don’t really mean it.

6.Chapman is a 4 year or grad program, correct? VFS doesn’t really have much in the way of homework and written assignments. You have to write a few short scripts, do shot lists, call sheets, production reports, all of the expected stuff. I think we had 3 or 4 two page papers for film genre and theory assigned for the entire year? I’m not sure, I didn’t do one of them. They were semi-optional (according to me, at least). College has papers, tech school doesn’t. That’s why I have a certificate folded up in my file cabinet rather than a diploma on my wall in a $300 frame. I gotta say, I think the 3-2-1 thing sounds kind of cool. I have always sucked at writing poetry, but I appreciate the fact that great poets can express a novel’s worth of thought or emotion in the 14 lines of a sonnet. We have a 10 page limit at VFS. You can write whatever you want but if it’s even one line spilling over onto page 11, it gets tossed in the bin. You’re going to have to deal with limitations in the biz, so it’s good to start finding creative workarounds now.

7.I guess the hazing/seniority/clique crap is everywhere , not just Chapman. But you have to understand that it’s going to be there in the industry, too. You have to pay your dues and prove yourself. This business is all about networking, so that’s a bit of a club by definition. I’m not excusing people at your school who may or may not just be assholes, but they’re a fact of life. At my school, you only work with your own class, so everyone’s pretty much on equal footing. You can volunteer to pa or help other class projects as long as it doesn’t interfere with your class responsibilities, but there’s no extra credit for it. I worked on 8 or 9 shows for 4 other classes and they always treated me like gold. Everyone’s supportive and thankful for the help. Since you’re volunteering rather that having to PA for a grade, they treat you with respect.

8.Certainly there are varying levels of experience and knowledge within each class, but everyone ends up in the same place if they work hard. Thought there are politics and sometimes things don’t always go your way, VFS is predominantly merit based. For the documentary round we pitch in groups of 2, a director and a producer, and out of 14 groups 6 of them got to make their films. Ditto with the narrative projects, except it’s a solo pitch. You write a script, you and 25 or 26 others pitch. 6 midterms and 6 finals are chosen. If you don’t want to write or pitch, you don’t have to. You have to take a written test and a practical to qualify as a DP there. Everyone has to bust their ass if they really want something, and it elevates the dynamic and the product in the end.

9.See #3.

10.We had really good experiences with Technicolor doing all of our processing. VFS encourages the DPs to communicate with the lab techs directly, so if something’s screwed up, it’s out own fault for not being clear. And we got to do amazing sessions with DaVinci colorists. I think the Technicolor visits were some of my favorite learning excursions. You don’t automatically get a film print of your project, but you can order a dupe at your own cost if you really want one.

 

[Kingslea Bueltel]

the big one pt. 2

the big one pt. 2

So, some big differences between Chapman and VFS, right? The biggest being a degree versus a certificate. But there are a lot of similarities as well. I will absolutely admit that at times during my studies I was absolutely ready to strangle some of my instructors, administrators and classmates. And I still have some problems with the approach they take at times or decisions they made. My real teeth-gnashing thing came from the fact that my admissions advisor completely lied to me about nearly every aspect of what to expect. From the average class makeup (I’m a 27 year old woman, I found myself surrounded by 19 and 20 year old boys, for the most part) to advising me not to bring my car to telling me we shoot 35mm (that was a pretty big one, but que sera). And surprise! They don’t have any career placement or counseling...but I’m doing ok on own. Sometimes I still get all twitchy thinking of the ways I was misinformed or mislead. And it was all little things that ultimately didn’t really matter to my overall experience, but they still rankle a bit. I also don’t think my advisor did it out of any intent to trick me into anything. I think she was just an idiot.

No matter how frustrated I got with policy or politics or limitations imposed by the school, I refused to let it poison my time there. My favorite thing about the VFS program is that everyone goes through the same thing. There is no career-specific track; every student takes directing, writing, producing, cine, sound, art direction, post, and even ADing. There are film history and theory classes, but they’re up to you to attend. Because of that there’s a bond with the class, and while it is competitive, it’s also comforting and familial. I tried to take part in everything available and it resulted in VFS being one of the greatest years of my life. I made truly talented, incredible friends and I found a new love: camera work. So even though there were disappointments and sometimes circuitous routes, I still managed to land in the exact place I wanted to be when I first began researching film schools.

So after all of this long-windedness, it all comes down to this: Wherever you go, you will get out of it exactly what you put into it. If you hear that a school two states over shoots 35mm and RED, complain for 3 minutes to get it out of your system and then go make a kick ass short film with what ever is available to you.

 

[Noah Kadner]

I heard there was a film school on the way for Albuquerque too- that's another option. New Mexico happens to be experiencing an ever increasing production boom because of the tax laws. I'm from there and went to USC way back in the day because there wasn't another option. But at this point you may be a in great spot already.

-Noah

 

[Shane Smith]

Just to add a couple of quick things, I am also a VFS grad, and everything Kingslea said is right on. It is always about what you put into it. There is a lot of bitterness towards VFS in some circles because people felt they didn't have the opportunities that some other students had. Yes there are politics, but usually it was based on the students level of commitment. I know Kingslea like myself, got the opportunity to direct and DP at VFS, but many don't.

The one piece of advice I would add though is a piece of advice I received a long time ago, and that is go to school in the city you want to eventually work in. You gain a lot of contacts while in school, and you can then use them to further your career easier when you are going to be staying in that city. I have friends that are right now having issue because they went to a school that was really in the middle of nowhere, now they have no connections to get that first jump now they are back in their hometown. I want to work in Vancouver, so that was one of the big deciding factors for me to attend VFS.

 

[Eric S.]

I'd love to visit Vancouver (or somewhere else in the Pacific Northwest) sometime, especially in the summer. Florida is nice during the winter, but doesn't have a whole lot in the way of geographic diversity. Beaches are nice, but I digress...

I'm glad to hear other people mention the "you get out what you put in" motto. I called the director of the smaller program that I'm considering and he said exactly the same thing. I enjoy putting in long workdays, at least when caffeine is involved. But will hard work really help me advance (eventually) to the power positions of a production, even without a big name (and subsequent networking) to back me up? Are DP's, directors, 1st assistant directors, and editors more likely to have a big-name film education than the rest of the crew? Just a little worried about hitting a permanent glass ceiling.

And Noah, is the film school you're thinking of based at the University of New Mexico?

Thanks again for input all.