film schools

I'm surprised India doesn't have any film schools. There are online classes that go over specific elements here and there. Info List and CS magazine announce them. There are also film schools in Englad as far as I know, you might have better luck with them.

Here's a link that covers both US and abroad film schools and you can compare the degrees.

http://www.filmschools.com/

ETA: There is indeed a filmschool in India, it's on that link, you might want to check them out first, see what they have to offer. You might be able to find what you're looking for right there in your own country.

aceinc1 said:

hey all,

I thought I'd never do this but never say never, anyway, my mom thinks I should go to a film school and at the US embassy the visa issuing officer says because my father is deceased and my mother is a pensioner even if I have an approved loan, I'll have to work in the US to repay the loan and for that reason he's rejecting the visa. so I can arrange $7000 for a year for education and I have no choice but to opt for online education, now how do I find an American university that has a MS - film production for $7000/year for online education plus placement assistance.

please provide me link to any universities you know.

regards,
Ace.Inc1

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Ace,

What exactly do you want to learn about film making? Is it the technical aspects? If so, I'm not sure how an online class can teach that to you without you ever touching a camera. And just because you take a class does not mean you you are ready to make a film. Most people don't go for a Master's degree after getting a Bachelor's degree. Some famous film makers don't even have ANY Bachelor's degree. It's simply not a requirement, nowadays. I hold a Bachelor's degree in TV/Film, but that hasn't opened any doors for me. When I pondered going to get a Master's in Film, one professor I had said "You either can take the $75.000.00 and get a Master's degree, or you can take the same $75,000.00 and make a movie. You'll probably learn more making the movie than sitting in class for another 3 years."

I'm just curious what it is you want to learn....

Dear Ace,

I'm from Kolkata (Calcutta),India, and I'm currently doing a course in Film Direction from a private institution. There are around ten such institutions here plus one government run institution. Not all of them are creditable but I have not experienced the things you have stated. You will be amazed to know that while some private institutes have state of the art technologies and equipments, the government one is in tatters. They don't even have enough staff.

I don't know how a film school can be illegal being a private one because there is no criteria in the Indian film industry stating that to become a director, you need to graduate from a government institute. The government doesn't make films (except some documentaries and some rare feature films, I guess); production houses and independent producers do and they just care about your portfolio and your skill as a director. I have recently sold a script. I got a top actor here to read it and he liked the story. He called a producer and now an experienced in-house writer is re-writing some of the script but I got the credit and money. How I got in touch with the actor? He came to my institute as a guest faculty for the acting department.

My experience so far tells me that connections and network are the keywords in this industry, specially in India where the industry is not organized at all. Now I've got a job as an assistant director with the help of the institute. Next, I will have to increase my network, know the producers and directors and build up my portfolio. I think this is how it works in India, unless you are a son/daughter or relative of a film personality.

Have no idea about Hollywood though. It is a long way from here...

Emerson College, MA
NYU
Boston University

Apply for financial aid!!!!! For that amount, you could probably work something out. Film school is a hands-on experience. Look fiurther into the schools I mentioned, and apply. You never know what kind of scholarship they will give, and it may even be less than you budgeted.
Also look at Chapman Univ. in Ca, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA, and the major state universiities. More may be within your reach than you know, and it costs little to apply.

In the name of all that is good, don't go to film school. Take the $7000 and study something useful, like economics. Or write every day, go to a large movie producing city (in India this is Mumbai, Bombay and others?) and take any and every job you can get. Watch and learn and take your lumps and work your way up the ladder. And get a reel together demonstrating what you've done so far, your best work on a DVD. Market yourself everyday.
Film school is a waste of money unless you go to NYU or UCLA, because those are the only schools with any kind of referral and alumni credibility - if you want to do TV Syracuse is good (my alma mater - I went to the art school). And there's nothing to learn online, the point of going to school is to network and build strong relationships. It's who you know.

mario_c said:

In the name of all that is good, don't go to film school. Take the $7000 and study something useful, like economics. Or write every day, go to a large movie producing city (in India this is Mumbai, Bombay and others?) and take any and every job you can get. Watch and learn and take your lumps and work your way up the ladder. And get a reel together demonstrating what you've done so far, your best work on a DVD. Market yourself everyday.
Film school is a waste of money unless you go to NYU or UCLA, because those are the only schools with any kind of referral and alumni credibility - if you want to do TV Syracuse is good (my alma mater - I went to the art school). And there's nothing to learn online, the point of going to school is to network and build strong relationships. It's who you know.

