Film School: Is it Necessary?

Film school is an important requirement for anyone.Not everyone has the resources to be taught the basics and the interaction with film lovers would only improve a person's knowledge.Is it worth it? For me it is and i don't care how hard it might be to get a job after this.People who have talent can reach the stars.

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As an 'SC grad- yes it's a great way to learn tech stuff, practice making movies and hopefully network with someone who gets someplace. But does a film school diploma get you a job or make you a better filmmaker? No way.

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i think that film school is not a waste of time and that it teaches you craft that has been around longer then anyone starting in the buisness

i was one of those kids on the streets of NYC filming, i attened th New York Film Academy in NYC and they taught me more then i would have gotten in 3 years experiance, now im making music videos, filming bar mitzvahs for $500 a pop, and im only 16

what im saying is if you learn and go to film school earlier then theirs more time for field experence, so go to film school

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I don't think film school is necessary, however anything that gets you access to equipment (after all, not all of us are trust-fund babies, which I think goes a lot farther than film school in the career benefit department, film-wise) is a good thing. Can you afford cameras and editing software? Film stock? In that sense, even a community college with a decent film/video program will do.

However, you make a great point about school being a great resource for that most Hollywood essential: Contacts! Does it have to be film school? Not necessarily. But you can literally throw a rock in this town (H'wood) and hit a member of the Brown, Oberlin or Harvard Cabal.

All the schooling in the world won't make up for lack of story sense, no talent or lack of drive. My two cents (okay, 5 after this rant)? Experience as much as you can of LIFE - that'll make you a better filmmaker.

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My opinion:

If you want to make films, you don't need film school... as stated before, if you have TALENT and DETERMINATION you will make films, with or without a degree.

If you want to work in the film business, you will learn SKILLS and will NETWORK with people who can get you work, that you could only get surrounded by people who will have jobs in the biz.

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Basically, it breaks down like this:

Technical knowledge is a necessity. Whether you learn about lenses & lighting in a classroom or from a manual at the library is up to you.

Contacts are very beneficial, and those are hard to make at the library.

But film theory courses are a complete waste of time. No one needs to have someone else's cinematic opinions forced down their throats as gospel truth, whether that someone else is Leonard Maltin or Uwe Boll.

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i like to add that i went to nyfa and want to study film more cuz i'm in love with it.i have a real passion for it.really i'm saying that i think film school is good for the upcoming flimmaker at heart but see what problem i have with is that people complain that after film school,they can't get no jobs doing film.that's bull.they need to stop depending on somebody to give them a job and hustle.start your own stuff.get a job,.save money,buy a camera.make your own movies.shoot,robert rodriguez made el mariachi for 6,000 and it looks like an hollywood action flick.(read his diary.it's amazing.i forgot what's called at the moment)and mike weinstein,u so damn coool.see he is the true example of my statement.he got his hustle on,now he doing good for himself.get on your grind,fellow film students.besides do u really wanna be like hollywood and put out crap like they've been putting out

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The problem is that there's no such thing as "film school." Not at the undergraduate level.

I tried majoring in film at a small, prestigious liberal arts college. Their film program had been getting a lot of attention when I started there.

I learned too late: there was a two year wait for the only hands-on film production class a new student could take.

The film "history" classes that I could take were taught by charlatans who'd never come within a thousand light years of either making a serious film or even writing notable film criticism.

I certainly wish I'd never bothered.

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I went to film school but I learned more during my first week on set than I ever learned in school. There is no substitute for experience.

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You've got a pretty good cross-section of reality there. Of all the student films I've seen (lots, and I attend the Student Academy Awards most years), acted in or at least checked out the casting notices, there may be technical things the student learns and important contacts made, but there's very little originality to be found. It's probably like any other discipline however: how many English majors go on to write the Great American Novel?

If you have a good eye, interesting stories to tell, a few tech classes and a love of film (that you can discover on your own), you could assemble what you need to market your stuff in all the small film festivals popping up everywhere. Especially with computer editing, there's never been an easier time to get your work out there and noticed.

Trouble is, most of the stories I see are hackneyed with boring characters. The best effects and acting in the world can't save a lousy screenplay. Studying screenwriting would teach you structure and watching a lot of films (old as well as new, good as well as bad) would help you figure out how to tell a compelling story in ways that haven't been done to death.

Good luck to all of you, by the way!

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Film school is the biggest scam. I quit college after realizing my favorite directors/screenwriters never graduated or attended film school. In the four years it would have taken me to get an undergrad degree, I sold 2 scripts and a tv show which got piloted but not picked up.

If you want contacts you dont need film school. LIVE IN L.A.! I met my writing mentor whose done films for Ben Stiller and Edward Norton at my gym in L.A.

I bumped into John August, writer of (Go, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) at the movies, got advice from him that I use to this day.

Doesnt require you spending $100,000 and 4 years of listening to some professor whose never made a produced film you've ever heard of, just move to L.A. suffer, and work hard like everyone else who made it.

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