Film school?

The great thing about any college for arts-related stuff, is that you figure it out as you go along. If you're still in HS, all you need to do is have an end goal (working in film), and pursue it by getting into a film school. 4 years of education there will prep you to know what you need to do when you get out. The idea here being you'll learn things you didn't even know you needed to learn.


I'm a student at Rochester Institute of Technology here in NY. We've got a pretty good film school, I'm in the photography. Through the grapevine, I've heard many good things about VFS.... I couldn't tell you much about it, but in relation to Canadian higher education, I've heard good things.

yeah ive been talking to a lot of people and they say vfs is definatly where i should try to go.

im just worried i might not make enough money working in a film industry after school. i know theres the possibility to make lots, but i just want to know how many people get to that level.

what do you consider lots of money?

enough to live?
i dunno buy a house or apartment eventually
something to retire with?

i dunno i dont really want to go back to school for something else if i dont make enough to live with that.

just wondering how likely it is to not have a job with someone and not be doing anything for a while and stuff.

What exactly do you want to do in the film industry? there are TONS of different jobs you could do.  Only a select few can make a good living in film whether it's with commercial work, independent films or documentary work.  Thing is, a lot of people go to film school and then end up not being able to find work, or becoming a TV station camera op.  Not that a tv station cam op is a bad job, it's just not what most people would consider a great job.  Don't expect to come out of school and get a kick ass job.  Chances are you will start out at the bottom of the pole wherever you get a job at.  You're going to have to pay your dues and work your way up from the bottom.  It takes the right person to work in the film or advertising industry.  I've been working at a production company for about 9 months now and it's not always fun.  It's a job just like anything else, you have to work your ass off to get anywhere.  I think the film and advertising industry gets glorified a lot of the time, not everyone is cut out for it.

also remember, just because you have a degree in film does not guarantee you a job.  In the film and advertising industry, it's all about your skills and what you know and how good you are at what you do.  Anyone can get a degree in film, but that's not what makes you a good videographer, DP, director, producer, camera assist, etc.  Keep that in mind.

Call up some local production companies in your city and try to set up a meet and greet.  Meet as many people as you can in the industry and have a good demo reel put together.  The other half to getting work is knowing the right people.


hope this helps

yeah that helped a lot pretty much answered everything i wanted to know thanks a lot.

and yeah im not sure what id really want to do yet. filming skiing would be awesome. but it would also be sick filming for movies or music videos or something.

and yeah i live in a pretty small town i dont really think wed have anything along the lines of production companies here...
but i have a nieghbor thats a pretty well known composer and he makes a lot of music for movies so i figure hes a good person to know. another one of my neighbors does some work with this production company in vancouver. i dont really know what she does my mom just kinda told me about her today and i dont really know her that well but yeah thats what got me thinking about all this.

real good schools usually look at your portfolio and judge you from that.

or u could major in the same types of things, for example:

media communications
computer graphics

etc

if that's all you want then don't even sweat it, pretty much any degree will garuantee 40k a year. You can get a job editing or operating a camera and earn that much, probably without school if you can teach yourself. Now if you want to get locked into something higher like 100k, on a degree alone, you'll probably need to pick a different industry like medicine, or law. Life's all about effort, luckily most people are pretty lazy and you can get to the top if you just half ass it. I graduated less than a year ago, I got hired a few months before graduation and I already bought a house and a boat, workin' 40 hours a week sucks though.

The colorado film school in denver is pretty good i hear, and your close to the mountains

well the best in the U.S. is USC's film school but it's really expensive and no offense, u would have to probably pick up your grades a lot to get in there...but ive thought about going into film and i came to realize taht you can't really make a decent living out of it unless you get into the hollywood filming scene and get really good in there, but i might go into film and business so i would have a backup plan of business...but hey just follow your passion, best of luck to u

Well dude if that is your ambition stick with it homie. Back when I was in grade 10 my life goal was to go to film school and get into cinematography. I ended up taking some film classes in college and that's where I discovered it wasn't for me. If you just make a video here and there and think you can make it, I'd hate to shatter your dreams but your not going for much. That's what I based my ambition off, and it helped me decide that it wasn't for me. Video takes passion and LOTS AND LOTS of patience, especially in post. So I recommend you think about a second career choice before you persue this entirely. Keep the doors open man

I'm a film student right now, and there are jobs, the one thing you need to realize (try not to take this the wrong way) if you're getting mostly B's and C's that in many ways represents your attitude toward work and success. Film is an industry where you have to work your ass off to get anywhere. Its not like highschool where you can get a B for showing up. Its hard, and if you know that you're ready for that then go for it!

yeah il be picking up my grades
last year i had all a's and like two b's
and this year i changed high schools and started blazing a lot at school
and i kinda lost all focus on it. not becuase of weed but that probsbly helped a bit

but im going back to my old school next year and il pick it all up.

but yeah i think id be good for it. i mean i have fun filming almost anything. and i think id enjoyed even "shitty" work at first if there was a chance for improvment

it really depends on what part of the industry you want to get involved with as well.  Different film schools could teach you many different things.  I have heard both sides of the story, film school is worth it, and it isnt.  I would say just pick up your grades and go for it.  If you like it then you do and if you dont, then you can always change majors. 
Also a lot of the film industry is like most others.  Its also about your personality and motivation, and most of all who you know.  The more people you know in the industry, the better.  Lots of people know other people and can reffer you or get you jobs. 

Good luck dude!

i want to go to film school

profound.

Save your money. Don't let people teach you how to create or tell a story. Instead, use the money you've saved to fund your first movie. Make that movie as well as you can.

you should still go to college. even if you dont go to film school.