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With all due respect, I have to strongly disagree with you. How can you say film school isn't "useful"? Do you need to go to film school to succeed in the industry? Absolutely not. Just like a writer doesn't need to get a degree in English and a painter doesn't need to study art. But the bottom line is that this education helps a lot more than it hurts. Most people aren't ready to go out and start making films because they don't fully understand what goes into the process. And I don't know what it's like in India, but going going to a "large movie producing city" and taking "any and every job you can get" doesn't work the way it did in the 60s. I do agree that studying it online isn't the best idea, but going to school is about a lot more than "networking" and "building strong relationships."

With all of that being said, I'm not necessarily saying everyone should go to film school. The truth is that it isn't for everybody. And the downside of going to schools like USC and NYU is that they teach more about how to succeed in Hollywood by buying into the Hollywood formula and politics than learning how to be a good filmmaker. This way of "teaching" leads to a bunch of PAs who all think the same, conventional way - which is the primary criticism of film school by successful directors. There are quality film programs that are smaller, like the one I went to. And I know several graduates who are making the best of their education in L.A. But whether or not you decide to go to film school, film education is essential to succeeding. Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh may not have gone to film school like many of the best filmmakers in Hollywood (Coppola, Scorsese, Coen Brothers, and Aronofsky, just to name a few), but they had vast film knowledge that came from studying film theory, watching different types of films, and making their own films - all things that you will do in film school. And the money you would be spending gets you access to equipment, and fellow filmmakers, that would generally cost a lot more outside of school.

Film school may not be for everyone, but saying it's useless could deter an aspiring filmmaker from getting a valuable education.

MWilliams said:

And the downside of going to schools like USC and NYU is that they teach more about how to succeed in Hollywood by buying into the Hollywood formula and politics than learning how to be a good filmmaker.

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I graduated from NYU with an MFA, and my experience was the opposite. I felt the program was all about craft, creativity, voice and individualism as a filmmaker; it completely ignored "the Hollywood formula and politics" of the profession, which, in hindsight, would be my sole criticism of the program.

creativexec said:

I graduated from NYU with an MFA, and my experience was the opposite. I felt the program was all about craft, creativity, voice and individualism as a filmmaker; it completely ignored "the Hollywood formula and politics" of the profession, which, in hindsight, would be my sole criticism of the program.

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That's good to hear and I meant no disrespect to NYU's program. But based on different things I've heard and read, the BFA program at those schools have been criticized. Obviously, I never attended NYU so my information can be based on biased opinions. But as an NYU grad, what would you say about film school in general?

Film school was good for me, but part of my objective in getting an MFA was to teach.

If you're a hard worker, self-educator/motivator, a graduate degree may be unnecesary, though it's great to be in a creative environment, learning the craft from some laudable scribes and filmmakers. I'll never regret that choice (and the ten years it took to pay back the loans.) Furthermore, it can be a good way to make friends who fan out into all areas of the business, creating a potentially large network.

While an MFA might be superfluous or extravagant, a bachelor's degree is a necessity. So, if you have to get a college degree and you love film, you might as well go to film school. One can always double major in film and something more practical. (I double majored in playwriting/dramaturgy and education as an undergrad, the latter giving me something to "fall back" on.)

Yes, most film school students never go on to a professional career. (Most find jobs in other fields and go on to live happy, successful lives.) I know lots of people who went to school for psychology or business or fashion or accounting or whatever (as undergrads) and aren't working in their field of study either.

Life is too short to not try and do what you love.

Chris L, as always, providing valuable advice from a guy that knows what he's talking about. Thanks for the comments.
I'm at that stage - one of the guys who graduated with a BFA, then listened to all the people who told me you can't have a career in creative arts, and a family that wouldn't support me or give me any guidance at all, and I followed the career path that was declared safe and practical. Now I'm seeing it's all BS and I'm at a point where I have to change my life radically if I'm going to have any success. And fight back against all the bad advice in my life.
Not to be all dramatic, but it is what we do Point is, I'm re-educating myself at this point. A college degree is not optional for an adult pursuing a career, but it's strictly a precursor to networking, working dirty and demeaning jobs, and managing a career on your own. One does not matter at all without the other. I should have made that more clear in my prior post.