Choosing the right film school

So here is a post I just wrote for my site but I thought it might be helpful here so enjoy!

Film School’er Question of the Day #1

So this is the first in what I hope to be many Q and A posts where I attempt (I wanna stress that) to answer common questions about film school from readers of the site. This first question actually comes from a forum that I follow (troll), and after giving a short answer to the poster, I realized a longer post might help a lot of people out.

Q: How did you determine the best film school to go?

A: I think that this question is a little bit of a misnomer, as everyone’s idea of what the best school is probably radically different based on what they want or need out of a film school experience. So while I chose SCAD’s film program, that might not be at the top of the list for some people, and it might fit others just perfectly.

I can however walk you through some of my thinking in how I went about choosing schools, but keep in mind that one size does not fit all.

The first thing I did when I declared to the world that I wanted to attend film school was go out to the store and buy a copy of Film School Confidential. I really recommend you check out this book, even if you just browse through it at your local bookstore, as it has really in-depth information about what to expect at every major film program in the country from costs of attendance, costs of projects, equipment availability, what to expect from the surrounding town/city, and the lowdown on professors/classes to take or avoid.



After I was able to study this book for quite a while I assembled a list of criteria that I wanted in a film school…

- The school had to be somewhere warm (Being a Chicago resident for 18 years, this becomes a big deal)

- The focus had to be on narratives, as I want to direct feature films someday. Keep in mind that some schools specialize in various types of filmmaking, such as documentary or experimental, so make sure to research this and think about what kinds of movies you’d like to be making when you graduate.

- Access to equipment had to be moderate to high. A lot of the time I’m brainstorming projects on my own or with friends, and thus I wanted to attend a school that would allow me to check out the equipment in my free time to make my own films. It’s easy to check this if you have a copy of Film School Confidential, as they rate each school’s equipment availability.

So with this list I was able to create a short list of programs that I wanted to apply to

USC, FSU, UCLA, SCAD, and for reasons not on the list above NYU and Northwestern.

I applied to all the schools on the short list, and ended up choosing to attend SCAD because I really liked the location (Savannah, GA is a beautiful town), the amazing equipment and access that students are granted, and the savings in cost relative to some of the other programs.

But, like I said above, no program is the “best” for everyone, and it really will come down to what you, as a filmmaker, need to succeed. If you need to constantly have teachers structuring your time, go to NYU. If you need time to explore for yourself and are self driven, check out SCAD. At the end of the day, the school that will make you most happy is unique to you.

http://filmschooler.com/?p=90

Great post, but I have to tell you, that book has a LOT of misinformation. I'm so glad it sent you on the proper path, though!

Keep up the good work!

Thanks, and I'm sure there's tons of errors in the book just from the method they used to collect the info. From what I understand they attempted to contact students from the schools, so while they did research, a lot of the subjective opinions about the school come from students themselves.

I'm curious as to what misinformation you found in the book?

I've written a post on it here somewhere...I stumbled upon the new edition last year and thumbed through it...it came out after I"d applied, I used the old one.

I remember most specifically that is had the wrong credit requirements for my program at USC (MFA WST), and as the numbers were wrong, the accompanying rant seemed made up.

I also remember there being so fibs about AFI and USC production as well. I'll have to see if I can find the post.

Film School'er,

I think this is another great post. I think that's the number one question anyone should ask themselves, what do you want to accomplish from film school? Most want to attend but aren't sure what direction they want to take or what they want to accomplish.

Film School Confidential is a book I'm interested in checking out now, but not if the information isn't right though. Also which one did you purchase, the one by Karin Kelly or Tom Edgar? i'm seeing two different ones on Amazon.

Also, hailing from Atlanta and having been through Savannah, I can attest to Savannah being a beautiful place. Nice choice for a war weather school

@ Jayimess

Let me know if you find that post, I'd love to see what else you found. That's shocking that they'd get the facts wrong on programs as big as USC of AFI. I was expecting issues with some of the smaller programs they didn't have great contacts with.

@ BlackJack23

Thanks, much appreciated! You're absolutely right, everyone would be far happier with their film program if they were able to sit down and ask what they wanted out of it and chose schools accordingly.

I didn't even notice that there were different authors for the two books, looking it up on amazon it turns out I purchased/read the Karin Kelly version which looks to be the original unrevised edition. I still found it helpful despite the errors as it helped me find a lot of schools with film programs I hadn't even heard of so I would def. still recommend checking it out if you get a chance.

And yeah, Savannah is gorgeous, i'm jealous you got to grow up in such a beautiful state.

Re:USC only.

And Savannah is one of my favorite American cities...I'd love to live there one day!

@ Film School'er

Thanks for the clarification, I think I'll get both and check them out, couldn't hurt, maybe confuse my opinion but definitely not hurt.

@ Jayimess

Trade ya LA for Savannah when I get back man