Thinking about Film School

[Adam Bray]

Is there a Film School in Austin besides the one at UT? Such as a Full Sail type school?

[Tyler H. Smith]

I believe ACC has a course if your interested.

I live in Houston too and will be attending UT Arlington film school but want to transfer over to UT Austin.

I really dont know about Full Sail or other programs like it in the area, but if all else fails give these guys an email or call

http://www.austinfilm.org/afs/Contact.php

[Adam Bray]

Originally Posted by Tyler H. Smith

I believe ACC has a course if your interested.

I live in Houston too and will be attending UT Arlington film school but want to transfer over to UT Austin.

I really dont know about Full Sail or other programs like it in the area, but if all else fails give these guys an email or call

http://www.austinfilm.org/afs/Contact.php

All I saw them offering was an Intro to Radio and Television class.

[Tyler H. Smith]

oh sorry i thought they had a course.

[Chris Hurd]

Austin Film Works

http://www.meticulouspictures.com/afw/html/index.html

From our very own Steve Mims.

[Paul Cypert]

I'd be scared of a film class at UT..the theatre program was so large you'd watch the teachers and some lucky students in class on a monitor in the hallway...yikes...

I went to College of Santa Fe (for theatre and photography). They have a good film program and feature films are regularly filmed in the soundstage on campus...not great movies but movies all the same : All the Pretty Horses, JC's Vampires, Wild Wild West, etc while I was there....

Paul

[Adam Bray]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Austin Film Works

http://www.meticulouspictures.com/afw/html/index.html

From our very own Steve Mims.

Thanks. I'm in the course. Went to orientation Tuesday. Looks like fun.

[Hyun De Grande]

Are you guys (still) at school there?
I'm also studying at KASK. Just finished my first year succesfully..
Have to say, it's a nice school, and i like the fact that you're constantly busy with actually making movies!
They do tend to push their students into a particular style of filmmaking, but hey..

[Travis Johnson]

That is the thought that has been running through my head lately. I really dislike my job and know that I do not want it to be my career. Currently I work at a Computer Repair/ISP as a IT Professional, we're the only place in a small town. I have always regretted not going into film school right out of high school. I'm 22 now and currently volunteering with a local production company based out of Durham. Also I am working on editing a documentary that I am being paid for nicely.

Currently I have all of my equipment, all bought with my own money. It's not the best but it does the job. I've got 2 Sony TRV900s that are used to capture straight to a laptop, Roland Edirol R-09, Rode VideoMic, along with two editing PCs. I have access to a crew and actors....the only thing I lack is the ability to do this often. With film school I know that I'll be working on something for sure. I currently have two projects in pre-production and still editing this documentary that I'm confident will spread my name. Upon talking to some family members tonight I just realized that I really really hate that I never went into film school and I'm just really not sure what to do right now. Yes, I know this is a internet message board but I feel this is my only outlet of unbiased attention. So please, what do you think? Go to film school, or stay independent??

[David W. Jones]

If you went to film school, would you still keep a full time job?
If not, how would you pay for school, or support yourself while in school?
Once you graduate film school what would you do that would earn a better living than you are making right now?
Just a few things to think about.

[Boyd Ostroff]

I have a good friend who went to NY Film Academy last year (in NYC) for a 3 month course of studies and she really learned a lot. I visited there and it seemed like a cool place, small enough to get to know everyone personally. I believe they offer all kinds of long and short term programs, and have a lot of students on a part time basis who have "day jobs". They also offer a program in Hollywood with Universal Studios. http://www.nyfa.com/

I don't know what schools you're considering, but maybe you could try a part-time program for starters just to see if you like it?

[Travis Johnson]

I wouldn't be able to keep a full time job, i'd definitely have to look for some kind of part time job.

As far as supporting myself for school I would have to apply for grants and/or get financing.

I would hope with the film degree I could start working on sets. I know that I probably won't get anything right off the bat but I think it'll be better than the measly $10/hour I make now as this dump working full time.

As far as the school I'm looking at, it is here in North Carolina. www.pccfilm.com

I definitely wouldn't be able to afford a nice school like The School of Communication Arts or UNCG.

[Alan James]

I'm 19 and in film school and I have to tell you I HATE IT.

I am already working for a advertising company making commercials professionally and I own a small time video production company that I make these commercials through. I have been making movies and short film from the time I was about 12. I'm fluent with Avid, Premiere Pro, Final Cut, After Effects, Maya and many many more programs.

I am considering dropping out of film school because I am learning NOTHING, and the stuff that is taught is 90% of the time wrong. I don't want to bad mouth my school but I go to UCF in Orlando, FL.

My professors will often bring up hypothetical situations that a film maker might find himself stuck in and give a solution to the situation. However like I said 90% of the time they are either wrong, they don't know about new technology that can help creatively, or they give a solution that will put the production WAY over budget, but hey "That’s what the pros do".

I have also found that any kind of formal education stifles your creativity. The people that have to go to school to learn, and think they can learn everything in school often never get into their desired field and never use their degree for what they wanted.

I am a big fan of learning on your own, because when you learn on your own you tend to find new more effective ways of doing things.

I would recommend you read the book “Rebel without a Crew” by Robert Rodriguez. Grab a camera, get some friends together and make a few short films. If you enjoy it, keep doing it and TRUST ME, you will learn more by doing it then you will by someone showing you one way to do it. There is no one right way to do anything, but college will try to tell you there is.

Best of luck

[Mark Bournes]

Alan, slow down, you're 19... Yes you have skills and it sounds like you've learned a lot on you own. Trust me you'll do that your whole life. The technology is always changing and we all have to keep up or kids like you will take our jobs. LOL... Look I went to a 4 year university, got a degree, had a blast in college and as much as I didn't like my classes I got a lot out of the whole experience. I too was working in my field while still in school and often times ended up helping teach the class I was in.

Take school for what it's worth, finish, get your degree, and enjoy it while it lasts, there will be plenty of work for you when you graduate.

[Benjamin Hill]

Alan, sorry that you're disappointed with your classes- but it's a sweeping generalization to say that "any kind of formal education stifles your creativity." Many, many acclaimed and successful filmmakers received formal education. If there's one thing I learned in school, it's that the only thing that will stifle your creativity is yourself.

At the film program I went through there was more emphasis on writing, film theory and experimental filmmaking than I wanted at the time. Funny thing is now, the academic study informs my work more and more because I saw films and encountered ideas in school that I NEVER would have been exposed to otherwise.

In the academic world and in the professional world you'll run into people who are set in their ways and insist their method is the right one. You don't have to take their word as scripture, but you can learn something from everybody. Your education- formal or informal- is what you make of it.